QUESTIONNARIE

1.When forced to work overtime, how do you deal with it? A: I start working on the things that need to be done. B: I think first, and then I take my time doing what I need to do. C: Get annoyed and bored with work. 2. If you suddenly find yourself in debt, you A: Try to settle all your financial problems as soon as you can manage. B: Assess the situation and gradually recover from your financial losses. C: Brood over the problem.

3. If you were asked to describe your life in one word, it would be? A: Progressive. B: Stable. C: Difficult. 4. When you encounter a problem, you A: Take it as a challenge. B: Think about what necessary steps to take to deal with it. C: Blame others for the problem.

5. If a person you are waiting for is late, you? A: Find something to distract myself with while waiting. B: Read a good book or take in the sights and relax. C: Get annoyed and angry.

6. When you're given more work than you can deal with, you? A: Redouble your efforts in order to make ends meet. B: Trace a course of action and slowly but surely adapt to the pressure. C: Complain about it.

7. During a vacation you? A: Go everywhere I can go to. B: Relax. C: Find it difficult to relax.

8. You find work? A: Engaging. B: Amusing. C: Difficult.

9. You feel like you're? A: Ready to tackle anything that comes my way. B: Calm and open-minded. C: Not able to make things go my way.

10. When something forces you to change your lifestyle, you? A: Accept the changes. B: Learn how to deal with the changes. C: Complain about it.

11. If you are a student, why do you feel stressed out? a) Excessive coursework b) Examinations c) Peer pressure d) Relationships e) Problems at home f) Others

If most of your answers are "A," it means that you're a very active and reliable person. You address problems by either dealing with them directly instead of letting things resolve themselves. It's most likely that your stress coping mechanism is turning stress into positive stress (eustress) which allows you to benefit from it while dealing with it at the same time. You usually achieve this by distracting yourself with a hobby or resorting to some form of exercise. The combination of your sound mind and healthy body will enable you to withstand a good degree of stress.

If the majority of your choices end up as "B" you're most likely a very relaxed, laid-back and logical individual. You take your time with things, minimizing the chances of error on your part. It is also this very methodological approach to things that allow you to root out most problems before they even become problems. Chances are you rarely deal with problems, and when you do, it doesn't affect you as much as it normally should, and you perform as though nothing happened. The only drawback to all these traits is you are prone to becoming too passive. You run the risk of overlooking problems or giving yourself too long a time to deal with things and thus you may find yourself facing a problem that you could have nipped at the bud.

Mostly "C" answers would reflect your relatively poor coping mechanisms. You're probably irritable and always want things to go your way, which is never the case in life. You become frustrated because of this and you end up putting unnecessary tension on yourself. Your nature could also be attributed to some life-changing event that may have happened recently. It might be advisable to seek professional help and start changing the way you see problems when they come. It would also be a good idea to start getting into shape, as a physically healthy person will receive stress much more favorably than one in poor health.

QVC - stress case study

Who are they?

QVC is one of the worlds largest multimedia retailers, reaching 166 million homes across the globe and employing more than 17,000 people across the USA, Germany, Japan, Italy and the UK. A workforce of more than 2,000 are involved in the 24 hours a day operation, in the Head Office and Broadcast Centre in Battersea, London, and Customer Operations Centre in Knowsley, Merseyside. Why we decided to tackle stress at work One of QVCs vision statements relates to Creating a Great Place to Work for our people. This vision ensures we stay focused in all areas of our employees experiences at work, including their health, safety and wellbeing. Our focus when reviewing our approach to managing stress/pressure has been the employee experience (Employee Engagement) at work. Our key aim is to equip managers with the tools to recognise potential signs of stress and to prevent it. We were also keen to ensure that managers understood why we placed such great emphasis on employee wellbeing. The number of stress cases was not a key driver for us. Stress cases do exist, but we felt that a programme that inspired leaders to focus on the wellbeing of their people would lead to greater levels of engagement. How we did it We began by securing senior management commitment, as this is central to the Management Standards process. We briefed the senior management team to ensure they understood the need for and the benefits of the initiative. As the HR and Health and Safety function worked together the senior team understood the legal obligations as well as the health and well being approach we were taking. We decided that the traditional risk assessment route was not right for us but we have retained the five key elements of a risk assessment process:

1. Identify the risk factors: We worked with a third party consultant to set up and facilitate workshops and an awareness-raising programme for leaders. The workshop called Managing Pressure A Health and Wellbeing Approach involved raising awareness of the Standards and their relationship to every day management procedures, as well as explaining the difference between pressure and stress and exploring how nutrition and diet can affect mood and energy. 2. Who can be harmed and how: We have several methods of collecting data. They include traditional data gathering of sickness absence information, using our employee survey to understand where issues exist. Our staff survey operates every 18 months, and we select the questions that align with the Standards when reviewing the risk of work-related stress. We also have an active HR team that monitors its client areas and feeds back centrally on team behaviour and morale. This combination of methods allows us to understand the risks. 3. Evaluate the risks: QVC is a non-unionised organisation, so leaders work closely and meet regularly with employee representatives to discuss emerging issues. We also work very closely with employees following the results of the employee survey and weve established focus groups with representatives from around the business to move the results into appropriate actions. 4. Record your findings develop and implement action plans: We continually review and use the information gathered from sickness absence meetings, employee survey results, employee forum groups and HR teams to develop responses and proactive programmes to support our people. We work with our forum representatives and management groups across the business to develop solutions such as: o Working with local financial organisations and relationship counsellors to provide services within QVC. o We are currently in the process of enhancing and improving our Occupational Health service. Part of this includes developing further the links between our HR and Health and Safety teams. o We have rolled out our Managing Pressure sessions to our management groups and intend to design and roll out a tailored Managing Pressure programme to employees. o Performance management system: we have redesigned our appraisal documentation to encourage discussion about the managers style/behaviour. Scores from the employee survey, which link to our employee experiences, are now included with the appraisal form and assessed as part of a leaders overall performance.

Communication is essential: We work with our internal communications team, our employee forums and our management team and use our employee survey to ensure everyone has a voice. 5. Monitor and Review: o Appraisal system for leaders to help assess levels of engagement with employees o Regular monitoring and review of staff survey results. o Monitoring of issues discussed at QVC employee forums o Monitoring of key employee relations issues o Monitoring of feedback received on our Culture development programme Challenges
o

At first, some people were sceptical about tackling work-related stress. However, HSEs Management Standards give leaders a practical set of guidelines to relate to: these help with de-mystifying stress by linking it with every day activities. We were also very clear about the difference between pressure and stress and the workshop format makes clear links to managing our own health and wellbeing as well as supporting others. Impact The biggest impact we believe this programme has had is an increased awareness of stress among line managers. Their feedback on the programme highlights that they feel more equipped to notice potential signs of stress and more confident about what action to take should they suspect a case of stress. The HR department has reported an increase in proactive discussions between managers and employees about potential stress cases. This also led to more referrals to occupational health before an absence. We have been able to support employees whilst in work and provide upfront support. Since the programme was delivered to our leaders in January 2009 we have seen a decrease of year on year sickness absence figures at our Knowsley Operation from 5.31% in 2008 and ending the year of 2009 at 4.96%. We have also experienced a 20% decrease of the average number of employees on long term absence between 2008 / 09. A recent survey of employees indicated that more than 40% believed that the Health & Wellbeing programme has had a positive impact on their life outside of QVC. More than 50% believe it has had a positive impact upon their work life

balance and 70% indicated that it has had a positive influence upon their health awareness. A note from the third party training provider Denise Chilton QVC selected health and wellbeing specialist and member of the International Stress Management Association, Denise Chilton to design and deliver a one-day training workshop for its leaders. The focus of the workshop was managing pressure, explaining its importance, its various effects on individuals and how it differs from stress. Leaders learn more about the early warning signs that show when people are stressed. It also looks at how QVCs approach fits within the health and safety requirements described in the Management Standards.