Stress Management in an Organization - Term Paper Example

Stress Management in an Organization Table of Contents 1. Introduction : Page 3 2. Causes of stress in an organization : Page 4 3. Effects of stress on employees : Page 5 4. Stress management at workplace : Page 6 5. Stress management techniques : Page 11 6. Conclusions : Page 13 7. Works Cited : Page 14 Introduction Stress is a universal thing for people irrespective of young or adults, whites or black, male or female. Students may have their study related or age related stresses whereas the adults may have family related or work related stresses. Most of employees working in an organization failed to achieve a work-life balance because of the increased commitments both in their personal and professional life. The failure to attain work-life balance put them under immense stress. Current employees are getting better salaries compared to the employees of a decade before, but along with the increase in salary, their responsibilities were also increased a lot. Failure to fulfill the expectations of the employer may result in loss of jobs and hence employees always work under pressure. When people feel overwhelmed, they lose confidence and become irritable or withdrawn, making them less productive and effective and their work less rewarding. If the warning signs of work stress go unattended, they can lead to bigger problems. Beyond interfering with job performance and satisfaction, chronic or intense stress can also lead to physical and emotional health problems (Segal). Lee (2008) also pointed out the problems associated with employee stress. In his opinion, “in workplaces where people are constantly afraid and insecure, employees are at risk of "numbing out" to protect themselves” (Lee). Too much employee stress is not good either for the employer or the employee as employees under stress may not perform adequately and they may face punishments from the employer. Stress can create both physical and psychological problems to the working people. In short, if not managed well, stress can cause problems both in personal and professional life. In most of the prominent workplaces, the employers provide the employees lessons or training for developing stress management techniques. Management of stress requires lot of will power and courage. This paper analyses the causes and effects of stress along with various stress management techniques in an organization. Causes of stress in an organization Dale Collie (2004), has pointed out reasons like “lack of; control, communication, appreciation, feedbacks (good or bad), clarity in policies, clarity in career prospects etc” as the major reasons for employee stress at workplace. He has also mentioned that mistrust, unfairness, office politics, uncertainties, random interruptions, treadmill syndrome (a state of too much or too little to do) etc as the other major factors which can cause stress at workplace (Collie). Most of the current organizations are functioning in a multicultural environment because of globalization. Moreover, these organizations are functioning at a rapid pace and quiet often the communication between the organization and the employees fail to develop in a proper manner. The multicultural environment prevents employees from communicating each other because of the language barrier. As a result of lack of communication, the employees may develop ambiguity about their responsibilities, career prospects, organizational policies etc. Apart from the communication lapse, the work culture can also contribute to the stress development of employees. Sometimes the employees may have too much of workload whereas some other times they may have less workload. Too much workload may result in fear of failures which may increase the stress. On the other hand, less workload may create concerns among the employees about the future of the organization and the future of them also. Frustration, pressure and anxiety are three other major causes of stress. Frustration occurs when we experience a failure while dealing with certain problems. In professional life irrespective of the hard work, sometimes the employee may not taste success. In such cases, quiet often the employee may experience with immense frustration. Immense frustration leads to annoyance, anger, and rage which will finally added to the stress factor. The employee may lose his feeling of confidence and satisfaction when happens to be under stressful events. The employee should never allow frustration or stress overrule his conventional wisdom. Pressure is another factor which may contribute to the development of stress. Pressure urges the employee to behave in certain ways which he may not be familiar with. A pressure free workplace cannot be anticipated in n today’s professional life. Pressure can come from all corners; It may be from the boss, from the family, from the society or even from the employee’s inner mind itself about how to get promotions. In any case pressure can contribute immensely to professional stress. Anxiety is the most common emotions that accompany stress. In this changing world, every employee may some kind of anxiety about his future career. The competition in professional circuit is very big and the anxiety about success may affect the employee very much. Effects of stress on employees “Higher level of stress existed with no managerial concern for solution consequently lowering the employee performance; staking organizational reputation and loss of skilled employees” (Imtiaz & Ahmad, p.1). Even though complete avoidance of stress at workplace is difficult, it is possible to reduce it. Both the employer and the employee may loss many things because of stress. It is impossible for an employee to deliver 100% of his productivity under stress. Under productivity of poor performance from the employees may result in punishments to the employees from the employer. Apart from the work related problems, stress can cause physical and psychological problems to the employees. It can increase the blood pressure to alarming levels so that the employee may develop disorders like heart problems, stroke, paralyzing, depression, anxiety, schizophrenia etc. Working under the control of a stressful mind can create lot of accidents at the work place. 100% vigilance is required for the successful completion of a job and employees quiet often failed to keep full attention on the work they are doing if they are stressed. Most of the companies depend on the creativity of the employees for their growth. But creativity of a worker could be lost if he forced work under stress. “A healthy workplace provides mutual benefits for employers and employees within a common belief that good health practices by both will lead to individual and organizational self-fulfillment and productivity” (Work-Life stress management) Stress management at workplace Stress management is essential both for the employees and employers. Jeanne Segal Ph.D (2008) has mentioned that the “creation of a balance schedule, reducing over commitments, breaking complex projects into small steps, learning better communication skills, prioritizing of tasks, sleeping well, developing self awareness, self management, social awareness, increasing relationships” etc as the solutions of reducing stress (Segal). Stress education and management techniques will help a person taking control of both his personal and professional life. Some people have the illusion that personal life and professional life have connection at all. This is a wrong concept totally. It is impossible for a person to keep all his personal commitments away from his mind while entering the doors of the workplace. Physically he can keep all his personal matters away from the workplace; but mentally it is difficult for a person to concentrate fully on his profession if he is agitated by some personal problems. So, in the management of stress at workplace, the employer should try to solve the personal problems of the employee first. There are many personal problems in which the employers can help the employees. For example, giving some days leave for attending some important family matters will help the employee to reduce his stress levels up to certain extent. The employee should achieve a balance between the work and life and for that purpose the employer can help the employee in many ways. Organizations must give periodical training to the employees to make them capable of managing their stress adequately by keeping a work-life balance. After a stress management training course, the employees will be able to; Understand and communicate more effectively with difficult co-workers, Manage challenging work situations with greater calmness and clarity of mind, Enhance personal productivity, Focus the mind where you want it to go, to achieve results more quickly and effectively (Breaking the Cycle of Stress) Competition is getting stiffer in the current organizational world and when competition increases, the employees also feel the heat. Organizations will put the entire burden of countering the completion upon the shoulders of the employees. In other words, when competition becomes high, the employers increase the workload and establish difficult working conditions which may damage the interests of the employees. When the challenges related to the work increases, the employees feel immense pressure and they may lose appetite for their work. In order to inject fresh energy, organizations should incorporate periodical training sessions for the employees, focusing mainly on the aspects stress management. A little spending on training of employees for managing their workplace stress can contribute immensely to the overall gain of the company. Such stress management training is necessary in the current organizational world considering the multi dimensions stress and its effects on personal and professional life. Proper training will educate the employees in how to manage their stress in an effective manner so that they could lead a pleasant life and achieve a work life balance. In addition to conducting stress management workshops, organizations were also conducting off-site picnics, games, and inter-departmental competitions. Some companies were also using a system of mentors and promoted open communication to improve interactions and camaraderie at the workplace. Employees in most of the established companies had access to in-house counseling centers. Some companies had also employed nutritionists to provide healthy food at the office canteens and counsel the employees on healthy eating habits and lifestyle. Some companies were also considering employing psychologists to counsel their employees (Stress Management at the Workplace). Organizational climate should be adjusted in such way that the employee may feel intimacy towards the organization. Organizations should never enforce tight unnecessary control measures while the employees at work. Only at the unavoidable circumstances, the managers should use the force weapon in order to streamline the employees in the right track. Periodical picnics and enjoyment activities inside the organization may help the employees immensely in relieving their stress. Organizations can think of spending at least one hour per week for displaying or demonstrating the creativity of the employees in front of others. Such a move will enhance the creativity of the employees and will change the employee attitude towards the organization. Most of the employees consider their organization as a mechanical entity and it is necessary for the employers to change their image as 100% mechanical. Identification of stress is the most important thing one must learn. Most people are exposed to much higher levels of stress than they realize. Brain cells, "talk to each other" by means of chemical messengers. When a person is exposed to too much stress, chemical communication in the brain begins to fail. When these messengers fail, a person suffers from sleep disturbance, aches and pains, depression and anxiety. This condition is called -- OVERSTRESS. Three brain messengers control your sleeping, your energy levels, and your feelings of pain and pleasure (Burns). Stress is a form of energy which may burst if kept in mind for a longer period. Stress can be compared with a nuclear chain reaction. In a nuclear fission process, chain reaction is taking place. In other words, the bombardment of a nucleus with one neutron may release three other neutrons which may hit three other nuclei and releases 9 neutrons. Those 9 neutrons may hit another 9 nuclei and the reaction continues in this manner. The functioning of stress is also similar to the nuclear chain reaction. Here one problem may lead to many other problems and all these problems can multiply the problems further. For example, an employee keeping concerns of losing his job may think of his future, his family, education of his children etc. All these worries may present new worries to him and his stress levels may increase within a short time period. Only after a proper analysis, the person may realize the root cause of his worries so that he can take remedial actions. Stress is common to all as mentioned before and hence under normal circumstances, nobody will take it as a serious matter. People normally try to suppress their tensions as much as possible and hence the symptoms visible externally need not reflect the correct measure of stress, the person is experiencing. Many people have the misconception that stress may not contribute to any physical problems. In fact stress can cause lot of psychological disorders which can contribute directly and indirectly to some of the physical problems. In short, stress is often related to some kind of worries and identification of the root cause of such worries is the initial step in stress management. It is not necessary that same problem may cause same amount of stress to two different persons. In other words, the Individual's assessment of the event, person or situation is important in the stress management. Some people like to take challenges in order to excel in their jobs and for getting promotion whereas some others might be satisfied with what they are now and they won’t be ready to take challenges. Moreover, same job might be perceived differently by two employees because of their difference in skill sets. An employee, expert in marketing may find difficulties while working in a production department. Moreover, two persons working in the same marketing department may also exhibit different levels of stress because of their difference in communication abilities. The person with good communication skill may excel whereas the other one with less communication skill may struggle in the marketing department. Organizations must try to post workers in departments where they might be fit in all aspects. In fact posting of employees in professions where they are unfit is a major reason for the increased stress levels at the workplace. Unnecessary Worries often contribute to alarming levels of stress. For example, the recent recession has resulted in many people losing their job. Moreover, many others forced to work under severe threat of losing their jobs in the recent past. All these worries are unnecessary and the organizations should cultivate a feeling in the minds of the employees that their jobs are secured as far as they perform well. Each and every problem in the universe has at least one solution. In some cases there will be more than one solution. Employees should realize that unnecessary worries may damage their critical thinking abilities. They should realize that losing a job is not the end of the road. In a world, which is filled with so many opportunities, ample space or opportunities are preserved for everyone and employees should realize that in order to identify these opportunities, unnecessary worries may not help. When an employee faces stress, an open conversation with a friend or beloved one regarding the cause of his problems may help him immensely in releasing the stress. Organization is a place where people from different communities, cultures and social setups are working together. Establishing close relationships with the fellow employees may help a person to share his thoughts, views, opinions and problems with them and release his stressful energy. Suppression of stress will never help a person in managing it. Stress management techniques It is easy to relieve stress in few simple steps. No meditation or complex activity is required for relieving the stress. Anybody can practice stress relieving techniques such as deep breathing anytime and anywhere. The only requirement is the readiness to spend at least 10 minutes to relieve the stress. Deep breathing is the best way of relieving stress because of the simple, procedure involved in it. The various steps involved in deep breathing exercise can be summarised as follows; “Sit comfortably with your back straight. Put one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach. Breathe in through your nose. The hand on your stomach should rise. The hand on your chest should move very little. Exhale through your mouth, pushing out as much air as you can while contracting your abdominal muscles. The hand on your stomach should move in as you exhale, but your other hand should move very little. Continue to breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Try to inhale enough so that your lower abdomen rises and falls. Count slowly as you exhale.” (Belmonte) Deep breathing and Yoga techniques can be practiced by an employee even when he is working. As breathing can be performed everywhere anytime, not much preparation is necessary for the employee for practicing it. Deep breathing will help the employee to supply more oxygen needed to the brain in order to get rid of the unwanted thoughts. The success of this technique lies in how deeply the employee can breathe deeply from the abdomen. The main strength of this activity is the simplicity. No complicated equipments required to perform this activity. It can be performed anywhere, anytime without having much effort. It doesn’t have any side effects or potential problems for the health. It provides quick relief to the stress problems. Conclusions Stress is not a good thing either in the personal or professional life. Stress can lead to so many physical and psychological problems. Stress relieving is beneficial not only to the employee, but it is beneficial to the employer as well since the productivity and stress inter-related each other. Stress and productivity are inversely proportional. When stress increases, productivity decreases and when stress decreases, productivity increases. Employers should realize the above fact and they should do everything possible to reduce the employee stress as much as possible. Anxiety, pressure, and frustration are the major causes of stress. Identification of the root cause, self appraisal, avoidance of unnecessary worries etc are major steps involved in stress management. Deep breathing and Yoga like stress relieving techniques can help the employees immensely to relieve their stress even while they were working. Works Cited 1. Belmonte, Joelle. 2001. “Stress Relief, Relaxation Practices that Reduce Stress”. 10 September 2010. 2. Burns, Steve MD. “The Medical Basis of Stress, Depression, Anxiety and Drug Use!” 10 September 2010. 3. “Breaking the Cycle of Stress”. 10 September 2010. 4. Collie, Dale. 2004. “Top 10 Causes of Workplace Stress”. 10 September 2010. 5. Imtiaz, Subha and Ahmad, Shakil. “Impact Of Stress On Employee Productivity, Performance And Turnover; An Important Managerial Issue. 10 September 2010. 6. Lee, David. 2008. “Articles and Reports: Employee Stress and Performance”. 10 September 2010. 7. “Stress at Work: How to Reduce and Manage Job and Workplace Stress”. 2008. 10 September 2010. 8. Segal, Jeanne. Ph.D. 2008. “Stress at Work”. 10 September 2010. 9. “Work-Life stress management”. 10 September 2010. Read More