COPING WITH STRESS

New solutions for stress management for managers in today's workplace



New solutions for stress management for managers in today's workplace

Introduction

Work stress is nothing new, but it can be said that today their levels are higher or at least they are more widespread and more taken into account. In a world where there is less time for everything and when the economic crisis and unemployment are part of the daily thoughts of millions of people, stress has succeeded in taking over the health and minds of many, causing heavy imbalances in personal and professional aspects of the lives of these people. Moreover, employers have realized what is happening and had to face the consequences of working with a staff overwhelmed by stress, fatigue and worry, which has led managers to review cases and create strategies so that the productivity of firms do not go under and that certain costs related to the health of employees remain under control (Simmons, 1994).

According to a study from the participants' responses, there are aspects of an organization that are strongly influenced by stress levels of employees: 82% of respondents stated that health care costs are mainly faced by companies and are significantly or moderately impacted by the stress of workers, 79% said they see a significant or moderate impact on absenteeism, and 77% claimed to witness a significant or moderate impact on safety in the workplace (Turner, 2002).

Stress management in workplace

In workplace, people's ability to cope with the environmental demand rises above the normal state because the body has activated various biochemicals, physiological and behavioral mechanism. However, resistance is directed towards one or two stress. Hence, at this stage the individual becomes more prone to other stress factors. The body moreover looses it's resistance to fight with diseases thus increasing the risk of diseases. People have a limited source of energy for fighting stress, and prolong exposure to the stress without resolution can bring on the exhaustion stage. Adaptation to stress is a costly effort for the organizations.

Steps to stress management

The organizational techniques for treating stress in the workplace include controlling the organizational climate, eliminating work overload and work under load, providing stress-management programs, and defining employee roles (Davis, 1996).

Controlling the Organizational Climate

The organization should provide sufficient support to enable employees to adapt to change as one of the stress of modern organizational life is planned change. Stress ...