I don’t know of any organization whose productivity is not affected by stress. They are part of every workplace professional’s life.
You’ll find that many stress management workshops offer solutions that are not practical and applicable in the workplace. This is because they were practiced by individuals who could leave work anytime — or by those who didn’t need to go to work at all.
This is why you need a stress management seminar (I call them stress management workshops) and a stress management policy for your organization. You can go beyond that of course by developing your worksite health and wellness program.
Let me cite some of the major factors that contribute to workplace stress in many Philippine companies. Check those that are in your workplace. Think also of others that I was not able to list (because of time and space constraints).
- Too much work demands to handle, too little capability. When there is a mismatch between work demands and employees’ knowledge and abilities, people get easily stressed.
Not all people are equal. Some get easily stressed by many “small” assignments. Sometimes, we fail to remember this.
Work demands and pressures are often caused by the employee’s inability to get the job done.
If you cannot help your employees manage the demands of work, they will become less productive. When they are less productive, they get more stressed.
Stress is a monster for those who cannot manage it. It sucks their energy. It deflates their confidence.
Lack of control or choice. Or the perception that they don’t have any other choice. Filipinos have a word for a stressful workplace: toxic.
Many feel that they don’t have control over their co-workers who are bullies and tsimosos (and tsimosas).
They don’t have control over supervisors who are always angry and managers who are perfectionists.
They hate the workplace, but since they have a family to support they were left with “no choice”. The workplace becomes a torture chamber for many of them.
Your organization must do something to address this problem before a stress management workshop.
Employees feel they have little or no support from the organization. It is survival of the fittest.
Workplace stress appears huge when employees do not feel supported. They isolate themselves and find “comfort” in over-eating and over-drinking.
This problem does not only kill the productivity of your organization. This also destroys the cultural fabric of your organization. A yearly team building cannot undo the daily suffering of employees in an unsupportive environment.
A stress management policy or a wellness program may help address this problem. But I bet that only 1 in 100 Filipino companies have stress management policies installed and observed.
Poor management causes more stress than anything. As a manager, I face a lot of pressure every day. Some managers’ stress reduction strategies are to channel the pressure to their employees. I know this is wrong. But this is very, very common.
The problem with poor management has something to do with communication, leadership, and focus.
This is why managers must also become effective stress managers so they can help the people they are leading. They make workplace stress worse when they become the source of stress.
Job is boring, unengaging, and meaningless. They just do the same things every day. Yes, like robots. No feelings.
But workplace professionals are human beings. They learn and produce better when they are together.
In a stress management workshop, you can explore many ways of bringing workplace professionals to life.
Little or no training, no employee development program. In short, no growth.
It is normal for human beings to seek growth. Like trees, they need some sunshine. They need to grow on good soil. They need water.
Because they are not robots. Oh, but even robots need some maintenance or upgrading to be truly useful.
Uncertain of a professional’s role in your organization, conflicting duties within their roles, or inability to cope with being responsible for “other” people.
A new manager or supervisor finds this most stressful. So ensure that they get stress management training before you promote them to a new job.
There are a thousand reasons why employees get easily stressed at work. This is why it is very important that you get to customize your stress management training and you must do it before the workshop.
Of course, I will help you.
My job is to help you pinpoint the best solutions to your workplace challenges related to stress management.
If we do it right, as we prepare for the workshop your organization can already start executing some of the solutions.
It is always best to join the workshop as a winner.
The genius of your organization must be tapped. The solutions to many of your stress management problems have always been inside your organization.
