Module 6 Stress Management AND WORK LIFE Balance PDF

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Module 6 STRESS MANAGEMENT AND WORK LIFE BALANCE Module Introduction As individuals grow old, responsibilities and challenges become part of our daily living. We experience getting through these and yet there are times that it is seemingly inevitable to avoid stress. When we are unable to cope up to deadlines, hit the target or accomplish our goals, we eventually feel stressed. Hence, most people think that it is common to go through stressful situations. What matters is how they are able to manage this. Job stress is also present in any organization. Some employees are challenged to meet the demands of their jobs while others do not know how to balance the requirements of their work and their personal life. In the context of organizational behavior, stress and work life balance go hand in hand. This module deals on how important it is to manage stress in one’s life and work as well. Discussion on the concepts of work life balance shall likewise be included, where quality of work life will also be introduced. Topic Outcomes After reading and understanding this module, students will be able to: 1. Explain the importance of managing stress in the workplace; 2. Describe how the concepts of work-life balance relate to stress management

Nature and Sources of Stress Generally, almost everyone knows what it feels like to be stressed. It has been a topic arguable to various researchers and psychologists, as its definition and concept itself have been a question for several years. Stress is defined as the reaction of individuals when the demands in situations exceed their ability to cope up and meet the expectations. Stress can be manifested in humans physically and psychologically. Most people who experience stress think that this can probably affect their wellbeing, and can result in frustrations and feeling of tension. In the workplace scenario, it is also unavoidable to encounter stress. The term job stress is used to explain the mental, physical and emotional strain of employees when the job demands are conflicting with their abilities and means. One may not really be able to avoid stress, but there are ways to manage it. A question was raised regarding the existence of stress -- Are all types of stress bad? When a person gets out of his comfort zone, he/she may experience stress. The same is true when someone is getting married, moving from one school to another or even changing careers or any job. Isn’t it that even stress can do good to you too? Getting out of your comfort zone leads you to more opportunities, unleash your inner skills and even develop your self-esteem. The wedding preparation may be tedious and stressful, but at the end of the day, you feel more than happy and satisfied marrying your favorite person in the world. Transferring from one school to another gives you a chance to meet new friends and learn with other people. Having a new job brings you a challenge to show your capabilities. Ergo, not all stress is negative. Most of us actually do not notice that we also benefit from this. The bad stress which is common to everyone is coined as dystress . This type of stress is negative and really means the term “stress” that brings pressure and uneasy feeling to individuals. On the other hand, the above mentioned examples exhibit eustress . This refers to the positive stress that one may experience as difficult and challenging but leads to positive outcomes.

Stress can also be classified as acute or chronic. Short-term reactions to immediate threats is known as acute stress .This is considered as the most common kind of stress that people are experiencing. For instance, students have common deadlines for all of their course requirements. Students feel stressed as they do not know how to be able to meet all the requirements on time. This form of stress can be categorized as acute stress, since after that all those requirements are submitted on a particular date, the stress is over. The stress is only short-term. While long-term and persisting stress is called chronic stress . This kind of stress lasts for months and even years. Classic example of chronic stress is when an individual encounters a traumatic experience. It takes time before the individual is able to forget the stressful scenario making it difficult for him to move forward. Most people experiencing chronic stress tend to live with them the problems and endeavors without looking for solutions. Both are negative to individuals’ wellbeing but chronic stress is more severe. Mayo Clinic has cited conditions that can result from Acute and Chronic Stress.

Causes of Stress Stress arises from various conditions and factors in the environment. These are known as stressors . Individual Stressors

1. Type A and B Personality. Since people with Type A personality are competitive, aggressive and impatient, they are more prone to stress compared with those of Type B personality. In the workplace, Type A personalities tend to accept more workloads and spend more hours. Being competitive, they even do tasks at home and only have a few time to relax. Hence, stress comes their way. 2. Self-esteem and personal control. People with low self-esteem are most likely to encounter stress. They often feel that they have a little control over various situations. On the other hand, people with high self-esteem are confident, believing that they have the ability to manage challenging situations. 3. Hardiness. This refers to the ability of an individual to tolerate and cope in challenging and difficult situations. Basically, low hardiness results in more stress-related experiences for individuals. High hardy individuals have lower levels of stress because they are able to manage challenging situations. High hardy individuals are tough and resilient. 4. Gender. Research showed that women are more prone to stress compared to men. Women, by nature, are emotional and often seek social support. Group Stressors 1. Group cohesiveness. It is important that a group become cohesive or together. Group cohesiveness reduces the occurrence of conflicts. This therefore results in a lower rate of stress in groups. 2. Social support. Individuals need others to keep them company. They often need to release and express what they feel to others, whether this is something positive or problem related. Thus, lack of social support can result in a more stressful situation. When people feel like they're alone in the challenges that they are facing, the more stressed do they get.

Organizational Stressors 1. Role ambiguity. This means that an employee does not know clearly what his job is and what is actually expected and required of him. Ambiguous role and lack of clarity in the organization brings about stress to individuals since they tend to become anxious about what they are doing. 2. Role conflict. This refers to the role-related factor whereby an individual is faced with simultaneous roles and complying to one makes it difficult to comply with the other. Contradictory roles make it stressful for an individual to make decisions in the workplace. 3. Resource Inadequacy. Resources in the organization include people, time, supplies and equipment and others. Lack of resources may result in difficulty in accomplishing given tasks. Employees face stress when the job demands are high but the resources are inadequate. 4. Work Overload. Increasing job demands often result in stress. People who have heavy loads at work experience difficulty in managing work and personal life. Those with high job demands spend longer working hours. Both their physical, mental and psychological state of an individual become at stake due to voluminous tasks. It results in hostility and overfatigue. 5. Management Style. The way the organization and employees are managed affect the stress level of an individual. This is due to pressure that one may experience due to management and leadership styles. 6. Job insecurity. When one feels insecure about their jobs, they feel stressed in the organization. Security of tenure can make one feel relieved about his job status. 7. Work environment. The environment where an employee works can affect the stress level of an individual. For instance, when the physical working condition is not good, it makes the individual uncomfortable in the workplace. The same is true when the psychological aspects

like relationships with the colleagues, are working well, less pressure and stress are experienced by the employees. Consequences of Stress Stress when not properly managed may result in several negative consequences. Individuals, groups and organizations may experience various undesirable effects with accompanying signs and symptoms. These stress manifestations have direct effects to individuals’ physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, or relational wellbeing. To be able to create stress management strategies, it is important to identify those signs and symptoms that may occur when an individual experiences stress.

Further, work-related stress also has its consequences. These increase the cost incurred by the organizations. 1. Burnout. This is the feeling of total exhaustion of an individual in the workplace. This has been crucial to any organization. Burnout reflects overfatigue, disengagement at work, and confidence loss and lack of motivation. 2. Absenteeism and turnover. Stressed individuals tend to lose enthusiasm for work. This results in frequent absences until they have found new employment and opportunities outside the organization. 3. Diminished productivity. Employees who are too stressed are not able to perform well the tasks assigned to them. Quality and quantity of work are both affected, thus there is a diminished productivity. This also affects the organizational performance. 4. Aggression. This is resulting from employee’s frustration and hostility. When aggression occurs, employees think that they are on the dead end and have nothing to lose. Thus, some end up doing undesirable behaviors and sabotage. Coping with Work-Related Stress There are mechanisms and strategies for individuals to cope with work-related stress. Stress management programs will help achieve a pleasant work environment. There are 4 As in dealing with stress. 1. Avoid the stressor. Be aware of what causes you stress. As much as possible, avoid the situation. Go with people who make you feel comfortable. Believe that everything has its own time. Do not rush trying to do everything. 2. Alter the stressor. If one cannot really avoid the stressor, alter it. Find ways to change the situation. For instance, having yourself being helped by your peers is a means to alter stress. Communicating and time management are effective ways. 3. Adapt to the stressor. When the first 2 As are not seemingly effective, creating coping mechanisms is a great way to manage stress. 4. Accept the stressor. There are some stressors that are inevitable. The best way to get through stressful situations is to accept it. This way, it will become easier for the individual to devise effective means to deal with it and reduce the likelihood of having negative consequences.

Individual Stress Management

Individual Stress Management Adapted from Hitt, Miller and Collela (2012) It is important for an individual to have proper exercise, proper diet, relaxation techniques and social-support networks to manage stress. Proper exercise and diet improve the physical well being of an individual especially during overfatigue. While relaxation techniques and social-support networks enhance the cognitive perspective and psychological wellbeing. Further, it is worthy to note that self awareness plays a big part in the mindset of an individual in dealing with stressors. When individuals are aware of their capabilities and think that they can manage situations, they are less likely to experience stress.

Organizational Stress Management It is the responsibility of the management to ensure that the wellbeing of their employees are in good condition. They must be aware of its negative effects that could be detrimental to the organization. Creating stress management programs in the organizational level could minimize additional costs that companies may incur due to stressful situations that their employees are facing. Job redesign is important in managing stress of employees. It was identified earlier that work overload, role ambiguity and role conflict are considered work related stressors. Thus, enriching or enlarging jobs may be helpful. Job rotation may also alleviate stress. Human resource management of organizations may likewise include counseling programs for their employees. Coaching and mentoring can promote self-awareness of employees and can develop professional relationships as well. These strategies when implemented can address stressful situations of individuals and groups in the organization. The Concept of Work-Life Balance Work-Life Balance has become a new concept in organizational behavior. Many research have shown that this plays a role in maintaining a healthy working environment. Work life balance can be defined as the harmony between an individual's work and personal life. In the 21st century, where job demands are increasing, it is important that the management consider paying attention to this concern. The challenge is due to the increased usage of technology in every organization. This removes the limitation of office in physical existence. This has led to telecommuting, virtual offices and teams, and others. The boundary now between

professional and personal life seems to be warranting. Poor work life balance often leads to job stress. When a person is not able to balance the requirements A person whose job demands are too high will find it difficult to comply with it when his/her responsibility at home is also requiring attention and time. This is commonly being experienced by working mothers. For instance, a mother who is about to pick up her son in school at 4pm was asked by her manager to do overtime for urgent tasks is stressful for her. This is the key issue of work life balance. The employees start feeling stressed when they are not able to create harmonious work-life integration. Stressed employees tend to be less productive and are prone to making errors.

Importance of work-life Balance The company’s efforts towards employee’s work life balance assessment can help in effective and efficient resource allocation that can improve organization’s productivity and workforce stability. This will lead to: 1. Motivated employees in the workplace 2. Desirable attitudes and behavior of employees towards their jobs 3. Improved organizational effectiveness. Quality of Work Life Related to work life balance is an emerging concept coined as quality of work life (QWL). This concern has been globally demonstrated by the United Nations as sponsored by the International Labor Organizations (ILO) so as to facilitate creation of better and meaningful job opportunities. The term quality of work life (QWL) is too broad that it has several connotations and interpretations to different people, thus, many researchers were led to studying its dimension. For some, quality of work life may mean the balance between their time for their job and for their social life. To others, for instance, a typical factory worker, quality of work life means having equal pay for equal work or a fair day’s pay coupled with a safe working environment. Quality of Work Life is a concept in organizational behavior that deals with the overall focus on the employee as an individual rather than just the work being done by him/her. Employee dissatisfaction may be brought about when they experience low quality of work life. Components of QWL Mahmoudi (2015) identified six components of quality of work life. 1. Fair and adequate payment. This refers to remuneration being received by an employee while rendering his/her services to the organization. 2. Safe and healthy workplace. This is characterized by a work environment free from any form of hazards and strain to ensure good health and psychological conditions of employees. 3. Provide opportunities for persistent growth and security. This refers to the availability of career advancement and security of tenure in the organization. 4. Legalism in the organization of work. This is the constitutionalism in the workplace through freedom and equity. 5. Social dependence of work life. This is related to ethical behaviors and fair treatment to employees. 6. Total living space. This is the balance of an employee's personal and professional life.

Importance of Quality of Work Life Several organizations recognize that paying attention to the needs of employees can benefit them in various means. The following are identified as the advantage of increased employee quality of work life. 1. Improved public relations and credibility. 2. Increased productivity, 3. Higher retention attraction and retention rates 4. Reduced absenteeism 5. Improved employee quality of working lives 6. Increased job satisfaction and involvement Stress and Work-life Balance during Covid 19 Pandemic COVID 19 Pandemic has brought about major changes in the organizational functioning. This includes work arrangements of employees. Since community quarantine has limited the movement of people, including workers, work from home, flexible work hours, compressed work work week and other alternative work arrangements have been adapted. This has created arguments as the regular working hours and job demands have changed. Meetings can be conducted at night, office set ups have been far different from what employees were used to and more activities are done sitting all day long. How can one adapt to this new normal?

Eight ways to manage stress was adapted from fond.co 1. Move Every Day. Cabin fever is one of the illnesses that people may experience when being cooped at home for quite a long period. But doing movements can minimize this. Engage in physical activities and set flexible work hours. Regular physical movement is good in one’s health. Few-minute workout can likewise be of help. 2. Practice Mindfulness. Meditate. Reflect on your feelings, thoughts and sensations. 3. Eat Well. Stress-eating does not mean eating well. Focus on nutrition rich food and maintain a balanced diet. Others may prefer eating their”comfort and happy” food for emotional nourishment. Eat accordingly. 4. Get Enough Sleep. Regain energy by getting enough hours of sleep. Care to create a healthy sleep routine. 5. Fall Back on Old Habits. Keep up the simple daily habits like following your typical routinary activities, e.g. getting up early, getting dressed for work, to feel some sense of normalcy. 6. Create Meaningful New Habits. In the new normal. Embrace the new normal and create new habits and routines. Consider this an opportunity to learn new things. 7. Connect With Others. Social distancing is not isolating yourself from the world, but rather only to practice physical distancing. Keep in touch with your social environment without leaving home. 8. Reframe Negative Thoughts. Make a positive mindset and right attitude. After all, KEEP GOING......