Managing stress in the

workplace
Prof. Cecile Ventura Benitez
The Nature of Stress

•Stress is a person’s adaptive response to

a stimulus that places excessive
psychological or physical demands on that
person.
General Adaptation Syndrome

• Three stages of response to a stressor:

1. Alarm
2. Resistance
3. Exhaustion.
• Eustress is the pleasurable stress that
accompanies positive events.
• Distress is the unpleasant stress that
accompanies negative events.
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES AND STRESS

• Type A people are extremely competitive, highly

committed to work, and have a strong sense of
time urgency.
• Type B people are less competitive, less
committed to work, and have a weaker sense of
time urgency.
• Hardiness is a person’s ability to cope with
stress.
• Optimism is the extent to which a person
sees life in relatively positive or negative
terms.
COMMON CAUSES OF
STRESS
• Task demands are stressors associated with
the specific job a person performs.
Workload, Stress, and Performance

• Too much stress is clearly undesirable, but too little

stress can also lead to unexpected problems. For
example, too little stress may result in boredom and
apathy and be accompanied by low performance. And
although too much stress can cause tension, anxiety, and
low performance, for most people there is an optimal
level of stress that results in high energy, motivation,
and performance.
• Physical demands are stressors associated with the job’s
physical setting, such as the adequacy of temperature
and lighting and the physical requirements thejob makes
on the employee.
• Role demands are stressors associated with the role a
person is expected to play.
• A role is a set of expected behaviors associated with a
particular position in a group or organization.
 1 2 3 4
Role ambiguity arises Role conflict occurs Role overload occurs Interpersonal
when a role is when the messages when expectations demands are
unclear. and cues constituting for the role exceed stressors associated
a role are clear but the individual’s with group pressures,
contradictory or capabilities. leadership, and
mutually exclusive. personality conflicts
Life stressors

• A life change is any meaningful change in a person’s personal or

work situation; too many life changes over a short period of time
can lead to health problems.
• A life trauma is any upheaval in an individual’s life that alters his
or her attitudes, emotions, or behaviors.
CONSEQUENCES OF STRESS

• Individual Consequences The individual consequences of stress,

then, are the outcomes that mainly affect the individual. The
organization also may suffer, either directly or indirectly, but it is
the individual who pays the real price.16 Stress may produce
behavioral, psychological, and medical consequences.
Behavioral Consequences

• Behavioral Consequences The behavioral consequences of stress

may harm the person under stress or others. One such behavior is
smoking. Research has clearly documented that people who smoke
tend to smoke more when they experience stress. There is also
evidence that alcohol and drug abuse are linked to stress,
although this relationship is less well documented
Psychological Consequences

• The psychological consequences of stress relate to a person’s

mental health and well-being. When people experience too much
stress at work, they may become depressed or find themselves
sleeping too much or not enough. Stress may also lead to family
problems and sexual difficulties.
Medical Consequences

• The medical consequences of stress affect a person’s physical

well-being. Heart disease and stroke, among other illnesses, have
been linked to stress. Other common medical problems resulting
from too much stress include headaches, backaches, ulcers and
related stomach and intestinal disorders, and skin conditions such
as acne and hives.
Organizational Consequences

• Clearly, any of the individual consequences just discussed can also

affect the organization. Other results of stress have even more
direct consequences for organizations. These include decline in
performance, withdrawal, and negative changes in attitudes.
Performance

• One clear organizational consequence of too much stress is a

decline in performance. For operating workers, such a decline can
translate into poor-quality work or a drop in productivity. For
managers, it can mean faulty decision making or disruptions in
working relationships as people become irritable and hard to get
along with
Withdrawal

• Withdrawal behaviors also can result from stress. For the

organization, the two most significant forms of withdrawal
behavior are absenteeism and quitting. People who are having a
hard time coping with stress in their jobs are more likely to call in
sick or consider leaving the organization for good.
Attitudes

• Another direct organizational consequence of employee stress

relates to attitudes. As we just noted, job satisfaction,
morale,and organizational commitmentcan all suffer, along with
motivation to perform at high levels. As a result, people may be
more prone to complain about unimportant things, do only enough
work to get by, and so forth.
BURNOUT

• Burnout is a general feeling of exhaustion that develops when a

person simultaneously experiences too much pressure and has too
few sources of satisfy
• People with high aspirations and strong motivation to get things
done are prime candidates for burnout under certain conditions.
They are especially vulnerable when the organization suppresses
or limits their initiative while constantly demanding that they
serve the organization’s own ends. action
MANAGING STRESS IN THE WORKPLACE
Individual Coping Strategies

• Exercise is one method of managing stress.

People who exercise regularly are less likely to
have heart attacks than inactive people. More
directly, research has suggested that people who
exercise regularly feel less tension and stress, are
more self confident, and show greater optimism.
Relaxation

• A related method of managing stress is relaxation. We

noted at the beginning of the chapter that coping with
stress requires adaptation. Proper relaxation is an
effective way to adapt. Relaxation can take many forms.
One way to relax is to take regular vacations. One study
found that people’s attitudes toward a variety of
workplace characteristics improved significantly
following a vacation. People can also relax while on the
job. For example, it has been recommended that people
take regular rest breaks during their normal workday.
Time Management

• Time management is often recommended for managing

stress. The idea is that many daily pressures can be
eased or eliminated if a person does a better job of
managing time. One popular approach to time
management is to make a list every morning of the
things to be done that day.
Role Management

• Somewhat related to time management is the idea of role

management, in which the individual actively works to avoid
overload, ambiguity, and conflict. For example, if you do not know
what is expected of you, you should not sit and worry about it.
Instead, ask for clarification from your boss. Another role
management strategy is to learn to say “no.” As simple as saying
“no” might sound, a lot of people create problems for themselves
by always saying “yes.” Besides working in their regular jobs, they
agree to serve on committees, volunteer for extra duties, and
accept extra assignments
Support Groups

• A final method for managing stress is to develop and maintain

support groups. A support group is simply a group of family
members or friends with whom a person can spend time. Going
out after work with a couple of coworkers to a basketball game,
for example, can help relieve the stress that builds up during the
day.
• Supportive family and friends can help people deal with normal
stress on an ongoing basis. Support groups can be particularly
useful during times of crisis
Organizational Coping Strategies

• Institutional Programs
• Institutional programs for managing stress are undertaken through
established organizational mechanisms. For example, properly
designed jobs and work schedules can help ease stress. Shift
work, in particular, can cause major problems for employees,
because they constantly have to adjust their sleep and relaxation
patterns. Thus, the design of work and work schedules should be a
focus of organizational efforts to reduce stress.
Thank you for listening

• QUIZ
1. It is the pleasurable stress that accompanies positive events.
2. Type____ people are people who are less competitive, less commited
to work, and have a weaker sense of time urgengy.
3-4. Give 2 organizational stressors or demands.
5-6. Give 2 individual consequences or effects of stress.
7. Give one organizational consequence or effect of stress
8-9. Two kinds of life stressors.
10. Give one traumatic event in life.