37 Values and  Management of Stress

1.  Learning Outcome

2.  Values

3.  Stress

4.  Summary

1.  Learning Outcome:

After completing this module, the students will be able to:

• Understand the concept of values Describe meaning of stress
• Discuss various causes of stress
• Explain individual and organisational strategies to manage stress

2. Values

2.1 Meaning

Values are beliefs or a framework of philosophy of a person on the basis of which he judges what is right or wrong, desirable or undesirable, good or bad. These represent something which is perceived good and desirable for everyone. Human values are the bases of ethical or unethical behaviour.

2.2     Characteristics of Values

• Values involve emotion, knowledge and ultimately choice of response. Values are part of culture.
• Values are adaptive i.e. they are subject to change over a period of time. Value formation is slow and long term process.
• Initial values learnt by an individual at his early stage of life are more enduring. Values represent a significant component of personality.
• Old values are replaced by new values when they cease to be gratifying.
• In business context, group and organizational values are more important than individual values.

2.3     Sources of Value Formation

Social institutions: Although, there are numerous institutions in the society which inculcate values in individuals, however, religion, family, state and school are the basic sources of values for individuals and organisations. These basic value forming sources are interrelated. Values fostered by each source reinforce the values of others. Thus, the value patterns exhibited by individuals and organisations are the outcome of cumulative impact of various sources. Value systems are formed over a lifetime of experience but the major influence of basic sources or institutions prevails.

The values are formed by these institutions by prescribing what is good or bad for a person and rewarding good behaviour and scolding for bad behaviour. This happens in daily routine of the person and he learns that behaviour which is rewarded and reinforced.

Organisation: An organisation is a collection of individuals, its values are reflected in the form of values of individuals working in the organisation. However, the organizational values are more in tune with values of those who are at the helm of affairs i.e. the values of managers. So the individual has to either adjust himself to the values of organisation or leave the organisation. Thus, to stay in organisation, an individual starts accepting organizational values and over a period of time, his value system changes to conform to organisation’s values.

Colleagues: An individual, as a member of formal or informal group, subscribes values of group of colleagues and peers. He tends to conform to group’s norms or values as these group values strengthen and protect a given group. Thus, an individual develops and applies values derived from group. Departure from these values may lead to disapproval of individual’s associates and cut in benefits, rights or privileges available to him as a member of group.

Work: An individual undertakes some work to earn his livelihood. He may join some organisation where he will have to do work entrusted to him from time to time. Over a period of time, an individual follows a progressive series of jobs and positions which is termed as his occupational career. Each work and career create special values that provide unity and meaning to persons and groups. Thus, individuals performing these works will have to follow these values.

2.4     Need for Studying Values

Study of values in business context is important due to following reasons:

• Values have impact on inter-personal relationship.
• Values regulate code of conduct.
• Values influence perception of situation or problems.
• Values influence organizational decisions and define concept of success.

3.   Stress

3.1 Meaning and Definition

Stress is inevitable in modern times. Stress in general and job stress in particular has affected everybody’s life. Crider, Goethals, Kavanaugh and Soloman described stress as a pattern of disruptive psychological and physiological functioning that occurs when an environmental event is appraised as a threat to important goals and one’s ability to cope.

According to Ivancevich and Matterson, ‘‘ Stress is the interaction of the individual with the environment. It is an adaptive response mediated by individual differences and/or psychological process; that is a consequence of any external action, situation or event, that places excessive psychological and/or physical demands upon a person.’’

• As per medical explanation, stress is the body’s general response to environmental
• situations which can lead to physiological discomfort, emotional unhappiness and strained relations with others.
• Job Stress is a situation when an individual finds himself as unable to cope up with the pressures of job. It occurs as a result of mismatch between expectations of individual and organisation. According to Beehr and Newman, ‘‘Job stress is a condition arising from the interaction of the people and their jobs and characterized by changes within people that force them to deviate from their normal functioning.’’

Job Stress exists in all types of work environment with varying degree. It adversely affects performance and profitability and is a major factor responsible for employee’s poor health. High degree of job stress leads to decreased job satisfaction and less commitment, reduced performance, absenteeism, high labour turnover and financial losses to the organisation.

3.2 Nature of Stress

Stress or job stress is not always bad in itself. It is considered a good servant but bad master. When stress is caused by undesirable outcomes, it becomes distress which calls for examination and strategies to cope with it; because it generally results in heart problems, alcoholism, drug abuse, marital problems etc. When stress arises by desirable outcomes, it is called eustress which is a positive and developmental stress response. Eustress is always desired as it keeps person motivated.

Stress is individualistic in nature. Some individuals cannot perform well unless they experience a level of stress which activates them to put their best efforts. On the other hand, some people have a very low tolerance for stress and they get tensed when they have to interface with factors that are perceived undesirable by them. Fisher, Schoenfeldt, Shaw opined that for every individual, there is optimum level of stress under which he or she performs to full capacity. If the stress experienced is below this level, then the individual gets bored and performance is not up to the mark. On the other hand, if, the stress experienced is above this level, there will be adverse impact on individual’s performance. Organizational performance and employee health are at their peak at optimum levels of perceived stress.

3.3 Stress Level and Its Impacts

Source : Human Resource Management : Concepts and Issues (2010) T N Chhabra, Chapter 39 (Job Satisfaction, Alienation and Stress), Dhanpat Rai & Company, p.699

Every individual should try to learn how much stress is good and functional for him or her to work in an effective manner.

Stress at workplace has become an important area of study of organizational behaviour for (i) it leads to absenteeism and high labour turnover (ii) it has physiological and psychological effects on employees and managers (iii) it may increase number of accidents at workplace specially  when  stressed  employee  handles  dangerous  machines  and  equipments.  (iv)  it reduces organisation’s productivity and profitability  (v) it makes employee non co-operative.

3.4 Causes of Stress

There are numerous factors that cause stress. Economic factors, technological factors and political factors have impact on a macro level whereas there are certain factors such as organisation, group and personal or family life that cause stress at a micro level i.e. having direct impact on individual. These stressors are explained as follows:

• Economic Factors: Economic uncertainties are caused by changes in business cycles. Shrinking job opportunities, job insecurities and downsizing are witnessed during depression or recession in the economy. Retrenchment, lay-offs and reduction in pay during recession cause stress due to financial insecurity.
• Technological Factors: In this tech savvy world, an individual’s skills and experience become obsolete very soon due to new technological innovations. Computers and automation had caused threat to various jobs and consequently stress to many people.
• Political Factors: Political instability creates confusion in many national and business policies. People cannot take long term decisions in such conditions and confusions ultimately create stress.
• Organizational Factors: There are many factors at workplace that can be a potential source of stress. These factors can be classified as: Job  Related  Factors:  Dull  and  boring  job  lead  to  frustration.  Similarly  jobs demanding frequent transfers or constant travelling disturb personal or family life of a person as job consumes his maximum time. Under such situations, a person is likely to experience stress. Some jobs have inbuilt stress like jobs of fire fighter or police squad  having  duties  of  defusing  bombs.  Job  insecurity  and  less  promotional opportunities can cause stress. Another source of stress can be work overload. Work overload is experienced when a person feels that he has too many tasks to perform in less time or he does not have ability to perform the job. Inter-dependent tasks become stressful when services of those persons are to be taken to complete the task with whom one is not having good terms. Dangerous and undesirable working conditions, hazardous jobs or jobs where interruptions are frequent also cause stress.

Role Related Factors: Pressures placed on persons while performing tasks in a particular role or position occupied by them in the organisation create role related stress. There can be stress due to role conflict i.e. when contradictory demands are placed upon employee simultaneously. Role ambiguity can cause stress. Role ambiguity arises when a person does not know what to do or what are the expectations of his role. Other type of role related stress can arise due to role overload. Role overload is experienced when a person has to play several roles during the day. It becomes stressful when he has to play these roles continuously for a longer period.

Personal Factors: Today’s fast paced life has placed bundle of responsibilities on people and their variety of roles demand time. As the work consumes more time and leaves less time to carry out domestic responsibilities, it causes stress. To look after children and elderly parents add to responsibilities. Their medical checkups, providing meals at right time, someone’s availability to attend to them all the times, affect professional life. One feels stressed at work as the attention is diverted towards domestic obligations. Nuclear and dual-earner family concept has changed the life style of individuals. People are undertaking multiple tasks and feeling stressed. To run the family according to modern life style is becoming increasingly difficult for them. They work long hours to earn more and want to lead sophisticated life style. Majority middle class people face identity crisis and consequently suffer from financial crisis which becomes a major cause of worry and stress for them. Children’s education, death of family members, skyrocketing prices of commodities, less time for social or religious activities, lack of time for leisure or sports are the various causes of stress to an individual on domestic front. As the work and personal life are interrelated, so stress in personal life affects the work life and job becomes stressful. Apart from these factors, the personality of a person also determines the way he responds to all events or situations. Psychologists have identified two types of personalities i.e. ‘Type A’ and ‘Type B’. People with ‘Type A’ personality are more prone to stress than people with ‘Type B’ personality. It is well proven fact that a person allows a particular situation to adversely affect him or not, it all depends on his appraisal of the situation and ability to control it. Same situation can be stressful for someone but not for the others.

3.5Stress Management

Stress management means “any action taken to reduce stress experienced by individuals in the execution of their functions.” Stress has bad consequences for individual himself and for the organisation as a whole. Apart from employees’ health issues, organization’s profitability and success are also at stake due to stress. Today, stress management has become a highlighted topic in the management field. Management usually does not bother about low to moderate levels of stress experienced by employees as it is believed that some functional level of stress is essential for better performance of employees. But high level stress is a cause of concern for the management. From individual’s point of view even the low level stress is perceived to be undesirable. Therefore, some initiatives at individual and organisational level are necessary.

Individual Approaches:

A person can avoid stressful situations, change them or learn to cope with them through a number of ways:

Knowledge about stress helps in managing stress effectively. A person must try to examine the major sources of stress. This will help in anticipating stressful periods and carrying out planning accordingly in advance. He should honestly decide what he can cope with and what he cannot.

An individual can cope with tensions created by job demands through proper time management. Some popular time management principles include : (i) preparing a daily list of activities to be carried out (ii) prioritizing and scheduling activities (iii) handling the most demanding parts of the job when one is most alert and productive.

Exercise of any kind helps people in coping with stress. Most of the physicians recommend aerobics, swimming, walking, jogging and riding a bicycle to deal with high level stress.

One should become assertive. There is no need to say ‘Yes’ when one wants to say ‘No’. An individual should start saying ‘No’ to people or managers who demand too much of his time.

Social support system such as family, friends or work colleagues should be expanded for reducing tensions of life. These people can be called upon when needed. Their emotional support helps in getting through stressful situations.

People should modify their personal and work life goals in the light of their ability as well as resources to reach such goals. People usually set very high goals and standards for themselves in spite of limited resources. Non-achievement of these unrealistic goals results in stress.

Yoga or meditation should be practiced daily to reduce tension. Deep relaxation techniques bring desired changes in blood pressure, heart rate and other physiological factors. Yoga is considered as effective remedy for stress.

Financial resources should be effectively managed with proper planning of means and uses.

Positive attitude towards life will help in reducing stress.

Stress should be looked upon as friend and not enemy. It will reduce the chances of burnout.

Apart from above, non-drinking and non-smoking habits, proper balanced diet, proper career planning & balanced behaviour help in keeping stress under check.

Organizational Approaches:

In today’s era of competition, it is important for the organizations to formulate such strategies and programmes that aid in employees’ stress reduction. This will result in less employee turnover and enhanced production. The following strategies are helpful in this regard:

Care  should  be  taken  at  the  time  of  selection  and  placement  of  employee.  His personality and nature of job should be taken into consideration. Some individuals are more prone to stress. They should not be placed on jobs which are stressful. There are individuals who are less prone to stress. They can adapt better to highly stressful jobs and perform these jobs effectively. They may be considered for stressful jobs.

Proper goal setting and effective feedback system reduce stress and provide motivation. It results in role clarity, less employee frustration and less stress. Based on research conducted so far, it is concluded that efficiency of individuals improve when they have clear and challenging goals and they get information on how effectively they are working towards their goals.

Organizations should adopt participative decision making. Employees should be allowed to participate in those decisions that directly affecting them and their performance. It will result in increasing employee’s self control, commitment and reducing their role stress.

Effective communication with employees will reduce stress caused through confusions and uncertainty by lessening role ambiguity and role conflict. Effective two-way communication system helps in removing conflicts and doubts and maintaining peace in the organization.

The jobs should be redesigned in a way to give employees more freedom, more interesting work, more responsibility and increased feedback. It will help in lessening stress created by monotony, repetitive work and work overload. Job redesigning motivates employees to work more effectively.

Ergonomics, a technique to reduce discomfort, can be used to reduce stress caused by physical environment at the workplace. It is a combination of industrial engineering physiological and psychological needs of the individuals at the workplace. Comfortable chairs can be designed for employees to sit comfortably. Organizations should make deliberate efforts to reduce noise, heat, temperature and humidity and to maintain soothing climate. This will help in reducing stress at workplace.

Promoting teamwork is another initiative which the management should take to reduce interpersonal conflict. Non-fulfilment of social needs cause stress and hence social support and cooperative attitude should be encouraged in the organisation through creation of teams or work groups. Teams and team work should be designed in a way that groups and members become mutually supportive and productive.

Personal wellness programmes improve employees’ physical and mental health. An organization can provide facilities for physical fitness such as gyms, swimming pools, tennis  courts  etc.  Arrangements  can  also  be  made  for  psychological  counseling. Organisations should hold seminars or workshops at their premises to  make the employees understand sources of stress and possible ways to reduce it. Even morning or evening yoga and meditation camps can be organized for employees and their families.

There are many ways to handle stress both from the managers’ and the employees’ perspective. It is to be remembered that stress management is not one time effort, but a systematic and long term process, which needs to be deeply rooted in organizational culture and management routine.

4. Summary

Values are beliefs on the basis of which an individual judges what is right or wrong, desirable or undesirable, good or bad. Values involve emotion, knowledge and ultimately choice of response. Values are adaptive i.e. they are subject to change over a period of time. In business context, group and organizational values are more important than individual values. Social institutions, organisation, colleagues and work are the important sources of value formation.

However, social institutions have greater role in value formation in early stages of a person’s life. Study of values in business context is important as values regulate code of conduct and define concept of success.

Stress is inevitable in modern times. Stress in general and job stress in particular has affected everybody’s life. Stress is the body’s general response to environmental situations which can lead to physiological discomfort, emotional unhappiness and strained relations with others. Job Stress is a situation when an individual finds himself as unable to cope up with the pressures of job. Job Stress exists in all types of work environment with varying degree. It adversely affects performance and profitability and is a major factor responsible for employee’s poor health. High degree of job stress leads to decreased job satisfaction and less commitment, reduced performance, absenteeism, high labour turnover and financial losses to the organisation.

Stress or job stress is not always bad in itself. It is considered a good servant but bad master. Organizational performance and employee health are at their peak at optimum levels of perceived stress. There are numerous factors that cause stress. Economic factors, technological factors and political factors have impact on a macro level whereas there are certain factors in organisation, group and personal or family life that cause stress at a micro level i.e. having direct impact on individual. High degree stress has adverse consequences for individuals and organisation. Therefore, some initiatives at individual and organisational level are necessary. At individual level, knowledge about stress, readjustment of goals, positive attitude, time management, exercise, yoga and meditation will help in coping with stress. However, job security, better working condition, participative decision- making, effective communication, job redesigning, teamwork and yoga or meditation classes for employees and managers are the organizational strategies to reduce or manage stress.

Few important sources to learn more about Values and Management of Stress:

1. Ajay Shukla, Stress Management, 2nd edition Unicorn publishers, 2006
2. L.M.Prasad, Principles and Practice of Management, Sultan Chand & Sons, 2005
3. Meera Sharma , R.L.Raina and Abhay Kumar Tiwari. Managing Work Place Stress, Eighth AIMS International Conference on Management, January, 2011
4. R.Crandall &P.L. Perrewe, Occupational Stress: A Handbook. New York: Taylor & Francis, 2005
5. R.M.Fried, Stress Management for Success in the Workplace. London, Oxford University Press, 2008.
6. Shashi K. Gupta and Rosy Joshi. Human Resource Management, Kalyani Publishers.,2004 https://www.sans.edu/cyber-research/leadership-laboratory/article/stress-mgt-essay
7. http://www.gsmi-ijgb.com/Documents/V2%20N2%20JITED%20P03%20-Uma%20Devi%20%20T%20-Stress%20Management.pdf