Elder Care
Manoj is a 29 year old mechanical engineer working at a prominent MNC. He has been in the job for 18 months. He is good at what he does and his appraisals have been very good. After suffering from major financial losses, his firm decided to downsize as part of its cost cutting measure. While the company retained Manoj, many of his friends and colleagues were shown the door.This created a sense of anxiety in Manoj. Soon after, the Company announced it would be introducing new machinery, as part of a major revamp.Hearing this, Major’s anxiety doubled. He now lived in a sense of constant dread, worrying that he would be ill-equipped to handle the upgraded machinery and will be the next in line to be fired. He was unable to focus on his work and was pre-occupied with thoughts of beings suddenly fired from his job.He became increasingly insecure about his future in the company which severely impacted his performance. His output fell and he missed out on his promotions. This further created a sense of shame and self doubt.When he found himself breathless and his hands shaking in the middle of a meeting, he finally decided to seek help.
Manoj’s case is not an isolated one. According to W.H.O., 450 million people are said to be suffering from some sort of mental health problem worldwide. With the advent of globalization, as workplaces are becoming more demanding, mental health problems such as stress, anxiety and depression are sprouting up at workplaces. Employees spend the majority of their waking hours at the workplace, yet most companies have no mechanism in place to support them and help them cope with work stressors. Ignoring the mental well being of employees often creates a situation in which their stress levels continue to increase and turn into full blown mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. In the above mentioned case, the blame for Manoj’s anxiety lies with his organization. It is a well known fact that people dislike change and actively resist it. When an organization goes through a change such as introducing new technology or downsizing, it is in the best interest of both the organization and the employees that the employees are given accurate information regarding the change that will take place. They should be informed of the impact it will have on their job and given the skills (such as training to use new machinery) to help them cope with the change. When organizations fail to take such basic steps to support their employees, it creates a sense of uncertainty and panic in their mind which makes it impossible for them to focus on the task at hand.
21st century workplaces have a complex work-structure, with employees often reporting to multiple bosses, one from the region and another boss from the head office. Technological advances have meant that many companies are urging employees to be accessible via laptops and smart phones even during holidays. As teams become more global, employees find themselves taking calls and attending video conferences late into the night in order to bridge the time zones between different countries. Business travel is becoming more common as a result of which employees at times find themselves at odds with host country’s culture, leading to complex relations with their colleagues.Struggling to cope with the stresses of such a fast paced life, employees often start experiencing stress and burnout, thereby impacting their productivity at work.
Simply put, stress is the body’s physiological and psychological response when the demands placed on the individual exceed his/her coping abilities.
Symptoms Of Stress Manifest Themselves In Various Forms In Individuals –
Emotional Symptoms - These include negative feeling, disappointment with yourself, loss of motivation & confidence, mood swings & a feeling of loneliness
Mental Symptoms - Are those which affect cognitive skills. These include confusion, irritability, difficulty concentrating & poor memory
Changes From Your Normal Behavior - This includes changes in eating & sleeping habits. Changes in attendance such as arriving late or taking off frequently. Increased smoking & drinking are also signs of stress
Symptoms Of Stress In A Group Include –
Disputes & Disaffection Within The Group
Increase In Staff Turnover
Increase In Complaints And Grievances
Increased Sickness Absence
Increase Reports Of Stress
Difficulty In Attracting New Staff
Poor Performance
Customer Dissatisfaction Or Complaints
There are substantial research studies to prove that one of the most significant impact of workplace stress is fall in productivity. The employee may be physically present at work but is mentally absent. He is unable to focus on the task at hand and fails to function at full capacity. This translates into huge economic losses for the organization. Another affect of stress is frequent unexplained leaves of absence. Employees who are experiencing stress and burnout in the workplace often lack motivation to finish their task and come across as hostile and uncooperative. This creates a negative environment and impacts the efficiency of their co-workers. Unable to cope with work pressure, many employees end up leaving the organization altogether, resulting in employee turnover which is an added cost to the business.
Employee well-being is at the core of many high functioning organizations. Google, which is considered to be one of the best organizations to work for, was started by Larry page, with employee well-being as its core premise. According to Karen May, V.P of People Development, they chose to focus on their employees instead of aspiring to be number one. ‘We want our employees to love it here, because that’s what’s going to make us successful.’ Some of the strategies adopted by Google include giving employees the opportunity to devote 20% of their work week to a project of their choice.
Many companies have started recognizing the importance of employee well-being and have introduced measures such as the option of working from home, flexible working hours and crèche facilities for their employees. However, these alone will not be enough to combat work-place stress. Organizations should have mechanisms in place to provide support to employees in times of need. They should train managers to look for signs of stress in the employees and help them identify effective coping strategies. 95% of fortune 500 Companies have Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) to ensure the well being of their employees. EAPs provide telephonic or face-to-face counselling to employees to help them cope with personal or work related problems which are affecting their performance at work. Due to the stigma attached to mental health in our country, most companies fail to provide counselling support to employees. However, we cannot turn a blind eye to this issue as it is estimated that one in four people will develop one or more mental or behavioral problems during their lifetime (W.H.O.) Ignoring it will not only impact the individual but also have a significant impact on the profitability of the organization.
5 Sources Of Work Related Stress
Demand- Employees should place reasonable demands on their employers. This includes ascertaining whether the employees have too much to do and also whether the employees have requisite skills to perform the task. While work overload is a major cause of stress, work under load ie assigning repetitive, boring and under-stimulating tasks can also be a source of stress
Control - Job Control essentially focuses on the degree of authority an employee has over making decisions and use of skills, including the opportunity for developing new skills. Control refers to aspects of work such as when to start and finish the job, the resources being used and the skills required to perform the job. If an employee has low control over the job he is performing and is being constantly monitored by his superiors, it will automatically lead to job stress
Role- Job roles involve 3 different types of stressors. Role overload, role ambiguity and role conflict. Role overload is the number of different roles an employee is expected to carry out. Role conflict exists when an employee is torn between conflicting role (eg as a member of the sales team, the employee wants to keep the product prices at a minimum but as a member of the finance team he wants the prices to be high) This leads to conflict of interest. Role ambiguity refers to lack of clarity over what an employee’s job entails. Role conflict and ambiguity have been linked to high anxiety and job dissatisfaction
Relationships & Social Support - Lack of support from supervisors and colleagues have been linked to poor mental health and depression in a number of research studies.
Change - Organizational change such as introducing new technology, shifting the employee to a new team or even moving the office to a location can be a major source of stress if the change is not handled efficiently and if employees are not consulted in the process.