Project On Stress Management By Karan Pathak Final.pdf

A PROJECT REPORT ON “STRESS MANAGEMENT” BACHELOR OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES SEMESTER VI 2018-2019 SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF REQUIRMENT FOR THE AWARD OF DEGREE OF BACHELOR IN MANAGEMENT STUDIES BY KARAN OMKAR PATHAK ROLL NO- 187568 T.Y. (B.M.S) (2018-2019) GUIDED BY PROF: AMIT SINHA

SAKET COLLEGEOF ARTS, SCIENCE AND COMMERCE KALYAN (EAST):-421306 BACHELOR OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

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DECLARATION I KARAN PATHAK STUDENT OF SAKET COLLEGE of TYBMS 2018-2019 DO HERE BY DECLARE THAT I HAVE COMPLETED THE PROJECT WORK TITLED “STRESS MANAGEMENT” PART OF AS MY ACADEMIC FULFILLMENT. THE INFORMATION COLLECTED IS TRUE AND ORIGINAL AND BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE.

DATE: _________________

PLACE: _________________

KARAN PATHAK (T.Y.B.M.S) SIGNATURE

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CERTIFICATE I, ASSISTANT Prof. AMIT SINHA DO HERE BY CERTIFY THAT KARAN PATHAK STUDENT OF SAKET COLLEGE OF T.Y.B.M.S (2018-2019) (SEM VI), ROLL NO.187568 HAS COMPLETED THE PROJECT TITLED ON ‘‘STRESS MANAGEMENT” AS A PART OF HIS ACADEMIC FULFILLMENT, UNDER MY GUIDANCE. THE INFORMATION SUBMITTED IS TRUE AND ORIGINAL TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE.

PLACE:-______________ DATE:- __________

PROF. AMIT SINHA

SINGATURE

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BACHELOR OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES CERTIFICATE This is to certify that KARAN PATHAK Roll no.187568 has satisfactorily carried out the project work on the topic “STRESS MANAGEMENT” Of T.Y.BMS in the academic year 2018-2019.

PLACE: KALYAN

DATE:

Signature of cordinator

Signature of External with date

signature of principal

signature of Internal examiner

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am obliged to exhibit a blend on my sincere and heartly thanks to MR. AMIT SINHA for his valuable guidance throughout the project The opportunity given by the University of Mumbai for me to work as an individual for me to refine and polish my individual potential is highly appreciable. I also here by express my greatest thanks to all the sources that contributed in making of this project on “STRESS MANAGEMENT” for their great help and valuable assistance without which this would be not been possible. I am also thankful to all those who supported me in this endeavor, especially my family and all my well wishers.

KARAN OMKAR PATHAK T.Y.B.M.S

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INDEX

CHAPTERS & CONTENTS OF BOOKS

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TITLE OF THE PROJECT DECLARATION CERTIFICATE ACKNOWELEDGEMENT INDEX CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY CHAPTER 3: LITERATURE REVIEW CHAPTER 4: DATA ANNALYSIS, INTERPRETATION & PRESENTATION CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS & SUGGESTION BIBILIOGRAPHY

PAGE NO.s

1 2 3&4 5 6 7-15 16-22 23-60 61-80 81-82 83

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CHAPTER :1

INTRODUCTION

A lot of research has been conducted into stress over the last hundred years. Some of the theories behind it are now settled and accepted; others are still being researched and debated. During this time, there seems to have been something approaching open warfare between competing theories and definitions: Views have been passionately held and aggressively defended. What complicates this is that intuitively we all feel that we know what stress is, as it is something we have all experienced.

Stress refers to the strain from the conflict between our external environment and us, leading to emotional and physical pressure. In our fast paced world, it is impossible to live without stress, whether you are a student or a working adult. There is both positive and negative stress, depending on each individual’s unique perception of the tension between the two forces. Not all stress is bad. For example, positive stress, also known as eustress, can help an individual to function at optimal effectiveness and efficiency. Hence, it is evident that some form of positive stress can add more color and vibrancy to our lives. The presence of a deadline, for example, can push us to make the most of our time and produce greater efficiency. It is important to keep this in mind, as stress management refers to using stress to our advantage, and not on eradicating the presence of stress in our lives. On the other hand, negative stress can result in mental and physical strain. The individual will experience symptoms such as tensions, headaches, irritability and in extreme cases, heart palpitations. Hence, whilst some stress may be seen as a motivating force, it is important to manage stress levels so that it does not have an adverse impact on your health and relationships.

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Part of managing your stress levels include learning about how stress can affect you emotionally and physically, as well as how to identify if you are performing at your optimal stress level (OSL) or if you are experiencing negative stress. This knowledge will help you to identify when you need to take a break, or perhaps seek professional help. It is also your first step towards developing techniques to managing your stress levels. Modern day stresses can take the form of monetary needs, or emotional frictions. Competition at work and an increased workload can also cause greater levels of stress. How do you identify if you are suffering from excessive stress? Psychological symptoms commonly experienced include insomnia, headaches and an inability to focus. Physical symptoms take the form of heart palpitations, breathlessness, excessive sweating and stomachaches. Human Resource Management is an art of managing people at work in such a manner that they give their best to the organization. In simple word human resource management refers to the quantitative aspects of employees working in an organization. Human Resource Management is also a management function concerned with hiring, motivating, and maintains people in an organization. It focuses on people in organization. Organizations are not mere bricks, mortar, machineries or inventories. They are people. It is the Who staff and manage organizations. HRM involves the application of management functions and principles. The functions and principles are applied to acquisitioning, developing, maintain, and remunerating employees in organizations. Decisions relating to employees must be integrated. Decision on different aspect of employees must be consistent with other human resource decisions. Decision made must influence the effectiveness of organization. Effectiveness of an organization must result in betterment of services to customers in the form of high-quality product supplied at reasonable costs. HRM function s is not confined to business establishment only. They are applicable to non-business organizations, too such as education, health care, recreation etc. The scope of HRM is indeed vast. All major activities in the working life of his or her entry into an organization until he or she leaves-come under the previews of HRM. specifically, the activities included are HR planning, job analysis and be sign, recruitment and selection, orientation and

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placement, training and development, performance appraisal and job evaluation, employee and executive remuneration, motivation and communication, welfare, safety and health, industrial relations and the like. HRM is a broad concept Personnel management and human resource development is a part of HRM. Before we define “Human Resource Management”, it seems good to first define heterogeneous in the sense that they differ in personality, perception, emotions, values, attitudes, motives, and modes of thoughts. Human resource management plays an important role in the development process of modern economy. In fact it is said that all the development comes from the human mind. “Human Resource Management is a process of producing development, maintaining and controlling human resources for effective achievement of organization goals.”

HISTORY OF STRESS MANAGEMENT Throughout the eighties and into the nineties, work stress has continued to rise dramatically in organizations. The eighties saw employees stressing out from working in a rapidly growing economy. During the nineties, beginning from the recession of 1992 till present day, employees are stressed by their own job insecurities in the face of massive downsizing and restr ucturing of organizations in order to be competitive on the global stage.

Thus, when the stress levels among the employees begin to rise as they deal with more and more clients, they would put up an even greater resistance to their own emotions. Over time, the professional may not be able to relax that emotional resistance. All their emotions would be masked and retained within themselves, resulting ultimately in mental and emotional disorders. In stressful times, employees are often displeased or angry at something. However, there are usually limited channels in which employees can express their views. Since opinions, views, and feelings cannot always be expressed to anyone to change the current situation, there would be an accumulation of anger and frustration within the individual. Up to a certain point, the anger would be released, usually at the wrong person or time, such as colleagues, 9

clients, or family members. This symptom has a tremendous impact on society because there is a potential that it may h urt other people. Stress is a condition or feeling experienced when a person perceives that demands exceed the personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilize.

A certain amount of stress is good for us as it can encourage change and activity. But if we are under too much stress our ability to function effectively suffers. When working in a team environment our stress is relayed to the rest of the team resulting in a decline of team performance making team building an imperative goal. For some a potential stressful situation leads to the effect of "riding on the crest of a wave" because it generates a certain chemical reaction in the body that gives exhilaration. For others, the same circumstances lead to different chemical reactions, which result in loss of performance. What is needed is environmental and self -regulation. Therefore stress management is a partnership between the employee and the employer. Isolation is a common side effect of working under tremendous stress. For many service practitioners, the clients that they serve do not always readily welcome them. A prime example would be policemen who are shunned often by the public. Over time, a feeling of isolation and rejection would envelop the person. The natural thing to do would b e to withdraw from others who do not understand their plight, resulting in profound human loneliness. There are much other short term, psychological effects of stress that can be readily seen or felt.

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DEFENITIONS OF STRESS  “Stress results from an imbalance between demands and resources” Cox, stress,1978  “Stress occurs when perceived pressure exceeds your ability to cope” palmer, “occupational stress”, 1989.  According to Fred Luthans. “Stress is an adaptive response to an external situation that results in physical, psychological, and Behavioural deviations for Organisation participants.”  Hans Selye was one of the founding fathers of stress research. His view in 1956 was that “stress is not necessarily something bad – it all depends on how you take it. The stress of exhilarating, creative successful work is beneficial, while that of failure, humiliation or infection is detrimental.” Selye believed that the biochemical effects of stress would be experienced irrespective of whether the situation was positive or negative.  Since then, a great deal of further research has been conducted, and ideas have moved on. Stress is now viewed as a "bad thing", with a range of harmful biochemical and long-term effects. These effects have rarely been observed in positive situations.  The most commonly accepted definition of stress (mainly attributed to Richard S Lazarus) is that stress is 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've lost control of events.

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Problems due to stress 1. Heart disease. Researchers have long suspected that the stressed-out, type A personality has a higher risk of high blood pressure and heart problems. We don't know why, exactly. Stress can directly increase heart rate and blood flow, and causes the release of cholesterol and triglycerides into the blood stream. It's also possible that stress is related to other problems -- an increased likelihood of smoking or obesity -that

indirectly

increase

the

heart

risks.

Doctors do know that sudden emotional stress can be a trigger for serious cardiac problems, including heart attacks. People who have chronic heart problems need to avoid acute stress -- and learn how to successfully manage life's unavoidable stresses - as much as they can. 2. Asthma. Many studies have shown that stress can worsen asthma. Some evidence suggests that a parent's chronic stress might even increase the risk of developing asthma in their children. One study looked at how parental stress affected the asthma rates of young children who were also exposed to air pollution or whose mothers smoked during pregnancy. The kids with stressed out parents had a substantially higher risk of developing asthma. 3. Obesity. Excess fat in the belly seems to pose greater health risks than fat on the legs or hips -- and unfortunately, that's just where people with high stress seem to store it. "Stress causes higher levels of the hormone cortisol," says Winner, "and that seems to increase the amount of fat that's deposited in the abdomen." 4. Diabetes. Stress can worsen diabetes in two ways. First, it increases the likelihood of bad behaviors, such as unhealthy eating and excessive drinking. Second, stress seems to raise the glucose levels of people with type 2 diabetes directly. 5. Headaches. Stress is considered one of the most common triggers for headaches -- not just tension headaches, but migraines as well. 6. Depression and anxiety. It's probably no surprise that chronic stress is connected with higher rates of depression and anxiety. One survey of recent studies found that people who had stress related to their jobs -- like demanding work with few rewards -- had an 80% higher risk of developing depressionwithin a few years than people with lower stress. 7. Gastrointestinal problems. Here's one thing that stress doesn't do -- it doesn't cause ulcers. However, it can make them worse. Stress is also a common factor in many other 12

GI conditions, such as chronic heartburn (or gastroesophageal reflux disease, GERD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), Winner says. 8. Alzheimer's disease. One animal study found that stress might worsen Alzheimer's disease, causing its brain lesions to form more quickly. Some researchers speculate that reducing stress has the potential to slow down the progression of the disease. 9. Accelerated aging. There's actually evidence that stress can affect how you age. One study compared the DNA of mothers who were under high stress -- they were caring for a chronically ill child -- with women who were not. Researchers found that a particular region of the chromosomes showed the effects of accelerated aging. Stress seemed to accelerate aging about 9 to 17 additional years. 10. Premature death. A study looked at the health effects of stress by studying elderly caregivers looking after their spouses -- people who are naturally under a great deal of stress. It found that caregivers had a 63% higher rate of death than people their age who were not caregivers. Chronic Stress When someone is under chronic stress, it begins to negatively affect his or her physical and mental health. The body’s stress response was not made to be continuously engaged. Many people encounter stress from multiple sources, including work; money, health, and relationship worries; and media overload. With so many sources of stress, it is difficult to find time to relax and disengage. This is why stress is one of the biggest health problems facing people today. Chronic stress increases the risk of developing health problems including obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and a weakened immune system. Chronic stress also affects a person’s mental health. Many studies show a correlation between stress and the development of mood disorders such as anxiety disorders and depression. According to the American Psychological Association’s latest stress survey, 66 percent of people regularly experience physical symptoms of stress, and 63 percent experience psychological symptoms. Link between Stress & Mental Health Although many studies have shown a link between stress and mental health problems, the reason behind this connection has remained unclear. Recent research from the 13

University of California, Berkeley, has discovered new insight into why stress can be so detrimental to a person’s psyche. Previous research has found physical differences in the brains of people with stress disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and those without. One of the main distinctions is that the ratio of the brain’s white matter to gray matter is higher in those with stress-related mental disorders compared to those without. People who experience chronic stress have more white matter in some areas of the brain. The UC Berkeley study wanted to find out the underlying reason for this alteration in the brain composition. Gray Matter Gray matter in the brain is composed mainly of two types of cells: neurons, which process and store information, and glia, cells that support the neurons. White matter mostly is composed of axons, which form a network of fibers to connect the neurons. It is called white matter because of the white, fatty “sheath” of myelin coating that insulates the nerves and accelerates the transmission of the signals between the cells. For this study, the researchers focused on the cells that produce myelin in the brain to see if they could find a connection between stress and the proportion of gray brain matter to white. Hippocampus The researchers performed a series of experiments on adult rats, focusing on the hippocampus region of the brain (which regulates memory and emotions). During the experiments, they found the neural stem cells behaved differently than expected. Prior to this study, the general belief was that these stem cells would only become neurons or astrocyte cells, a type of glial cell. However, under stress, these cells became another type of glial cells, oligodendrocyte, which are the myelin-producing cells. These cells also help form the synapses, which are the communication tools that allow nerve cells to exchange information.

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Thus, chronic stress causes more myelin-producing cells and fewer neurons. This disrupts the balance in the brain, causing communication in the brain cells to lose its normal timing, which could lead to problems. Stress Disorders & Brain Connectivity This might mean that people with stress disorders, such as PTSD, have alterations in their brain connectivity. This might lead to a stronger connection between the hippocampus and the amygdala (the area that processes the fight-or-flight response). It might also cause weaker connectivity between the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex (the area that moderates the responses). If the amygdala and hippocampus have a stronger connection, the response to fear is more rapid. If the connection between the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus is weaker, then the ability to calm down and shut off the stress response is impaired. Therefore, in a stressful situation, a person with this imbalance will have a stronger response with a limited ability to shut down that response. Oligodencdrocyte Cells This study shows that the oligodendrocyte cells might play a key role in long-term changes to the brain that could lead to mental health problems. The researchers also believe that the stem cells which, due to chronic stress, are becoming myelin-producing cells rather than neurons, affect cognitive function, because it is the neurons that process and transmit the electrical information necessary for learning and memory skills. More research is required to verify these findings, including studying humans rather than rats, which the researchers have planned. However, this study provides important insight into why chronic stress affects the brain and mental health, and how early intervention can help prevent the development of certain mental health problems.

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CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Research is an academic activity and as such the term is used in technical sense. “Research comprises defining and redefining problems, formulating hypothesis or suggested solutions, collecting, organizing and evaluating data, making deduction and reaching conclus ions; and at last, carefully testing the conclusions to determine whether they fit the formulating hypothesis. The research on Organisational Role Stress in National Thermal Power Corporation Limited consisted of following steps:

DATA COLLECTION: Data was collected by using various methods. For the purpose of fulfilling the objectives of the study and for completing the project, both primary and secondary sources of data were collected.

PRIMARY DATA The primary data are those which are collected a fresh and for the first, and thus happens to be original hi character. We can obtain primary data through observation or through direct communication with respondents in form or another or through personal interview. There are several methods of electing primary data, but in this research work primary data collected by using questionnaire.

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 QUESTIONNAIRE Keeping in view the objectives of the study, a questionnaire (as given in appendix-1) was selected. There are fifty questions in all. All the questions are small in size and arranged logically. The language is simple and easy to understand. The questionnaire is exhaustive. It covers a wide area, so the dimensions of Organisational Role Stress could be determined appropriately. The respondents were told to mark their answers in the questionnaire itself on the basis of the scale given in it. The scale covered the wide range from the most positive to the most negative answer. These questions helped us to have an insight into the ongoing source of role stress and also the ideas of the various executives on how to overcome role stress

INTERVIEW Information was also obtained by informal conversation with the executives. They were interviewed personally. The questions asked were discussed at length so as to gain access to their idea on role stress.

SECONDARY DATA Secondary data means data that are already available i.e. they refer to the data which have been already been collected and analyzed by someone else. When the researcher utilizes secondary data, then he has to look into various sources from he can obtain them. Secondary data may either be published data or abolished data. In this research work, secondary data collected through the Internet Company manual and booklets Books etc.

METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION The source of information is generally classified as primary and secondary. According to Payline V. Young the source of information can be classified into laniary sources and field sources.

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Primary data:The information given/collection by individuals or group constituent’s source.

Methods of generating primary data 1.

Survey

2.

Observation

3.

Questionnaire

Secondary data: Book, manuscript, letter, magazine, internet etc. are the secondary or documentary source. The researcher forth is dissertation has decided to use any source assenter view schedule and secondary source as books and internet for data collection.

Tools of Data Collection: 1. Interview schedule &questionnaire was used as tool for primary source of data collection. 2. Interview schedule consist of number of question typed in a definite order or form.

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Processing:The collection of data is over the main step top arranged for processing and analysis of data. So the interview can be made resulting information theories. The first step is editing, is a process of examining the data collection in interview schedule to defect efforts and mission and to see that they are corrected and the rules prepared tabulations.

Editing The preparation of the data forms for tabulations must include on operational judge for accepting, modifying or resection individual questionnaire.

Tabulation: Tabulation is a process of summarizing raw and display it in compact forms further analysis. Analysis of data is made possible through tables. These tables made for different variables and to show relationship with each other.

Interpretation of data Analysis and interpretation are central step in research process. The goal of lyses is to summarize o collected data in such a way that they provide answer to and triggered the researcher. Interpretation is the research for the broader ling of research finding. The questionnaire is preceded a few encoded ones are classified the code were verified before transferred to the master chart.

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OBJECTIVE Following are the various objectives of the stress management. 

To study the factors causing stress among the employees.



To study about the effect of stress on employees.



To select the proper strategies to manage stress among the employees.



Identify situation that cause stress



Apply various stress reduction techniques to alleviate stress

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HYPOTHESIS

Assumption which explains the facts gave rise to the need of explanations. This means that by using the hypothesis plus other and accepted generalization one should be able to deduce the original problem condition. The formulation of hypothesis or proposition as to the possible answers to the research questions is an importance steps in the process of formulation of the research problem. Hypothesis is usually considered as the principal instrument in research. Its main function is to suggest new experiment and observations. Keen observation, creative thinking, hunch, unit, imagination, vision, insight and sound judgment are of greater importance in setting up reasonable hypotheses. A thorough knowledge about the phenomenon and related fields is of great value in its process. The formulation of hypotheses plays an important part in the growth of knowledge in every science. The hypotheses are formulated to facilitate the findings of the research study.



Stress causes the dissatisfaction among the employees.



Proper stress management affect the employee productivity.



Stress management increases the productivity.

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SCOPE 

This study of the stress management depends on the people’s day to day life workings and the problems they faced in their every day life



A change in responsibilities or expectation at work and increase job promotion, avoids loss, or changes in the organization.



To Changing worker demographics and worker safety and health.



Their personal problems which affects their professional work



Their professional problems creating a disturbance

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CHAPTER. 3 LITERATURE REVIEW TYPES OF STRESS

Music

Chronic Stress

Biological

Mechanical

Mechanical 

Stress (physics), the average amount of force exerted per unit area.



Yield stress, the stress at which a material begins to deform plastically.



Compressive stress, the stress applied to materials resulting in their compaction.

Biological Stress (biological), physiological or psychological stress; some types includes: 

Chronic stress, persistent stress which can lead to illness and mental disorder



Eustress, positive stress that can lead to improved long-term functioning



Workplace stress, stress caused by employment

Music 

Accent (music).



Stress (band), an early '80s melodic rock band from San Diego.



Stress (punk band), an early '80s punk rock band from Athens.



Stress (Neo-Psychedelic band), from the late 1980's.

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

Stress, a song by the French band Justice on their debut album

Other 

Stress (game), card game



Stress (linguistics), phonological use of prominence in language

Stress (physics), the average amount of force exerted per unit area. Stress is a measure of the average amount of force exerted per unit area. It is a measure of the intensity of the total internal forces acting within a body across imaginary internal surfaces, as a reaction to external applied forces and body forces. It was introduced into the theory of elasticity by Cauchy around 1822. Stress is a concept that is based on the concept of continuum. In general, stress is expressed as

Where Is the average stress, also called engineering or nominal stress, and Is the force acting over the area

.

Chronic Stress Chronic stress is stress that lasts a long time or occurs frequently. Chronic stress is potentially damaging. Symptoms of chronic stress can be: 

upset stomach



headache



backache



insomnia



anxiety 24



depression



anger

In the most severe cases it can lead to panic attacks or a panic disorder. There are a variety of methods to control chronic stress, including exercise, healthy diet, stress management, relaxation techniques, adequate rest, and relaxing hobbies. Ensuring a healthy diet containing magnesium may help control or eliminate stress, in those individuals with lower levels of magnesium or those who have a magnesium deficiency. Chronic stress can also lead to a magnesium deficiency, which can be a factor in continued chronic stress, and a whole host of other negative medical conditions caused by a magnesium deficiency. It has been discovered that there is a huge upsurge in the number of people who suffer from this condition. A very large number of these new cases suffer from insomnia. There are many different causes of stress, and that which causes stress is also known as a stressor. Common lifestyle stressors include performance, threat, and bereavement stressors, to name a few. Performance stressors are triggered when an individual is placed in a situation where he feels a need to excel. This could be during performance appraisals, lunch with the boss, or giving a speech. Threat stressors are usually when the current situation poses a dangerous threat, such as an economic downturn, or from an accident. Lastly, bereavement stressors occur when there is a sense of loss such as the death of a loved one, or a prized possession. Thus, there are various stressors, and even more varied methods and techniques of dealing with stress and turning it to our advantages. In order to do so, we must learn to tell when we have crossed the line from positive to negative stress.

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A lot of things can cause stress. You may feel stress when you go on a job interview, take a test, or run a race. These kinds of short-term stress are normal. Longterm (chronic) stress is caused by stressful situations or events that last over a long period of time, like problems at work or conflicts in your family. Over time, chronic stress can lead to severe health problems.

Personal problems that can cause stress 

Your health, especially if you have a chronic illness such as heart disease, diabetes, or arthritis



Emotional problems, such as anger you can't express, depression, grief, guilt, or low self-esteem



Your relationships, such as having problems with your relationships or feeling a lack of friendships or support in your life



Major life changes, such as dealing with the death of a parent or spouse, losing your job, getting married, or moving to a new city



Stress in your family, such as having a child, teen, or other family member who is under stress, or being a caregiver to a family member who is elderly or who has health problems.

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

Conflicts with your beliefs and values. For example, you may value family life, but you may not be able to spend as much time with your family as you want.

Social and job issues that can cause stress 

Your surroundings. Living in an area where overcrowding, crime, pollution, or noise is a problem can create chronic stress.



Your social situation. Not having enough money to cover your expenses, feeling lonely, or facing discrimination based on your race, gender, age, or sexual can add stress to your life.



Your job. Being unhappy with your work or finding your job too demanding can lead to chronic stress. Learn how to manage job stress.



Unemployment. Losing your job or not being able to find work can also add to your stress level.

Good stress v/s Bad stress: Stress has often been misunderstood to be negative, with few people acknowledging the importance and usefulness of positive stress. In our everyday lives, stress is everywhere and definitely unavoidable; hence our emphasis should be on differentiating between what is good stress, and what is bad. This will help us to learn to cope with negative stress, and harness the power of positive stress to help us achieve more. There are 4 main categories of stress, namely eustress, distress, hyper stress and hypo stress. Negative stress can cause many physical and psychological problems, whilst positive stress can be very helpful for us. Here’s how we differentiate between them.

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Eustress: This is a positive form of stress, which prepares your mind and body for the imminent challenges that it has perceived. Eustress is a natural physical reaction by your body which increases blood flow to your muscles, resulting in a higher heart rate. Athletes before a competition or perhaps a manager before a major presentation would do well with eustress, allowing them to derive the inspiration and strength that is needed.

Distress We are familiar with this word, and know that it is a negative form of stress. This occurs when the mind and body is unable to cope with changes, and usually occurs when there are deviations from the norm. They can be categorized into acute stress and chronic stress. Acute stress is intense, but does not last for long. On the other hand, chronic stress persists over a long period of time. Trigger events for distress can be a change in job scope or routine that the person is unable to handle or cope with.

Hyper stress This is another form of negative stress that occurs when the individual is unable to cope with the workload. Examples include highly stressful jobs, which require longer working hours than the individual can handle. If you suspect that you are suffering from hyper stress, you are likely to have sudden emotional breakdowns over insignificant issues, the proverbial straws that broke the camel’s back. It is important for you to recognize that your body needs a break, or you may end up with severe and chronic physical and psychological reactions.

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Hypo stress Lastly, hypo stress occurs when a person has nothing to do with his time and feels constantly bored and unmotivated. This is due to an insufficient amount of stress; hence some stress is inevitable and helpful to us. Companies should avoid having workers who experience hypo stress as this will cause productivity and mindfulness to fall. If the job scope is boring and repetitive, it would be a good idea to implement some form of job rotation so that there is always something new to learn. The types of stress are named as eustress and distress. Distress is the most commonly-referred to type of stress, having negative implications, whereas eustress is a positive form of stress, usually related to desirable events in person's life. Both can be equally taxing on the body, and are cumulative in nature, depending on a person's way of adapting to a change that has caused it.

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COPING WITH STRESS AT WORK PLACE

With the rapid advancement of technology, the stresses faced at work have also increased. Many people dread going to work, hence the term “Monday Blues”. What is the reason for this? There is partly the fear from being retrenched in bad times, leading to greater job insecurity on the part of those who remain. Undoubtedly, occupational stress is one of the most commonly cited stressors faced by people all over the world.

Stress refers to the pressure and reactions to our environment which results in psychological and physical reactions. Whilst some stress is good for motivation and increasing efficiency, too much stress can result in negative impacts such as reduced effectiveness and efficiency. More and more people are feeling isolated and disrespected at work, and this has led to greater occupational stress. Many companies have taken to consulting experts and professionals on ways to increase connectedness and motivation of their employees.

Some companies organize parties and make their employees feel valued at work. These are measures to motivate employees and help them to feel secure at their jobs, 30

translating into greater productivity. However, not all companies have such measures in place, and some have not gotten it quite right. Hence, it is up to you to make sure that you can cope with stress at your workplace, and use it to help you work better. Here are 3 simple steps to help you with coping with stress in the workplace.

Step 1: Raising Awareness Help yourself to identify when you are facing rising levels of stress, tipping the scales from positive to negative. This is important, as being able to identify signs of being stressed can help you to take steps to ensure that your overall quality of life does not drop. If left unacknowledged, the problem will only snowball, leading to disastrous consequences to your health and overall wellbeing. You can identify if you are feeling stressed by checking if you have any physical or psychological reactions, such as excessive sweating or heart palpitations, or the onset of headaches, irritability or the need to escape. If you experience any of these reactions, identify if you are feeling any overwhelming negative emotions, and if you are constantly worried.

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Step 2: Identify the Cause You need to be able to analyze the situation and identify what is causing the rise in stress. These stressors can be external and internal. External stressors refer to things beyond your control, such as the environment or your colleagues at work. Internal stressors refer to your own thinking and attitude. Often, we only start reacting to stress when a combination of stressors working together exceeds our ability to cope. Keep a diary or a list of events that have caused you to feel strong negative emotions, or that are likely stressors. This will help you to identify the causes of your stress. Whilst it is not always possible to eradicate them, we can change the way that we cope with it.

Step 3: Coping with Stress In order to deal with the situation that is causing you stress, you need to calm your mind and body so as to stave off the reactions and cope with it in a positive way. This can be through different methods, such as taking time off. If a situation is triggering your stress and you are unable to calm down, remove yourself from it. Go outside and take a walk to calm down. Alternatively, you can try implementing relaxation techniques such as deep breathing. If it is an internal stressor, stop your thought process until you are able to deal with it logically. The key to making these 3 steps work for you is to practice them. These are not instantaneous solutions, and you need to condition your mind and practice them so that you can implement it when you are feeling stressed.

32

STRESS MANAGEMENT Stress management is the need of the hour. However hard we try to go beyond a stress situation, life seems to find new ways of stressing us out and plaguing us with anxiety attacks. Moreover, be it our anxiety, mind-body exhaustion or our erring attitudes, we tend to overlook causes of stress and the conditions triggered by those. In such unsettling moments we often forget that stressors, if not escapable, are fairly manageable and treatable. Stress, either quick or constant, can induce risky body-mind disorders. Immediate disorders such as dizzy spells, anxiety attacks, tension, sleeplessness, nervousness and muscle cramps can all result in chronic health problems. They may also affect our immune, cardiovascular and nervous systems and lead individuals to habitual addictions, which are inter-linked with stress. Like "stress reactions", "relaxation responses" and stress management techniques are some of the body's important built-in response systems. As a relaxation response the body tries to get back balance in its homeostasis. Some hormones released during the 'fight or flight' situation prompt the body to replace the lost carbohydrates and fats, and restore the energy level. The knotted nerves, tightened muscles and an exhausted mind crave for looseness. Unfortunately, today, we don't get relaxing and soothing situations without asking. To be relaxed we have to strive to create such situations.

33

REMEDIES TO REDUCE STRESS There are two major approaches to reduce stress. They are, 1. Individual approaches 2. Organizational approaches

1. INDIVIDUAL APPROACHES An employee can take individual responsibility to reduce his/her stress level. Individual strategies that have proven effective include, implementing time management techniques, increasing physical exercise, relaxation training, and expanding the social support network.

Time management  Many people manage their time very poorly. Some of well known time management principles include,  Making daily list of activities to be accomplished 34

 Scheduling activities according to the priorities set  Prioritizing activities by importance and urgency  Knowing your daily cycle and handling the most demanding parts of your job.

Physical exercise Practicing non-competitive physical exercises like aerobics, race walking, jogging, swimming, and riding a bi-cycle.

Relaxation training Relaxation techniques such as meditation, hypnosis and bio-feedback. The objective is to reach in state of deep relaxation, where one feels physically relaxed, somewhat from detached from the immediate environment. Fifteen or twenty minutes a day of deep relaxation releases tension and provides a person with a pronounced sense of peacefulness.

Social support Having families, friends or work colleagues to talk provides an outlet, when stress levels become excessive. So expand your social support network that helps you with someone to hear your problems.

2. ORGANIZATIONAL APPROACHES Several of the factors that cause stress particularly task and role demands and organizations structure are controlled by management. As such they can be modified or changed. Some of the strategies that management want to consider include improved personal self section and job placement, use of realistic goal setting, redesigning of jobs, improved organizational communication and establishment of corporate wellness programmed. Certain jobs are more stressful than others. Individual with little experience or an external lower of control tend to be more proven to stress. Selection and placement decisions should take these facts into consideration. Goal setting helps to reduce stress. 35

It also provides motivation. Designing jobs to give employees more responsibility, more meaningful work, more autonomy, and increased feedback can reduce stress, because these factors give the employee greater control over work activities and lessen dependence on others. Increasingly formal organizational communication with employees reduces uncertainly by lessens role ambiguity and role conflict. Wellness program, say, employee counseling form on the employee’s total physical and mental condition. They typically proud work ships to help people quit smoking, control alcohol usage, eat better and develop a regular exercise program. Another remedy for reducing stress is cognitive restructuring. It involves two step procedures. First irrational or maladaptive thought processes that create stress are identified. For example Type A individuals may believe that they must be successful at everything they do. The second step consists of replacing these irrational thoughts with more rational or reasonable ones. One important remedy to reduce stress is the maintenance of good sleep. Research conducted on laboratory specimen to have met with startling discoveries. Sleep starved rats have developed stress syndrome. The amount of sleep one requires varies from person to person and is dependent on one’s lifestyle. The American National Sleep Foundation claims that a minimum of eight hours of sleep is essential for good health. Generally studies shows that young adults can manage with about 7-8 hours. After the age of 35, six hours of sleep is sufficient whereas people over 65 years may just need three or four hours.

Recognizing a stressor: It is important to recognize whether you are under stress or out of it. Many times, even if we are under the influence of a stressful condition and our body reacts to it internally as well as externally, we fail to realize that we are reacting under stress. This also happens when the causes of stress are there long enough for us to get habituated to them. The body constantly tries to tell us through symptoms such as rapid palpitation, dizzy spells, tight muscles or various body aches that something is wrong. It is important to remain attentive to such symptoms and to learn to cope with the situations. 36

We cope better with stressful situation, when we encounter them voluntarily. In cases of relocation, promotion or layoff, adventurous sports or having a baby, we tend to respond positively under stress. But, when we are compelled into such situations against our will or knowledge, more often than not, we wilt at the face of unknown and imagined threats. For instance, stress may mount when one is coerced into undertaking some work against one's will.

Laughter: Adopting a humorous view towards life's situations can take the edge off everyday stressors. Not being too serious or in a constant alert mode helps maintain the equanimity of mind and promote clear thinking. Being able to laugh stress away is the smartest way to ward off its effects. A sense of humor also allows us to perceive and appreciate the incongruities of life and provides moments of delight. The emotions we experience directly affect our immune system. The positive emotions can create neurochemical changes that buffer the immunosuppressive effects of stress. During stress, the adrenal gland releases corticosteroids, which are converted to cortical in the blood stream. These have an immunosuppressive effect. Dr. Lee Berk and fellow researcher Dr. Stanley Tan at Loma Linda University School of Medicine have produced carefully controlled studies showing that the experience of laughter lowers serum cortical levels, increases the amount and activity of T lymphocytes—the natural killer cells. Laughter also increases the number of T cells that have suppresser receptors.

What Laughter Can Do Against Stress And Its Effects? 

Laughter lowers blood pressure and reduces hypertension.



It provides good cardiac conditioning especially for those who are unable to perform physical exercise.



Reduces stress hormones (studies shows, laughter induces reduction of at least four of neuroendocrine hormones—epinephrine, cortical, dopac, and growth hormone, associated with stress response).

37



Laughter cleanses the lungs and body tissues of accumulated stale air as it empties more air than it takes in. It is beneficial for patients suffering from emphysema and other respiratory ailments.



It increases muscle flexion, relaxation and fluent blood circulation in body.



Boosts immune function by raising levels of infection-fighting T-cells, diseasefighting proteins called Gamma-interferon and disease-destroying antibodies called B-cells.



Laughter triggers the release of endorphins—body's natural painkillers.

Regular Exercise: Aerobic exercise is a best way of draining off stress energy. To understand why, we need to review what stress is, stress is the state of increased arousal necessary for an organism to defend itself at a time of danger. The stress reaction is in us, not "out there." It provides us with the strength and energy to either fight or run away from danger and is therefore self-protective. Exercise is the most logical way to dissipate this excess energy. It is what our bodies are trying to do when we pace around or tap our legs and fingers. It is much better to channel it into a more complete form of exercise like a brisk walk, a run, a bike ride or a game of squash. During times of high stress, we could benefit from an immediate physical outlet - but this often is not possible. However, regular exercise can drain off ongoing stress and keep things under control. At the very least, it is important to exercise three times per week for a minimum of 30 minutes each time. Aerobic activities like walking, jogging, swimming, bicycling, racquet sports, skiing, aerobics classes and dancing are suitable. It is also beneficial to have a variety of exercise outlets. For chronic or acute stress, exercise is an essential ingredient in any stress reduction program.

38

Relaxation/Meditation: Another way to reduce stress in the body is through certain disciplines which fall under the heading of relaxation techniques. Just as we are all capable of mounting and sustaining a stress reaction, we have also inherited the ability to put our bodies into a state of deep relaxation which Dr. Herbert Benson of Harvard University has named "the relaxation response." In this state, all the physiologic events in the stress reaction are reversed: pulse slows, blood pressure falls, breathing slows and muscles relax. Where the stress reaction is automatic, however, the relaxation response needs to be brought forth by intention. Fortunately, there are many ways of doing this. Sitting quietly by a lake or fireplace, gently petting the family cat, lying on a hammock and other restful activities can generate this state. There also are specific skills that can be learned which are efficient and beneficial. A state of deep relaxation achieved through meditation or self-hypnosis is actually more physiologically restful than sleep. These techniques are best learned through formal training courses which are taught in a variety of places. Books and relaxation tapes can be used. On days when exercise is not possible, relaxation techniques are an excellent way to bring down the body's stress level. Whereas exercise dissipates stress energy, relaxation techniques neutralize it, producing a calming effect. As little as 20 minutes once or twice per day confers significant benefit.

Sleep Sleep is an important way of reducing stress. Chronically stressed patients almost all suffer from fatigue (in some cases resulting from stress-induced insomnia), and people who are tired do not cope well with stressful situations. These dynamics can create a vicious cycle. When distressed people get more sleep, they feel better and are more resilient and adaptable in dealing with day-to-day events. Most people know what their usual sleep requirement is (the range is five to 10 hours per night; the average being seven to eight), but a surprisingly large percentage of the population is chronically sleep deprived. The three criteria of success are waking refreshed, good daytime energy and waking naturally before the alarm goes off in the morning. 39

Sleeping-in is fine but if you sleep too long, it throws off your body rhythms during the following day. It is better to go to bed earlier. Daytime naps are an interesting phenomenon. They can be valuable if they are short and timed properly (i.e., not in the evening). The "power nap" or catnap is a short sleep (five to 20 minutes) that can be rejuvenating. A nap lasting more than 30 minutes can make you feel groggy. Beyond these cautionary notes, sleep can be key in reducing stress and helping person cope and function better.

Ventilation/Support System: Many people go to their work place upset, talking incessantly about a problem, and feeling better when they are finished. They have told their story, cried or made some admission, and the act of doing so in the presence of a trusted and empathic listener has been therapeutic. Listener often does not have to say much. They just have to be there, listen attentively and show their concern and caring. On other occasions we might offer validation, encouragement or advice. But the combination of the patient being able to ventilate and their support can be profoundly beneficial. There is an old saying that "a problem shared is a problem halved." People who keep things to themselves carry a considerable and unnecessary burden. We can do much for person under stress by allowing them to ventilate or encouraging them to do so. We can also help by urging them to develop a support system (a few trusted relatives, co-workers or friends to talk to when they are upset or worried). Another form of ventilation that many patients find helpful is writing. When a person is angry, and under stress, Psychologist often suggest them to write a letter to the person at whom they are vexed. These letters are not for sending; they should be destroyed once they are written - unread. The value is in expressing the feelings and getting them out. Rereading the letter just reinforces the upset and fans the flames of anger all over again. One of the most important things we can do for person under stress is teach them about stress management. Even better, we can learn these lessons ourselves and then model them for that person.

40

Make sure that identifying these opportunities and focusing on them is part of your positive thinking. "Stress is very much a part of a manager's job. He must learn not only to cope with it, but use it to help him work better". Modern life is full of stress. As an organisation becomes more complex, the potential for stress increases. Urbanization, industrialization, and increase in scale of operations are some of the reasons for rising stress. Stress is an inevitable consequence of socio-economic complexity and to some extent it is a stimulant as well. People experience stress, as they can no longer have complete control over what happens in their lives. They’re being no escape from stress in modern life; we need to find ways of using stress productively, and reducing dysfunctional stress. Even as stress is inevitable in today's complex life, so is it necessary for human progress. It is like a musical instrument, where an optimum stress is needed to produce good music, loose wires (less stress) would not produce the notes and too much tautness (too much stress) might result in screeching. A distinction has been made between productive or functional stress (stress for creative work, entrepreneurial activities etc.) and d ysfunctional stress (stress of boredom, unmanageable conflicts, over worker etc. the former has been called estruses and the latter distress. Rapid industrialization and mechanization have changed the way of life of humans at home and at work. The corporate rat race is made to order to rattle people. More and more executives are suffering from stress and stress induced problems like hypertension, increased turnover, absenteeism, decreased productivity etc. this has created a lot of panic. It is thus necessary to understand executive stress. A manger's role is essentially to get resources from owners, work from the worker and convert the resources and work into results. This role looks very simple. But in practice it is very complicated because neither the resources nor the work is given - it has to be extracted. Thus, it is said, 'if you are going to be a manager, you will have to face tension. If you do not want tension, be a consultant". Tension or stress is thus inevitable for a manager. 41

An organization, two individuals may be identical regarding their position, but may differ in terms of the abilities, motives, moods and above all the personality

as

a

whole.

These

persona

differences

interact

with

organizational factors and create predisposi ng conditions for stress experiences that may influence the overall performance of the individual.

ROLE STRESS Interest in organizational stress has increased a great deal in recent years. There has been a spate of writings on managerial and executive st ress. Researchers came with the definition of role as the position occupied by a person as defined by the expectations of significant persons, including the role occupant, indicates that there are inherent problems in the performance of a role, and therefore stress is inevitable. Since the concept of “role” is inextricably linked with ‘expectations”, the organizational factors and context assume importance due to their influence on the moulding of prescriptions and proscriptions associated with a particular, position. These could be looked upon as structural components organizational processes. Authoritative organizational structure and control systems area potent source of stress as they are seen to breed dependency, afford little scope for initiative An creativity in role enactment and channelize behaviours along narrowly defined paths. In the concept of role proposed above, several variables are involved he self, the other roles, the expectations held by the other roles, the situations in which there is no conflict among the variables. The very nature of role has built in potential for conflict these variables. The very nature of role has built in potential for conflict or stress. Thus conflict is a natural variable in role performance. Kann an Quinn ( 1970) have proposed a response inferred definition of stress and “ an experiments or noxious stimulus with general results in psychological change, behavio ural change, perceptual cognitive change, affective change an in both overt and intrapsychic co ping efforts. “ Role conflict” has been defined in terms, of conflicting expectations. The 42

main characteristic of conflict is the incompatibility of some variables relating to the role of an individual which many have some consequences for the individual’s role performance. The word ‘strain’ has been used in the literature to denote the effect of stress on the individual. The word ‘pressure’ has also been used. Buck (1972) defines ‘job pressure’ as the resultant psychological state of the individual when the perceives that (1) conflicting forces and incompatibility commitments are being made upon him in connection with his work, (2) at least one of the forces of demands is an induced one, and (3) the forces and recurrent or stable over time. Several studies have shown that role stress or pressure is very bad for mental and physical health. Although conflict, role and stain have been given different connotations, we do not find any use in making such finer distinctions, and shall use them interchangeably. Role conflict or stress need not necessarily be negative. As Klausner (1968) has suggested, success in business, sports, and politics depends on stress seeking tendency. Kiretz and Moos (1974) have proposed three factors in the effect of stress: kind of adjustment required, perception of control over stress-source, and valence (loss-for example in death, vs. gain – for example, in marriage or business). Bernard (21968) proposed two types of stress: ‘dystress’ (unpleasant stress) and ‘estruses’ (pleasant stress) . Stress is a necessary factor in the success of people in organizations. However, if the stress experienced goes beyond a particular level, it may adversely affect the individual’s performance and psychological and physical health. Several systems of classification have been used to discuss role conflict and stress. Kahn and Quinn (1970) have classified role stress under tree main headings: expectation generated stress in which they include role ambiguity and role conflict: expectations resource discrepanc ies, in which they include role overload, responsibility-authority dilemma and inadequate technical information; and role and personality. We find it more functional to use the two main role constellations as areas of conflict and stress. Marshall and Cooper (1979) have suggested seven sources and therefore classification of managerial stress: (1) job (working conditions, overload) 43

(2) Organisational role (role ambiguity, role conflict, responsibility, etc.), (3) relationships at work (relationships with su periors, relationships with colleagues (4) career development (lack of job security, status incongruity), (5) Organizational structure and climate (7) the individual (psychometric characteristics, behavior patterns, self -help literature). In view of the two proposed concepts of role systems (role space and role set), we shall discuss role conflicts or stress under these two categories. Five main role stresses or conflicts in the role space of an individual have been identified. 1.

Self-role distance: This is the conflict between the self-concept and the expectations from the role as perceived by the role occupant. If a person occupies a role, which he may subsequently find conflicting with his self-concept, he feels the stress. For example, a usually introvert person, who is fond of studying and writing, may have self -role distance if he accepts the role of a salesman in an organization and come to realize that the expectations from the roles would include his meeting people and being social. Such conflicts are fairly common, although these may not be so severe.

2.

Intra-role conflict: Since the individual learns to develop expectations as a result of his socialization and identification with significant others, it is quite likely that he sees some incompatibility between the two expectations from his own role. For example, a professor may see incompatibility between the expectations of teaching students and that of doing research. These inherently may not be conflicting but the individual may perceive these as incompatible.

3. Role Stagnation: As the individual grows physically, he also grows in the role he occupies in an organisation. With the advancement of the individual, his role changes and with this change in role, the need for his taking his new role becomes crucial. This is the problem o f role growth. This becomes an acute problem especially when an individual has occupied a role for a long time, and he enters another role in which he may feel less secure. However, the demand of the new role is for the 44

individual to out-grow his previous role and occupy the new role effectively. This produces some stress in the individual. Role stagnation also includes stress related to career progression. Marshall and Cooper (1979) have commented on this type of stress in the American context. A lot of this is true of India, as Marshall and Cooper (1979) have commented, career progression is perhaps a problem by its nature. At middle age,

and

usually middle-management

levels,

career

becomes

more

problematic and most executives find their progress slowed, i f not actually stopped. Job opportunities become fewer, those jobs that are available take longer to master, past (mistaken?) decisions cannot be revoked, old knowledge and methods become obsolete, energies may be flagging

or

demanded for family activities and there is the ‘press’ of fresh young recruits to face in competition. The fear of demotion or obsolescence can be strong for those who know they have reached their career coiling – and most will inevitably suffer some erosion of status before they finally retire. From the company perspective, on the other hand, McMurray (1973) puts the case for not promoting to a higher position if there is doubt that the employee can fill it. In a syndrome he labels ‘the executive neurosis’, he describes the over-promoted manager as grossly over working to keep down a top job, and at the same time hide his insecurity, and points to the consequences of this for his work performance and the company. Age is no longer revered as it was – it is becoming a ‘young man’s world’. The rapidity with which society is developing technologically economically and socially) is likely to mean that individuals will now need to change career during their working life (as companies and products are having to do). Such trends breed uncertainty and research suggests that older workers look for stability. Unless managers adapt their expectations to suit new circumstances career development stress, especially in later life, is likely to become an increasingly common experience. 4. Inter-role Distance : An individual occupies more than one role. There may be conflicts between two roles he occupies. For example, an 45

executive often faces the conflicts between his organizational role as an executive and his family role as the husband and the father. T he demands from his wife and children to share his time may be incompatible with the organizational demands on him for spending a lot of time on Organisational problems. Such inter-role conflicts are quite frequent in modern society when the individual is increasingly occupying multiple roles in various organisations and groups. Marshall and Cooper (1979) have mentioned two problems regarding manager’s relationships with his family and wife: time and spillover of stress from one to the other. Rappel and Pau l (1971) found that the majority of wives in their middle-class sample saw their role in relation to their husband’s job as a cooperative, domestic one; all said that they derived their sense of security from their husbands (only two men said the same of their wives). Barber (1976) interviewing five directors’ wives finds similar attitudes. Gowler and Legge (1975) have dubbed this bond ‘the hidden contract’ in which the wife agrees to act as a ‘supportive team’ so that her husband can fill the demanding job to which he aspires. Handy (1975) supports the idea that this is typical, and that it is the path to career success for the manager concerned.

5. Role Boundness: If an individual feels highly obligated to the expectations of significant role senders, a nd sacrifices his own interests, preferences, values, comforts etc., he may be said to be role bounded. He may experience the conflict between his tendency to live as a person, and live as a role. For example, in the traditional Indian homes, the boys experienced the conflict between their “son role” and their living as persons giving preferences to their “son role”. Indian culture promoted such role bounded ness. .

6.Role Set Conflicts: An individual occupying a particular role may have some expectations from his role. Interacting with him (role senders) may have quite different expectations from him. Such incompatible expectations and other problems

46

arising in the role set are called rol e set stress or conflicts. Some of these discussed below. As Marshal and Cooper (1979) have pointed out, role ambiguity exists when an individual has inadequate information about his work role, i.e. where there is lack of clarity about the work objectives associated with the role, about work colleagues' expectation of the work role and about the scope and responsibilities of the job. Kahn, Wolfe, Quinn, Snoek and Rosenthal (1964) found in their study that men who suffered from role ambiguity experienced lower job satisfaction, high job-related tension, greater futility and lower self-confidence. French and Caplan (1973) found, at one of NASA's bases, in a sample of 205 volunteer engineers, scientists and administrators, that role ambiguity was significantly related to low job satisfaction and to feelings of job-related threat to one's mental and physical well -being. This also related to indicators of physiological strain such as increased blood pressure and pulse rate. Margolis, Kroes and Quinn (1974) also fo und a number of significant relationships between symptoms or indicators of physical and mental ill health with role ambiguity in their representative national sample (n-1496). The stress indicators related to role ambiguity were depressed mood, lowered self-esteem life dissatisfaction, job dissatisfaction, low motivation to work and intention to leave the job. Whilst these were not very strong statistical relationships they were significant and do indicate that lack of role clarity may be one among many po tential stress’s at work. Kahn (1973) feels that it is now time to separate out distinctive elements of role ambiguity for individual treatment (just as he and his research team have done for 'overload' and 'responsibility'). He suggests that two components are involved; those of present, and future -prospects ambiguity (much of the material he assigns to the latter is here included under 'role stagnation'). 7.

Role overload: When the role occupant feels that there are too many

expectations from the significant roles in his role set, he experiences 'role overload'. They measured this stress by asking questions about the feeling of people whether they could possibly finish work given to them during the 47

modified work day and whether they felt that amount of work they did might interfere with how well it was done. Most of the executive role occupants experience role overload. Kahn and Quinn (1970) have suggested some conditions under which role overload is likely to occur. According to them, role overload is likely to occur more in the absence of mechanism of role integration, in the absence of power of role occupants, in the large variations in the expected output and when delegati on or assistance cannot procure more time. Marshall and Cooper (1979) have summarised the recent work on quantitative and qualitative overload. Quantitative refers to having 'too much to do' while qualitative means work that is 'too difficult'. (The complementary phenomena of quantitative and qualitative underload are also hypothesized as potential source of stress but with little or no supportive research evidence). Miller (1969) has theorized that 'overload' in most systems leads to breakdown, whether we are dealing with single biological cells or individuals in organizations. In an early study French and Chaplain (1970) found that objective quantitative overload was strongly linked to cigarette smoking (a sign of tension and risk factor in CHD). Persons w ith more phone calls, office visits and meetings per given unit of work time were found to smoke significantly more cigarettes than persons with fewer such engagements. In a study of 100 young coronary patients Russek and Zohman (1958) found that 25% had been working at two jobs and an additional 45% had worked at jobs which required (due to work overload) 60 or more hours per week. They add that although prolonged emotional strain proceeded the attack in 91% of the cases similar stress was only observed in 20% of the controls. Breslow and Buell (1960) have also reported findings which support a relationship between hours of work and death from coronary diseases. In an investigation of mortality rates of men in California they observed that workers in light industry under the age of 45 who are in the job more than 48 hours a week have twice the risk of death from CHD compared with similar workers working 40 or under hours a week. Another substantial investigation on quantitative workload was carried out by Margolis, Kroes and Quinn (1974) on a representative national sample of 48

1496 employed persons aged 16 or older. They fond that overload was significantly related to a number of symptoms or indictors of stress; escapist drinking, absenteeism from work, low motivation to work, lowered selfesteem and an absence of suggestions to employers. The result from these and other studies (Quinn, Seashore and Mangione, 1971; Porter and Lawyer, 1965) are relatively consistent and indicate that this factor is indeed a potential source of occupational stress that affects both health and job satisfaction. There is also some evidence that (for some occupations) 'qualitative' overload is a source of stress. French, Tupper and Mueller (1965) looked at qualitative and quantitative work overload in a large university. Qualitative overload was not significantly linked to low self -esteem among the administrators but was significantly correlated for the professors. The greater the 'quality' of work expected of the professor the low er the selfesteem. They also found that qualitative and quantitative overload were correlated with achievement orientation. More interestingly it was found in a follow-up study that achievement orientation correlated very strongly with serum uric acid (Brooks and Mueller, 1966). Several other studies have reported an association of qualitative work overload with cholesterol level; a tax deadline for accountants (Friedman, Rosenman and Carroll, 1958) and medical students performing a medical examination und er observation (Dreyfuss and Czackes, 1959). French and Caplan (1973) summarize this research

by suggesting that both qualitative and quantitative overload

produce at least nine different symptoms of psychological and physical strain;

job

dissatisfaction,

job

tension,

lower

self-esteem,

threat,

embarrassment, high cholesterol levels, increased heart rate, skin resistance and more smoking. In analyzing this date however one cannot ignore the vital interactive relationship of the job and employee; objective work overload for example should not be viewed in isolation but as relative to the individual's capacities and personality.

8.Role Isolation: In role stress, the role occupant may feel that certain roles are psychologically near to him, while some other r oles are at a distance. The main criterion of role-role distance of frequency and ease 49

interaction. When linkages are strong, the role -role distance will be low. In the absence of strong linkage, the role-role distance can therefore, be measured in terms of existing and desired linkages. The gap between the desired and the existing linkages will indicate the amount of distance between the two roles. Marshall and Cooper (1979) have suggested one main source of managerial stress connected with relationships at work. French and Caplan (1973) define poor relations as those which include low trust, low supportiveness and low interest in listening to and trying to deal with problems that confront the organizational member. The most notable studies in this area are by Kahn, et al. (1964), French and Caplan (1970) and Buck (1972). Both the Kahn, et al. and French and Caplan studies came to roughly the same conclusion that mistrust of persons one worked with was positively related to high role ambiguity which led to inadequate communications between people and to psychological strain in the form of low job satisfaction and to feeling of job related threat to one's well being. It was interesting to note, however, in the Kahn, et al. study that poor relations with one's subordinates was significantly related to feelings of threat with colleagues and superiors but not in relationship to threat with subordinates. Buck (1972) focused on the attitude and relationship of workers and managers to their immediate boss using Fleishman's leadership questionnaire on consideration and initiating structure. The consideration factor was associated with behaviors indicative of friendship. He found that those workers who felt that their boss was low on 'consideration' reported feeling more job pressure. Workers who were under pressure reported that their boss did not give them criticism in helpful way, played favorites with subordinates and 'pulled rank' and took advantage of them whenever they got a chance. Buck concludes that the 'lack o f considerate behaviour of supervisors appears to have contributed significantly to feelings of job pressure. 9.

Role Erosion : A role occupant may feel that some functions which he

would like to perform are being performed by some other role. The stress felt may be called 'role erosion'. Role erosion is the subjective feeling of an 50

individual that some important role expectations he has from his role do not match with the expectations other roles have for him. Role erosion is likely to be experienced in an organisation which is redefining its role an creating new roles. In several organisations which were redefining their structure, the stress of role erosion was inevitably felt. In one organization, one role was abolished and two roles were created to cater to the executives and planning needs. This led to a great stress in the role occupants of both roles who experienced role erosion. 10 .

Role inadequacy : Role inadequacy refers to two types of feelings; a)

that the role occupant does not have adequate resou rces to perform the role effectively, and (b) that he is not fully equipped (lacks internal resources) for effective performance of the role.

ROLE STRESS It is an attempt to compared the organizational role stress among executives of the Personnel and Administration department of the Corporate Office of three Public Sector Organisations, namely Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL), Engineers India Limited (EIL), and Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOC). An attempt was also made to the respondents were clas sified according to their designation categories - senior managers, middle managers and junior managers of the middle management - as specific to the hierarchical positions in their respective organisations. Such a classification was basically made to find out whether it was the position of the respondents in the organizational hierarchy which was contributing to the stress to the individuals. According to Srivastava , and Sen. (1995), stress results from a combination of various individual characteristics (such as age, achievement need, type of personality) and organizational stresses

(role conflict, role ambiguity).

Stress may also result from a variety of organizational, sup ervisory, individual, and work factors. Kahn, Wolfe, Quinn, Snock, and Rosenthal (1964) identified two primary factors of organizational stress, nearly role ambiguity and role conflict. Selye (1956), the father of modern stress, defined stress as the non-specific response of the body to any demand made 51

upon it. McMichael (1978) defined it in terms of the product of a dynamic mismatch between an individual and his or her physical, social, and psychological environment. Stress, in general, is the psychologica l or physiological reaction that occurs when people perceive an imbalance between the demands placed upon them and their capacity to met those demands, and stress, specific to work environments, is the reaction of individuals to new or threatening factors in their work environment. The personality

characteristics

of

the

individual,

the

environmental

characteristics, i.e., the stimulus of the external force active on the organism, and the person environment interaction, i.e., the overall prevailing ethos of interpersonal behaviors - it is contended that stress can originate from an o these factors or in combinations thereof. In other words, it originates from organizational demands, which are experiences by a individual. Recent reviews of literature have exam ined various organizational variables and their effects on work stress. These include factors intrinsic to the job (e.g. boredom, information overload, time pressures, etc.) role in the regularization (e.g. under promotion, over -promotion, lack of security, etc.) and organizational climate (lack of participation, pressures towards conformity, etc). the person-environment paradigm emphasizes the view that having too little to do is as stressful for the individual as being overloaded with work. As an individual phenomenon, stress is a personal response to a certain variation in the environment. Singh and Singh (1992), say that in an organization, two individuals may be identical regarding their position, but may differ in terms of the abilities, motives, moods and above all the personality as a whole. These personal differences interact with organizational factors and create predisposing conditions for stress experiences that may influence the overall performance of the individual. Another important dimension of the organization is its psychological atmosphere i.e., its climate. organizational climate has been studied in terms of those characteristics that distinguish the organization from other organizations and that influence the behaviour of people in the origination. Each organization differs from the other not only in structure but also in the attitudes and behaviour it elicits in people.

Litwin and 52

Stringer (1968) stated that organizational climate refers to a set of measurable properties of the work env ironment, perceived directly or indirectly by the people who live and work in its environment and assume to influence motivation and behaviour of the employee. They identified nine dimensions of organizational climate viz. structure, responsibility, reward , risk, warmth, support, conflict, identity and standards. According to study by Ahmed and Jha (1989), human beings prefer jobs that possess characteristics like variety, autonomy, and task significance. Increased participation in decision making have a si gnificant negative effect on role conflict and role ambiguity. Social support also plays a moderating role in reducing individual stress. In other words, persons with high social support are assumed to express a lower stress -strain relationship. Their study also revealed that the employees lower in the organizational hierarchy experience more stress and strain but less supervisory support than the employees higher in to hierarchy. The employees who had risen from lower ranks (those of workers, for example) have little experience of manpower management, need to drive hard to achieve targets set by management, and are also influenced by the workers unions. The employees in the higher grades, however, do not have to face such situations. The stress an individual expresses as a result of the fact that there are too many expectations, regarding his or her role, from the significant others in his role set. Bharti, Nagarathnamma, and Reddy (1991) and Ahmad and Khanna (1992) found that occupational stress was signi ficantly related to job satisfaction: greater stress accompanied with

lower satisfaction. However, the latter

study also found that occupational stress was negatively related with job involvement. According to Venna (1993) the factors, which can affect th e development of tension in Public Sector Units employees, may either be personal and /or environmental. Personal factors are those factors which are related to the individual e.g. age, sex, intelligence, physical ability, et. Environmental factors are those factors, which are related to the surroundings of the individual e.g. family, culture, job environment, etc.

53

Stress is the most frequently used word in the workplace today, raising tempers, lowering productivity, and having an insidious impact on both morale

and

bottomlines.

According

to

Chakraborty,

Director

of

Management Centre for Human Values at the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, values in corporations have collapsed, and stress is a repercussion of that. In other words, if the values are put back into corporate life, the stress will disappear Bose 1996). According to Selye, top stressors at work include, overload, deadline pressures, demanding bosses, non-performing juniors, competitive pairs, excessive touring, domestic disharmony. Most of all, it is the increasing uncertainty in today's corporate world that is leading to so much executive stress. Another factor that can badly stress employees whether they feel useful n a organization or peripheral. To really bring about long-term stress relief, it will mean acknowledging that stress will be constant companion demanding constant attention (Bose 1996). A 1993 study by Northwestern National Life Insurance Company concluded that job stress generally is a consequence of two key ingredients: a high level of job demands and little control over one's work. An atmosphere where employees are empowered, where they have more control over how they perform their work, reduces the risk of burnout and stress considerably (Froiland 1993), Bharti, Nagarathnamma, and Reddy (1991)

found that

occupational stress was significantly related to job stupefaction: Greater stress accompanied with lower satisfaction. Organizational stress originates from organizational demands, which are experienced by an individual. Srivastava, Hagtavet and Sen (1994) fond that middle managers suffer maximally in organizational role stress and anxiety, followed by workers and top managers.

The liability or difficulty in meeting the various

expectations caused stress. The study also r evealed that the same stressful event can be perceived quite differently by top mangers, middle managers, and even by workers, this perception may depend on what the situation means to individuals at their own level. An evaluation of the situation by each of them in relation to themselves determines the degree of stress they face. Stress-in terms of adverse effect, its cost to human resources, material, 54

and progress- is tremendous. Management within an organization should function so as to maximize the coordination of human resources and work system and to minimize conflict. A study by Froiland (1993), suggested that greater autonomy, team work and balanced workload can have significant impact on reducing workload can have a significant impact on reducing st ress on employees. Greater autonomy implies giving the employee some autonomy and listening to his or her ideas. To give them the job and let them figure out how to do it, or let them do it in small, self-managed teams rather than through a highly bureaucratic pyramid structure. This helps reduce stress. Teams can serve as a mechanism to increase control and communication. Work teams give employees more ownership of their jobs. Most of us draw emotional support not just from families and friends but from th e people with whom we work. Downsizing and restructuring efforts tear apart those support systems, producing stress. We're beginning to move away from a more traditional, hierarchical management structure, to empowerment. But as a switch to empowerment is a stressor in itself, because it represents a very significant change and change causes stress. The 1991 study by Northwestern National Life Insurance Company also found that the most stressful part of the job was too much work, long hours and deadline pre ssures. The study also found that employees who were expected to work overtime became less productive and were more prone to burnout. Yet reducing hours was not recommended as a cure for job stress. Thus, it is not lesser working hours that will help reduce stress but a balanced workload. There's the mistaken belief that long hours equal high productivity. In most cases that's simply not true ( Froiland 1993). Workplace stress is endemic to a market economy: Do it better, faster, before the competition overtakes you. The Big Four self care skills (eating well, staying physically fit, not smoking and maintaining a desirable weight) that are at the core of most stress-management programs, actually have a negligible effect on people's ability to cope with work p ressures and rapid change. According to the findings of Essi Systems inc. (ESI) in San Francisco, a stress-research consulting firm, the only factor with any 55

significant impact on a person's ability to withstand work pressures is what Esther Orioli President (ESI) calls "Personal Power" - having control over your time, resources, important information, work load and so on. According o him it's not the volume of work or work demand that makes people sick, it is the extent to which they feel they (lack) cont rol over their work and their workplace. As the pace and intensity of work increases, so does the need for control. In order to tackle the organizational aspects effectively, researchers recommend the use of stress audits like: 

Redesign the task



Analyze the work roles and establish goals



Include the employee in career development.

It is, therefore, not surprising that faced with the complex nature of stress and how to deal it, it is difficult to answer the questions about the effectiveness of stress management. Furthermore, adding this complex organizational picture to the already complex make -up of the individual, the question becomes even harder to answer. There is, however, enough evidence to work on the premise that well carried out stress management interventions by appropriately qualified practitioners are beneficial for the individual and organization. Employees need to be made more aware of the issues to make informed decisions about investment in stress management. For them, the effective stress management is one that will reduce or minimize role ambiguity and role expectation conflict, thus minimizing absenteeism and premature retirement, and will maximize employee productivity and leading to increased company profits.

56

Personality Characteristics Play an important role n the development of stress. Jenkins (1971) arrived at a coronary prone Behavioural pattern. Individuals who are subject to this syndrome are characterized by extreme competitiveness, an urge to achieve, aggression, haste, impatience, restlessness, hyperlaterness, tension and time pressure. Roserman and Friedman called this mental and behavioral pattern, the type A behavior. Some psychologists feel that this type of behavioral is an extreme variant of what is socially highly recomm ended and positively rewarded. Other think that Type-A behavior is dysfunctional and tat the better jobs are only for the quiet, detached, contemplative Type -B (Mathews, 1982). Glass (1977) has theorized that A -types demonstrate hyper-responsiveness with regard to challenging situations, meaning that they always expose themselves to fight situations. If they fail to succeed, they will, much more so than B-types, start to achieve less and experience learned helplessness. Luzarus found that the way in which a person interprets a situation is of great importance for the occurrence or non -occurrence of stress problems. The interpretation of a situation is related to an individuals personality structure. A very competitive person will regard a situation in whi ch he had the worst of it as more threatening than someone who is not competitive. Other personality characteristics which are of significance in stress research are

rigidity,

conformism,

suppression

of

aggression,

dogmatism,

authoritarianism, internal versus external control etc. (Winnubst, 1984).

Role Overload It is described as a condition in which the individual is faced with a set of obligations which require him to do more than he is able to in the time available (ales, 1969). In the case of too many activities, we speak of quantitative overload, when an individual has perform tasks that are too difficult for him, we speak of qualitative overload (French and Caplan, 1972).

57

The bearer may be bombarded by expectations; a force which he eventually cannot cope with. A sensible tactic then is to organize 'role negotiation' or 'role bargaining' (Harrison, 1973) where by the threatened individual tries to organize hi obligations with or without outside help. In research on middle management (Van Vucht Tijssen et al, 1978), role overload was shown to be related to physical complaints and even more clearly to greater obesity, higher blood pressure and more smoking. Thus role overload is an element to be rejected within organizations, especially because of the higher risk of illness and exhaustion. However, it is still not clear whether self-inflicted overload and overload inflicted by other make a significant difference.

Role Conflict It is the simultaneous occurrence of two or more sets of pressures, such that compliance with one would make more difficult compliance with the other (Kahn et al, 1964). some professions are characterized by a higher degree of role conflict than others. To be in a role conflict situation is often associated with little job-satisfaction, obesity and a higher coronary risk (Kahn et al, 1964; Shirom et al, 1973 and Caplan et al, 1975). Role conflict emerged as an important stressor (Sharma, 1983), although there are indications that this is more the case for the white collar professions than for blue collar factor workers.

Role Ambiguity Sometimes people working in organizations do not have sufficient information about what they are expected to do and especially about how they are to perform a task. In the Dutch research on middle management (Vanvucht Tijssen et al, 1978) ambiguity emerged as the most powerful stressor. Too much role ambiguity correlated significantly with psychological and psychosomatic complaints, with higher heart beat frequency, with concern for personal functio ning and with higher absenteeism. 58

In India, contrary to the findings of Das (1982) who has reported that role ambiguity is not a significant cause of stress, the researchers in general have expressed as serious concern about role ambiguity as a stress ind ucing factor (Pareek and Rao, 1981). Role Stagnation and Midlife Crisis The feeling of being fixed in their role within the organization is one of the most frightening experiences. More threatening is monotonous work or work lacking in challenge (Kornhauser 1965;; Shepherd, 1971). Middle age is an especially problematic period for many employees particularly for those in middle and higher management. Room at the top of the pyramid is limited; as a result, employees get frustrated exactly during that period of their life when their career opportunities.

Absence of Social Support Relations with others, both at home and work, are often crucial for an employees well being. In research on middle management, it was found that inadequate willingness of others to h elp at work is related to considerably more smoking as well as to anxiety about one's own functioning, job dissatisfaction and physical complaints (Van Vucht Tijssen et al, 1978). Good relationship between employer and employee serves as a shield against the occurrence of stress. Das (1982) has reported a significantly negative correlation of social support an open communication with the felt stress.

Role Incompatibility In there is not fit between an individuals capabilities and the possibilities presented by the job and if there is no such adequate coordination between the individual and the environment, then strains like anxiety, depression and dissatisfaction have an increasing

chance of occurrence. General

improvements in the organization cannot be effectively made if the possibilities and wishes of those involved are not considered. Adequate adjustment of the individual to hours job environment and vice versa is 59

therefore important. Thus is often not the case and the individual c consequently experiences strain. So if the strain is getting day by day bigger and bigger the effects of its on the persons life will also be very much complicated. It is better for a person to do not but a lot of strain on thinking. It will make it to use his/her mind more and unefficiently. And anything which is used unefficiently can cause a damage aor loss.

60

CHAPTER: 4 DATA

ANALYSIS,

INTERPRETATION

AND

PRESENTATION

The project report shows the information of the level of stress which the employees are facing as the period of recession is going the employee cut-off and turnover ratios are found to be high so the workload for the existing employees are high. So they are facing the problem of work overload and thus they get stressed.

61

1. Are you satisfied with the performance you give at your work? YES

NO

17

08

NO RESPONSE 0

Chart Title 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0

Category 1 Yes

No

Analysis: From the diagram it is clear that 77 % of the employees are satisfied with the performance they give in the work while 23 % of the employees are not satisfied.

62

2. Do you think that you are suffering from depression?

Yes

No

No response

13

12

0

Sales

12 13

Yes

No

Analysis 48 % of the employee feel that they are suffering from depression while 52 % of the employee feel that that they are free from the depression.

63

3. Do you worry about your colleague's opinion about you?

Yes

No

No response

9

16

0

30

25

20

15

10

5

0 Yes

No Category 1

Analysis: 36% of the employees worry about their colleague’s opinion about them while 64 =% of the employees are not concern with the opinion about their colleague.

64

4. Do you discuss your problem with your spouse or friend or any other close to you?

Yes

No

15

10

No response 0

16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Category 1 Yes

No

Analysis: 60% of the employees of the Company discuss their problem and share their feelings with their spouse or friends or others while 40 % of the employee is not concerned with it.

65

5. Do you work more than 8 hours?

Yes

No

16

9

No response 0

Sales

9

16

Yes

No

Analysis: 64% of the employees work for more than 8 hours which is the starting point of the stress while 36 % of the employees don’t work for more than 8 hours.

66

6. You have an important function at your home and your boss asks to give a 4 hour over time, what will be your response?

Yes

No

No response

14

9

2

20

18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Category 1 Yes

No

No response

Analysis: 56 % of the employees are proved to be work dedicated and they are ready to miss the important function at their house while 36 % of the employees said no and 8 % of the employee did not gave any answer.

67

7. Do you regularly spend time for entertainment?

Yes

No

No response

12

13

0

25

20

15

10

5

0 Category 1 Yes

No

Analysis: 48 % of the employee spent regular time on entertainment which helps us to remain stress free while 52 % of the employees don’t do that.

68

8. Is your social life balanced?

Yes 15

No

No response

7

3

35 30 25 20 15 10

5 0 Category 1 Yes

No

No response

Analysis: 60 % of the employees find their social life to be balanced while 28 % of the employees don’t have their social life balanced. 12% of the employees remain silent.

69

9. Do you plan your work before doing?

Yes

No

No response

18

7

0

25

20

15

10

5

0 Category 1 Yes

No

Analysis: It is a good habit to plan the work you do. 72 % of the employees plan their work before doing while 28 % of the employees don’t plan their work.

70

10. Do you fear about the quality of your performance?

Yes

No

19

6

No response 0

20

18 16

14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Category 1 Yes No

Analysis: 76% of the employees fear the quality of performance which they give while 24 % of the employees don’t fear the quality of their work.

71

11. Do you try to find any solution for the problem of your stress?

Yes

No

18

7

No response 0

20

18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Category 1 Yes

No

Analysis: 72% of employees found the solution of stress 28% of employees don’t found the solution of their stress.

72

12. (IF YES) Do you practice yoga or any other ayurvedic therapy for reducing stress?

Yes

No

14

6

No response 0

16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Category 1 Yes

No

Analysis: 56% of the employees try the yoga and other ayurvedic techniques to reduce their stress while 44 % of the employees use other techniques to reduce stress.

73

13. Training Method should be updated?

Yes

No

No response

15

7

3

15

07

03

-

Analysis: 60% of employees said that the training method is updated and 28 % of employees said that the training method doesn’t updated. And 12% of the employees remain silent.

74

14 Is Stress management helps to eliminate fear in obtaining new tasks?

Yes

No

No response

20

5

0

25

20

15

10

5

0 Category 1 Yes

No

Analysis: 80 % of employees said yes and 20 % of employees said no that stress management help to eliminate fear in obtaining new task.

75

15. Does management help you to make better decisions & effective problem solving?

Yes

No

No response

14

8

3

HELPFUL IN DECISIONS

YES

NO

No Response

Analysis 56 % of employees said yes and 32 % of employees said no and 12% remain silent.

76

QUESTIONARRIE 1. Are you satisfied with the performance you give at your work? 2. Do you think that you are suffering from depression? 3. Do you worry about your colleague's opinion about you? 4. Do you discuss your problem with your spouse or friend or any other close to you? 5. Do you work more than 8 hours? 6. You have an important function at your home and your boss asks to give a 4 hour over time, what will be your response? 7. Do you regularly spend time for entertainment? 8. Is your social life balanced? 9. Do you plan your work before doing? 10. Do you fear about the quality of your performance? 11. Do you try to find any solution for the problem of your stress? 12. (IF YES) Do you practice yoga or any other ayurvedic therapy for reducing stress? 13. Training Method should be updated? 14 Is Stress management helps to eliminate fear in obtaining new tasks? 15. Does management help you to make better decisions & effective problem solving?

77

FINDINGS It is analyzed from the questionnaire filled by the employees that the employees who have scored more than 20 marks in the burnout test are not satisfied with the performance which they give in the organization. Thus it is proved that the employees who are desired to give better performance than their original performance are found more stressful than the others. While at the same time the employ that have scored less than 20 marks in the burnout test are satisfied with the performance. From the sample of 25 company employees who have been surveyed, one is found to be a heart patient. This can be because of high level of stress.

Very rare of the employee are to be found suffering from depression. It is proved from the survey that the employees who have scored more than 25 marks in the burnout test are concern about the opinion of their colleagues. And the employees who got less than 25 marks do not mind about their colleague’s opinion. Thus it is proved that the colleagues opinion also play a lead role in the increase and decrease of the stress level. Those who mind about their colleague’s opinion are found to be more stressful. In the second questionnaire one of the question was “You have an important function at your home and your boss asks to give a 4 hour over time what will be your response ‘Yes or No’?” the employees have given their opinion as per their mood.

While considering the point of view of entertainment it depends upon the mood of the employees. The entertainment is considered one of the most ultimate solutions to reduce stress. Most of the employees do not spend regular time in entertainment. This may be because they may not be getting time for entertainment or they may not be interested in the same.

One of the questions was asked that were their social life balanced? It is observed that the employees who have scored above 20 marks in the burnout test did not have their social life balanced. Thus we can conclude that the employees who are above 20 don’t have their social life balanced. Thus it is proved that stress may affect 78

our social life also.

The employees were asked weather they plan their work or not, moderate answers were given. The employees scoring more than 25 marks were not found their work planned. Thus the employees who plan their work have scored below 25 marks in the burnout test except some cases as there are always some drawbacks in making plan. Failure of a plan may also lead a person to stress. Thus we can conclude that planning of the work may help to reduce stress level. Most of the employees who have scored more than 20 marks fear about their quality of work they give. This aspect is not dependent of the burnout level. This aspect depends upon the dedication of work. So it is meaningless to compare this question with the burnout test.

A question was asked that weather you get stressed at the non-achievement of their target? All the employees have responded positively. But this is not concern with the burnout score. From this we can conclude that all the employees are given achievable target and naturally by the non-achievement of the target all the employees may get stressed. One of the other possibilities is that the employees have responded positively to show themselves to be good.



It is found that the work place is situated in a very crowd place there was lot of disturbance.



During the job rotation process there was huge workload to each and every employee.



Employee even can’t spend time for their personal obligations every day.



To overcome their stress at work in company, the stress management process undertook at work place is obsolesce.



Most of the employees at company are untrained; even then they are assigned work which the employees are most familiar.



Most of the employees are not happy with the pay-package.



The hike in pay-package is not in a proper sense.



Employees lose temper while being at work.



The job rotation process takes place every day at work place. 79



The employees at company are very co-operative with each other; there was no difference within them.



There productivity was at mark.



Higher number of respondent think that better growth prospects is the important factor exiting of the job.



As per my analysis company job is very stressful.

80

CHAPTER: 5 CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION CONCLUSION Stress is something that happens in our daily lives and is usually associated with a particular event such as work, family or other responsibilities. There are many situations that we can not control, but there are ways to control how we deal with certain situations. Effective stress management is something that our lives can go a little more smoothly. Stress management is as simple as taking a walk it was been proven that physical activities would improves a person’s mental health, help with depression, and relieve the side effects of stress. This makes a person’s heart rate increase and will be more lightly to be effected by stress. It is the vital that stress management techniques are implemented into our daily lives. Coping with stress is an individualized task and one method over another may not be superior. A person that is stress takes so much away from his or her health and performance levels.

81

SUGGESTIONS 

First and foremost I would like to suggest that, the working hour should not be firmly rigid, so that the employees can spare some time to their family and can carry out their personal obligations.



There must be proper training process in company so that the employees can easily access which each and every job when the job rotation takes place.



The key person in company has to see to the efficiency of the employee and must assign the work.



There must be hike in pay-package once in a while according to the ability, qualified, work load and experienced employees.



The employees has to be identical by his work at company and have to hike the pay, if not it leads a way to indirect means of stress.



Favoritisms, casteism should not take place at work.



Performance must be evaluated properly by the key person and the employee has to be promoted.



Unplanned, unexpected work must be avoided by a key person at company to the employee.



Training programs should be conducted from time to time so that an employee does not get bored from their job.



The workload in the company should be reduced so that the employees will not be stressed and can give their best at work.



Company should try to adopt certain measures to enhance team spirit and coordination among the employees.



There must be supportive staff at company so that the employees can be more focused to achieve the settled target.



There should be a tea break, once in a while break in between their work, so that employee won’t be stressed and the productivity will automatically increase.



Once when all the suggestion is taken into account the employee will be more satisfied person at their work.

82

BIBILIOGRAPHY



Organizational Behavior “Stephen P. Robbins”



Ahuja. K.K- “Industrial psychology and organizational behavior”,Khanna publishers, New Delhi, 1991.



Biswanath Ghosh- “A new look organizational behavior”, Himalaya PublishingHouse New Delhi, 1994.



Finemann- “A Psychological Model of Stress and its application to managerialunemployment”, Human relations, 1979.



Understanding and Managing Stress, John D.

Adams. 

Managing Executive Stress – A Systems

Approach, James W. Greenwood. 

Organizational Behaviour, Stephen P. Robbins



Human Resource Management, Dr. N. K. Chadha.

Web Site 

wikipedia.org/wiki/stress_management



www.vanderbilt.edu/psychology



www.psybertron.org



www.hreffects.com

Books stress management authors ( prerna sharma, parveen nagpal, mitali shelankar) & published by VIPUL PRAKSHAN

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