Boostress_ebook

Page | 12 www.boostress.eu with young professionals to elicit their opinions on the topic of stress management. In these questions, the project team aimed to assess how these employees manage stress in their current job; if they have ever undertaken stress management training; what supports are currently available to them from their employers to help manage stress and to identify other coping strategies which could inform the development of our BooStress training materials. Conducting interviews with European stakeholders enabled partners to contextualize the findings from the research questionnaires with young professionals and to provide the perspective from employers and regional policy-makers. Completing research questionnaires and stakeholder interviews on a European level has had two distinct outcomes. Firstly, it has allowed partners the opportunity to gain insight into stress management strategies, supports and resources in other EU Member States and to identify gaps in these areas in participating countries. The findings from this research will be used to inform the development of the BooStress training materials and resources, meaning that project outputs will be relevant to young professionals in other EU countries, adding to the transferability and impact that the BooStress project will have at a European level. Secondly, conducting field-research in other EUMember States raises the awareness of the project, and the topic that it is addressing, with colleagues across Europe. Due to the nature of the work we undertake, the majority of those contacted to complete these research questionnaires were organisations who participate in other EU-funded programmes, such as Erasmus+. This has contributed to the exchange of knowledge and best practice between like-minded professionals and organisations. The research with European stakeholders was completed through telephone interviews and online questionnaires. These stakeholders included employers, mentors and trainers who managed young employees under the age of 35 and they were based in the Czech Republic, Poland and Portugal. The BooStress Online Questionnaire was completed by 25 young employees from across Europe. To reach this target, project partners reached out to colleagues and contacts within their vast networks of European companies, with whom they have previously collaborated on similar EU-funded initiatives. Young professionals who completed the online questionnaire were aged between 24 and 34 years and lived and worked in Greece, Italy, France, Austria, Poland, Malta, Poland, Switzerland and the UK. The field-based research process, conducted on a European level, was then replicated on a national level by project partners in Cyprus, Ireland and Spain to inform the development of their national reports. The following sections provide an overview of the findings from empirical research activities implemented on a pan-European scale by the BooStress project tea, and also in each of the partner countries. Findings from Empirical Research in Europe When conducting field-based research with young professionals and stakeholders in Europe, research found the outcomes of the research implemented with both target groups was comparable and complementary. For example, of the 25 young professionals who were surveyed across Europe, only 1 respondent out of the 25 young professionals surveyed stated that they have undertaken training previously, which has helped them to manage stress in work. All other 24 respondents answered in the negative to this question. When asked to provide details of the training that was attended, the respondent explained that they participated in a yoga class, and also mentioned that they had received supervision in their job that has helped them to manage stress. When a similar question was asked to stakeholders who were interviewed, the 5 stakeholders all agreed that they were not aware of any targeted, quality tools and training resources for young professionals to help them to manage stress. While both target groups mentioned various online platforms and apps where young professionals