Stressed staff failing to speak to their manager about problem

Stressed-out employees are refusing to tell their boss about the problem, research has shown.

A poll of more than 1,200 working adults by consultancy Aon found just 30% of staff would approach their manager when feeling stressed. Worried or tired workers would rather tell GPs (53%), friends (51%), family (50%), and even colleagues (34%) before approaching their boss.

Just one in 10 employees would consult employee hotlines and company occupational health experts with stress, despite them being free and confidential, the survey found.

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Alex Bennett, head of healthcare consulting at Aon Consulting, said managers must take a more active role in managing employees’ health. “It is clear that stress is not easily recognised at work, so employers need to do all they can to look for the signs of stress by examining sickness absence data.”

Last week, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development encouraged firms to focus on health and wellbeing at work despite the economic downturn squeezing company costs.