soloplus Lifeboat Stress Surveys

Our stress surveys will tell you how your staff are dealing with the stressors of their daily working lives. Taking the pulse of the organisation in this way is a reliable first step towards improving morale and efficiency. It will also provide the information you need to prepare for the new HSE guidelines on stress in the workplace, and for monitoring the success of the measures put in place to combat stress.

How it works

Stress surveys are individually designed to suit the needs of the client. We would discuss, for example:

.         The purpose of the survey

.         How the information will be used

.         Data collection methods:

.         Face to face interviews

.         On-line survey

.         Email survey

.         Postal survey

Surveys are generally carried out through face-to-face interviews by department, team or section. We aim to speak to 20% of the workforce in groups of 5 – 15 people for an hour to an hour and a half. We use a prepared list of questions plus a clinical model of enquiry (clean questioning) in order to avoid unduly influencing the responses.

The option of supporting this with online, email or postal questionnaire may also be useful, though not necessary. The aim is to provide a snapshot of staff views at a given date. The information gathered covers stress factors at work and staff responses to it: In particular we look for:

.         Operational stress factors

.         Organisational stress factors

.         Departmental 'Hot spots'

.         The incidence of bullying or harassment

.         Views on the working environment

.         Other significant patterns of response

Staff are told that the interviews are confidential and that statistical data and comments will be included in the final report and that individual anonymity will be protected.

 

 

 

The Report

Our final report covers the main areas recommended by the HSE relating to perceived levels of:

.         Demands made on staff

.         The control they have over their job

.         The level of support they think they have

.         Satisfaction with relationships at work

.         Understanding of their own roles and those of others

.         Uncertainty and the demands of change

These points comply with the current HSE recommendations for moving towards the management standards currently being developed. The report also includes recommendations and suggestions for benchmarking and monitoring stress in the organisation. A special section deals with staff training and personal development needs in order to ensure that individuals and the organisation are equipped to respond with resilience to the demands placed upon them. The final report is delivered as spiral bound hard copy (six copies). We will make a presentation of the main findings, supported by PowerPoint presentation, and answer questions in more detail.