Relationships at Work

The quality of relationships between staff at all levels has a direct influence on well being and work related stress.

This includes promoting positive working practices to avoid conflict and dealing with unacceptable behaviour such as workplace bullying or abuses of power.

There are, of course, some relationships which might be deemed inappropriate in the workplace and these can also be problematic for those involved as well as the wider workforce, particularly if those involved hold positions of power within the organisation.

However, this page highlights the management of normal non-intimate relationships found in any workplace organisation.

The HSE standard is that:

Employees indicate that they are not subjected to unacceptable behaviours, e.g. bullying at work and systems are in place locally to respond to any individual concerns.

Relationships Standards are Met When:

• The organisation promotes positive behaviours at work to avoid conflict and ensure fairness.
• Employees share information relevant to their work.
• The organisation has agreed policies and procedures to prevent or resolve unacceptable behaviour.
• Systems are in place to enable and encourage managers to deal with unacceptable behaviour.
• Systems are in place to enable and encourage employees to report unacceptable behaviour such as whistle-blowing policies.

Solving Work Related Stress

Work related stress tends to be dealt with in one of two principal ways;

• Employers who provide support after the employee has become too stressed to attend work (crisis management), and
• Employers who provide training and support before employees become too stressed (mental health prevention).

Although the second option is clearly the best solution, many employers fail to recognise the advantages of preventative, proactive support and tend to offer support (if at all) only once the employee has become absent from work.

Research into the cost v benefits of providing preventative support shows unequivocally that the costs associated with employees who are absent are significantly greater than the costs of proactive training.

Resilience Training

Lee Psychology have been delivering Resilience Training sessions to the NHS Integrated Care Boards (Sandwell & West Birmingham, The Black Country and Birminham & Solihull ICBs) since 2018.

Our training programmes are based on scientifically proven CBT pronciples and can be delivered as both group training seminars (half and full-days) as well as one-to-one personalised programmes (face-to-face or remotely using Zoom).

CBT Support

If you have employees who are struggling with work related stress (for whatever reason) we are also able to provide support using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.

Our 10 session CBT course is available in the following formats:

• Self-directed Online course over 10 modules.
• Clinically supported CBT course using our Online course with either 2, 5 or 10 face-to-face sessions (in-clinic or suing Zoom).

If you’d like to find out more about how we can support you and your organisation, then get in touch with Paul.

Business Psychology Support Services

If you’re looking to support your staff with their mental wellness, resilience or general wellbeing, then why not get in touch with Paul to find out more about how we can help.