Piano treatment

Spending a lot of time in hospital recently for family reasons not only reminded me of the incredible work that our doctors and nurses are doing but also some of the incredible people that give up their time to help others.

One such character is a softly spoken 82-year-old Scot who I encountered on one of my many visits. A self-taught pianist who plays by ear, Gerard delights patients and visitors at several London hospitals with his repertoire and provides a welcome distraction to those in need of some therapy.  

What struck me about this humble man of a few words, who has been undergoing treatment for prostate cancer for the past five years, is his passion for the piano - he does what he does because he loves it so much, ever since he first heard those first notes as a six-year-old in primary school.

Passion for piano

I guess there were two reasons for writing about this. The first simply to tell Gerard's story and the good deeds that so many people around us do and above all the generosity with their time, which we all seem to have so little of.

The second point, which I have already mentioned, is the passion for doing something you really enjoy. Watching Gerard play the piano drummed this home - there is no money in the world that can substitute the satisfaction of doing something you truly love. 

There is no better feeling in the world - to use a musical term, 'allegro' or more aptly one that brings 'allegria'.  

Listen to Gerard

What's stressing you out?

+Cary Cooper is one of the UK’s leading authorities on workplace stress and wellbeing. To coincide with World Mental Health Day on 10 October, I sought to tackle some of the lingering issues that affect us all…

Why are we all so stressed out?
CC: A lot of these issues have been compounded by the recession and the brutal departmental cuts in both the private and public sectors. So organisations have become too lean and mean, which has added considerably to each individual’s workload. However, in order to reduce ‘regrettable turnover’ HR departments have had to act to avoid burnout and losing key people by creating healthier work environments. We also have a problem admitting that we are not able to cope with common mental disorders such as depression or stress.

Stress in the workplace…an insurmountable problem? 
CC: It is a problem but we can deal with it. Most businesses are now services based and employ knowledge workers whereas before when the manufacturing sector was going strong muscular skeletal issues were prevalent. Most people now feel job insecure and badly managed and the way we need to deal with it is to try and find out what the problems are. In actual fact, the toll of presenteeism on the economy is actually double that of absenteeism (£16bn vs. £8-9bn). 

How do we solve the problem? 
CC: Do a diagnosis to find out what it is that’s producing all these negative indicators. For example, the problems that a head teacher faces are different to those of a normal teacher. Therefore, organisations need to conduct wellbeing or stress audits, which are filled in anonymously by the employee. Once this is done, you need to take ownership of it and do something about it! In other words, get a group of those workers who share the same issue, it could be women and the glass ceiling, and get them to come up with ideas. It is always people at the coalface who come up with best solutions.

What else should organisations be doing?
CC: They should engage people more and manage by praise and reward, ensuring that employees have a reasonable work-life balance. Don’t give people unmanageable workloads and unreasonable deadlines. But the key protagonist in all of this is the line manager – is he or she capable of managing human beings? If that person is a bully, then you’re up against it; if, on the other hand, they are under significant pressure themselves, you need to find a good time to give him or her feedback. Quite often senior managers are too wrapped up in their own worlds but a good one will always walk the talk and find out what’s going on.

Do you think that mass communication has added to our stress levels?
CC: The problem is that workers can now be contacted 24/7 and we haven’t controlled it any way. Harold Wilson once said that we’d be working 20 hour weeks by the year 2000! In fact, new technology has now become our master and has extended the 40 hour week. Of course, a lot of organisations are encouraging their employees to leave their mobiles turned off, for example at weekends or on holiday.

What’s your advice to ‘stressed out’ workers? 

CC: Firstly, you need to recognise the symptoms, for example you may have difficulty concentrating, you might be feeling anxious, not sleeping well, lost your sense of humour etc. You then need to find out the cause – is it an excessive workload, a bullying boss or are you in the wrong job? You might want to talk to a friend or mentor to help you think it through. Once you’ve identified what the problem is, you can then take control and identify the solutions. Your organisation may well have some form of Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) that can help. You then need to examine the options available to you and see how you can deal with it and do something about it. This might mean talking to HR to see if it’s a training issue for example or whether there might be another job that’s more suitable. Failing that, you might need to look elsewhere. There are also a number of resources out there, including relaxation/meditation techniques, which can also help.  

Employers in several European countries (Austria, Denmark and the Netherlands) are legally obliged to carry out workplace stress assessments. Germany is considering an anti-stress act. Should we follow suit in the UK?
CC: Some sectors, such as finance, are doing a great job and many companies are carrying out annual stress and wellbeing audits as they don’t want to lose key people post-recession. They are therefore looking at ways to reduce stress levels and retain key staff. Typically, the responsibility for this would fall with HR or occupational health. Remember, if an organisation doesn’t take action they could be legally liable as a result of their duty of care under Health & Safety.

Worker wellbeing in six steps

Professor Cary Cooper CBE is Distinguished Professor of Organisational Psychology and Health at Lancaster University Management School.  He has written over 150 books on a range of topics, including stress and wellbeing at work. You can follow Cary on Twitter @ProfCaryCooper.