Stress Management Competencies Roadshow Partner, Work-Life Solutions ----------- Alan Bradshaw Partner, Work-Life Solutions www.the-stress-site.net alan@work-life-solutions.co.uk

About Alan Bradshaw Involved in stress management field since 1996 Founded first UK-wide stress consultancy 1998 First management training with a stress risk management, accounted for 80 – 90% of business Trained/managed many of UK’s top consultants Helped organizations develop stress policies and implement HSE Management Standards Became a director of QoWL in 2007 Now Partner in Work-Life Solutions Main aim is to promote evidence-based stress management in UK and Europe

What’s it all about, Alan? Well, it’s about.... STRESS ....and... MANAGEMENT ....and of course... COMPETENCIES!

What we’re covering today... Some essential background and context Links with HSE Management Standards Stress Management Competencies Research A look at the Framework and BEHAVIOURS Applications, tools and interventions Case Study Video: Northumbria NHS Next steps if you want to use this approach Questions

A quick look back... Statutory legal aspects : Health & Safety Law and Regulations Common Law Stress Cases HSE Management Standards (2oo4) A framework, standards, tools and a process to follow to manage stress risks The problem is that the Management Standards’ approach hasn’t been as effective as hoped for...

Limitations of Management Standards? Seen as the province of ‘Health & Safety’ Implementation largely down to HR and managers Ignored by senior/operational Managers “not our problem” Seen as bureaucratic and time consuming Survey fatigue (and fears about the results!) Not day-to-day people management Led to Stress Management Competencies research....

Rigorous research process Interviews with nearly 400 managers and employees + workshops with HR/OH/H&S Produced framework with 19 behavioural themes Rigorous research process 2. Questionnaire survey with over 800 managers and employees + further workshops Refined framework to 4 broad themes, with 12 sub-themes Later, we’ll look at the Stress Management Competency Indicator tool that was developed and at a commercial 360 version of the tool. I’ll also summarise the intervention (upward feedback and workshop) that was developed and evaluated at stage 3. Stage 4 has now been completed, which was a structured follow-up and evaluation of 10 case studies – organisations who have piloted the use of the Stress Management Competency Framework and tools in their organisation. This is due to be published next year but I’ll check with the researchers whether this info can be released to me – if so, we’ll put it on the website and provide the link. Testing whether we can help managers use and develop the behaviours identified We can help managers change behaviour

A closer look at manager behaviour

Brief Critical Incident Exercise: Reflect on a stressful situation where your manager’s behaviour: Made the situation better (prevented or reduced stress), or; Worse (caused more stress, created new stress) Discuss this with the person sitting next to you… What manager behaviours made it better or worse? Will the research findings agree with you? Let’s see…

Management competencies (skills/behaviours) for preventing and reducing stress Competency Sub-Competency Respectful and responsible: Managing emotions and having integrity Integrity Managing emotions Considerate approach Managing and communicating existing and future work Proactive work management Problem solving Participative/empowering Managing the individual within the team Personally accessible Sociable Empathetic engagement Reasoning/Managing difficult situations Managing conflict Use of organisational resources Taking responsibility for resolving issues

Managing with Respect Managing with Respect is about managing emotions, having integrity and taking responsibility. Specific behaviours: Integrity – this is about being a good role model, treating team members with respect and being honest; not saying one thing and doing something different Managing emotions – this is about staying calm in a crisis and being consistent, and not passing stress on to your team Considerate approach – this is about showing respect and consideration for others, providing positive rather than negative feedback and not making unrealistic deadlines Now we’re going to look at the behaviours in more detail – While we do this, I’d like you to refer to the Stress Management Competency Indicator tool in your packs, so you can see examples of the associated behaviours. As we go through this .. If you’re a manager, think about how you would answer the questions – do you display these behaviours, to what extent. If you’re not a manager, think about your own, current manager. Does he or she display these behaviours? In the exercise did you pick up on any of these behaviours – good or bad?

Managing Workload Managing Workload is about managing and communicating existing and future work. Specific behaviours: Proactive work management – this is about managing workloads proactively; communicating objectives effectively, prioritizing, planning and reviewing work so that stress is prevented Problem solving – this is being decisive and about how you deal with and follow-up on work problems that do occur. Participative/empowering – this is about how you involve people, consult them and delegate work; the extent to which you enable control, empower your team and encourage participation

Managing Indviduals Managing Individuals is about the way you manage and relate to individuals within the team. Specific behaviours: Personally accessible – this is about being accessible and providing opportunities for face-to-face communication, for example speaking personally rather than using email Sociable – this is about being friendly, sociable and willing to have a laugh at work Empathetic engagement – this is about being a good listener, taking an interest in others and understanding their motivations

Managing Relationships Managing Relationships is about reasoning and managing difficult situations at work, including conflict. Specific behaviours: Managing conflict – this is about intervening early and acting as a mediator; also being objective and dealing with issues head on rather than merely acting to keep the peace Use of organisational resources – getting advice and support from others when needed to resolve relationship issues and conflicts Taking responsibility for resolving issues – following up, supporting employees and making it clear you are taking responsibility for resolving issues

So, we know now what the stress management behaviours are... But how are we going to change manager behaviour? Exercise: Reflecting on your own experience, what’s likely to lead to you actually changing your behaviour? (you can consider any behaviour such as weight loss, giving up smoking, fitness/exercise) Discuss with a partner – what factors are most likely to help you make real and lasting changes?

Behaviour change theories Theories and models of behaviour change: Stage Theories e.g. Prochaska and DiClemente (1986) Precontemplation, Contemplation, Preparation, Action, Maintenance Social Cognitive Theories e.g. Bandura (1986) Importance of role models and self-efficacy Theory of Reasoned Action / Planned Behaviour Importance of behavioural intentions, attitudes, beliefs and subjective norms; later revised to take account of importance of ‘perceived behavioural control’

Behaviour change: what helps? A manager displaying positive behaviours – ROLE MODEL A Positive Organizational Culture - CULTURE Feedback on your behaviour – FEEDBACK, AWARENESS A desire to change – DESIRE, INTENTION, MOTIVATION A feeling that you can change and have the skills to change – CONTROL, TRAINING/COACHING, SELF EFFICACY Moral support when you need it – ENCOURAGEMENT, PRAISE, SOCIAL SUPPORT Practical help when you need it – RESOURCES Ongoing help and support – FOLLOW-UP, REINFORCEMENT

Changing manager behaviour: Research (phase 3) intervention 3mths later Upward feedback Interactive workshop Follow-up upward feedback

Intervention and tools Most effective process is: Assessment + Upward feedback + workshop (+ follow-up) Assessment uses SMCIT – If 360, can include manager, direct reports, peers, own manager Feedback is one-to-one using 360 report (may require training/coach to deliver) Interactive Workshop (“Preventing Stress: Promoting Positive Manager Behaviour”) Explores importance; raises awareness; equips with tools; enables discussion of issues, development planning; mutual support

Additional applications? Stress / well-being policies As a guide to specific development interventions e.g. conflict management training Integrate into manager induction programmes Framework and tools for management coaching Can develop new programmes related to the behaviours not covered by existing management competency framework. You might include reference to the framework in your policy and can then say to new managers, these are the most important behaviours to prevent and reduce stress Meaningful insight really requires 360 approach and this requires that the manager is supported by someone trained for the role.

Case Study Implementing Stress Management Competencies at Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

What’s next... Extensive follow-up information by email Research, info booklets, audio/video, web-links, 360 etc If YOU want to deliver the intervention (either in-house or as a consultant/practitioner)... Preventing Stress: Promoting Positive Manager Behaviour train-the-trainer courses 29th and 30th November in NW (separate courses) facilitated by Emma Donaldson-Feilder Enables delivery of workshop intervention in-house Access to all training materials Upward feedback / 360 training and coaching available

What’s next... If you want to implement this approach, but DON’T want to deliver it, Work-Life Solutions can organise / provide: In-house training for your managers A commercial 360 service (managed service, automated report generation) One-to-one 360 feedback (on-site or remotely) Coaching

Questions? Any questions about the research, framework, tools, intervention case study, training or anything related to the stress management competencies?

Some final comments Stress Management Competencies are the skills and behaviours line managers need to prevent and reduce stress at work A framework, tools and interventions are available to anyone wishing to use this powerful approach Training is being provided for interested organisations, consultants and practitioners We will follow-up with resources, links and train-the-trainer information

Partner, Work-Life Solutions Thanks for listening! Please leave evaluation slips on your seats We’ll be in touch very soon with links and resources, and information about the train-the- trainer events on November 29th and 30th Alan Bradshaw Partner, Work-Life Solutions alan@work-life-solutions.co.uk www.the-stress-site.net