Stress case study – Metropolitan council

The situation

A council introduced a revised stress management policy to provide managers with support, advice and tools to effectively manage work-related stress. They based the policy on HSE's Management Standards (MS) approach.

Assessing the risks

A Corporate Stress Steering Group was established to implement the MS approach across the council.  This was chaired by a director to demonstrate senior management commitment.  The group was made up of representatives from HR, trade unions, Organisational Development, Health and Wellbeing, Corporate Safety and directorate representatives.  Everybody worked together to develop a series of practical solutions to tackle work-related stress.

The HSE Indicator Tool was used as part of the data-gathering process, together with the council's own employee survey. 

Results were fed back. Individual teams and focus groups met to discuss the findings.  Hot spots were identified and a number of organisational and directorate actions were taken. 

Developing solutions

Organisational changes were made:

Directorate changes were also made - the Leisure and Culture Service put the following actions in place:

Results

Tips for others

Updated 2021-05-11