You asked staff about stress. What changed?

A timely reminder. An existing responsibility.

In its 31 October announcement for Stress Awareness Week, 2–6 November 2026, HSE urged employers to take practical action on work-related stress. The campaign has finished; the management work continues.

This is not a new legal requirement. HSE’s stress risk assessment guidance explains that employers must assess work-related stress risks and act on the findings. In Great Britain, organisations with five or more workers must write the assessment down.

That makes the quality of the follow-through important. A policy may promise reasonable demands while the team is still absorbing an unfilled vacancy, urgent client requests and three competing deadlines.

“We’re all busy” doesn’t settle the question.

Start with a specific task or pressure. When does the backlog build? Which deadlines clash? Who decides what can wait? Does a manager have the authority to change the plan, or are they simply passing every request downwards?

Consider an office team receiving urgent requests from several managers. Each request may look manageable in isolation. Together, they can leave employees choosing between missed deadlines and regularly working late.

A useful response could be one agreed route for incoming work, a visible priority order and a named manager who resolves conflicts. If available capacity is still insufficient, someone needs to decide whether to reduce demand, adjust deadlines or provide resources. Moving the same overload to another employee does not solve the underlying problem.

Ask the team whether the proposed change will work. People doing the job can often explain why a reasonable-looking solution will fail at the busiest point of the day.

Look beyond the size of the to-do list.

HSE’s Management Standards cover six areas: demands, control, support, relationships, role and change. Workload matters, but unclear responsibilities, poor support or unresolved conflict can also be part of the picture.

For example, a new system may reduce administration eventually while adding pressure during the transition. Plan training time, realistic targets and somewhere to get help. Announcing a launch date is only one part of managing that change.

Keep individual concerns separate from general team reporting where confidentiality requires it. A team-wide improvement can sit alongside a private discussion about one employee’s circumstances. Managers need enough information to act; a shared action tracker does not need personal medical details.

Five decisions to make after the conversation

1. Name the pressure. Replace “staff are stressed” with the specific work issue that needs attention.
2. Choose the change. State what will happen differently: priorities, cover, deadlines, support or responsibilities.
3. Give it an owner. Pick someone with the authority and resources to deliver it.
4. Set the review. Agree a proportionate date and what evidence you will check. Respond sooner where the concern needs urgent attention.
5. Close the loop. Tell staff what changed, what remains unresolved and when they will hear more.

At review, ask whether the change happened and whether it helped. A new rota can be completed on paper while the same people continue covering gaps. Look at the work and speak to the people affected before closing the action.

Does an employee assistance programme cover it?

An employee assistance programme can provide valuable support. It cannot decide which client deadline takes priority or authorise cover for a vacant role. Support for the person and practical changes to the work should complement each other.

A workplace stress assessment examines work factors and controls. It is not a medical diagnosis. Where individual health advice is needed, appropriate healthcare or occupational health input may form part of the wider response.