The problem
Stress, tensions, conflicts, … Why should be concerned by psychosocial risks
The solution: TOM
Put into place our TOM-s (Trusted Office Mentor), also known as “persons of confidence”.
The expertise of Vicario Consulting
On the strength of fifteen years experience in the management of the working environment and as an organization that has always lead on the subject Vicario Consulting will advise you in putting into place a system tailored to your objectives which will reduce your psychosocial risks.
To add more weight to the pertinence of these preventative measures we are working in 2015, in partnership with the University of Lausanne and the Fachochschuhle Nordwestschweiz, on a very broad enquiry into the subject of persons of confidence. We will be pleased to share its results with you.
The stakes
The issues surrounding stress and conflicts
The consequences of psycho-social problems (stress, conflict, mobbing, sexual harassment…) have increased dramatically in recent years. Stress in particular causes a lot of human suffering and costs the Swiss economy billions of francs each year.
Stress is a state of tension generally regarded as something disagreeable. One speaks of stress when the negative features of the psychosocial environment in which someone works are more than the individual’s resources can cope with. In addition, conflicts are the source of 56% of stressful situations at the workplace.
There are several consequences to this:
- For the individual: problems with health, reduction in performance, absenteeism (more than 50% of which is linked to stress)
- For the company: production losses, increasing absence and fluctuations in presence, risks for the image as an employer and as a company.
- For society: cost of health care and social insurance, loss of productive working resource.
It is therefore essential to be concerned about this for the following reasons.
Legal obligations
Fulfill the legal obligations of the employer
According to SECO and a recent decision by the Federal Court it can be required of companies that they have procedures in place to handle the management of conflict and that they have persons of confidence within the organization to whom employees can turn in case of conflict or stress.
Costs
Cost reduction
An exhausted employee or a team in conflict can result in various costs to the company – a decline in productivity, a high level of employee turnover and a portion of the cost of absence because of sickness, which is not covered by insurance.
Stress costs the Swiss economy 5,6 billion francs per annum, of which three quarters is productivity loss and one quarter absenteeism. There is therefore immense economic potential in reducing it.
Performance
Improve the working climate and increase motivation and productivity
It is a proven fact that companies which are active in the prevention of conflict are significantly more productive and differentiate themselves from others by having more motivated employees.
Who is TOM?
TOM (Trusted Office Mentor) is also often referred to as a “person of confidence”. The choice of TOM is agreed upon by a number of employees within the company or can be named by an external consultant. TOM listens, empowers, guides and advises in an informal manner those employees who ask for his help. Independant of the HR function your persons of confidence will help to defuse rising tensions and keep a working climate in your compayn which is positive and constructive.
How does TOM work?
Our experience has shown that two thirds of the sources of tension can be relieved within three sessions by putting a TOM into place. There are many benefits:
- At the same time these people increase their competences in the handling of conflict and stress.
- The other people who could get pulled into these problems – (colleagues, supervisors, HR, legal etc) avold involvement as the issue is not allowed to escalate.
- The return on investment of preventative measures is calculated at CHF 3 for every CHF 1 spent.
Our solutions
We propose three forms of TOM designed to suit your specific needs.
Have a look at them.