STRESS MANAGEMENT

BY: JYOTI DAVE

 Today in the world of competitiveness

it is very important for the employer
as well as the employees to tackle the
problem of job stress smartly as it can
directly affect the productivity in the
employees and can increase the cost to
the employer. To understand the factors
affecting job stress it is necessary to
understand what job stress is.

Job:
Job is the word to describe something
that has to be done; a task: an
undertaking requiring unusual
exertion; a specific duty, role, or
function: a regular remunerative
position.

STRESS
Stress is defined as a dynamic condition
consisting of a unique set of emotional,
intellectual and physiological responses
to a stimulus. This stimulus, or stressor
as it is commonly called, can be a
constraint, a demand, or even an
opportunity, which is perceived, be an
individual to have a potentially
important, though uncertain, outcome.

 The National Institute of

Occupational Health and Safety
defines stress as: the harmful
physical and emotional responses
that occur when the requirements of
the job do not match the capabilities,
resources and needs of the workers.

Job Stress:
Through this the relevant definition of
job stress would be: job stress can be
defined as the harmful physical and
emotional responses that occur when
the requirements of the job do not match
the capabilities, resources and demands.
Job stress can lead to poor mental health
as well as physical health and can cause
dangerous injuries to the employees.

Types of Stress
POSITIVE STRESS
NEGATIVE STRESS

ORGANIZATIONAL STRESSORS
Role Ambiguity
Role Conflict
Environment Of The Workplace Which
Includes:
Physical Environment
Technological Environment
Cultural Environment
Time Management
Attitudinal Factor

ORGANIZATIONAL STRESSORS

General Stressors
Motivational Factors
Alienation Factor
Satisfaction And Performance Factor
Mental Strain Factor
Conflict At Workplace Factor

Role Conflict
"Role conflict is a conflict among the roles
corresponding to two or more statuses.
"Role conflict is a special form of social conflict
that takes place when one is forced to take on
two different and incompatible roles at the
same time. When an individual is torn out by
conflicting demands or by doing things he/she
does not really want to do, or do things which
the individual does not believe are part of their
job. Role conflict occurs when accomplishing
one job inhibits or greatly reduces the chance
at completing another assigned task.

Time Management
Time management: Time management in the
workplace is an important skill that employees
must possess. It can determine the not just their
career success but their work - life balance.
Being new in the workforce, sometimes it can
get quite stressful especially when employees
are learning new roles and responsibilities.
If the priorities are changing constantly every
minute it becomes difficult to complete any of
the tasks and the mind keeps on racing about
them without any output. Time management
can solve the biggest problem and the
employees should learn to prioritize their work
according to the demand of urgency.

Attitudinal Factor
A satisfied attitude allows us to have a positive attitude
towards work. This can support employees goals now and
help them achieve more in the future.
A satisfied, positive attitude towards work means that the
employees can thrive on their job, have more job security
during tough times, and even get promoted.
The attitudes and values of an organization, team, or group,
are the ones that its managers and employees demonstrate.
High performing teams illuminate their own strengths and
allow others to do the same even if they are different.
The management can help employees motivate themselves,
which in turn helps them have a more positive experience at
work. Positive energy is contagious.

Workplace Environment
The Importance of Workplace
Environment: An employees workplace
environment is a key determinant of their
level of productivity. How well the workplace
engages an employee impacts their level of
motivation to perform. This then influences
that employees:
error rate
level of innovation
collaboration with other employees
absenteeism
how long they stay in the job

 Technology can cause stress to employees.

When the employees are suffering from
information overload and they feel that they
have to perform and they are expected to do
too many things at once. This is the time
when the employees need to realize that
sometimes saying no can be beneficial. They
should say no to multi-tasking and then
prioritize the work and do it. Rather being
the master of the technology the employees
easily become the victims of technology.

Role Ambiguity
Role Ambiguity - Norms for a specific position
are vague, unclear and ill-defined. Role ambiguity
is when an individual is not sure of what their job
entails. It makes it hard for a person to decide on
what their priorities are and how to manage their
time. Ambiguity can come from a number of
different things. A transfer, promotion, new boss,
or new co-workers can all cause an individual to
experience some type of role ambiguity and
added stress. Role ambiguity is when the
employees do not have a clear understanding of
what is expected of him or her. People who have
never found themselves saying in frustration,
but that is not my job can relate.

CONFLICT AT WORK:
The main areas to be addressed in conflict are
that there is a communication gap between
the employees and their immediate boss.
There is no space given to their opinion or
their opinion is not valued for a particular
task. The employees are not free to share
their problems with their superiors.
It is also found that employees are very weak
and they are frequently expressing their
emotions like anger, disgust and
helplessness.

SATISFACTION &
PERFORMANCE FACTOR:
The employees feel that if they are allowed
to work according to their way of working
then they are able to perform and give best
results.
They feel that too closely monitoring ones
work becomes a hindrance and it raises
the stress level of the employees as they
feel they are being watched every moment.
They feel that there should be more
recognition given to their work.

MENTAL STRAIN FACTOR:

The experience of tension headaches
They often convey that they are suffering from
short temper and fatigued.
The main factor which gives mental strain is
that the employees are not so open to share
with their colleagues when they need help. They
just want to avoid such difficult situations where
they need to answer many questions in return of
their information, which they have shared. They
feel stressed by this kind of information sharing.
The employees get stressed due to the situation
at workplace and they quickly try to withdraw
themselves from other employees.

GENERAL FACTORS:
The employees who take their gut
feeling into consideration while taking
important decisions at workplace are
suffering from high stress level as they
tend to ignore the real facts and just
go by gut feeling.
It is seen that many a times people
take wrong decisions when considering
their gut feeling as whole and sole.

ALIENATION:
Employees strongly feel that they are
included in the decisions which are
related to their department but not in
major decisions of the company as a
whole.

MOTIVATIONAL FACTOR
Employees need adequate
motivation to perform the job
properly.
He needs both intrinsic as well as
extrinsic motivation to remain in the
job.
It he does not get that motivation at
workplace he feels stress.

COGNITIVE SYMPTOMS:

Indecisiveness
Inability To Concentrate
Poor Judgment
Seeing Only The Negative And Negative Self
Talk
Anxious Or Racing Thoughts
Loss Of Objectivity
Not Having Enough Energy To Get Things
Done
Feeling You Cant Cope
Lack Of Sense Of Humor

EMOTIONAL SYMPTOMS:

Agitation
Restlessness
Short Temper
Feeling Tense And On The Edge
Sense Of Isolation
Depression
General Unhappiness

PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS:

Headaches
Backaches
Muscle Tension
Insomnia
Chest Pain
Heart Disorder
Weight Loss Or Gain
Dizziness

BEHAVIOURAL SYMPTOMS:

Eating More Or Less

Sleeping Disorders
Neglecting Social Responsibilities
Using Alcohol & Cigarettes To Relax
Feeling Insecure
Angry Outbursts
Crying Spells
Relationship Conflicts

REMEDY
Emotional Intelligence
Health And Wellness Program For
Employees.
Valuing Employees Efforts:
Recreation Room For Employees
Laughing Club
Improve Communication
Career Development Opportunities

REMEDY
Cultivate a friendly social environment
Employee assistance programs
The employees should never be
encouraged to work overtime as they
can become sick and their productivity
can be affected.
Reward and recognition system
To maintain a positive attitude at work
place as negativism sucks the energy
and motivation out of any situation.

THANK YOU