Stress, mental health and well-being in the events industry: Report of key findings

The way people are managed at work has a profound influence on their well-being. In the stressful and deadline-driven events industry this is, however, often overlooked. Previous research has found that stressors specific to the events industry include: workload, time pressure, role stressors, job insecurity and work-family conflict (Odio et al, 2013), potentially leading to professional burnout. The aim of this project is to gain a more nuanced understanding of the mental well-being of event professionals working in a very stressful and deadline-driven industry with particular emphasis on policies, practices and the crucial role of employers in how employees experience stress, and how it impacts their productivity and health.
The project was a collaborative one, undertaken by Festivals, Events and Wellbeing Research, a research consortium that consists of multidisciplinary researchers from the University of Hertfordshire and Walters Research and Consulting, who are interested in exploring the impacts of contemporary leisure and events; and Stress Matters, a UK based organisation that provides a wide range of professional services to meet workplace well-being and team development needs, with a specific focus on creative businesses.
This report summarises key findings from an online survey and semi-structured interviews with event professionals in the UK. It begins by highlighting the main stressors within the events industry, then focuses on individual coping strategies used by employees to deal with these stressors, followed by a discussion of company policies and practices that employers put in place in order to help manage and reduce stress for their employees. Based on an analysis of ‘what employees really want’, the report concludes with a set of recommendations for event professionals and the wider industry.