Employee toolkit
What to do if you feel you are suffering from stress at work
Understanding stress
Feeling stressed can affect how we think, feel and behave. Anyone can suffer from work-related stress, no matter what work they do. The earlier that it is recognised and addressed, the easier it is to deal with. Below are some suggestions to follow to seek help with the difficulties you are facing.
Some tips for discussing stress with your manager
You should explore whether work has contributed to you feeling stressed. It may be beneficial to use the Talking Tool Kit to identify the causes of stress.
This toolkit is designed to help line managers hold initial conversations with employees as part of an employer’s journey towards preventing and controlling work-related stress.
The toolkit has six templates for six different conversations around the Stress management Standards the six primary sources of stress at work.
Some considerations
Considering what particular aspects of the job may be causing you stress or making you feel anxious is useful. You may have some practical suggestions about what can be done about these. Think about how you would like your work to be monitored and at what frequency. What goals are realistic in the circumstances?
The causes of stress can be different for us all and it will be helpful to stay focussed on what you are experiencing.
Try to have an open and honest discussion about the stress you may be experiencing.
Other sources of support
You may feel unable to talk to your line manager about how you are feeling and you may find it useful to talk to a friend/colleague or independent person who could provide alternative support in some way. You might also find it helpful to talk things through with your GP.
There are forms of support available in the University including volunteers from the Wellbeing Peer Support Network. There are also volunteers available from the Harassment Peer Support Network.
Resources available for Employees
Employee Assistance Programme
CIC the University of Reading Employee Assistance Programme provides help 24 hours per day.
All University employees also have access to the ELE Digital Wellbeing Platform
Wellness Action Plan
These are a plan that can help you understand what keeps you mentally healthy in work, what causes us to become unwell, and how to address a mental health problem at work should you be experiencing one. These do not have to be shared but you may choose to share parts of it with your manager.
Mind (the mental health charity), has put together the following action plans:
- Wellness action plan for hybrid working
- Wellness action plan for remote working
- Wellness action plan for the workplace
Occupational Health
Occupational Health looks at the impact of work on health and vice versa and this can include assessing the impact of workplace stress on an employee and advising on any adjustments.
Your manager may decide to refer you to Occupational Health (Self referrals are not accepted) if you are experiencing workplace stress but may not always be necessary.
The following may be useful to consider:
Are any of the following out of balance?
- Demands (is your workload unmanageable, has your work pattern changed)
- Control (how much say do you have about how you do your work)
- Support (how are you supported at work)
- Relationships(are relationships at work strained, is there any conflict at work)
- Role (Do you understand your role in the organisation)
- Change (is organisational or local change a cause for concern)
Wellbeing Peer Support Network
Wellbeing Peer Support is a network of trained University staff who volunteer to be a first point of contact if you are experiencing a mental health issue, poor wellbeing or emotional distress.
UORLearn
Learning resources around stress management can be accessed and these are short courses to raise awareness about managing your stress