Managing Stress And The Worklife Balance

Managing Stress and the WorkLife Balance Organizations and the people who run them are under constant pressure to increase income while keeping costs down. To do things faster and better – but with fewer people – is the goal of many companies. The results can indeed be increased performance, higher profits and faster growth. But stress, burnout, turnover, aggression and other side effects can also occur.

The Nature of Stress

Stress is a person’s adaptive response to a stimulus that places excessive psychological or physical demands on that person.

The Stress Process General Adaptation Syndrome [GAS] - identifies three (3)

stages of response to a stressor: alarm, resistance and exhaustion.

The Stress Process First Stage: Alarm Begins when a person encounters a ‘stressor’ Feels some degree of panic and wonders how to cope Should I deal with this or run away?

Stage Two: Resistance Deals with stressor by getting organized and resisting the negative effects of the stressor.

The Stress Process Third Stage: Exhaustion Person gives up and can no longer fight the ‘stressor’

Most of the time the resistance phase ends the cycle. [See Figure 7.1, pg 172]

General Adaptation Syndrome

Distress and Eustess Eustess

stress

that

Distress

stress

that

is the pleasurable accompanies positive events. is the unpleasant accompanies negative events.

Stress

can be either good or bad – it can motivate and stimulate us, or it can lead to any number of dangerous side effects.

Individual Differences and Stress Type A Personality – people who are extremely competitive, highly committed to work and have a strong sense of time urgency. Type B Personality – people who are less competitive, less committed to work and have a weaker sense of time urgency.

Hardiness Hardiness – is a person’s ability to cope with stress

People with hardy personalities: have an internal ‘locus of control’ are strongly committed to the activities in their lives view change as an opportunity for advancement and growth

Optimism Optimism

– is the extent to which a person sees life in relatively positive or negative terms.

People with optimistic personalities: see the positive aspects of a situation and recognize that things may eventually improve. [glass half full vs half empty] possess positive ‘affectivity’

Common Causes of Stress Organizational Stressors

are factors in the workplace that can cause stress. Four general sets of organizational stressors are: Task demands – associated with specific job Physical demands – associated with physical setting of job Role demands – associated with role expected to play Interpersonal demands – associated with group pressure, leadership and personality conflicts

[See Figure 7.2, pg 175; Table 7.1, pg 176 and Figure 7.3, pg 178]

Causes and Consequences of Stress

Adapted from James C. Quick and Jonathan D. Quick, Organizational Stress and Preventive Management (McGraw-Hill, 1984) pp. 19, 44, and 76.

The Most Stressful Jobs

The Most Stressful Jobs, February 26, 1996. Republished with permission of Dow Jones, from The Wall Street Journal, February 26, 1996; permission conveyed through Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.

Workload, Stress, and Performance

Role Demands Role

is a set of expected behaviors associated with a particular position in a group or organization.

Role Demands

are stressors associated with the role a person is expected to play.

Role Ambiguity occurs when a role in unclear.

Role Demands Role Conflict

occurs when the messages and cues constituting a role are clear but contradictory or mutually exclusive.

Four types of conflict have been identified: Inter-role conflict Intra-role conflict Intra-sender conflict Person-role conflict

Role Demands Inter-role Conflict – conflict between roles [home vs office]

Intra-role Conflict

– conflicting demands from different sources within the context of the same role [boss demand vs employee demand]

Role Demands Intra-sender Conflict

– occurs when a single source sends contradictory messages. [no overtime/work late]

Person-role Conflict

– results from a discrepancy between the role requirements and the individual’s personal values, attitudes and needs. [told to do something unethical, illegal or distasteful]

Role Demands Role

Overload

– occurs when expectations for the role exceed the individual’s capabilities.

Interpersonal Demands Interpersonal Demands

– are stressors associated with group pressures, leadership and personality conflicts. Group Pressures – pressure to restrict output, conform to group norms, etc. Leadership – varying styles of leadership may not fit employee needs. Interpersonal Conflict – personalities, attitudes and behaviors of employees differ [smoking vs nonsmoking, decision-making techniques, etc.].

Life Stressors Life Change – is any meaningful change in a person’s personal or work situation.

Life Trauma

– is any upheaval in an individual’s life that alters his or her attitudes, emotions or behaviors.

[See Table 9.2, pg 231]

Life Changes and Life Change Units

Reprinted from Journal of Psychosomatic Research, vol. 11, Thomas H. Holmes and Richard H. Rahe, “3 The Social Adjustment Rating Scale,” Copyright © 1967, with permission from Elsevier Science.

Stress Consequences - Individual Behavioral Consequences

– smoking, alcohol, drug use, appetite problems, accidents, and violence

Psychological Consequences – depression, sleeping too much or not enough, family problems, etc.

Medical Consequences

– heart disease, stroke, headaches, ulcers, acne, hives, etc.

Stress Consequences - Organizational Decline in Performance

– poor quality work, drop in productivity, faulty decision making, etc.

Withdrawal – rise in absenteeism, quitting job, missing deadlines, taking longer breaks.

Attitudes – complain about unimportant things, do just enough to get by, etc.

Burnout Burnout

– is a general feeling of mental and physical exhaustion that develops when an individual simultaneously experiences too much pressure and has too few sources of satisfaction.

Managing Stress in the Workplace Individual Coping Strategies: Exercise – feel less tension, suffer less heart attacks, more self-confident and more optimistic Relaxation – regular vacations or take regular breaks during the work day

Managing Stress in the Workplace Individual Coping Strategies: Time Management – prioritizing work tends to remove stress Role Management – avoid overload, ambiguity and conflict; develop the ability to say ‘No’. Support Group – a close set of friends to spend time with and discuss problems.

Managing Stress in the Workplace Organizational Coping Strategies: Institutional Programs – properly designed jobs and work schedules; good supervisors; an organizational culture that reinforces a healthy mix of work and non-work activities.

Managing Stress in the Workplace Organizational Coping Strategies: Collateral Programs – stress management programs, health promotion programs to detect stress, employee fitness programs, etc. [See Figure 7.4, pg 186]

Individual and Organizational Coping Strategies

Work-Life Linkages Common Dimensions – Work Individual’s Current Job Career Goals Job Security Interpersonal Relations at Work

Common Dimensions – Life Person’s Spouse Dependents Personal Life Interests Friendship Networks

Work-Life Relationships Work-Life

Relationships

– are interrelationships between a person’s work life and personal life Employee with many dependents may prefer high salary, little overtime and little travel. Employee with no dependents may be less interested in salary, more receptive to overtime and more available for job-related travel. Stress occurs when there is a basic incompatibility between a person’s work and life dimensions.