Managing Stress:

Managing Stress:

• Low to moderate level of stress, may be functional and lead to higher employee performance.
• High level of stress, even low levels sustained over long period, can lead to reduced employee performance and thus, require action by management.

Individual Approaches:

• Personal responsibility for reducing his or her stress level
• Time management, increasing physical exercise, relaxation training and expanding the social support network.

Time Management:

• Well organized employee, can often accomplishes twice as much the person who is poorly organized.
• Time management principles:
• Making daily list of activities to be accomplished.
• Prioritizing activities by importance and urgency
• Scheduling activities according to the priorities set
• Knowing your daily cycle and handling the most demanding parts of your job during high part of your cycle when you are most alert and productive.
• Physical Exercise:
• Aerobics, walking, jogging, swimming and riding a bicycle.
• Increase heart rate, mental division from work pressure.
• Relaxation Techniques:
• Meditation, hypnosis and biofeedback
• State of deep relaxation, feels physically relaxed, detached from the immediate environment, detached from body sensation.
• Social support network:
• Friends, family or work colleagues to talk
• Tension reduction, someone to hear your problems

 Organizational Approaches:

• Factors that causes stress: task and role, demand, organizational structure
• Improved selection and placement decision
• Goal-setting: challenging goals, feedback.
• Training: increasing efficiency, less stress
• Redesigning jobs: autonomy, meaningful work, enrich
• Increasing employee involvement: decision making
• Improved organization communication: less  ambiguity, reduce uncertainty
• Sabbatical(Leave, Time-out, study leave):  granted at interval, leave, paid leaves
• Corporate wellness program: quit smoke, alcohol, lose weight, eat better.

 (Ref: Organization behavior - S.P. Robbins)