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The following article was published in the Charleston Post & Courier's Business Major, a featured monthly column in the Business Review Section on April 10, 2000. Stress builders and breakers evaluatedBy DOROTHY P. MOORE Special to the Post and Courier One recent study reported that excess stress is the most common health risk. With corporate costs of worker disabilities running as high as $340 billion annually, major employers have found it good business to invest in work site wellness. Stress comes from the perception of opportunities or threats that one sees as important but fears they might not be able to deal with effectively. The top major stressors, according to the Rose Medical Center in Denver, Colorado, involve life-changing events: the death of a spouse or a close family member, marital separation or divorce, personal injury or illness, getting married, retiring from work, experiencing a major natural disaster and the like. Lower on the scale, but still important, are common life events like buying a home, moving or even entertaining guests. Nearly everyone experiences work-related stressors. Some people face uncomfortable working conditions, have assignments and responsibilities that are unclear, or are given a work overload. (An underload is equally bad.) Demanding assignments and promotions are stressful, as are the conflicts, disagreements and misunderstandings that arise with superiors, subordinates, or co-workers. Then there are the stresses that rise out of work-life links. Conflicts between job requirements and family responsibilities are the norm. Less common, but perhaps more difficult, is the stress that comes when work requests violate personal values. Excessive stress causes important physical and psychological consequences. The perceived threat or opportunity (it makes no difference if the perception is real or imaginary) triggers changes in brain chemistry and neural transmissions. When the stress continues, changes in the body's internal environment take place. It is the body's way of saying that we have failed to adapt or adjust to meet a situation or that we have done so but at the price of physical or mental disturbance. Overstress, such as the fallout from a toxic work environment, can lead to disease or dysfunction. Some estimates are that ten percent of the population is in overstress. The ability to handle stress varies from individual to individual. People with a low stress tolerance are the most vulnerable. Coping with stress involves two strategies. The first is problem-focused, the steps one can take to deal directly with and act on the source of the stress. The second is emotion-focused, and includes rest, exercise, and getting support from others. Making a conscious effort to re-evaluate the situation is often useful. To cite a textbook example: Thinking "I'll never get this project done on time" is a stress builder. Thinking "If I stay focused and take it one step at a time I'll make steady progress" is a stress breaker. Entrepreneurs and managers are particularly susceptible to stress depending upon the amount of risk involved in the business venture or industry. While the problems of subordinates often get loaded on a manager or owner, the stress felt up and down the hierarchy may be wrapped up more in the management style than in business necessity. It is a common misperception that those at the top of the organization feel the impact of stress the most. In reality, it is those who are squeezed in between, the middle managers with less control, who may feel the greatest impact. There are benefits to be gained in improved productivity by following commonsense rules. First, nobody does well when confused. For the effective manager or owner, this means providing clear explanations at the outset. It is much more difficult to patch things up later after the operation has been botched. When job changes are made, make sure that those to be involved in the change participate in the process. This begins with a series of simple and straightforward questions: Who is involved by this change, how does it effect them or alter their responsibilities and what is the basic information that can be provided without jeopardizing the personnel rights of a single employee? The answers may mean designing work to reduce overload and underload by matching jobs, tasks and skills to workers and vice versa. Second, imprecise road signs make navigation difficult. At the same time, it is important to remember that the map is not the territory. Overly bureaucratic managers hinder productivity by being more interested in rules, regulations and their own power than in working out solutions in the most simple and straightforward way. Conflicting demands on employees is another problem. Telling clerks, for example, that customer satisfaction comes first and then raising the number of customers you expect them to deal with each hour sends contradictory messages. Third, expect employees to transport personal baggage to work and understand that this impacts their attitudes and productivity. Sometimes our best workers cannot cope with work/life stressors. It may be important to adjust the work at least temporarily to enable the employee to continue to function more effectively on the job. Or it may be just as simple as showing, "I care." Many large organizations are going to extraordinary steps to retain workers by dealing with their problems. The increase in the number of company day care centers for children and aging parents, exercise facilities, greater use of flexible work schedules, granting personal days, and courier services, are all examples of employee assistance programs that say "The company cares." Fourth, be sure the work environment is not raising stress levels because it is not ergonomically sound. Nobody is happy when their feet hurt, their back hurts, or their hands and arms go numb. Try to eliminate uncomfortable working conditions whenever possible to lessen the discomfort. Make sure that safety precautions are followed and that workers are not exposed to unnecessary danger. Fifth, should drastic steps be necessary, run a class act. Give advance notice of termination and provide fair severance pay and counseling services to reduce the negative effects of layoffs or other threats to workers' economic well-being. It is always important to remember that you have much to gain. Even an exiting employee is an ambassador for your business. The messages he or she takes to the public, your customers, may be as important as providing top quality service from those employees who stay in your company. Finally, maintain a sense of humor. Try to find something to laugh about every single day, and share the laughter. Lowering stress can be contagious and it can all start with you. For Questions/Comments about this site, contact moored@citadel.edu. Site designed by Jackye Cocoros. |