Whilst our resilience to stress at work varies greatly from person to person as a Health and Safety issue it is extremely important to firstly acknowledge there will most likely be sufferers of stress in any organisation and secondly to take steps to tackle the issues giving rise to stress.
As the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) advise:-
- Most employers underestimate the extent of stress, anxiety, depression and other forms of mental illness. Sufferers are often stigmatised and discriminated against intentionally or otherwise.
- The culture of a business is set and can be changed only from the top. (Being a male dominated environment, the motor trade can be prone to foster a ‘macho’ culture).
- As the head of the business the potential necessary tasks to manage stress are:-
- Training. To adjust or adapt a culture aimed at reducing stress, key personnel need to be aware of what will raise stress and how to be aware of the symptoms.
- Listen to feedback
- Communication of the vision
- Commitment
- Encourage
- Support
- Lead by example
- Introduce Policies and Procedures
- Monitor
Lawgistics clients are able to download a policy on stress to assist in the implementation of this basic Health and Safety requirement.
Impression works with businesses across the automotive aftermarket supply chain such as parts suppliers, warehouse distributors, motor factors and independent garages. Covering all aspects of automotive aftermarket marketing, including social media, event management, customer newsletters and PR, Impression is able to quickly establish itself within a client’s business and work towards their objectives.
