Before you start the Management Standards approach

Prepare your organisation

Before you start to implement the Management Standards approach, it is essential that you ensure that the resource, support and infrastructure for the project are in place. To do this you should:

Secure commitment

Many employers have already recognised that they should tackle stress at work and may be taking some action, so you may already have some idea about what factors will secure commitment at the highest level in your organisation. However to maximise the impact of a business case, the following information may be useful.

The legal case: The law requires employers to tackle work-related stress

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require employers to assess the risk of stress-related ill health arising from work activities, as with any other hazard. The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 requires an employer to take measures to control that risk.

The business case: Tackling stress brings business benefits

When preparing a business case, there is a tendency to focus only on the direct cost of an employee being absent. Research has shown that work-related stress has an adverse effect for organisations in terms of:

Many of these issues will have associated costs, such as arranging suitable replacement bank staff in health care or supply teachers.

Also, think about the impact work-related stress could have on the unit or team. For example, losing one colleague for an extended period with a stress-related illness can have a dramatic impact on the workload and morale of the rest of the team, particularly in smaller teams.

The key message here is that, left unchecked, the cost associated with work-related stress and ill health to the business will continue to grow. Tackling this issue has the potential to stem these losses and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the organisation.

Moral case: Tackling stress prevents ill health

Prolonged periods of stress, including work-related stress, have an adverse effect on health, with strong links between stress and physical conditions, such as heart disease, back pain, headaches, gastrointestinal problems and psychological effects, such as anxiety and depression.

Stress can also lead to other behaviours that are harmful to health, such as drinking too much caffeine or alcohol, drug abuse or smoking.

Tackling the causes of stress before they lead to ill health can prevent harm.

How can you secure commitment from employees and their representatives?

The Management Standards approach encourages joint working between management and employees, either directly or via their representatives, to tackle the causes of work-related stress.

Staff are only likely to take part if senior managers show commitment too. To successfully implement the approach, managers and employees should work together, both to identify the issues/stressors and develop solutions.

Employees, who do the work and understand what causes any problems, are often best placed to suggest ways the task could be improved - employers won't know until they ask them. To get employees involved, you should:

Steering groups

Smaller organisations may not need a formal steering group, where they can gather information in simpler ways. But larger organisations will benefit from having  a representative group to steer and drive the project - this may be a pre-existing working group, for example a health and safety committee. This:

There is no one right way to organise a steering group, as management structures and cultures will vary between and within different sectors of employment.

For some organisations, it may be helpful to have sub-groups of the main steering group that reflect their specific organisational structure. For example an organisation may have departments or branches that have semi-autonomous management structures. In these cases, using sub-groups to steer the process may help. Representatives from these sub-groups should attend the main steering group to feed back and share information.

Who should be part of a steering group?

Typical members of a steering group are:

What are the key activities of a steering group?

The main function is to oversee and facilitate the implementation of the Management Standards approach, acting as a project management group or board. Key activities include:

  • project naming
  • project management
  • planning
  • securing and managing resources
  • marketing
  • managing communications
  • monitoring progress
  • approving action plans
  • generating and approving management reports

Top tips from users:

Key roles within the steering group

There are two key roles you should try to include in a steering group:

The 'project champion':

The 'day-to-day champion':

Plan the project

Don't overlook planning. You should check what you already have in place. Don't reinvent the wheel or start from scratch. There will be existing policies, procedures and initiatives that can be used to achieve some of the steps. Implementation of the approach will not happen in a vacuum and there may be other activities to consider when preparing a plan, for example if there are changes planned for the near future, how will these impact your plans and, if possible, factor these in.

Top tips from users:

Communications and policies

The Management Standards approach requires the participation and input of different groups of employees. Effective communications play a vital part in engaging them, providing them with timely information and providing a channel for their views.

To be effective, communication should go both ways, so you should listen to the views of employees and answer their concerns.

Many users have developed a 'communication strategy' to run throughout their implementation of the approach - this typically includes considering 'what' will be communicated and the 'how' and 'when' of the communication activities.

What to communicate

What is communicated will to depend on your organisational structure and the way you choose to implement each step of the approach, but is likely to include:

How to communicate

You should consider if workers can access the communication channels you choose. Consider both how easy the channel is to access and, more importantly, its effectiveness.

Use multiple channels and ensure the message is rich in content. Be innovative and get people involved in developing communications – you could have a competition to design a slogan or poster for the project, for example.

Communication channels to consider include:

When to communicate

Consider appropriate timing as part of your communication strategy. Whatever schedule you decide, stick to it. Leaving an information vacuum can seriously undermine a project, as the vacuum may be quickly filled with rumours and misinformation that may be hard to counter.

Avoid times where the organisation is particularly busy, for example with seasonal pressures or holiday periods when fewer staff will be around. Don't forget those who are not in work (on maternity leave or off sick) or who work away from a base frequently.

'A 'rumour handler' was appointed who was trusted by staff and could be contacted to check the validity of the current rumour.'
NHS Trust

Step 1: Identify the risk factors takes you through the first step in the Management Standards approach.

Updated 2021-05-11