STRESS MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES: A NEW WAY TO ACHIEVE SUCCESS

*Mrs. R. Anitha., M.Sc., MBA., M.Phil, ** Mrs. G. Sindhu., MCA., MBASr. Lecturer, PPG Institute of Technology Sr.Lecturer, PPG Business SchoolCoimbatore Coimbatore

ABSTRACT

In today's work scenario, when the whole world is dealing with the problem of economic crisis, most employees have to handle too much work pressure in order to secure their jobs. In their effort of coping with the challenges that they have to face while working, there have been many people who are complaining about being stressed out. Though it is believed that a little bit of stress is necessary to make employees work and achieve their goals, too much of it actually leads to decrease in quality of work as well as employee productivity. Stress at work is also said to be responsible for giving rise to physical as well as emotional problems.

Stress at work is a relatively new phenomenon of modern lifestyles. The nature of work has gone through drastic changes over the last century and it is still changing at whirlwind speed. Stress is an inevitable part of our corporate lives. Due to stress, there can be many different health and psychological issues, which may adversely affect our personal lives as well. Stress may also hold us back from making use of our professional skills and abilities to their fullest. Considering all the bad results of stress, companies are conducting various programs and trainings regarding stress management at the workplace. With some stress management tips and techniques, it is possible to reduce the amount of stress, without lowering the amount of work done and productivity shown. Moreover, if the person does not learn to handle the stress experienced at work, it starts taking a toll on his/her personal life, giving rise to a whole set of problems at the home front too. Hence, knowing about tips for handling stress in the workplace has become essential for the career growth as well as overall well being of the employees. Hence this paper attempts to study the details of handling stress at work, the causes of stress in the

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workplace and some simple techniques that will help a person to get their attention away from stress, thus making their less stressed out. The present paper also discusses the various impact of stress on the performance of individual in the organisation and suggests some valuable recommendations to the organizations to improve employees' performance through effective stress management techniques.

Introduction

Stress is the emotional and physical strain caused by our response to pressure from the outside world. Common stress reactions include tension, irritability, inability to concentrate, and a variety of physical symptoms that include headache and a fast heartbeat.

Richard S Lazarus defines stress as “a condition or feeling experienced when a person perceives that demands exceed the personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilize.” In short, it's what we feel when we think we have lost control of events.

Stress can destroy the mental stability of any individual. It is basically a condition that makes us uncomfortable. Stress could be due to various reasons like financial crunch, job loss, emotional and any other personal reasons. When a person experiences stress and anxiety due to work, he may start feeling irritable and depressed all the time. He may have difficulty in concentrating on the task that he has to do and may also start losing interest in his work. Some people may also experience extreme tiredness and insomnia, apart from other health problems like headache, stomach problems, etc. There have also been cases where people have started drinking or taking drugs to relieve the tension caused by stress at work, leading them to become addicts.

It is almost impossible to live without some stress. And most of us wouldn't want to, because it gives life some spice and excitement. But if stress gets out of control, it may harm one’s health, relationships, and enjoyment of life. When the negative reactions to life`s situations become repetitively intense and frequent we may develop symptoms of depression. Life throws up innumerable situations, which we greet with both negative and positive emotions such as excitement, frustration, fear, happiness, anger, sadness, joy etc. Depression is prevalent among all age groups, in almost all walks of life. Persons of any age—children or adults, may develop depression symptoms. Symptoms such as intense sadness,

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loss of interest or pleasure in normal activities, sleep disturbances or oversleeping, change in appetite and decreased energy level; feelings of helplessness and thoughts of suicide are sequels to stress induced depression.

Stress at Workplace

Stress is an inevitable part of corporate lives. Due to stress, there can be many different health and psychological issues, which may adversely affect one’s personal lives as well. Stress may also hold one back from making use of their professional skills and abilities to their fullest. Considering all the bad results of stress, companies are conducting various programs and trainings regarding stress management at the workplace. With some stress management tips and techniques, it is possible to reduce the amount of stress, without lowering the amount of work done and productivity.

Juan Carlos aparicio, minister of labor and social affairs, Spain says that change and innovation can result in workers feeling stressed. Companies are currently facing huge changes. Competitions have increased both in within the domestic market as well as at the international level. The need to improve the productivity and quality, innovations in technology and in the organization of work, environmental demands and shifts in structure of the working population like ageing, a multicultural society, women in workforce etc all required flexibility and adaptability. As a result many workers feel threatened: knowledge very quickly becomes outdated and there is an increase need to update their skills. Occasionally other factors come in to play, such as an intensive work patterns, long working days and harassment. All of these factors have resulted in stress becoming an increasingly common phenomenon with significant repercussion since a person's physical and psychological well being is affected and running of the organization is damaged. Stress therefore harms health and efficiency, both individually and socially and workplace stress becomes an important aspect of job security and health.

Job stress is a chronic disease caused by conditions in the workplace that negatively affect an individual`s performance and overall well-being of one’s body and mind. One or more of a host of physical and mental illnesses manifests job stress. In some cases, job stress can be disabling. In chronic cases a psychiatric consultation is usually required to validate the reason and degree of work related stress.

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The signs of job stress vary from person to person, depending on the particular situation, how long the individual has been subjected to the stressors, and the intensity of the stress itself. Typical symptoms of job stress can be: Insomnia, loss of mental concentration, anxiety, stress, absenteeism, depression, substance abuse, extreme anger and frustration, family conflict, physical illnesses such as heart disease, migraine, headaches, stomach problems, and back problems.

Job stress has a negative impact on the productivity of an individual and within no time interest levels dip. People stay occupied with some thoughts and getting out of it becomes difficult. At times people do not know that they could be in a position of life threatening stress. Stress could bring with itself a whole set of lifestyle diseases like blood pressure, diabetes and lack of sleep. In an attempt to get relief from such conditions people try to treat the individual ailments. However, they miss on the central root cause of reducing or treating the stress.

Need of the study: Stress can reduce person’s capacity to perform and function well in the workplace. Therefore, stress isn't something to be dismissed. Aside from the personal impacts one can experience from stress, it also affects how they deal with the environment and the people in their lives. It is important to first know the causes of stress then stress management techniques to achieve stress relief. Stress experienced at the workplace is a serious issue because it not only affects the employee, but the organization too. As the consequences of stress can be dangerous, learning some important tips for handling stress at work can help employees to cope with the work pressure in a positive way and thereby increasing the performance of the organization too. Therefore, present study was undertaken to understand the job stress, the various causes of stress at workplace, impact of stress on performance of the employee and finally to highlight various modern techniques on dealing with stress at work.

Causes of Workplace Stress

Job stress may be caused by a complex set of reasons. Some of the most visible causes of workplace stress are:

Job Insecurity

Organized workplaces are going through metamorphic changes under intense economic transformations and consequent pressures. Reorganizations, takeovers, mergers, downsizing and other changes have become major stressors for employees, as companies try to live

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up to the competition to survive. These reformations have put demand on everyone, from a CEO to a mere executive.

High Demand for Performance

Unrealistic expectations, especially in the time of corporate reorganizations, which, sometimes, puts unhealthy and unreasonable pressures on the employee, can be a tremendous source of stress and suffering. Increased workload, extremely long work hours and intense pressure to perform at peak levels all the time for the same pay, can actually leave an employee’s physically and emotionally drained. Excessive travel and too much time away from family also contribute to an employee`s stressors.

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Technology

The expansion of technology—computers, pagers, cell phones, fax machines and the Internet—has resulted in heightened expectations for productivity, speed and efficiency, increasing pressure on the individual worker to constantly operate at peak performance levels. Workers working with heavy machinery are under constant stress to remain alert. In this case both the worker and their family members live under constant mental stress. There is also the constant pressure to keep up with technological breakthroughs and improvisations, forcing employees to learn new software all the times.

Workplace Culture

Adjusting to the workplace culture, whether in a new company or not, can be intensely stressful. Making oneself adapt to the various aspects of workplace culture such as communication patterns, hierarchy, dress code if any, workspace and most importantly working and behavioral patterns of the boss as well as the co-workers, can be a lesson of life. Maladjustment to workplace cultures may lead to subtle conflicts with colleagues or even with superiors. In many cases office politics or gossips can be major stress inducers.

Personal or Family Problems

Employees going through personal or family problems tend to carry their worries and anxieties to the workplace. When one is in a depressed mood, his unfocused attention or lack of motivation affects his ability to carry out job responsibilities.

Job Stress and Women

Women may suffer from mental and physical harassment at workplaces, apart from the common job stress. Sexual harassment in workplace has been a major source of worry for women, since long. Women may suffer from tremendous stress such as `hostile work environment harassment`, which is defined in legal terms as `offensive or intimidating behavior in the workplace`. This can consist of unwelcome verbal or physical conduct. These can be a constant source of tension for women in job sectors. Also, subtle discriminations at workplaces, family pressure and societal demands add to these stress factors

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Impact of stress on performance:

Instituting stress management concepts in the workplace seems to become a lot more difficult each and every single day.

One of the most common causes of stress at work revolves around the issues of managing an unrealistic work portfolio, improper time management, lack of certainty at work, and poor organizational skills. Of course, there will be other problems that might arise due to stress. Stress will impact on the ability to work which would adversely affect the performance of the individual as well as the organisation as a whole.

"How does stress affect performance" is very important in pacing out your life change events and limiting exposure to stressors. It will also help us in planning a timely stress management program. Nixon P in 1979, charted out the stress performance curve to explain how stress affects performance, which is given below:

Ability to perform increases up to a certain level of stress arousal. This is the healthy tension or eustress. But if this stress continues uncontrolled and a fatigue point is reached, any further stress arousal will take the performance level down, ultimately leading to exhaustion, ill-health and, finally breakdown.

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If stress management is applied daily and regularly before the fatigue point is reached, the stress performance curve can be straightened up dramatically, which means that one can improve his/her performance level even up to 50% just by learning to relax.

Workplace Stress Management Techniques

Stress can be managed if some efforts are made in a smart manner. More people across the world are falling prey to stress. They are investing heavily in medicinal treatments. However, not realizing that the best way is to manage it naturally. There are some stress management techniques that can be applied at workplace to get relieved from stress are discussed below.

Identify the Problem

First of all, understand the problem and identify it. Recognizing stress is the first step one can take in order to eliminate it. This involves understanding the symptoms that are affecting them. Depression, erratic mood swings or simple irritation and loss of interest in personal life are some of the symptoms of stress due to work. Relaxation is the best method of managing stress.

A reliable checklist designed to help in order to identify the scenario that one may be over-stressed at the workplace.

Are you consistently anxious, irritable or depressed? Is your interest in your work declining?

Has sleeplessness become a major problem for you as of late?

Do you feel that your concentration on your tasks is slipping?

Is muscle tension or headaches occurring frequently?

Is your stomach feeling upset and ill at ease?

Do you currently prefer to withdraw socially from interacting with others?

Have you decided to use drugs or alcohol to help manage the day?

Relax and Learn To De-stress

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Stress does not strike immediately, instead it gathers slowly and gradually, and bursts out with sudden mood swings and health problems. So, the best way to deal with stress in the workplace, is to take frequent breaks and not to sit idle. Short walk or listening to some soft music are the recommended ways when one get stressed out. If the workplace ethics do not allow to do these things, then one can close their eyes and relax for some time. A simple coffee break or talking to the colleagues can just make one feel better. Going on leave for a couple of days can rejuvenate the employee to come back with a new vigor and enthusiasm at work. Carrying some favorite books, reading them to relax or penning down ones' thoughts would be a sort of catharsis, wherein one can release the negative energy building inside their mind.

Yoga and Meditation

Exercises have a magical effect on the psyche. It's a scientific fact that mental stress is reduced drastically in the people that follow healthy living techniques. Yoga and meditation have been known to offer a unique solution to the modern age stress. Nothing is more important than health, so one should take care of it.

Talk to Your Seniors

If certain projects or tasks need assistance and help of seniors, then don't hesitate in talking to them. Right communication among employees fosters a unity and understanding in the company. Talking out problems with the seniors is not a bad idea, unless his/her concerns are genuine. A good rapport with the seniors will help them to learn from their experiences and they will also feel happy to guide in the tough projects.

Smiling Costs Nothing

It's logical that one can't keep a cheerful face all the time, especially when meeting deadlines, but still, trying to maintain a positive attitude and keeping the spirits of the team members high can elevate the mood of the entire team. Humor is the best medicine ever invented and a simple way to de-stress.

Laughter and Fun Time

Having laughter and a fun time is probably the best way to reduce stress in the office. If a person is working for hours continuously, he may feel relaxed by spending some minutes on informal talk with his

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colleagues and team members. He can also crack some good jokes or talk about his funny experiences that he had a day before

Keep Your Body Moving

If a person is working for a substantial amount of time sitting in the same place for hours, it is certain that he/she is going to experience physical stress. The answer to this problem is to keep their body moving. Stretching of arms and body at regular intervals, or just a walk around for getting coffee. This is one of the best stress relievers which can be used for managing stress at the workplace.

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Healthy Food and Lifestyle

Personal lifestyle also has a very significant impact at work. For reducing or not experiencing stress at workplace, one need to be on a healthy diet first of all. They should stay away from bad habits such as smoking, drinking, etc. Many times, during stressful situations people tend to either lose their appetite or indulge in binge eating. As both these factors are bad for the body and mind, it is important that we learn to eat healthy foods. Apart from this, indulging in exercises like jogging, aerobics, walking, etc. also helps in relieving work related stress.

Time Management and Prioritizing Tasks

Stress is mostly caused due to pending work. Therefore, for reducing the pending work, time should be managed in a proper manner. Routine work should be sorted out according to the priority, and time should be allotted for each work by preparing a time table. Time management will effectively lessen stress and may even increase employee performance. A list should be made of the tasks we have to complete and bifurcate according to which we have to do immediately, which can be done later and those which can be avoided totally. This will surely help in relaxing as well as enjoying our tasks at work. Moreover, if we are at a place where additional responsibilities are bombarded upon us, learn to avoid them by saying 'NO'.

Work in a Team and Try to Acquire Knowledge

It is a proven fact that working in a team really makes it far easier for employees to work smarter. If we work in a team, we can divide the work as per the skills each individual has and get the work done. Moreover, we will also be able to develop our skills and capabilities regarding the job. Another good method of reducing job stress or letting it go unnoticed is to acquire knowledge of our interest. The Internet is the best way to obtain knowledge in our field of interest. We can then put the acquired skill into use in our everyday office job.

Breathing Exercises

Breathing exercises are a great way of relieving stress and tension. Many times, when trying to complete the work fast, the person

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becomes anxious which actually hampers his performance, rather than speeding it up. If we come across such a situation, just stop working for a while and practice some deep breathing exercises for stress relief. We will surely feel better and we will also see improvement in the way we work. Apart from this, learning some stretching exercises that we can do while sitting can also help in decreasing muscle tension and reducing stress.

Conclusion and recommendations

Stress at work is a relatively new phenomenon of modern lifestyles. The nature of work has gone through drastic changes over the last century and it is still changing at whirlwind speed. They have touched almost all professions, starting from an artist to a surgeon, or a commercial pilot to a sales executive. With change comes stress, inevitably. Professional stress or job stress poses a threat to performance and physical health. Work related stress in the life of organized workers, consequently, affects the performance of organizations. Stress can’t be completely avoided. It is part of life and is even beneficial in small doses to keep the body ready to respond to environmental demands. To avoid or diminish the effects of stress, however, several ways to combat it need to be known. Methods and techniques to combat stress, include but are not limited to: stress awareness, avoidance of people or situations known cause stress, sports or physical exercise, time management and change management, boosting self-motivation and self-respect, learning relaxation methods like meditation, breathing techniques, positive thinking, etc. Complete stress prevention is not possible, and is not recommended, because stress is a catalyst for growth and human creativity. Stress management techniques, training and an employee assistance program (EAP) can improve the ability of workers to cope with difficult work situations. Similarly, stress management programs teach workers about the nature and sources of stress, the effects of stress on health, and personal skills to reduce stress. It is imperative to understand that stress can never be eliminated it can only be reduced. The mantra is to manage stress in a rightful manner.

References:

1) www.mindtools.com/smpage.html2) www.aboutstressmanagement.com

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3) www.lifepositive.com/mind/psychology/stress/stress.asp4) www.helpguide.org5) www.stressmanagementtips.com6) www.stressreductionbasics.com

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