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A new guidance called ‘Line Management Behaviour and Stress at Work’ has been unveiled today with the aim of highlighting the essential skills that managers need to develop for managing stress at the workplace in a more effective manner.

This guidance is a joint venture of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), Investors in People (IIP), and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). It is based on the findings of a comprehensive four-year survey on stress management in which hundreds of managers and workers were interviewed, as well as a study across 17 organisations on how manager training can greatly contribute towards tackling on-the-job stress.

The guidance considers managerial behaviour under four areas of competency:

1. How to allocate and communicate tasks;

2. How to manage crises;

3. How to manage a particular team member; and

4. How to have better control over emotions and act with integrity.

Several serious disorders like anxiety, depression, back pain and heart disease are the consequences of prolonged periods of stress, says Ben Willmott, Senior Public Policy Adviser at the CIPD. He adds that unless a concerted effort is made to resolve the issue, it could easily spiral out of control.

The UK’s workplaces have seen a steady deterioration in the mental health of employees since 1990, and stress is now the second biggest reason behind the fall in employee attendance. The situation is going to get worse in the next few years in light of the present recession, predicts WHO. A majority of the 3,000 employees surveyed by CIPD last month have reported an increase in stress at work as a result of the recession.

Employers need to keep themselves up to date with HR and personnel developments to enhance the working capability of employers by taking accredited CIPD training such as the Certificate in employment relations law and practice courses available from the experts at Workplace Law Training.

While speaking about the results of the research and guidance, Mr. Willmott emphasized on the need for manager training in stress management competencies something that could play a major role in reducing conflict and staff attrition, as well as in increasing drive and commitment to work.