Stress Management In The Workplace

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STRESS MANAGEMENT IN THE STRESS MANAGEMENT IN THE WORKPLACE WORKPLACE by AKIN. AKINPELU (HR Learning Session)

description

To analyze and define what stress is,focus on specific work-stress related problems,practical solutions to them. Improving relationships & increase productivity in the workplace.

Transcript of Stress Management In The Workplace

Page 1: Stress Management In The Workplace

STRESS MANAGEMENT IN THE STRESS MANAGEMENT IN THE WORKPLACEWORKPLACE

by AKIN. AKINPELU(HR Learning Session)

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COURSE PREVIEWCOURSE PREVIEW

• Stress is people’s natural reach on-to excessive pressure.

• It isn’t a disease, but if stress is excessive and goes on for sometimes, it can lead to mental and physical ill-health (eg fatigue, depression, nervous breakdown, heart disease, lost productivity, conflicts within both the work and home environment and could also be responsible for death).

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COURSE PREVIEW (cont’d)COURSE PREVIEW (cont’d)

• Therefore, it is only when we understanding how to work with, as opposed to fighting stress, that we can avoid the negative effects of stress, particularly in the workplace.

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COURSE OBJECTIVES:COURSE OBJECTIVES:

• To analyze and define what stress is;• To focus on specific work-stress

related problems; • To work towards practical solutions to

them;• To improve relationships & increase

productivity in the workplace.

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UNDERSTANDING STRESSUNDERSTANDING STRESS

• What is stress?• The three faces of stress: ie, positive,

negative and neutral stress

• The physical side of stress.• Fight or flight syndrome.

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DEFINING STRESS DEFINING STRESS

• There have been many different definitions of what stress is, whether used by psychologists, medics, management consultants or others.

• What complicates definition is that, intuitively we all feel that we know what stress is, as it is something we have all experienced.

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WHAT IS STRESS?WHAT IS STRESS?

• According to Richard Lazarus “stress is a condition or a feeling experienced when a person perceives that demands exceed the personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilize”.

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WHAT IS STRESS? (cont’d)WHAT IS STRESS? (cont’d)• Pressure can be a good thing when it

helps to provide both stimulation and motivation.

• It becomes a problem when it leads to stress, resulting in ill-health or individual poor performance;

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STRESS DEFINEDSTRESS DEFINED• Any job worth doing is likely

to involve a certain amount of ‘pressure’ when some sense of urgency is needed to meet deadlines and produce good result.

• But prolonged pressure leads to stress and then chronic stress can lead to destructive cycle of poor performance, declining confidence, inefficiency and decreasing productivity

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STRESS IN THE WORKPLACESTRESS IN THE WORKPLACE ! !Employees feel little stress when we have

the time, experience and resources to manage a situation.

We feel great stress when we think we can't handle the demands put upon us.

Stress could therefore turn out to be a positive or negative experience.

It is an inevitable consequence of an event: It depends a lot on people's perceptions of a situation and their real ability to cope with it.

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IS STRESS GOOD OR BAD?IS STRESS GOOD OR BAD? 

• Selye said that “stress is not necessarily something bad – it all depends on how we take or manage it.

• The stress of exhilarating or excitement, creative successful work is beneficial, while that of failure, humiliation or infection is detrimental.”

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STRESS RELATED CASES TREATED STRESS RELATED CASES TREATED @ THE IITA CLINIC (2004-2007)@ THE IITA CLINIC (2004-2007)

2004 2005 2006 2007

Psychosis 0 3 1 5

Headaches 95 119 145 149

Insomnia 59 70 55 57

Depression 10 08 14 13

Anxiety Neurosis

36 43 32 72

Stress 19 25 47 33

Chronic Fatigue

72 74 76 50

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CAUSES OF STRESSCAUSES OF STRESS• A lot more or a lot less

trouble with the boss (difficult people)

• Working environment (e.g., physical surroundings, office

layout/design, lighting, etc). • Job itself – too much, too little

to do, conflicting roles & responsibilities, badly designed – shifts and rotas, etc)

• Violations of laws;

• Major business readjust-ment (merger, restructuring, bankruptcy, retirement, etc)

• A major change in our work culture, ethics and commitment

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CAUSES OF STRESSCAUSES OF STRESS (cont’d) (cont’d)•Outstanding personal achievements.

•Change in working hours or conditions ie major change in responsi-bilities at work (promotion, demotion, transfer, dismissal from work, etc)

•Major change in living conditions (ie building a new home or remodeling, deterioration of home or neighborhood).

• Spouse beginning or ceasing to work outside the home.

• Career development (career uncertainty, stagnation, insecurity and low social value of the work).

• Unfulfilled vision, goal and ambition resulting in changing to a different line of work.

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MAJOR CAUSES OF STRESS IN IITAMAJOR CAUSES OF STRESS IN IITA

•Work overload & close deadline(s);

•Job insecurity;•Problem jobs; •Problem people;•Personal financial mgt, ie loans, unreasonable demands from immediate family & friends;

•Our work environment, ie heavy traffic with 7.30am resumption time !

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WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF STRESS?STRESS?

• Physical signs like headaches, insomnia, indigestion and high blood pressure;

• Behavioural aspect such as poor work performance, ie frequent accidents, poor relationships at home/work; dependence on anti-relaxant such caffeine, drugs and alcohol, etc

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SYMTOMS (cont’d)SYMTOMS (cont’d)

• Emotional factors such as irritability, lack of concentration, anxiety, depression, etc.

• However, a quick response or intervention by colleagues/boss, can prevent the situation from deteriorating further and may lead to considerable improvement.

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20 MOST COMMON MISTAKES MADE BY 20 MOST COMMON MISTAKES MADE BY

EMPLOYEES THAT OFTEN LEAD TO STRESSEMPLOYEES THAT OFTEN LEAD TO STRESS •Not setting realistic goals;

•Poor communication;•Dictatorial, aggressive behaviour;

•Wanting to be liked by all;

•Poor hiring decisions;•Not motivating staff; •Criticism and negative discipline;

•Creating a "them and us" culture;

•Not managing conflict;•Resistance to change.;

•Not leading by example;•Not using the brain correctly; (incompetence)

•Paying poorly/low salary;•Lack of relevant trainings;•Poor time management;•Unrealistic deadlines;•Prejudice, race, status, etc•Overlooking the wisdom of other employees;

•Lack of empathy; (leave days)

•Taking life too seriously;

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PRACTICAL WAYS TO MANAGE STRESSPRACTICAL WAYS TO MANAGE STRESS (WAY FORWARD) (WAY FORWARD)

OVERCOMING WORK OVERLOAD

• Learn & find out how to distinguish the essential tasks that you must complete from the distractions that contribute to overload;

• Learn about effective time management:- discover ways to balance conflicting time demands, develop your professional skills & efficiency, through this, you regain control of your workload.

• Identify inconsistencies and structural problems within your job that can cause huge problems.

• Once identified, with your job under control you can win back your leisure time, spend more time with friends and family, and do the things that bring real joy to your life: this is what is referred to as – (Work Life Balance)

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TAKING THE STRESS OUT OF WORKING TAKING THE STRESS OUT OF WORKING RELATIONSHIPSRELATIONSHIPS

• Working in a multi cultural, multi ethnic and multi discipline like IITA, we must learn about ► (RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT)

• In doing so, you become a valued member of a happy, effective and successful team ► (DYNAMIC TEAM MANAGEMENT)

• Develop support networks to relieve stress and adopt enjoyable pastimes to counterbalance the unpleasantness of stress. (PROFESSIONAL GROUPS/INSTITUTES)

• These among others will win you respect in the workplace, and mark you out as someone who can maturely and positively handle difficult situations. ie, learn techniques for mutual satisfaction, how to work harmoniously with co-workers, be fair and firm.

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BUILDING STRESS DEFENSEBUILDING STRESS DEFENSE

• Equally important is achieving a good ‘Work-Life Balance’ ie. by offsetting the unpleasant and stressful events in our lives with plenty of good, enjoyable and relaxing events.

• Doing this, we make life more tolerable and reduce the risk of burnout.

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SIMPLE TOOLS TO AVOID ‘BURNOUT’SIMPLE TOOLS TO AVOID ‘BURNOUT’

• Burnout is a very ‘real threat’ to people in challenging and stressful jobs.

It is exhausting oneself or ruin one’s health especially by working ‘too hard’.

The feelings of intense tiredness and disillusionment that come with it brings serious unhappiness and can spell the end of otherwise promising and emotionally rewarding careers.

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TOOLS TO AVOID BURNOUT (cont’d)TOOLS TO AVOID BURNOUT (cont’d)

• Think about what you want to get out of your job and then compare this with the reality of your situation.

• Identify possible areas of mismatch, as these mismatches are possible pressure points that may develop into burnout. (ie know your stressors)

• You are most vulnerable to burnout when the stresses you experience impact negatively on the things that you find most fulfilling in your job. Not only do you experience the unpleasantness of stress, you lose the job satisfaction.

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TO START USING THIS TOOL:TO START USING THIS TOOL:• List the things that give real meaning to what you do.• Write down what attracted you to your current job or

profession in the first place. • List the things about it that you find fulfilling now.

Include the values of the profession to humanity and what excites you about it.

• Think about what you want to achieve within it and what you think is important to doing the job well.

• This will give you a long list of things that are good about what you do.

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USING THIS TOOLUSING THIS TOOL (cont’d): (cont’d):

• From this list, identify 5 things that give the greatest meaning to your work.

• These should be the things about the job that most inspire you. Write these down in chronological order with the most important item at the top of the list.

• This list shows you the things that you should protect as much as you can.

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USING THIS TOOL (cont’d):USING THIS TOOL (cont’d):• Next, write down the things that frustrate you most about

your work. This may involve things like inadequacy of resources, lack of recognition or bureaucracy, etc.

• List the factors that are causing you difficulty and which are likely to cause stress in the future.

• Now work through the list of things that give you meaning item-by-item. For each item, look at the list of frustrations. Where these threaten the things that are most important to you, note these down: These are particular pressure points that you need to monitor.

• Think these through carefully and plan in advance how you will handle build-ups of stress in these areas.

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OTHER WAYS OF RELAXING/TO AVOID OTHER WAYS OF RELAXING/TO AVOID BURNOUTBURNOUT

• When you are stressed, remember to give yourself “special treats".

• This is not self-indulgent: It is an important part of keeping yourself functioning effectively and avoiding the problems of burnout, anxiety and depression that come with intense & sustained stress.

• Do the things you enjoy most on your job - Question – what do you enjoy most on your job?

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AVOID DESPERATION @ WORKAVOID DESPERATION @ WORK(MY EXPERIENCE IN IITA)(MY EXPERIENCE IN IITA)

• To be desperate means to rush, to be hasty, to be frantic, hopeless and helpless.

• Don’t be desperate about making money, securing visa to travel abroad, positions, promotion, upgrading, change of jobs, etc;

• It makes you do silly things which you will regret later;

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DESPERATION @ WORKDESPERATION @ WORK

• Look before you leap. Be patient, because if you are not patient you may soon become a patient in the hospital;

• Take a close look or seek 2nd opinion on every major issue at work and at home;

• Be simple in your approach to things;• Do not put yourself under pressure and never

allow anything/anybody to put you on ‘unnecessary’ pressure;

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CONCLUSION – In everything:CONCLUSION – In everything:

• Be diligent - work hard, do your very best at all times;

• Follow basic principles and professional ethics/codes;

• Take precautions - ask yourself: what you are about to do/say, is it fair? How would you feel if others get to know?

• Pray and praise God always!!!!!!!!

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THANK YOU FOR THANK YOU FOR LISTENING !LISTENING !

TIME TO ASK ME QUESTIONS