{"id":241203,"date":"2025-10-26T11:02:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T11:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/241203\/"},"modified":"2025-10-26T11:02:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T11:02:10","slug":"stressed-workforce-take-them-for-a-walk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/241203\/","title":{"rendered":"Stressed workforce? Take them for a walk"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are you the manager of an overwhelmed workforce suffering from \u201cburnout\u201d? Are you struggling to find ways of alleviating the stress of your employees?<\/p>\n

Well, Britain\u2019s influential HR trade body may have the solution you\u2019ve been looking for: a team walk at lunchtime.<\/p>\n

The suggestion is included in new guidance issued by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) to 160,000 members, HR professionals who work in Britain\u2019s biggest businesses.<\/p>\n

The CIPD\u2019s \u201cmanaging stress at work\u201d guide also warns bosses of the dangers of \u201cpresenteeism\u201d, \u201cworking excessive hours\u201d and \u201cemailing employees outside working hours\u201d.<\/p>\n

In addition to recommending lunch-hour strolls and fresh air, the CIPD said leaders should promote \u201cself-care and healthy habits\u201d, including \u201crelaxation techniques like yoga and mindfulness\u201d. <\/p>\n

The guide was issued after research from the CIPD and Simplyhealth found that UK employees took an average of 9.4 sick days last year<\/a>, up from 5.8 in 2022. It identified mental ill health as the top cause of long-term absence. <\/p>\n

Their survey found that 57 per cent of organisations now have a \u201cwellbeing strategy\u201d, up from 44 per cent in 2020, and found that such policies can reduce sickness absence and improve employee performance.<\/p>\n

In spite of this context, the CIPD\u2019s guidance is likely to draw ire from critics of the trade body, which has been accused of embracing policies that prioritise employee wellbeing over company performance. <\/p>\n

The organisation has been forced to defend itself against accusations it prioritises \u201cwoke\u201d causes, including those related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), over improving workforce productivity.<\/p>\n

\"Tanya<\/p>\n

Tanya de Grunwald, host of the This Isn\u2019t Working employment podcast, said the CIPD has \u201cdrifted away from its core purpose of serving its members and declares its purpose is to \u2018champion better work, and working lives\u2019\u201d. She believes that \u201cstandards have collapsed across HR\u201d in recent years.<\/p>\n

David D\u2019Souza, director of profession at the CIPD, said of the stress guidance: \u201cThe UK economy loses billions each year to stress-related absence and presenteeism, but when employees feel valued and supported, they perform better, stay longer, and often need less time off to manage health needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

How to avoid burnout in employees<\/p>\n

The CIPD stress guide advises line managers on how to spot signs of \u201cburnout\u201d<\/a>, which it defines as \u201ca state of emotional, physical or mental exhaustion that is caused by experiencing prolonged stress\u201d.<\/p>\n

It warns that poor management is a \u201cleading cause of stress in the workplace\u201d. Tips for good management include \u201cshowing genuine care, compassion and kindness to team members\u201d and listening to concerns, especially from staff who are working from home and so \u201cmay potentially feel disconnected\u201d.<\/p>\n

The guide warns bosses to be aware of employees\u2019 \u201cpersonal triggers for stress\u201d and suggests \u201chealth and wellbeing\u201d be put on the agenda of every team meeting.<\/p>\n

The CIPD recommends that bosses \u201clead by example\u201d, taking care of their own wellbeing, including by taking regular lunch breaks, using their full annual leave entitlement and making sure not to \u201cstruggle in to work\u201d when ill in the name of \u201cpresenteeism\u201d. They should also avoid \u201cexcessive hours\u201d, checking in when on holiday and emailing employees outside of office hours. <\/p>\n

If an email is sent out of working hours, leaders are advised to consider an email signature that states: \u201cI work flexibly. If I\u2019m sending this email outside of regular hours, it\u2019s because it suits my work pattern just now and, importantly, I don\u2019t expect you to read, respond or action it outside of your regular hours.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Are you the manager of an overwhelmed workforce suffering from \u201cburnout\u201d? Are you struggling to find ways of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":241204,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[49,48,84,393,394],"class_list":{"0":"post-241203","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-mental-health","12":"tag-mentalhealth"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241203\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}