Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Chapter 15
Objectives:
o To understand the Role of Stress in Employee Health
o To discuss the Extreme Forms of Stress Reactions
o To know the causes and symptoms of Stress
o To elaborate the Organizational effects of stress
o To enumerate the actions that may prevent or reduce stress
o To enumerate the different Counseling functions; and
o To differentiate the types of Counseling and their usefulness.
Stress
Is the general term applied to the pressures people feel in life. The presence of stress at
work is almost inevitable in many jobs. When stress becomes excessive, employees develop
various symptoms of stress that can harm their job performance and health, and even threaten
their ability to cope with the environment. People who are stressed may become nervous and
chronically worried. They are easily provoked to anger and unable to relax. Stress also leads to
physical disorders, because the internal body system changes to try to cope with stress.
3. Trauma- another product of stress, occurs following a major threat to ones security. The
event could be a natural disaster, an organizational crisis, dramatic employee abuse by
the employer or a personal job loss.
Workplace trauma, which is the disintegration of employees self-concepts and beliefs in their
capabilities. It can arise from harassment at work, wrong termination, discrimination, or an
employees perceived incapacity to meet evolving performance expectations.
Attitudinal clues to workplace trauma include severe moodiness, concentration difficulties, and
alienation, in addition to the more distinctive behaviors of tardiness, absenteeism and accident-
proneness.
A common source of workplace trauma is sudden job loss with its potentially crushing effect on
ones self-esteem.
Layoff Survivors Sickness (also known as post-layoff survivor disorder), with feelings of
uncertainty/insecurity, anger, guilt and distrust
Workplace violence sometimes a troubled employee takes dramatic and harmful physical action
against co-workers, managers, or company property. These violent, anger-based acts can
provoked fights, destruction of property, or use of weapons to threaten, harm, or even murder
others.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)- the shock of sudden and dramatic violent incidents
often produces immediate stress-related symptoms. More significantly, the effects of these
traumatic crises may last for years and require lengthy treatment.
Causes of Stress
An important first step is to examine and understand the causes of stress. Conditions that
tend to cause stress are called stressors. Individual differences among employees may cause
some to interpret these stressors as positive stress (which stimulates them), while others
experience negative stress (which detracts from their effects). As a result, either constructive or
destructive consequences may arise for both the organization and the employee.
2. Role conflict and ambiguity are also related to stress. In situations of this type, people
have different expectations of an employees activities on a job, to employee does not
know what to do and cannot meet expectation.
Frustration
Another cause of stress is frustration. It is a result of a motivation (drive) being blocked
to prevent one from reaching a desired goal.
Defense mechanisms - A person is trying to defend his/her self from the psychological effects of
the blocked goal.
Types of Reaction
1. Aggression-demanding better treatment and threatening to appeal to higher
management.
2. Apathynot responding to the job or associates
3. Withdrawal- asking for transfer or quitting your job
4. Regression- less mature behavior such as self-pity and pouting
5. Fixation- constantly blames your supervisor for both your problems and problems of
others regardless of the facts.
6. Physical disorder such as an upset stomach
7. Substitute goals becoming the leader of powerful informal group in office politics
Sources of Frustration
1. Frequency and Severity of Hassles conditions of daily living that are perceived to
threaten or diminish ones emotional well-being.
2. Abusive supervision causes problems abusive supervisors engage in tyrannical
actions that demean those around them. These workplace bullies intentionally engage
in repeated verbal and even nonverbal mistreatment of employees.
3. Frustration and management practice the stronger ones motivation or drive toward
a blocked goal, the stronger ones frustration will be, other things being equal. If
motivation is lacking, then very little frustration is likely to develop.
Stress Vulnerability
1. Stress Threshold - the level of stressors (frequency and magnitude) that the person can
tolerate before negative feelings or stress occur and adversely affect performance.
2. Perceived Control employees who have a substantial degree of independence,
autonomy, and freedom to make decisions handle work pressures better.
3. Type A and type b people type A people are aggressive and competitive, set high
standards, are impatient with themselves and others, and thrive under constant time
pressures. Type B people appear more relax and easy going. Hey accept situations and
work within them rather than fight them competitively.
Approaches to Stress Management
1. Prevent or control it
2. Escape from it
3. Learn to adapt to it (handle its symptoms)
These often involve cooperative efforts among employees and management and may include:
1. Social Support is the network of helpful activities, interactions, and relationships
that provides an employee with satisfaction of important needs. There are four types
of Support in a total network:
Instrumental (task assistance)
Informal
Evaluative
Emotional
2. Relaxation Efforts involves quiet concentrated inner thought in order to rest the
body physically and emotionally. The ideal ingredients of this relaxation effort
involve:
A comfortable position in a relatively quiet location
Closed eyes and deep comfortable breaths
Repetition of a peaceful word, or focus on a pleasant mental image
Avoidance of distracting thoughts and negative events
Soothing background music
3. Personal Wellness program may include disease screening, health education, and
fitness center. Health care specialist can recommend practices to encourage changes
in lifestyle.
Counseling is discussion with an employee of a problem that usually has emotional content in
order to help the employee cope with it better.
It is an exchange of ideas and feelings between two people normally a manager, and
employee, so it is an act of communication.
Counseling seeks to improve employee mental health and well-being, as well as aid them
in meeting organizational expectations. Good mental health means that people:
1. Feel comfortable about themselves
2. Can relate well to other people
3. Are able to meet the demands of life
Functions of Counseling
1. Advice Telling a person what you think should be done; coaching
2. Reassurance Giving people courage and confidence that they are
capable of facing a problem
3. Communication Providing information and understanding
4. Release of Emotional Helping a person feel more free of frustrations and stress
tension
5. Clarified Thinking Encouraging more coherent, rational, and mature thought
6. Reorientation Encouraging an internal change in goals, values, and
mental models
The Managers Counseling Role
The Counseling functions usually can be performed successfully by skilled and
experienced managers. Managers are important counsellors because they are the ones in day-to-
day interaction with employees. If managers close their eyes to the emotional problems of
employees and refuse to discuss them, they appear to be saying to employees, I dont care about
you, just your work. For this reason, all managers from lowest to the highest levels, need training
to help them understand problems of employees and counsel them effectively.
Types of Counseling
1. Full Direction or Directive Counseling is the process of listening to an employees
problem, deciding with the employee what should be done, and then telling and
motivating the employee to do it. Directive counseling mostly accomplishes the
counseling function of advice but it also may reassure, communicate, give emotional
release, and to a minor extent clarify thinking. Reorientation is seldom achieved in
directive counseling.
Iceberg model of counseling recognize that sometimes more feelings are hidden under the
surface of a counselees communication than are revealed. For this reason, they constantly
encourage the counselee to open up and reveal deeper feelings that may help solve the
employees problem.
Republic of the Philippines
University of Antique
College of Business and Accountancy
Sibalom, Antique
Group 7
Submitted by:
Floramae Joy Macuja
Cenniel Bautista
Winemar F. Canonicato
Ivy Lamprea
Submitted to:
Mrs. Ann Lotilla
01 March 2017
Republic of the Philippines
University of Antique
College of Business and Accountancy
Sibalom, Antique
Group 7
Submitted by:
Floramae Joy Macuja
Cenniel Bautista
Winemar F. Canonicato
Ivy Lamprea
Submitted to:
Mrs. Ann Lotilla
01 March 2017