Managing Stress and the Work-Life Balance

Organizations and the people who run them are under constant pressure to increase income while keeping costs down.

To do things faster and better – but with fewer people – is the goal of many companies.

The results can indeed be increased performance, higher profits and faster growth.

But stress, burnout, turnover, aggression and other side effects can also occur.

The Nature of Stress

Stress is a person’s adaptive response to a stimulus that places excessive psychological or physical demands on that person.

The Stress Process

General Adaptation Syndrome

[GAS] - identifies three (3) stages of response to a stressor: alarm, resistance and exhaustion.

The Stress Process

First Stage: Alarm Begins when a person encounters a ‘stressor’

Feels some degree of panic and wonders how to cope

Should I deal with this or run away?

Stage Two: ResistanceDeals with stressor by getting organized and resisting the negative effects of the stressor.

The Stress Process

Third Stage: ExhaustionPerson gives up and can no longer fight the ‘stressor’

Most of the time the resistance phase ends the cycle.

[See Figure 7.1, pg 172]

General Adaptation Syndrome

Distress and Eustess

Eustess is the pleasurable stress that accompanies positive events.

Distress is the unpleasant stress that accompanies negative events.

Stress can be either good or bad – it can motivate and stimulate us, or it can lead to any number of dangerous side effects.

Individual Differences and Stress

Type A Personality – people who are extremely competitive, highly committed to work and have a strong sense of time urgency.

Type B Personality – people who are less competitive, less committed to work and have a weaker sense of time urgency.

Hardiness

Hardiness – is a person’s ability to cope with stress

People with hardy personalities:have an internal ‘locus of control’ are strongly committed to the activities in their livesview change as an opportunity for advancement and growth

Optimism

Optimism – is the extent to which a person sees life in relatively positive or negative terms.

People with optimistic personalities:see the positive aspects of a situation and recognize that things may eventually improve. [glass half full vs half empty]

possess positive ‘affectivity’

Common Causes of Stress

Organizational Stressors are factors in the workplace that can cause stress.

Four general sets of organizational stressors are:

Task demands – associated with specific job

Physical demands – associated with physical setting of job

Role demands – associated with role expected to play

Interpersonal demands – associated with group pressure, leadership and personality conflicts

[See Figure 7.2, pg 175; Table 7.1, pg 176 and Figure 7.3, pg 178]

Causes and Consequences of Stress

Adapted from James C. Quick and Jonathan D. Quick, Organizational Stress and Preventive Management (McGraw-Hill, 1984) pp. 19, 44, and 76.

The Most Stressful Jobs

The Most Stressful Jobs, February 26, 1996. Republished with permission of Dow Jones, from The Wall Street Journal, February 26, 1996; permission conveyed through Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.

Workload, Stress, and Performance

Role Demands

Role is a set of expected behaviors associated with a particular position in a group or organization.

Role Demands are stressors associated with the role a person is expected to play.

Role Ambiguity occurs when a role in unclear.

Role Demands

Role Conflict occurs when the messages and cues constituting a role are clear but contradictory or mutually exclusive.

Four types of conflict have been identified:Inter-role conflictIntra-role conflictIntra-sender conflictPerson-role conflict

Role Demands

Inter-role Conflict – conflict between roles[home vs office]

Intra-role Conflict – conflicting demands from different sources within the context of the same role [boss demand vs employee demand]

Role Demands

Intra-sender Conflict – occurs when a single source sends contradictory messages. [no

overtime/work late]

Person-role Conflict – results from a discrepancy between the role requirements and the individual’s personal values, attitudes and needs. [told to do something unethical, illegal or distasteful]

Role Demands

Role Overload – occurs when expectations for the role exceed the individual’s capabilities.

Interpersonal Demands

Interpersonal Demands – are stressors associated with group pressures, leadership and personality conflicts.

Group Pressures – pressure to restrict output, conform to group norms, etc.Leadership – varying styles of leadership may not fit employee needs.Interpersonal Conflict – personalities, attitudes and behaviors of employees differ [smoking vs non-smoking, decision-making techniques, etc.].

Life Stressors

Life Change – is any meaningful change in a person’s personal or work situation.

Life Trauma – is any upheaval in an individual’s life that alters his or her attitudes, emotions or behaviors.

[See Table 9.2, pg 231]

Life Changes and Life Change Units

Reprinted from Journal of Psychosomatic Research, vol. 11, Thomas H. Holmes and Richard H. Rahe, “3 The Social Adjustment Rating Scale,” Copyright © 1967, with permission from Elsevier Science.

Stress Consequences - Individual

Behavioral Consequences – smoking, alcohol, drug use, appetite problems, accidents, and violence

Psychological Consequences – depression, sleeping too much or not enough, family problems, etc.

Medical Consequences – heart disease, stroke, headaches, ulcers, acne, hives, etc.

Stress Consequences - Organizational

Decline in Performance – poor quality work, drop in productivity, faulty decision making, etc.

Withdrawal – rise in absenteeism, quitting job, missing deadlines, taking longer breaks.

Attitudes – complain about unimportant things, do just enough to get by, etc.

Burnout

Burnout – is a general feeling of mental and physical exhaustion that develops when an individual simultaneously experiences too much pressure and has too few sources of satisfaction.

Managing Stress in the Workplace

Individual Coping Strategies:

Exercise – feel less tension, suffer less heart attacks, more self-confident and more optimistic

Relaxation – regular vacations or take regular breaks during the work day

Managing Stress in the Workplace

Individual Coping Strategies:

Time Management – prioritizing work tends to remove stress Role Management – avoid overload, ambiguity and conflict; develop the ability to say ‘No’.Support Group – a close set of friends to spend time with and discuss problems.

Managing Stress in the Workplace

Organizational Coping Strategies:

Institutional Programs – properly designed jobs and work schedules; good supervisors; an organizational culture that reinforces a healthy mix of work and non-work activities.

Managing Stress in the Workplace

Organizational Coping Strategies:

Collateral Programs – stress management programs, health promotion programs to detect stress, employee fitness programs, etc.

[See Figure 7.4, pg 186]

Individual and Organizational Coping Strategies

Work-Life Linkages

Common Dimensions – Work

Individual’s Current Job

Career Goals

Job Security

Interpersonal Relations at Work

Common Dimensions – Life

Person’s Spouse

Dependents

Personal Life Interests

Friendship Networks

Work-Life Relationships

Work-Life Relationships – are interrelationships between a person’s work life and personal life

Employee with many dependents may prefer high salary, little overtime and little travel.Employee with no dependents may be less interested in salary, more receptive to overtime and more available for job-related travel.Stress occurs when there is a basic incompatibility between a person’s work and life dimensions.