Released last week, the Health & Safety Executive's (HSE) management standards are designed to help employers gauge stress levels, identify causes and work with employees to resolve any difficulties.

Under the new standards, which are now open to consultation for three-months, employees will be asked to rate their satisfaction levels for six key work-related stress categories - demands, control, support, relationships, role and change. For each category, the employer must achieve a specified organisation-wide staff satisfaction percentage.

It is these HSE percentages - ranging from 65 per cent to 85 per cent - which are the concern.

Ben Willmott, employee relations adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, said he would prefer continuous improvement targets that were achievable and applied on a case-by-case basis.
"It could be quite disillusioning for companies if they have to reach the perceived 'utopia' of 85 per cent," he said.

However, Lesley Cooper, consultant at healthcare company IHC, said the percentage thresholds for some of the categories were too low. And Petra Cook, head of policy at the Chartered Management Institute, said the role of managers in identifying and responding to symptoms of stress was crucial. "It's down to line managers to be responsive and communicate with their teams properly," Cook said.

Barry Winbolt, head of clinical practice and training at healthcare consultancy PPC, urged HR to be more aggressive in marketing the idea of stress management to the board.

Hilary Isham, director of personnel and training at the Shaw Trust, admitted that while HR could do more, stress was often not top of the list of priorities.

By PersonnelToday.com

To have your say on the new standards, visit the HSE website: www.hse.gov.uk