Preventing Stress in Organizations – How to Develop Positive Managers

Preventing Stress in Organizations: How to Develop Positive Managers offers an innovative, evidence-based approach to help managers prevent and reduce workplace stress in their staff. Provides information on the critical skills managers must develop in order to prevent stress in their staff, and the key ongoing behaviours that promote a healthy work environment Shows practitioners in occupational psychology, HR, Health and Safety and related professions how positive management can be integrated into an organizationa s existing practices and processes Serves as an essential guide for managers themselves on how to incorporate proven stress management skills into their everyday interactions with team members Balances rigorous research grounding with real-world vignettes, case studies and exercises

Table of Contents:
1 Introduction. What is Stress? What Stress is Not: Common Misperceptions. Common Causes of Stress. Work-Related Stress and the Line Manager. Summary. References. 2 Why managing stress is important: The business and legal reasons. The Business Case. The Costs of Work-Related Stress. Calculating the Cost of Stress to Your Business. What Should We Be Doing to Monitor these Costs? The Legal Case. Legal Cases of Work-Related Stress. What Should We Be Doing to Comply with Legislation? Summary. References. 3 How to manage work-related stress. Prevention. Training and Development. Support. Organizational, Manager and Team, and Individual Level Interventions. What Should Our Organization Be Doing? Where Does the Line Manager Fit In? Summary. Reference. 4 Developing a framework to promote positive manager behaviour. Rationale: The Need For a Stress Management Approach Focusing on Positive Manager Behaviour. Why We Took a Competency-Based Approach. The Research Underlying the Positive Manager Behaviour Framework and Approach. The Positive Manager Behaviour Framework. Evidence to Support a Positive Manager Behaviour Approach. Useful Resources. References. 5 Respectful and responsible: Managing emotions and having integrity (management competency 1) . Integrity. Managing Emotions. Considerate Approach. Summary. References. 6 Managing and communicating existing and future work (management competency 2). Proactive Work Management. Problem Solving. Participative/Empowering. Summary. References. 7 Managing the individual within the team (management competency 3). Personally Accessible. Sociable. Empathetic Engagement. Summary. References. 8 Reasoning/managing difficult situations (management competency 4). Managing Conflict. Use of Organizational Resources. Taking Responsibility for Resolving Issues. Summary. References. 9 Overcoming barriers to positive manager behaviour. Personal Level Barriers. Individual Work or Job Level Barriers. Team and Relationship Level Barriers. Organizational and Wider Level Barriers. Reference. 10 Supporting managers to change their behaviour. Behaviour Change Is Possible. Theories of Behaviour Change. Implementing Behaviour Change Interventions. References. 11 Is stress management just good management? Comparing Positive Manager Behaviour with General Management/Leadership Competency Frameworks. Implications for Practice. How to Do Your Own Mapping. How to Identify Missing Positive Manager Behaviour Elements. How to Integrate Missing Positive Manager Behaviour Elements. Valuing People Management Skills. References. 12 The way forward. Where are You Now? Starting Out - Understanding Positive Manager Behaviour and How It Might Be Useful. Deciding How to Use Positive Manager Behaviour. Gaining Buy-In. Applying Positive Manager Behaviour. Sustainable Impact. References. Appendix. Index.

About the Author :
Emma Donaldson-Feilder is a Director of Affinity Health at Work and a Chartered Occupational Psychologist. In addition to her roles as researcher and practitioner, working to improve employee well-being and engagement, she is the author of numerous publications, a regular conference presenter, and a media commentator on issues relating to health at work. Rachel Lewis is a Director of Affinity Health at Work, a Chartered Occupational Psychologist and a lecturer in Occupational Psychology at Kingston Business School. She combines her academic career with regular conference speaking, consultancy and training, focusing on the links between leadership, management and employee well-being. Joanna Yarker is a Director of Affinity Health at Work and a Chartered Occupational Psychologist. She has previously held posts at Goldsmiths, University of London and the University of Nottingham. She writes regularly for academic and trade journals, and offers guidance and training to public and private sector organizations focused on improving workplace health.

Review :
"In its way, this is a groundbreaking book since it recognises that, no matter what the policy says, tackling organisational stress has to be implemented by normal, fallible people who happen to be managers - and that they could do with all the help they can get." (RoSPA Occupational Safety & Health Journal, 1 September 2011) "The three authors -- all chartered occupational psychologists -- have used their real-life experience and coupled it with a good understanding of research and theory to create an excellent "How to" book for line managers. I would go so far as to say this is almost an essential read for anybody with line-management responsibility and it also has an important educative role for strategic managers who need to understand exactly the psychological culture that will protect and support their organisation." People Management (July 2011)