Stress Management and Relaxation Techniques

Archive for the ‘Workplace Stress’ Category

Change in the Workplace Stress Management

Workplace stress management can already be quite a task just to maintain employee productivity, efficiency as well as satisfaction. Nothing can be more stressful for managers than  to handle stress brought about by workplace change. Change can affect the workplace in many ways, with the negative side of it always bringing along considerable stress to some.

Workplace change is usually inevitable in the business world. Changes in the economy and the competitiveness between businesses can bring about certain changes in the workplace when most may least expect it. Businesses always run the risk of having to stage lay-offs, personnel downsizing and even bankruptcy. And when these changes happen, the employees of the affected businesses go through quite a stressful situation having to deal with unemployment and an uncertain future. The management even has the more stressful task to inform employees about it.

It is important for management to try to break the news of a workplace change in a less abrupt manner as possible. Communication would be very important in this case. Effective and timely communication may help affected employees better understand and accept such upsetting and stressful news.

One of the best ways to communicate massive changes in the workplace is to involve key communicators to bring the news to the employees. While it may sound logical to have  the CEO speak to the entire group of working personnel in a company-wide meeting, he or she alone may not be able to give the details more effectively on all levels. The CEO of the company alone may not be able to satisfy employee questions and concerns.

Having other people such as supervisors or team leaders to handle the job of communicating any workplace change would surely be more efficient and effective. By having the company’s front-line supervisors and maybe team leaders address employees under them and answer their questions, this helps  communicating change more efficiently accessible to more employees and may take less time to make them understand and accept the unfortunate news.

But aside from having several people handling the stressful news of change to company staff. It is also as important for the management to create an effective message. And since companies are comprised of different departments and levels, the message of change should be designed to cater to the information needed of these different levels. In short, the message should cater and fit to a specific audience in order to be more effective and hence avoid possible confusion as well as additional stress.

Effective communication of change in the workplace means that information required by different levels of the company should be satisfied. Others may stop at citing the reasons why change is a good idea for the company. Other companies may only try to communicate only what the changes affect the corporate level.

Neglect on providing information that really matter to employees, such as how the change may affect their future in the company, can really add considerable stress and many sleepless nights to many people.

That is not considered as good workplace stress management for a company that is in the midst of undergoing changes.

In the context of a burgeoning economy and the growing influence of “Americanised” work cultures and practices in a number of workplaces, stress at work has increased in Ireland in recent years. The management of workplace stress is thus an important contemporary issue in 2001. Recent research indicates that deficiencies in the management and organisation of work are the main causes of stress at work, and that workplace stress may have a number of negative consequences for workers and employers, including: physical and mental illness; chronic absenteeism; increased labour turnover; and reduced morale, motivation and productivity.

Consequences of workplace stress

The three studies conclude that workplace stress may have a number of negative consequences for both workers and employers, as follows.

• Workers may abuse alcohol and drugs, and be more prone to accidents and physical and mental illness.
• Workplace stress is increasingly an issue for litigation, which can entail significant costs.
• Workplace stress causes millions of working days to be lost through “absenteeism” each year, which represents a significant cost to employers. Far more days are lost through workplace stress than through industrial action, a fact that is frequently overlooked.
• Stress may promote higher labour turnover, and employers may have difficulty retaining staff.
• Stress may cause workers to lose morale and become less motivated and committed, which may result in lower productivity.
• Stress may promote increased industrial relations problems.

Preventing and eliminating workplace stress

So what can be done to prevent and eliminate workplace stress? Some organisations have introduced various stress reduction programmes, such as courses in yoga, to tackle stress. However, these programmes may only go a certain distance in tackling stress because, although they may be useful for addressing the outcomes of stress, they do not address the causes. In other words, they are reactive rather than preventative.

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