Battling Stress

By Tony Jacowski

This is probably one issue for which you may not need a survey to confirm. Nearly everyone feels stressed at work. Workplace stresses are not that different from domestic stresses. You feel stressed when there are high expectations, changes in responsibilities, possibility of job loss or even when you are standing at the threshold of a promotion. In short, even a small everyday event can add to your stress at work.

Stresses lead to losing your temper, increases in blood pressure, speeding up of respiration and ultimately affect your work efficiency. Psychologists have argued in recent years that workplace stresses are the result of learned helplessness when a person understands that his actions have been useless and loses hope. It is also true that such persons are emotionally dependent on others for morale.

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By Mari Taylor

For weeks David had been plagued by aching muscles, loss of appetite, restless sleep, and a complete sense of exhaustion. At first he tried to ignore these problems, but eventually he became so short-tempered and irritable that his wife insisted he get a checkup. Now, sitting in the doctor’s office and wondering what the verdict would be, he didn’t even notice when Theresa took the seat beside him. They had been good friends when she worked in the front office at the plant, but he hadn’t seen her since she left three years ago to take a job as a customer service representative. Her gentle poke in the ribs brought him around, and within minutes they were talking and gossiping as if she had never left. “You got out just in time,” he told her. “Since the reorganization, nobody feels safe. It used to be that as long as you did your work, you had a job. That’s not for sure anymore. They expect the same production rates even though two guys are now doing the work of three. We’re so backed up I’m working twelve-hour shifts six days a week. I swear I hear those machines humming in my sleep. Guys are calling in sick just to get a break. Morale is so bad they’re talking about bringing in some consultants to figure out a better way to get the job done.”

“Well, I really miss you guys,” she said. “I’m afraid I jumped from the frying pan into the fire. In my new job, the computer routes the calls and they never stop. I even have to schedule my bathroom breaks. All I hear the whole day are complaints from unhappy customers. I try to be helpful and sympathetic, but I can’t promise anything without getting my boss’s approval. Most of the time I’m caught between what the customers wants and company policy. I’m not sure who I’m supposed to keep happy. The other reps are so uptight and tense they don’t even talk to one another. We all go to our own little cubicles and stay there until quitting time. To make matters worse, my mother’s health is deteriorating. If only I could use some of my sick time to look after her. No wonder I’m in here with migraine headaches and high blood pressure. A lot of the reps are seeing the employee assistance counselor and taking stress management classes, which seems to help. But sooner or later, someone will have to make some changes in the way the place is run.”

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By Javier Fuller

A Golden Rule To Manage Job/Workplace Stress: Having gone for a sea bath, don’t be afraid of the oncoming waves. Take your plunge!

* Getting a job, involves lots of stress.

* Getting a job, without the stressful environment, is a blessing.

* Getting a job, with the type work profile that you like, a cheerfully disposed staff, and the administration that maintains the human relations at its best, is a boon!

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