Surveys show that stress is now the leading cause of sickness absence in the UK. What is even more worrying is presenteeism, with people going into work earlier and staying later, and turning up even when they are ill. This is particularly common in the public sector, where job security has virtually vanished.
In the context of local government, presenteeism can mean that people go to work ill, infecting others and increasing sickness absence among staff. If they are job dissatisfied presentees, showing "face time" may mean they are not contributing the service they should be providing. This leads to heavier workloads for those who are delivering.
In 2010, the economists at the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health estimated that mental health and stress-related absence was costing the UK economy £8.4bn per annum, while presenteeism was costing £15.1bn.
This shows that managing stress is not just about managing sickness absence. Bosses also need to deal with the underlying causes of excessive pressures that lead to presenteeism.
Extensive research on occupational stress in the US and Europe shows that there are some key sources of stress at work. They include: a lack of job security, lack of control and engagement, excessive workloads, worrying work-life balance, long working hours, poor workplace relationships, poor communications by management and inadequate management of change.
Many of the causes of stress at work could be minimised if we had more managers with better social and interpersonal skills. Managers are, after all, ultimately responsible for engaging staff, ensuring they don't work long hours, providing them with some flexibility and building effective teams with high morale.
What can managers in local government do to reduce stress at work? Here are three tips.
Manage people more by praise and reward than finding fault
Fear is not a motivator and it actually destroys an individual's mental capital. Managers should engage their staff in decisions that affect their job and this requires being prepared to listen.
Avoid creating a long working hours culture
Working long hours not only damages the health and relationships of the individual but adversely affects performance in the medium term. Creating a culture where flexible working is supported will deliver higher morale and productivity – people will ultimately feel trusted.
Managers should make sure they know the problems facing staff
Staff need to be made aware of what is going on in their organisation and managers should be aware of what workload their staff have.
To find out what is really going on in the team and the work group, managers need to be there, listening and not controlling. As the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu once wrote: "A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, and the people will say 'we did it ourselves'." This applies to stress and wellbeing at work as well: managers must create the right culture where social support and looking after one another is part of the DNA of the team.
Cary Cooper is professor of organisational psychology and health at Lancaster University Management School.
• What do you think? Email sarah.marsh@theguardian.com if you want to contribute an article to this debate.
Not already a member? Join us now for more comment, analysis and the latest job opportunities in local government.
