We are nearly halfway through April which is Stress Awareness Month.
Having worked in the public sector for 30 years, I am all too familiar with the term “burn out”, having seen so many colleagues hit the wall caused by prolonged stress. I can now reflect on those times and realise that “burn out” was almost promoted as a badge of honor in my workplace, the harder and longer you worked the more was expected. The belief that just doing those extra couple of hours, just picking up that additional work or just taking that extra responsibility somehow proved your worth more was commonplace. A perceived slight raise of the eyebrows or a sigh if you needed to get home on time, had you muttering “it doesn’t matter” and carrying on working.
There is a difference between a strong work ethic and a misguided belief that the harder you work is better for both you and your organisation. Work/Life balance is so important, but treading the fine line needs to be collaborative, I know that whilst others could see how close I was to burn out, I was blissfully ignorant or unable to accept this, so may be it’s luck I’m still relatively fit and not suffering the mental and physical effects of years of stress that some of my colleagues are suffering, maybe I do have some long term effects of stress but remain blissfully ignorant or maybe I left my previous job just in time- who knows
What I do know is that none of us want to be so stressed that it effects every aspect of our lives and that sometimes the stress we face is out of our control, but I also know that there are ways we can ALL help to reduce stress levels a little bit and that’s got to be a good thing.
Nicky
The Hub Manager, Gateway HSW Consultants

At Gateway we are passionate about taking learning from different backgrounds, industries, and work sectors. We believe that Stress Management should be considered at the organizational level and incorporated into the organizations policies, systems and processes to develop the workplace culture where work related stress is prevented.
We can support if you need further help with raising awareness, undertaking stress risk assessments and developing a proactive culture to work related stress.