Stress Management

Managing Stress in the workplace

Our objective: "To Help You banish Stress from the Workplace and let it become a Thing Of The Past"

Stress within YOUR workforce can damage YOUR business

Numerous studies have shown that excess emotional stress has a significant negative impact on our bodies and our minds. Physically, as part of the "Fight or Flight" response, stress hormones such as Cortisol and Adrenaline are pumped into our bloodstream during times of distress. To our dismay, our minds react to the threat of missing a deadline or having a troubled relationship, in the same way that it would react to an impending attack from a hungry lion.

The problem lies in the fact that these stress hormones are designed to give our bodies quick energy to run to safe ground and are not supposed to stay in our bloodstream for too long. By running away from danger, the physical exercise itself would be enough to help us get rid of these hormones. But, if we are stressed every day and do not exercise regularly, these hormones accumulate and become toxic. This can lead to weight gain, heart problems, headaches, heartburn and a series of other physical symptoms.

Let us show you how to turn Stress into Success!

Be it for your company or for yourself, we can show you how to use your mind to manage stress, achieve more and feel totally fulfilled.

Our cutting edge mind-body techniques borrowed from Applied Psychology, Neuro Linguistic Programming, Hypnosis, Life Coaching, Meditation, Tai Chi, and Creative Visualization will help you focus on your goals and actually use stress as a motivating tool for your success!

We have a very effective solution for managing stress!Because stress affects our mind and body, it affects how well we perform in any area of our lives!

Fortunately, we're here to help! We know how stress works and can teach you how to manage it mentally. Usually we get stressed when we do not get what we want. By pinpointing exactly what we do want and what self-imposed limitations are holding us back, we can deal with the source of our stress and take control instead of letting stress control us. We'll walk you through a simple step by step process for mastering the power of your mind. You will feel relaxed and more focused than ever so that you can achieve what you want and actually enjoy the process.

People are the single most important asset any business has, and is the largest investment a company will make. Companies investing vast sums of money on equipment also invest in the maintenance of that equipment to ensure trouble-free productive service. But how many companies overlook investment in the maintenance of their staff?s well-being? Recent legislation has made it the employers responsibility to ensure their employees do not become ill due to work and to help them deal with pressures that can create ill health.

Companies have a 'duty of care' under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 to ensure people are not made ill by their jobs. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has made clear this covers stress-related illness. Employers also have a responsibility under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1992 to assess risk to staff health and take reasonable steps to prevent harm. Again, the HSE has stipulated this covers stress.

Stress costs the UK 7 million working days ? how much is it costing your business?

The cost to Britain?s economy is estimated at approximately 7 million working days lost per year at a cost of approximately ?4 billion (1995/96 prices) (source: Health & Safety Executive).

What are the signs of stress?

The symptoms of stress are many and varied, such as:

• irritability
• headaches
• illness (particularly at weekends or during holidays)
• insomnia
• tiredness/lethargy

and many more....

Sometimes, you can be experiencing stress but your mind and body are so good at hiding it from you that you are unaware of it. In such cases the symptoms might be more subtle and therefore difficult to recognise, such as:

• working endlessly without tiring
• having little feeling or emotion (except the occasional outburst of anger)
• increased use of alcohol, caffeine,
• cigarettes or other drugs (which may suppress feelings of stress)
• behaviour that is 'out of character'
• an inability to relax

• stomach ulcers
• heart problems
• minor illness (allergies, skin disorders, migraine)
• serious illness (eg: arthritis, cancer, diabetes)
• mental problems (eg: depression)

There may be cultural or social pressure to 'be strong'. Perhaps the employment culture is such that to acknowledge that you are under stress is interpreted as a sign of weakness and could be damaging to your career prospects. If this is the case, you may be tempted to suppress your feelings of stress - which leads to a strategy of stress denial rather than stress management.

The impact of excessive stress on teamwork is also harmful, and it can damage:

• individual work performance
• team performance
• working relationships
• cooperation between team members
• team spirit

The more effort team members have to expend in managing their own stress, the less they have to contribute to teamwork and mutual support.

Your Solution

The Mind Works has developed a method of change that works long term. There are many programs available in the marketplace offering stress management and general well being for employees. However, these sometimes result in a temporary fix and the positive effects occasionally last only as long as the workshop itself.

The Mind Works program is a revolutionary approach to combating stress and increasing productivity. This is not a 'quick fix'. These methods have been created by taking the best tools and techniques from a range of 'life strategies' including NLP, Hypnosis, Tai Chi, 3D Mind, creative visualisation and of course personnel experience.

A program for sustained success we offer a personalised approach to training for any size company by designing a tailor-made program that suits your needs. Our team of Executive Specialists will help you identify areas where The Mind Works can help your company achieve success using our techniques. Whether the focus is stress management, increasing productivity or a general focus on stopping people smoking, our programs can be specifically formulated to meet your aims and objectives.

Our goal is to help your company maintain SUSTAINED success. When individuals begin to feel the immediate effects of The Mind Works rogram, the enthusiasm and willingness to participate in your goal of relieving stress and increasing productivity in the workplace will permeate throughout the entire organisation. Your company can measure the success of the program by the increase in productivity, a noticeable reduction in absentee-ism and greater company loyalty.

The Mind Works has developed a system so that you can begin to realize the following benefits -.

• Reduced Absenteeism
• Less pressure on other personnel
• Savings on temporary staff
• Increased productivity
• Lower Staff Turnover
• Reduced staff training costs
• Increased skill levels
• Increased Morale
• Eliminates industrial action/staff unrest
• Happy Employees
• Greater company loyalty
• Increased enthusiasm
• A happy work environment

Insurance companies are becoming increasingly concerned by the escalating sums being awarded to individuals for stress-related illness reated through work. Insurers need convincing that companies are taking active steps to eliminate work-related stress. Any company seen not to be taking dequate measures to protect its workforce will be penalised with higher liability and health insurance premiums.

The mind works provides the necessary protection to make your company a 'good risk' for insurers.

QUOTES FROM THE PRESS

Guardian - Office Hours - Claire Phipps (30/10'00)

"...Bosses who think that there's no problem with stress in their firm should be aware that their employees are consummate liars. When questioned by mental health charity Mind about absences from work caused by stress, 27% of workers admitted that they would rather fabricate a purely physical reason for taking time off than tell their boss that they were suffering from stress"....

Evening Std 18 September 2000

"It's a fact, people who experience regular stress at work are five times more likely to fall sick than those who don't and its costing UK industries dearly. Recent figures released by the Health and Safety Executive suggest that of 67 million working days lost each year 60 percent of these are stress related"

Here's Health - December 2000 A Pain in the Wrist

"Workers who are stressed are more likely to experience repetitive strain injury (RSI) according to the latest research reported in the British Medical Journal.

The Guardian, 17/01/2000 Stress the big risk to business

A survey of the UK?s leading risk managers has predicted that stress is likely to become the most dangerous emerging risk to business in the early part of the twenty-first century. Following the recent ?210,000 payout to the warden of a mobile-home site, the Association of Insurance and Risk Managers reckons that employee stress is the single main emerging risk for UK organisations and the third most important facing society as a whole after genetically modified organisms and e-commerce.

Metro, 09/10/2000 Firms fighting tide of stress

Stress counselling at work has trebled in nine years with more than half of all companies now providing it, a survey out today shows. More firms are also offering benefits such as childcare facilities, sabbatical leave and working from home to help staff cope better with the strain of modern living. With fewer jobs for life around, counselling to employees who lose their post has more than doubled from 36 per cent in 1990 to 77 per cent. A spokesperson for the consultants who carried out the survey of 136 firms said, "Technological advances such as the internet and email have placed employees under far greater pressure. Stress levels are building and the balance between work and home life must be actively managed. Employers are now taking positive action to make it easier for staff to do their jobs."

The Times, 26/05/2000 Workplace stress 'as bad as smoking'

A study of the effect of strain on 21,290 women nurses in America by the Harvard Centre for Society and Health has found that women in stressful jobs are about a fifth more likely to suffer from bad health than those in an undemanding job. Previous studies have shown that stress increases chances of a heart attack, but the new research found that women with stressful jobs were as likely to suffer illnesses as those who smoked or did no exercise.