Work shift related stress

in IT/ITES sector
Prepared for
Prof. XXXXXXX
Faculty, Organizational Behavior

Submitted on:
6/15/2009
Prepared by:
XXXXXXXX
Index

S. No. TOPIC P.No.

1 Introduction – Stress 3
2 Positive and negative stress 3
3 Work shift stress 4
4 Rotating shifts & night shifts 4
5 Consequences of stress 5
6 Costs of stress 6
7 How to reduce stress caused due to shift? 6
8 Research methodology 7
9 Research findings 8
10 Conclusion 9
11 Bibliography 11
12 Annexure A 12

Note: Ctrl + Click the above given link to go to the page.

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INTRODUCTION

“Stress is basically a disconnection from the earth, a forgetting of the breath.

Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency.
Nothing is that important. Just lie down.”
Natalie Goldberg, American Author

Stress

The term stress has many definitions. Stress is defined as an internal state
which can be caused by physical demands on the body (disease conditions,
exercise, extremes of temperature, and the like) or by environmental and
social situations which is evaluated as potentially, harmful, uncontrollable or
exceeding resources for coping. It is a biological term which refers to the
consequences of the failure of a human or animal body to respond
appropriately to emotional or physical threats to the organism, whether actual
or imagined. It is "the autonomic response to environmental stimulus." It is a
condition or circumstance, which can disturb the normal physical and mental
health and the social life of an individual.

It occurs when the body performs activities outside its capabilities or when a
person faces extraordinary demands. A simple display of stress may be a bad
mood while an extreme display may be an act of violence, depression etc. The
process of stress starts with a stressor or a stimulus. A stressor is a factor or
stimulant that creates stress. A stressor is not in itself either positive or
negative or good or bad, it is how one reacts to it that determines its positivity
or negativity.

The physical, environmental, and social causes of the stress state are termed
stressors. Stress is a big problem in our society. Some 75 percent of bodily
disease is said to be stress-related. Stress-related diseases cost American
industry billon of dollars a year; several billion tranquilizers pills are
prescribed in the United State.

Positive stress and Negative stress

Stress can be positive or negative. Positive stress is called eustress and

negative stress is called distress. There is a difference between the ways in
which eustress and distress affect the body. Eustress triggers the body alarm,
enhances attention, performance, and creativity. It has temporary effects.

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Distress has a negative effect on the body. For instance, an individual who
has lost his/her job may become depressed, which is a result of distress.

Distress, if left unchecked, can have a serious effect on the body over a
period of time. The body’s nonspecific response to the external situation
results in stress and stress can create a number of health problems both
mental and physical. Some of these problems are sleeplessness, eating
disorders, heart problems, and suicidal tendencies. Stress represents the wear
and tear of the human body.

Work shift stress

Stress at work is a relatively new phenomenon of modern lifestyles. The

nature of work has gone through drastic changes over the last century and it
is still changing at whirlwind speed. They have touched almost all professions,
starting from an artist to a surgeon, or a commercial pilot to a sales
executive. With change comes stress, inevitably. Professional stress or job
stress poses a threat to physical health.

"Workplace stress” is the harmful physical and emotional responses that can
happen when there is a conflict between job demands on the employee and
the amount of control an employee has over meeting these demands. In
general, the combination of high demands in a job and a low amount of
control over the situation can lead to stress. Work shift stress is a part of
workplace stress. Cycles of about a day's length govern almost all of the
body's functions. Body temperature, blood pressure, brainwave patterns, and
hormone levels are just some of the circadian rhythms which have been
measured. The body's clock has a "free run" cycle of about 25.3 hours. In shift
work, employees come at times inconsistent with the sleeping/waking cycle.
As a result, the circadian rhythms of the body, normally operating in grand
harmony with each other, become de-synchronized and confused. This can
cause serious health effects. Jon Shearer, former director of the Canadian
Institute for Shift work Studies, calls this state a "dischronism" (meaning a
timing defect).Work shift related stress in the life of organized workers,
consequently, affects the health of organizations.

Rotating shift and Night shift

Shift work is an employment practice designed to make use of the 24 hours

of the clock, rather than a standard working day. The term shift work includes
both long-term night shifts and work schedules in which employees change or
rotate shifts.

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A Night shift is either a group of workers who work during the night, or the
period in which they work.

A Rotating shift is the one in which a group of workers work in different

shifts on different days.

The differences between night and rotating shifts are as follows:

Rotating Shift Night Shift
Body clock Hard to adjust The initial change
adjustment is tough
Working hours Rotating Continuous
Work level Variety Monotonous
Relatedness Remains there Feeling of
Alienation

Consequences of work shift stress

1. Physiological consequence

Stress affects the heart rate; it increases the chances of a person getting a
heart attack. A person gets blood pressure diseases like Hypertension. The
digestion system also gets disturbed as the body clock changes in different
shift timings and body needs to time to adjust with it. It has effect on
immune, digestive system, cardiovascular system, musculoskeletal system,
reproductive system, skin etc. Symptoms like headaches, fatigue, insomnia,
weight change, colds, digestive upsets, pounding heart, teeth grinding,
increased drug, tobacco consumption, tightening or aching of neck and
shoulder, lethargy etc. occur.

2. Emotional consequence

A stressed out person gets more tantrums; feels more anxiety even in small
situations and sometimes gets into the clutches of depression which may
even lead to ending up one life as well. Person suffering from stress shows
symptoms like anxiety, mood swings, bad temper, irritability, depression,
worrying and is easily discouraged.

3. The behavioral consequence

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The behavioral traits of a person changes with the stress. A person indulges in
more number of arguments, become over dependent on others, takes lack of
interest in the work or in family matters. Negative attitude comes in the
person who is suffering from stress.

4. The cognitive consequence

Stress reduces the mental functionality of a person effects on the mental

functioning of a person such as concentration, thinking, reasoning and
memory is inevitable. The person becomes forgetful. His senses become dull
and problem arises in concentrating. Low productivity, confusion, absence of
new ideas and boredom are some of the symptoms.

Person suffering from stress becomes socially inactive. Isolation, resentment,

loneliness, nagging etc. are some of the symptoms that affect the social life of
an individual.

Costs of work shift stress

1. Cost for the individual

The quality of life of overstressed individuals the effect of undue stress on
their pursuit of happiness is inevitably affected. Less apparent is the effect on
their philosophy, their cosmology, their outlook on life and the consequent
indirect effects of such philosophy on their interactions with other individuals.

2. Cost for the Organization

Any event that which affects them inevitably affects their inter-relationship
with every other person in the organization of which they are members. Thus,
the individuals executives must recognized not only as a stress receiving but
also as a stress producing, system.

3. Cost for the society

A world of stressful individual interacting in a variety of systems at various
hierarchical levels in such a way as to continuously increase the level of stress
in each individual probably seems too dire a prospect to contemplate.

This stress does not only affect the individual but it has its cost on the spouse,
family, organization and the society. The quality of life of overstressed
individuals, the effect of undue stress on their pursuit of happiness is
inevitably affected. Less apparent is the effect on their philosophy, their
cosmology, their outlook on life and the consequent indirect effects of such
philosophy on their interactions with other individuals. Any event that which
affects them inevitably affects their interrelationship with every other person

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 in the organization of which they are members. Thus, the executive is
recognized as not only a stress receiving but also as a stress producing
system. A world of stressful individual interacting in a variety of systems at
various hierarchical levels in such a way as to continuously increase the level
of stress in each individual probably seems too dire a prospect to
contemplate. This has a toll on the society too.

To reduce the work shift stress a lot is needed to be done by the individual
and the organization. There is a need of holistic approach to reduce the stress
level otherwise it will lead to complicated physical and psychological problems
like burnout stress syndrome.

How to reduce stress caused due to work shift stress?

One of the major stress reduction methods is the SPARKLE method. It gives
various techniques to reduce stress of any kind.
1. Sleep Well
2. Plan everyday
3. Anticipate less
4. Relax
5. Keep anger under control
6. Laugh
7. Eat well and exercise

The techniques to reduce work shift stress are as follows:-

1. Quality sleep after the shift – quietness, darkness, temperature control,
humidity control, comfortable bed, blindfolds etc., these are the things that can
assure sound sleep after the shift.
2. Exercising – It is another good stress buster. It keeps an individual physically
and mentally alert. When a person is nervous, tense or angry, it is the best outlet
for giving vents to his/her emotions. Regular exercise lowers blood pressure,
lowers pulse rate, boosts circulation in the body, increases artery suppleness,
lowers cholesterol and reduces fatigue and tension. These benefits help an
individual to tackle the physiological changes that occur due to stress.
3. Support from family and friends – With irritability one of the leading
characteristics of shift worker, an understanding partner and family partners does
help.
4. Listening to music – Music soothes the mind and helps to relax the mind and
the body.

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5. Doing something different – A new hobby or creative work will provide an
opportunity to get away from routine work.
6. Pampering oneself - The best way to enjoy one’s work and life is to love
oneself. If you are happy with yourself then you can feel happy about the outer
world as well.
7. Time management - Managing time effectively will always keep you in a
situation where you need not to rush to get the thing done, which itself
sometimes causes stress.
8. Right diet - Eat regular meals throughout the day, the right diet keeps a person
physically fit as all of us know a healthy mind stay in a healthy body.
9. Right sleep - Sleeping for 7-8 hours a day is good enough for a normal person.
Also it is not the quantity but the quality of the sleep that matters. During sleep a
person prepare himself/herself to face another day. Stress makes a person
sleepless or very sleepy. A stressed person may feel sleepy during the day and
awake in the night. After a good night’s sleep, a person feels fresh.
10. Journal Keeping - Keeping a stress diary is an effective way of finding out both
what causes you stress and what level of stress you prefer.
11. Laughter – Laughter is a good de-stressor. An individual can relax and de-stress
by watching a humorous movie, reading comics etc. A sense of humor allows an
individual to perceive and appreciate the imbalances of life and provides
moments of delight. It is the best outlet for stress.
12. Meditation – Meditation is one of the most effective techniques in reducing and
avoiding stress. Regular meditation helps in stress reduction. It enables control
over the thought process. It helps in mental and physical relaxation and helps to
improve concentration.
13. Yoga – Yoga is another important stress reliever. It is the cessation of mind. It
rejuvenates the organs and releases stress.
14.Drinking lots of fluids which helps your metabolism to work better and saves from
gastric problems

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

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Research Methodology is applied with the primary objective to set up a
understanding of relations among variables with the use of various data
collection technique. We are using a exploratory and descriptive study which
gives us insight to understand the stress faced by employees in their day-to-
day’s lives.

The reason for conducting the research for our project is:
• To know general information about the employee in their organization.
• To know what are the effect of work shift stress on their life.
• To know how employee maintain the relationship with others.
• To know the different problems that happens to them due to stress.
• To know whether the level of job satisfaction affected due to stress.

The present study is not possible experimentally because the nature of

investigation, the variables like work environment, family environment,
environmental stress can be studied through quasi experimental type of
research.

In such an approach, the variables under study are not directly manipulated
rather; variation in the variables of interest is achieved by some sort of
selection procedure. In the present study different factors of work
environment, family environment, environmental stress, type of working
organizations (IT/ITES) are the independent variables, while mental health and
level of insecurity are the dependent variable. A double control strategy is
adopted in present study i.e., by taking the combine data of rotating shift
workers and night shift workers in IT/ITES sectors

Universe and Sample

The Universe is all the middle and lower level management and employees in
IT/ITES sector that work in night or rotating shift. In the present study, a
random sample of 30 respondents was taken which is a combination of night
shift workers and rotating shift workers. The findings of the sample will be
projected on the population.

Tools Used

We have done quantitative research in which the primary source of

information was the questionnaire filled in which most of the questions were
asked on phone. The questions were designed in an easily understandable
way so that the respondents may not have any difficulty in answering that.
The secondary source of information was all the research material that we
have collected over time.

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Limitations

Respondents were rather reluctant to display their personal information.

Research Findings

➢ 37% of the respondents were females.

➢ The respondents were of the age group 21-31 years. Most of the
respondents were in the age group range of 24 to 28.
➢ The respondents were having experience ranging from 1 to 12 years.
➢ Majority of the respondents (66.67%) suffered from headaches
sometimes or the other.
➢ Fatigue, weight change and ache in neck and shoulders were other
major physical symptoms of stress that appeared in the people working
in shifts in IT/ITES sector – 63.33, 53.33 and 53.33 percents
respectively.
➢ Increased digestive upsets and restlessness (43.33% each) was
observed in the respondents.
➢ It was seen that only 26.67% of the people have increased consumption
of alcohol, drug and tobacco.
➢ About 63.33% of the respondents complained of poor concentration.
➢ About 40% of the respondents said that they have problems with their
memory. They are becoming lethargic when at home and they get
bored easily.
➢ A majority of the respondents reported irritability (73.33%), mood
swings (66.67%) and bad temper (60%).
➢ 70% of the respondents agreed that they have fewer contacts with old
friends.
➢ 40% of them felt some resentment inside them.
➢ 43.33% of the respondents often and same percentage sometimes feel
that shift work causes them problem.
➢ 40% of the respondents often and same percentage sometimes feel
that inadequate break times/mealtimes causes them problem.
➢ 60% often feel that unsocial hours causes them problem.
➢ 70% feel that sometimes very heavy workload causes problem.
➢ 50% of respondents think that there is no unfair distribution of work.
➢ 50% of them think that sometimes they have to repetitive/boring job
which causes a problem.
➢ 66.67% people told that they are not able to maintain relationship in
work and relationship.

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 ➢ 90% think that time off for relationship emergencies and events can
help in balancing work and relationship. 69% said that flexible hours will
help.
➢ Majority (76.67%) said that long working hours and shift work hinders
the personal relationship commitment.
➢ 50% agreed that weekend work does the same.
➢ This research shows that 63.33% of the respondents are sometimes
dissatisfied with their work, but most of the times they enjoy their work.
➢ Interestingly, none of the respondent opted for the option “lowered sex
drive” as an effect of work shift stress.
➢ Respondents sighted many problems in and related to the work shift;
still they claimed that they enjoyed their work.

Conclusion

At one point or the other everybody who is employed suffers from work place
stress. The work shift stress is a part of workplace stress. Unsocial working hours
and continuous rotating shifts creates the work shift stress under which an
employee is neither able to give his/her best to the organization nor to his/her
family. The work shift stress affects all the aspects of a person’s life, be it
physical, social or mental. The unrest and dissatisfaction for the jobs
commences and may lead to the turnover or low performance. Temptation to
get addicted to different drugs increases in order to remove stress which is not
at all helpful. The spouse, family, organization and the society is affected due to
the person under stress.

Stress is a curable disease (if can put it in medical terms). Having knowledge of
when it started and how it is affecting a person is good to start with. Managing
one’s time, sleep and food are the best ways to help resolve the stress.
Spending time with family and near and dear ones is also effective.
Organizational effort should be taken to reduce the stress level of employee. Be
it providing him flexible timing or reducing the workload or proper counseling.

As we know the prevention is always better than cure. In this fast paced world
getting time for oneself and for one’s family is equally important as giving time
to one’s occupation.

Action Point for the organization:-

• Indentify the sources of stress that affects the employee.

• Apply a de-stressing routine on the employee under stress.
• Give the employee time to spend with friends and family.
• Give time for vacations.

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 • Relaxation techniques classes, yoga classes in the organization.
• Counseling the employee.
• Give planned, prioritized and delegated work.

Action Plan for the individual:-

• Try to maintain work-life balance.

• Go for counseling.
• Do yoga and apply relaxation techniques.
• Do proper exercise and take proper diet.
• Don’t ignore symptoms like frequent headaches, coughs and colds.
• Don’t take too many responsibilities or demands that are outside your
capabilities.
• Don’t use drug, tobacco, and alcohol to handle stress.
• Don’t use self medication.
• Don’t wait for deadlines to approach.
• Don’t set unrealistic goals.

Bibliography

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Global vision publishing house in 2006 1st Edition

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