Stress

Stress is a part of everyday life and as such is a part of all organisations. Cole in his 2004 book ‘Management Theory and Practice’ describes stress as:

Why is it that when organizations announce upcoming changes to their employees they are rarely excited about it? You do not see them jovially discussing what is going to happen next, and/or how these changes are going to make their organization better. No, none of this is happening. Most of them are worried and wondering how these changes will affect them, and what their roles are going to be. This mindset makes organizational change difficult. Society in general just does not like change, nor are they comfortable with it.

In order to successfully and effectively implement change all of the employees should have a good understanding of how the changes will benefit the organization, their positions, and how it might impact their routines. To many employees the implementation of change is not always properly communicated, and the process of change on paper as it is being implemented can be threatening as well as confusing. Also, the people behind the scenes making the changes may not have taken specific details into consideration regarding effective changes that perhaps the employees

Some many organizational change efforts fail to reach their intention, but the high-ranking sponsors often blame the disappointment on the employees and manager struggle to change at times. They really don’t know how difficult it is to lead and implement change effectively (Robbins, 2011). A good change does require good people skills. Employees resist change because employees can be very unsure about the loss of status or job security within the organization. This would mean the employees and there manager as well as their peers will resist technological changes. The employees will also endure fear of failure that could cause employees to doubt their ability to do the job/ or their duty. Those type of change employees are resisting because the employees are too worried about learning the new requirements. Peer pressure can be endured as well for employees when the employees start to resist change to protect their co-worker, and so will the manager to protect their work group. The human resources roles are planning and implementation, planning would be evaluation of

The first step in effective change management is to diagnosis the current situation. The diagnosis process involves investigating the organisation and looking at the sources of the problem. This includes the employee’s self-awareness of their own stress and sources. Data can be collected via a questionnaire and interviews. The researchers should investigate the work environment and personal stressors. Such common sources of stress can include workload, role conflict and ambiguity, promotional issues, opportunities to participate, managerial support and communication. It is also important to measure the consequences of stress; these can include moods, performance, job satisfaction, absenteeism, blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

According to Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary (2013), stress in general is a physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation (Full definition of stress, 1c.). Job stress may involve the type of work your do, your boss, or co-workers or your hours you work. When it comes to job stress, it can take a toll on your productivity, as well as your physical and emotional health.

Organizational change is a very critical and yet very inevitable process ofan organization’s structure. It can create a lot of pressure from the workers as well as management as a result of fear of the unknown.

Stress can be caused by many different things within an organisation but the main causes of stress can be broken down into “six management standards” Anon (2009) how to tackle work related stress http://www.hse.gov.uk/ I used these areas to construct the chart below and discussed stress at a team meeting and asked my team to complete a Circle of influence around areas over which they felt they had no control Appendix 1 we also discussed what we / I could do to manage the six main causes of stress

When you lead a stressful life that constantly leaves you feeling like you're chasing your tail it's no wonder you breakdown and give in to a plethora of temptations. Stress is everywhere these days as people put in longer working days, have to commute longer, sit in traffic, raise their kids, fit in exercise, sleep, and struggle to make ends meet... those stresses of everyday life are seriously damaging to your health. Turning to unhealthy choices, though, isn't going to help matters. In fact, it's only going to continue fueling the cycle and you will be in a never-ending battle against your own body.

(Mendes, 1996) However, many times the change or changes make it virtually impossible to get educated on the various scenarios that the new change may affect in the workplace. These changes may include modifying and changing of the call script, introducing new shortcut keys in the software and unexpected changes in management. Employees are expected to adapt to the changes quickly and complete all their work in the same period as before the change in the organization. Management intervenes and attempts to assist employees but in many instances they are not abreast and knowledgeable of the processes of the change. Some of the new procedures instituted seem to serve no functionality to the job given. Individuals are growing tired of the continual changes but must to handle business as usual or they are considered non-compliant team members. The tolerance for change would be more welcomed if they were thoroughly researched and did not cause additional challenges and

Positive or negative, change can be challenging to manage because employees need to be on board and be obliged to make necessary changes as well as adjust his or her work habits. When implementing change, a manager may run into numerous obstacles from resistance from the staff to morale issues. This is primarily caused by a lack of understanding by the employees and a fear of how the change will affect him or her directly. Implementing change within an organization can be extremely difficult without a manager who understands d his or her role and responsibilities. This could be the deciding factor of whether or not the

In some cases, people will have a large work load. If the organizational change could change their work load they may embrace the proposed changes as well. Change has a way of affecting everybody that is involved, so they will need to understand the benefits of the proposed changes.

Every organization deals with several challenges when they have to make the decision of changing and structuring the organization frame. Organizational change is a complex systemic undertaking (Bolman and Deal, 2013, p.378). It is common for employees to be resisting to change when they are not well informed as to why the changes are being made and when they do not have clarity of what is going to happen next. Bolman and Deal did a phenomenal job explaining the four frames which are human resources, structural, political and symbolic fram when reframing organizational change. It is important for the leadership to understanding how each frame affects the employees by knowing the mission, training and participating with the staff.

There are many challenges that we face and have to handle every single day. And, as women, we frequently have to balance the demands of work, family, children, parents, finances, and health—to name just a few. These demands are frequently referred to as “stressors” and achieving a balance is “stressful.” But multiple demands on our time and energy are a part of everyone’s life. Stress is not how many demands you have in your life, but rather how you and your body respond to these demands. For some, racing to meet a tight deadline or complete a long “ToDo” list can be positive and energizing. It’s important to learn what stress is, at what point it becomes harmful, and options for how you can respond to it. Finding the right balance is

Stress is a killer. There is doubt that stress can cause health problems. Daily stressors lead into major health problems. Therefore if you can manage your daily stress you can promote a healthier life. The American Medial Association defines stress, as being any disruptions of a person’s mental and physical well being. (4.) My position is that if you balance the stress in your life you can live healthier and prevent certain sicknesses.