Home / Newsletters / ISSUE 12 - April 2003 - download pdf

European Stress Prevention Award - BP & The Keil Centre innovation recognised

A novel project delivered by a BP/Keil Centre partnership won a 2002 European Good Practice Award for preventing work-related stress. A BP technology team, with technical assistance from The Keil Centre's Chartered Psychologists, delivered the project at BP's Grangemouth petrochemicals complex. The award-winning stress prevention good practice is applicable to all workplaces, not just the petrochemical sector. Project manager David Wilson received the award on behalf of BP Grangemouth's Technology Scale-Up Team at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. The award-winning methodology is now embodied in The Keil Centre's StressTools stress risk assessment software. (see this issue for details)

"Our project was essentially about getting employees involved in identifying simple steps which can be taken to prevent stress at work. We've seen some noticeable benefits...". David Wilson, Project Manager, BP.

For further information, contact Ronny Lardner at our Edinburgh office.

StressTools - Stress management is good management

Working under stress can impact negatively on the individual, the team and the whole organisation. The effects include:

• Damage to individuals' mental and physical health
• Reduced co-operation and creativity within the team
• Loss of satisfaction and motivation in work
• Increase in sickness absence .

Do you recognise any of these in your workplace?

Acting on the causes of stress within your team is more effective than dealing with the symptoms. The Keil Centre has developed a Windows-based software tool to help with this.

StressTools is a flexible and simple software programme designed to help you identify and prevent or manage the main work-related causes of stress within your team. StressTools is being used successfully in a diverse range of sectors and functions.

StressTools includes: 3 innovative stress risk assessment methods; a set of internal management standards and a comprehensive manual written for the non-specialist. StressTools is

• Simple
• Locally-managed
• Written in a language you can understand
• Focused on taking action, rather than describing the problem.

By acting on the causes of work-related stress, you will be focusing on those issues that affect the well-being of your staff and the effective functioning of your team. Tackling work-related stress involves good management practice. Stress management is good management and good management is stress management!

For further information, contact Chiara Amati or Ronny Lardner at The Keil Centre's Edinburgh office.

StressTools down under

The Keil Centre is delighted to announce it has appointed PsychAssessments Ltd, a respected Auckland-based firm of business psychologists as the sole New Zealand distributor of StressTools, our simple stress risk assessment software.

A New Management Test

A client recently alerted us to this new test and suggested it may be a simpler way to test management potential!

1. How do you put a giraffe into the refrigerator?

The correct answer is: Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe and close the door. The question tests whether you tend to do simple things in an overly complicated way.

2. How do you put an elephant into the refrigerator?

Wrong answer: Open the refrigerator, put in the elephant and close the door. Correct answer: Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door. This tests your ability to think through the repercussions of your action.

3. The Lion King is hosting an animal conference; all the animals attend except one. Which animal does not attend?

Correct answer: The elephant, it's still in the refrigerator. This tests your memory skills.

4. There is a river you must cross, but it is inhabited by crocodiles, how do you manage it?

Correct answer: You swim across. All the crocodiles are attending the animal conference! This tests whether you learn quickly from your mistakes.

Getting to grips with culture? Terry Shannon joins The Keil Centre

The Keil Centre is pleased to announce that Terry, a Chartered Occupational and Clinical Psychologist, has joined our team. Terry has considerable expertise in working with organisational culture, and a background in organisation and management development, team and individual development and best practice assessment activities.

Enhancing or changing organisational culture has become an important boardroom agenda item for many UK PLCs. But what is culture? Why is it important? How can you measure, manage or change it? How do you link culture to business strategy and drive behaviour change in the necessary direction? As head of an internal consulting team Terry was recently tasked by the Board to address these questions. With Terry's thoughtful adaptation, existing knowledge on organisational values provided just the right tool. Terry found the answers lay in structuring meaningful conversations wtih people at all levels in the organisation. Terry's work also proved to be a tremendous framework for developing all HR strategy as it helps people think systematically, integrate initiatives and ensure these are linked to business planning.

"Having moved back into consultancy from a senior HR role, I am looking forward to being based in Scotland and working with The Keil Centre's team of professional psychologists". Terry Shannon

For those who are serious about enhancing organisational culture or "joined-up" HR strategy, Terry can be contacted at our Edinburgh office.

onTrack

onTrack is an innovative, personal development programme specifically designed to help key people get the best out of themselves and their teams.

The programme aims to help participants understand why they behave the way they do, but more importantly, to use the insights and principles of applied psychology to help them improve their well-being and performance.

onTrack involves an initial evaluation of the individual's current functioning, personality style and the interpersonal and organisational context in which they work. Once a set of development goals have been drawn up, we add our psychological expertise to the individual's existing knowledge and experience to help them work more effectively.

Typically, onTrack involves 8-10, one-to-one meeting held at weekly intervals. Throughout, we aim to accommodate busy schedules. This may involve meeting at the place of work, or at The Keil Centre's offices, in Edinburgh or Glasgow.

The programme is designed to benefit the individual and their organisation through:

• Improved personal well-being and resilience
• Enhanced individual performance in line with organisational objectives
• Increased interpersonal effectiveness
• Improved self-management skills.

For further information about onTrack, contact Dr Craig Simpson at The Keil Centre's Edinburgh or Glasgow office.

How can psychology help your business?...

...Come and find out at the last seminars of our Spring 2003 Psychology & Business seminars.

"very helpful"; "focused on key points and provided new ideas"; brief, specific & to the point"; informative & thought-provoking".

Please contact Mary Norton at our Edinburgh office to book a place.

If you would be interested in an in-house seminar on these or other topics, please contact
Chiara Amati at our Edinburgh office.