Wellness Strategy Survey and Recommendations - Case Study Example

Wellness Strategy Survey and Recommendations Wellness Strategy Survey and Recommendations Introduction Stress has become a part of the modern working man’s life. Everybody with a responsibility experiences stress one way or another. For various workers with different occupations and levels of responsibility, the stress could be induced by the kind of work they deal with – constant life danger, safety at work, work loads, expectations of superiors, political pressure among colleagues, and so on. These, on top of their lives outside of work – which includes personal time and family. In order to deal with stress properly, it was suggested by Whisenand and Ferguson (2009) that the workers must communicate openly with one another about their stressors, discuss the stress they face daily, and accept stress as inevitable and that the workers should deal with stress in a way that it turns into eustress, or positive stress. What major stressor do you currently face? What creates anxiety or discomfort for you? At the moment there are three major stressors the team members usually encounter at the work place and these are: each one of us are trying to get our college degree; working full time jobs; and tending to our family needs. In addition, each one of us is expected of us to finish at certain or immediate deadline. A police officer does not only deal with one or two workloads. The other team members are a postal worker who has to sort mail and deliver it in a specific time frame and another team member works at a hospital and have in the emergency trauma center handling all kind of injuries and irate patients. Another team member is un-employed and he is having a difficult time finding work because of the current economic situation. We all have families and bills we have to pay and these are common stressors we share. Several other work and output deliveries are expected of us with the matching skills and knowledge to go with it. There are daily or routine reports to be accomplished, incident reports, filing of schedules, and others. Most importantly, there are cases that need to be solved, emergency and critical situations to be handled, deadlines to meet, pressure to meet requirements, among others. These are all parts of the workload of various workers like us that cause stress. Failure to meet self-imposed as well as superior officer’s expectations on deadlines distress us all. In order to function well and properly as workers, these expectations and workloads need to be met but working them all out gives the mind anxiety, and the body seems disabled to cope. What the major attributes or components of the situation? Break the major problem down into smaller parts or problems. The major attributes or components of the situation are the complexity of the works we need to address: cases currently being handled, deadlines that need to be met, and the positive expectations for outcomes which are self-imposed, and superior-officer imposed. Then, there are also other responsibilities which may be routine but still takes time and considerations to finish. Broken down into smaller components, they are paper works to be accomplished, cases to be investigated on, meetings to undertake, interviews to conduct, a schedule to follow or arrange, and more reports to finish, clients to handle, emergencies to cope with. What are the subcomponents of each of those smaller problems? The subcomponents of each of those smaller problems are: Attribute 1: we need to follow work schedule, which often will need discussion and approval with our superiors. We have to provide plausible reasons for requesting work objectives or changes and why the older one needs to be replaced. Attribute 2: Meeting deadlines for routine and incident reports, which we have to go over and over again to ensure minor or important details are not missed. Attribute 3: Conduct specific work details such as an investigation of a case, and specific tasks that other team mates need to finish including administration of superiors’ orders, routine tasks, regular and daily responsibilities. We need to set a schedule with relevant persons involved in our work hoping that our schedules match. We have to find leads to solve the cases or problems we handle. We research for background of the cases and peoples involved in our current task. Then, we review notes and reports. Each of us undergo similar work structures such as reporting daily at specific time, sorting out daily priorities at work, implement these work details, and then, cope with the personal demands at home or the family. What actions can I take that will affect any of these subcomponents? The actions we can take to affect any of these subcomponents includes: making a list of our daily priorities and tackling them depending on the expected time of reporting deadline or importance. We can also tackle each job immediately as we face them in order to avoid backlogs as well as reduce the workloads in our mind, thus, reducing also the stress we felt. Waiting for opportune time to handle all the tasks expected of us as well as those self-imposed may never come, so, we better take one task after another every moment we feel freed of time in order to reduce the work load. What actions have I taken in the past that have helped me cope successfully with similar stressful circumstances? We believe that we have shunned the outside world for a while and focused on handling each task immediately in the past whenever we felt that workload has come to a full. There are many distractions at work that seem difficult to avoid in a daily manner. One may become engaged to another police officer’s case, or get distracted with a new officer, especially of the attractive kind from the opposite sex, or simply get entangled and linger too much on a case being handled. My other team mates experience also the same distractions. At other times, routine banter at the office or workplace also becomes distractions that reduce output capacity. By keeping all those work distractions at bay in order to concentrate on finishing workloads have helped us cope successfully with similar stressful circumstances. Our focus returns, and we can handle my work in a more sufficient and speedy manner. What small thing should I feel good about as I think about how I have coped or will cope with this major stressor? We feel efficient and very capable each time we have accomplished our tasks timely and reduced our workloads more than what we have imposed on ourselves or more than our supervisors expect. It helped boost our self-confidence, then, make us feel so positive about the workplace and the people we work with. There is a very cheerful or positive vibes that emanate within the workplace each time we feel unloaded of work. We believe that these are good feelings after every stressful situation we were able to conquer. What do I do to cope with excessive stress? There are several things we personally do to cope with excessive stress. On my part, one of these is to make sure I indulge on my favorite dishes or foods during the day. These maybe taken at breakfast, lunch, dinner, or even in-between snacks. I believe that this is a healthy approach because I only do it during stressful times and not on a regular basis. By engaging in this eating indulgence, I am able to cope with stress and work demands in a better, more efficient manner. My team mates also have their own personal activities that they do to cope with stress. Other members of the team said they plug on their MP3s during routine works while doing report or completing patient charts. They said that their preferred music calm their nerves when they are stressed at work. The other worker in the team said he spends some open time reading a favorite book. We believe these hobbies, or habits help us cope with stress. What else might I do to put joy and success in my life? The other daily or regular activities we engage to that affect our work positively include a harmonious personal relationship with our special someone or families. If we are out of conflict of any form, we usually go to work energized and enthusiastic, thus, make us feel focused and relaxed. Other things that affect our work positively or reduce stress are maintaining good working relations with colleagues and superior officers. A grudge at the workplace usually provides a negative aura where one feels uncomfortable or restless without apparent reason, when in fact, it was because we were trying to avoid a colleague we feel negatively about. What we do was to take the words out in an acceptable manner such as making an opinion sound like a sincere suggestion for the welfare of the colleague. Discussing the problem openly has helped us work with colleagues more efficiently. There are many ways of which stress can be turned positively as Whisenand and Ferguson (2009) have suggested. As mentioned, identifying the stressor, discussing it with persons involved or those who are close to us, and acceptance of stress are vital steps towards properly addressing it. Work expectations come in various weights, colors, and specifications but we should view them all as work that needs to be accomplished and the how should be addressed properly in order to get it done over with efficiently. However, it should be noted that personal dispositions are also important to properly address stress at the workplace. We should be in touch with our own personality, nature, preferences, and provide time for it to indulge, to relax, take pleasure, and feel free. Brining work stress into our personal lives may damage our own relationships with families or special someone, therefore, we have to place a division between work and personal matters in order for a balance to be exercised, within. Reference: Whisenand, P. and Ferguson, R.F. (2009). Managing police Organizations 7th edition. Prentice Hall. Read More