One of the founders of the R U OK? Day workplace campaign says stress has not left the workplace, rearing its head again as a major factor in staff turnover and dissatisfaction.

Experts say management folly is felt hard on the lower levels. Graeme Cowan, a former management consultant, says business leaders are neglecting to consider the impact of their corporate restructures on the workforce.

Mr Cowan is a mental health speaker, co-founder of the R U OK? Awareness campaign, and former worker in a string of unsatisfying bank jobs.

Cowan says: “Uncertainty has a huge impact... I have never seen stress levels higher among Australian employees.”

Communication about restructures and big corporate moves may help workers feel more involved and brace for change. Cowan says such measure are necessary to stop workers feeling like the leaders of the company do not care.

“Now, there is a feeling of resentment and of hard work that hasn’t been appreciated,” he said

“There’s a basic feeling that it hasn’t been fair. Many feel they have little control over what they are asked to do, and the uncertainty is very distracting. The constant pressure for organisations to do ‘more with less’ means that there have never been higher levels of change and uncertainty in the workplace.”

Sensitivity, thoughtfulness, perseverance and flexibility are among the tools needed to ensure a successful change program in the workplace. With some planning companies can avoid the trap that causes 70 per cent of restructures to fail to achieve their objectives, according to consulting firm McKinsey & Co.

“Of the [change effort] failures, 33 per cent is because manager behaviour does not support the purpose of the change,” Cowan says.

“I’ve seen it done really well, on a smaller basis, where a really good boss who senses nervousness in his team, commits to having a tele-conference every two weeks where they can ask anything they want... 25 per cent of the time, he says he doesn’t have the answer, but he has brought the stress level of the team right down.”

More resources are available from the valuable efforts of the not-for-profit R U OK? organisation.