Case Study: UNIC-Services Ltd

1. Case Study:UNIC-Services Ltd

2. UNIC-Services Ltd • Established in 1993 by IT Saara Remes-Ulkunniemi • The company offers training services across the whole of Finland • 16 employees, with an extra 4 employees who work for according to the company’s needs

3. More details about Unic- Services • The company’s average age is approximately 35 and employees are mostly women • In recent years the company’s labour force has increased by close to 40 % and its turnover has tripled

4. Stress Factors (owner and management of the companyt) • Uncertainty connected with the company’s operations • Difficulty to predict personnel requirements (fluctuating workload) • Increased demands of customers • Competition • Continuous change

5. Stress Factors (the company’s staff’s) • The nature of company activities • Customers and the operational environment • Compatibility of personal and professional life • Uncertainty and continuous difficulties with making predictions • Long working hours and business trips

6. More stress factors • A threat of physical violence connected to the work • Working alone • Work load • Large amount of work (occasionally)

7. What are the main problems that can be identified in this SME?

8. How do management and personnel • stress factors differ from each other?

9. In what way can customers affect • the increase of work related stress?

10. In what way does uncertainty concerning • job security affect an individual?

11. Risk assessment methodology and implementation • A quality development project • ISO 9001:2000 quality system and personnel related issues in internal audits • Personnel meetings • A personnel questionnaire (QPS Nordic) • Open dialog inside the company (the company’s culture)

12. What was the importance of the company’s culture in the risk assessment?

13. What are the benefits of comparing the questionnaire carried out in the work community to other companies in the same field?

14. Prevention and intervention techniques • Open communication between members of staff • Investment to communication equipments (mobile phones, wireless computer connections) • Internal network • Role of team leaders (service producers) • Organizational structure

15. Prevention and intervention techniques • Systematically collected internal feedback • Team meetings • A personnel profile for every employee • Face to face discussions between employees and the personnel manager • Policy of flexibility (in scheduling holiday times, moving days off and bank holidays together to give longer rest periods, flexible work times)

16. What good work related stress management practices can you recognise in Unic-Services way of operating?

17. What is your perception of these good practices, which could benefit your own work community?

18. Why is support from colleagues so important in situations of work stress?

19. Evaluation of risk management process and intervention • company has established different ways to recognise stress factors, (discussions, meetings, feedback, common time together, quality assurance work) > Good example 1 • The company has succeeded to partly integrate risk assessments into the company’s normal operations > Good example 2

20. continuous improvement operations model also in relation to personnel affairs > Good example 3 • ISO 9001:2000 quality programme as a tool in managing stress at work > Good example 4

21. What kind of indicators would assess work related stress in work communities?

22. How could the appraisal results be handled?

23. What benefit is the quality programme to personnel and the personnel’s ability to cope?

24. Thank you!