Why work related stress could be the thing that unifies HR and Risk

By Simon Thomas, Director – UK Employee Benefits, Generali

Both HR and Risk share a common goal: namely to mitigate Work-Related Stress (WRS). For HR, it’s a Duty of Care responsibility and, as part of this, an absence and retention issue. For Risk, it’s an employers’ liability (EL) claims issue. For the overall employer, it’s the potential damage to their bottom-line, not to mention reputation.

By working together, sharing intelligence and interventions – from preventative services, coping mechanisms and support to absence management and HR Mediation – HR and Risk stand a much better chance of tackling this ever-growing problem.

On top of this, considering the pecking order in many large organisations has now shifted so that Risk Leaders sit above Procurement in the buying chain of command, integrated working could be beneficial in more ways than one.