Employee Benefits for the Employer’s Benefit: How Companies Respond to Employee Stress Available to Purchase

Reports on the findings of a research study into organizational responses to employee stress, funded by the Universities Funding Council: 30 interviews, including three pilot interviews, were conducted with personnel representatives of companies in the West Midlands region in Spring 1991. Stress was understood to be an individual problem by the managers in the sample, rooted in “personality”. In a series of stress‐related case profiles presented to interviewees, problems with physical rather than psychological symptoms were considered to be more deserving of sympathy, assistance, etc. Efforts to deal with stress‐related problems took up considerable employee and management time. Despite goodwill they were not usually informed by knowledge or skill; training was rare. Overall, none of the companies was found to have comprehensive policies or practices to deal with stress. Considers differences in approach through the identification of“styles”.