Stress Management for the Workplace
Understanding and Managing the Causes of Stress in Organizations
Jun 6, 2009
'Karoshi' is a Japanese term which means 'sudden death caused by too much work.' However, many people simply use the term stress.
Stress is defined as an adaptive response to a situation that is perceived as challenging or threatening to the person's well-being. It is the reaction to a situation and not the situation itself. The situation, object or event in our physical and social environments that makes a demand on the person's mind is called the stressor. The process whereby human beings adjust to stressors in their environment is called General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS).
GAS is a response that provides an automatic defense system to help a person cope with environmental demands. Everyone experiences this in their professional and private lives. Examples of experiences that can trigger stress-related reactions are an automobile accident or a project that is in crisis.
Stages of General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)
There are three (3) stages of GAS:
- Alarm - characterized by the perception of threatening or challenging situation. This causes the brain to send a biological message to various parts of the body. This results in increased respiration rate, blood pressure, heartbeat, muscle tension and other physiological responses;
- Resistance - the person's ability to cope with the environmental demands rises above the normal state due to the body's activation of various psychological, biochemical and behavioral mechanisms;
- Exhaustion - the body has relinquished its resistance capacity after chronic exposure to a stressor.
A person's perception causes him to interpret the stressor in a positive or negative way. If the person's response is positive, then he is experiencing 'good' stress, also called Eustress. This is the healthy, constructive outcome of stressful events. If the person's reaction is negative, then he is experiencing 'bad' stress, also called Distress.
Researchers generally agree that there are two (2) categories of causes of stress:
1. Organizational - this is caused by:
- physical environment
- role-related
- interpersonal demands
- organizational changes
2. Life - this is caused by:
- life changes
- life trauma
Consequences of Stress
When eustress becomes distress, job performance decreases and workplace accidents tend to be more common. High stress levels also impair the person's ability to remember information, make effective decisions and take appropriate action. Overstressed employees tend to have higher levels of absenteeism due to sickness and workplace aggression.
Other more serious consequences of distress are cardiovascular diseases, ulcers, sexual dysfunction, headaches and, ultimately, burnout. This refers to emotional exhaustion and reduced personal accomplishment resulting from prolonged exposure to stress.
Managing Stress in the Workplace
One of the ways organizations and employees can effectively manage stress is to remove the stressors that cause unnecessary tension and job burnout. This can be accomplished by:
- organizations providing flexible working hours and days for their employees;
- employees telecommuting and working from home to decrease the time and stress of commuting;
- employees accessing personal leave programs such as extended maternity and paternity leave;
- organizations providing child care facilities.
Another way to manage stress is to withdraw from the stressor temporarily. This can be done by relaxing in the staff lounge or taking vacations. Physical exercise, wellness programs and Employee Assistance Programs are all tools used to control the consequences of stress.
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