Creativity misses the point

By ASHLEY CAMPBELL

Mention the word "stress" among a group of employers and watch the reaction.

If the stories we're reading are even a pale reflection of reality, that reaction will be tense at best, irrational at worst.

Just this week, for example, we learned that Parliamentary workers will be offered Maori prayer sessions to help them cope with stress.

"You've got to be creative with people under stress," said Parliamentary Services Maori cultural services kaiwhakahaere (co-ordinator) Oketopa Kuni Shepherd, in an attempt at explanation.

British companies are equally creative preparing for a new Health and Safety Executive code, which will set the basis for legal action against organisations that ignore workplace stress.

Media company Manning Gottlieb, for example, has set up drums in the boardroom and invites its staff to workshops where they can rid themselves of tension by shouting, stamping and drumming.

Now, I have nothing against prayers or the Maori language, and I've always fancied the idea of bashing a drum set to see how much noise I can make, but what on earth is going on when, rather than attacking avoidable stress at source, some employers feel they must get "creative" at the bottom of the cliff instead?

Call me naive, but I've always thought preventing avoidable stress might just be good for productivity and therefore business.

Of course, there are many employers who do think this way - as entries to annual events such as the EEO Trust Work and Life awards show. But others seem to miss the point.

It's not as if such "creative" measures will protect employers worried about this year's amendments to the Health and Safety in Employment Act, as lawyer Andrew Scott-Howman pointed out in last month's Career story on screening stress-prone individuals.

"This new [corporate wellness] industry is based on the mistaken belief that employers will comply with obligations by attempting to teach staff how to cope with stress in the workplace," he said.

"The real obligation is ... to eliminate or minimise the chance of an employee suffering harm from stress."

And it's not as if there's a dearth of advice on how to do that - open any business paper or magazine and you'll read basic tips in stress minimisation 101.

Take last month's story: psychologist Leanne Markus pointed out that by matching people's abilities, personalities and preferences to the job - in other words, spending time, effort and probably money on hiring the right person rather than just the easiest or cheapest person - employers could minimise the stress of employees being in jobs they're not suited to. (They'll probably get better work out of them, as well.)

And industrial psychologist Stewart Forsyth pointed out that eliminating role ambiguity - giving workers clear instructions about what was expected of them - would rid the workplace of major sources of stress.

While researching this week's story on what makes a good boss, I unearthed some examples of poor communication that undoubtedly caused avoidable workplace stress.

Robyn Walshe, who takes workshops in interpersonal communication and assertiveness training, related the story of the head of a "significant national financial organisation" who "turned his back on his staff as they gave a report or attempted to have a one-on-one meeting with him".

No doubt that boss is now devoting time and energy to worrying about the implications of this year's legislation. He could try a course on interpersonal communication and see if that works.

The Health and Safety in Employment Act states employers must take "all practicable steps" to manage hazards so they do not cause mental or physical harm to employees.

It would certainly be an interesting court case where an employer tried to argue they'd taken "all practicable steps" to avoid causing mental harm by providing prayer and drumming sessions.

They'd probably get a lot further if they could prove they'd matched the person to the job, given clear instructions and communicated effectively.

Health and Safety in Employment Act

Healthy Work: Managing Stress in the Workplace