“Simple. By creating a positive working environment in which everyone is openly valued and their contribution is acknowledged and rewarded. Stress will always exist, especially in such a dynamic sector as recruitment. The key is to ensure that it is contained at a healthy level and is channelled positively. Hard work is essential but many recruitment agencies make the mistake of thinking there is a direct link between high levels of stress and success. No amount of team building days and plants around the office will help if the management style and ethos isn’t right. Happy, motivated teams are created from the top-down, not the other way around.”


ADRIAN HITCHENOR
CHIEF EXECUTIVE, HITCHENOR WAKEFORD

“With all our recruitment managers based on-site at clients, their stress is slightly different to an agency environment. Most stress is generated by the client wanting something immediately. My advice is to make sure you know your facts at all times — vacancy numbers, cost and time metrics, issues and what’s being done about them. With this to hand, most requests can be handled efficiently. On a general basis, we de-stress like everyone else: we take our teams out, drink enough and moan about clients’ unreasonable requests.”



PHILIP CLARKE
CHIEF EXECUTIVE, INDEPENDENT RPO

“The truth is, we have never had anyone suffering from stress at Alexander Hughes Interim Management. In the unlikely event that someone feels stressed, then we would follow best practice and ask staff to keep a diary outlining their work for that day and to document how they feel, so that it is easier to identify where the problem might lie. We would also encourage various stress management techniques, such as taking regular exercise, having breaks in the day and we wouldn’t rule out bringing in a masseur.”



GAVAN BURDEN
MD, ALEXANDER HUGHES INTERIM MANAGEMENT

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