United Biscuits - stress case study

Who are they?

United Biscuits is a leading European manufacturer of biscuits and bagged snacks. It has 14 geographical locations in the UK with a revenue of £1.1 billion in 2007.

No of employees:

7,200 people in the UK

Business Sector:

Food manufacturing

Location:

Scotland and England

Why United Biscuits decided to manage stress using the Management Standards

• To address the increase in reported ‘stress’ cases during the period 2003-2005.
• To introduce preventive measures to tackle work related stress with a view to reducing litigation.
• To take responsibility and care for the well-being of employees.

How did they do it?

Following an initial presentation on the importance of tackling work related stress, the United Biscuits Management Board developed and promoted a stress policy within their organisation. This policy required annual site risk assessments to be conducted to monitor stress levels within United Biscuits. In addition, they maintained an internal routine health surveillance system, which identified and distinguished work-related disorders (e.g. mental health and asthma) from non-work related issues. This was used to monitor ‘organisational health’ trends after the policy was introduced. HR and Occupational Health teams gathered data on staff turnover, claims, absenteeism, and ‘stress’ cases to identify ‘hot spots’ which may be the result of stress. Then the procedures for managing individual cases of stress, as summarised below, were introduced for line managers, HR and Occupational Health professionals.

The Management Standards implementation

The HSE Indicator Tool (35 questions related to the six Management Standards) was administered in two departments. In addition, United Biscuits incorporated questions into their annual staff survey to address all six HSE identified risk factors - Demands, Control, Support (managers & peers), Relations, Role and Change.

What next? – Action plans

Results were communicated to all United Biscuits staff, with action plans discussed in employee liaison groups. This led to a simplification of data collection and regular team meetings with managers. In addition, in-house training on stress management was introduced for managers.

Main challenges

An initial challenge was persuading the company to accept stress as an important business issue. In addition, ensuring that all line managers received training on managing stress. In hindsight, greater benefits would have been achieved if trade unions representatives had been involved in the development of the policy at the beginning of the process.

"One of the main challenges was for the company to accept that stress was important - it is now accepted as a business issue that can be managed."
Clive Harker - Occupational Physician

What worked well?

The Board acknowledging stress and mental health problems was an important step and created the framework for success. The incorporation of the Management Standards approach into organisational policy helped United Biscuits to identify and manage complex cases (e.g. work and domestic pressures with associated common mental health disorders) and monitor continuous improvement with a specific focus on hot spots.

Benefits

• Led to increased awareness in those line managers who have received training.
• Since 2005, as shown on the graph below, there is a decrease in “stress cases” for which work was the most significant cause.
• Led to better defence in claims/tribunals.
• Led to reduced absence costs for stress. For each case where absence is prevented, it is estimated the cost of 4 weeks wages and other associated costs is saved. For the three years since the policy was introduced this represents about 40 weeks of absence.

Reported Stress Cases 2004-2007