FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Workplace Stress Costing Public Sector Hundreds of Millions a Year In Absenteeism

July 27, 2007

Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK

Public sector absenteeism is on average 80% higher than in private business. The average time off in the public sector is 9 days a year, with many offices at over 20 days. This is in comparison to the private sector where 6 days off a year is average.

70% of public sector HR managers see that stress is a major issue to their organizations. This problem is particularly acute in the Heath and Social Care sectors where 97% of managers see stress as a major issue. Several issues are highlighted as added to the general stress;

• Volume of workload
• Lack of support from management
• Uncertainty in the organisation structure
• Added job tasks and demands to existing employees
• Changing organisational targets (often coming from the Central Government)

The response from public sector management has not been strong. Only 20% of organizations carried out stress audits in 2006. This was down on the previous year.

Stress is not confined to upper management and the people that make the major decisions. Stress is found at all levels of an organisation and in all aspects of everyday life.

There are ways to help this stress crisis. Third party companies can be brought in to do audits, create action plans, coach new managers, offer conflict management training, team building sessions and wellness programs.

A unique product used in conjunction with a practical stress awareness training programme, is the Stressdot™. It is a simple aid to successfully recognising stress. Placed on the skin the colour change can be checked against the chart on the back of the Stressdot Card™ indicating your current stress level.

This is where www.buyersguide.co.uk helps the UK public sector. There are dozens of companies offering stress release products and training on the Buyers Guide website.

Buyers Guide has been helping private companies get access to government contracts since 1996. With over 5,000 company listings on www.buyersguide.co.uk of specific products and services targeting public sector work, Buyers Guide is an easy solution for helping government buyers find qualified suppliers.

Companies listed on Buyers Guide range from multinationals to sole traders, but all have the goal of working on public sector contracts. These include working with schools, colleges, universities, local councils, ministry of defence, NHS, housing authorities, and government funded non-profit agencies.

The advantage that Buyers Guide offers is that the company “profile” on the www.buyersguide.co.uk website is written to specifically answer the pre-qualification questions from public sector buyers. This usually includes information like; previous work with other government bodies, years in business, industry qualifications or certifications like ISO 9002, testimonials from clients, government awards like investors in people, confirmation of equal opportunity employer status and specific contact details.

The Buyers Guide “profile” system allows government procurement specialists to quickly find companies that have government experience, the pre-qualification standards and a willingness to work with the public sector in one place saving time, effort and ultimately money.

Contact:

Buyers Guide
0191 260 5388
0191 221 2287
www.buyersguide.co.uk

Company History

Buyers Guide, based in Newcastle Upon Tyne, was established in 1996 and is the leading online directory of UK companies that are targeting the £600 billion in public spending each year. To date, there are over 5,000 company listings in 1,200 categories on the www.buyersguide.co.uk website.