Samaritans wins gold for tackling stress in the workplace

Citation

(2007), "Samaritans wins gold for tackling stress in the workplace", Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 39 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/ict.2007.03739eab.008

Samaritans wins gold for tackling stress in the workplace

Samaritans has won the International Visual Communications Association gold “e-learning” award for its work-life CD-ROM – an interactive learning resource to help managers to tackle the causes of stress in the workplace.

Narrated by The Observer’s columnist Lucy Siegle, and produced by Media Trust Productions, the CD-ROM aims to reduce the potential for tension and stress in the workplace by developing managers’ skills and confidence to tackle problems before they escalate.

This is the first year that the IVCA has included a dedicated e-learning category and the Samaritans CD-ROM has won both the gold award for e-learning and the bronze award for external interactive media, demonstrating a creative use of technology for the good of society.

The IVCA judges’ citation described the Samaritans work-life CD-ROM as: “An engaging and well-produced package, bringing credible scenarios to life with a light touch. A range of navigation interfaces kept the panel engaged in this much-needed management resource.”

Jonathan Moran, the Samaritans’ external training-services co-ordinator, said: “The number of working days lost to stress-related illness increases year on year. Samaritans has been highlighting the importance of tackling this issue and the danger of ignoring it, since the launch of our work-life training programme last year. Our first fully interactive CD-ROM sets the standard as a resource to equip managers with the skills and confidence to help staff to feel valued and motivated in the workplace, increasing productivity and profitability.”

Rita Shamia, head of charity and corporate films at Media Trust Productions, said: “Samaritans challenged us to come up with a creative and engaging way of delivering its existing training package in a digital format. We are delighted to have been involved in producing a unique resource that will support emotional health within the workplace.”

The CD-ROM has been designed to support the UK Health and Safety Executive’s standards and guidelines for tackling work-related stress. Jane Willis, of the Health and Safety Executive, said: “The work being done by Samaritans in offering practical training and helping managers to improve their ability to work well with others is an important component for tackling work-related stress. A better and wider understanding of what stress is, and what organizations should do, is essential if we are going to bring about a significant change.”

The CD-ROM includes aspects of the Samaritans’ “active-listening” skills, which have now been adapted for use within the workplace. It features many interactive elements and a series of fictional characters to help participants to explore challenging work situations.

Samaritans has been running training in the workplace for more than four years, for organizations such as the Inland Revenue, National Air Traffic Services, Cancer Research UK and Citizen’s Advice.