There are two broad approaches to managing work-related stress. Organisational interventions aim to change working arrangements to reduce or remove sources of stress, or to lessen their impact; examples include increasing staffing to address high workload or providing specialist training for those whose work involves contact with members of the public. Individual interventions seek to strengthen individuals’ general resilience to stress or to develop their coping skills; one example is healthier lifestyle schemes that promote exercise and good diet. Individual interventions also include measures to support workers experiencing stress-related ill-health, such as counselling and return-to-work programmes.
It is often assumed that organisational interventions are more effective than individual interventions because they address the sources of work stress, with a focus on prevention rather than cure. In addition, individual interventions could be viewed as treating wellbeing at work as a personal rather than an organisational responsibility. There is research evidence from the human healthcare sector to support the effectiveness of organisational approaches to wellbeing at work⁴ . However, individual interventions also have an important role to play given that some sources of work stress cannot be eradicated, for example working with demanding animal owners, as well as evidence that individual interventions can benefit wellbeing⁵.
Some evidence-based – and accessible – individual approaches to managing stress are outlined below. Adopting just one or two of these that appeal to you can make a difference to your psychological wellbeing.
Organisational stress management interventions aim to change working arrangements or practices to reduce or remove sources of stress at work, or to lessen their impact on workers. To be effective, organisational interventions need to be tailored to the work setting. This means identifying potential sources of stress in your workplace, who they might affect, and deciding which approaches to targeting stress are most appropriate for your work setting.
With reference to the six categories of work stressors described earlier, some examples of organisational approaches to managing stress are outlined below.
