FEELING stressed? You're not alone. If your workplace suffers from high absenteeism, low morale or a lack of motivation, the chances are that stress is a root cause. KATHRYN CRITCHLEY helps companies and individuals to tackle the problem

MOST people agree that a good holiday can help employees return to work feeling refreshed, relaxed and more productive. However, now that September is here and our holidays are already a distant memory, many of us are facing even greater workloads and stresses than we left behind.

Kathryn Critchley works for Realife Ltd, the stress management and life coaching company based in the Bolton Enterprise Centre. She says that when businesses ascribe post-holiday blues to a lack of motivation among staff, they may be ignoring the real issues causing stress within the workplace.

"Often businesses use pre- and post-holiday periods as an excuse for poor performance within the workplace," she says. "However, research has proved that the problems are likely to lie much deeper than this."

And she should know.

"I experienced the problems and dangers of stress first-hand during the 12 years I spent working in the telecom industry," she reveals. "I worked in various high-pressure sales roles and saw many people -- including myself -- suffer from stress and immense pressure.

"It can affect an individual's physical and mental behaviour, performance and health. It can manifest itself in many different ways, such as irritability, poor concentration, fatigue, anger, depression and absenteeism."

Employers liability insurance has increased by around 40 per cent during the last two years, and tribunals and insurance claims are soaring. It is estimated that 13.4 million working days are lost each year to unauthorised absence due to stress, costing businesses £3.7 billion.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is clamping down, forcing organisations to tackle stress and incorporate measures as part of their essential risk assessment and HR procedures.

But Kathryn is pragmatic about the role played by stress.

"We need stress in order to survive," she says. "A certain level is required and is healthy.

"But it's dangerous when the levels become too high and we feel unable to cope. This is when our health and efficiency become greatly impeded.

"It's not only work that causes stress but also personal issues such as relationships, finances, health, time or self-belief. Once any of these areas becomes too demanding, it can begin to affect the other areas and soon becomes one huge problem."

It was her own experience, coupled with the impact she saw in the workplace, that led Kathryn to change direction.

"I first became interested in counselling in 1996 when I attended a course for personal development," she says. "I found it fascinating and continued to study, achieving my counselling diploma in 1999. I also qualified as a psychotherapist in Transactional Analysis.

Kathryn continued to work within the telecom industry, as well as working as a volunteer counsellor for charities, before deciding to leave telecoms and set up Realife in June last year.

She says: "I wanted to start a company that could offer a total solution to an individual or organisation. I'm passionate about people and wanted to take my therapy and solutions into a corporate environment as well as working with private clients.

"Our work with companies is to help them pinpoint the problems that are leading to stress and help them put a policy in place.

"We run one-day stress and time management courses to educate staff and managers on the dangers of not recognising and dealing with stress, providing quick and easy tools and strategies that can be applied to life at home and at work."

Kathryn explains that work in this area may soon be compulsory, as the HSE is working on draft management standards for companies. According to the initial reports, they hope to have these agreed by the end of 2004.

She says: "There are certain audits and risk assessments a company will need to comply with in order to protect themselves against problems associated with stress.

"Our industry hopes these standards will help companies to take a more pro-active view on stress. We want businesses to understand that by tackling problems early on they can contribute to a happier, healthier and more productive workplace all year round."