Stress management strategies in employer-employee relationships

Stress Management

An organization starts its operation with certain objectives in mind. The management of the organization adopts certain strategies and initiatives that contribute toward attainment of the objectives. The objectives shape the external policies of the company, external policy includes interaction and dealing with public, suppliers, governments, competitors, and taxation departments. The core of the external policy is the achievement of certain criteria within expected time period. The policy emphasizes more on production, minimum utility, maximum revenue collection and maximum profitability. These standards vary according to the nature and type of the organization, in case of service industry maximum production is replaced by 'maximum service offerings and maximum number of clients' (Evolution toward Fit).

On the sidelines of external policy, the organization implements internal policy which emphasis more on organizational structure, employment, auditing and research. These criteria vary significantly from organization to organization depending again on the nature of the organization. The organization is responsible for implementation of an internal policy that favors and supports the employees of the organization. The employee and employer have to workout a mutually acceptable strategy which brings return to the company. Organization having progressive vision towards creating harmony between the employer and employee is bound to success and achieve more than expected. The results are much dependent on the organizational policy, because it enhances the abilities and potential for the workforce.

WorkForce AND EMPLOYER

Employees are crucial for the organization, the support for an organization is not only gathered from its accumulated financial capital but rather it is also evaluated on the basis of number of devoted and sincere the employees it recruits. The employer and employee have an understanding under which the employee is expected to input struggle, knowledge and available resources, thereby optimizing the rate of return for an organization. The employee is expected to abide by all the norms and regulations of the company, and is to obey and adopt the goals and objectives of the organization. The employee is expected to be sincere, and offer allegiance to his employer without any reservations or conditions. The privacy and secrecy of the organization's matters have to be respected by the employer. All nature of commitments and understandings has to respected and achieved.

The employee has certain level of expectations from the employer. The employer is expected to offer certain financial incentives, and other benefits in return of the employee's complete dedication and hard work. Health care, low-interest loans, insurance scheme, provident funds, family support incentives, leasing facility are other expectations that employee associate with his employer. The employee expects job stability, job promotion and growth after regular intervals.

The organizational affairs are handled keeping in view the expectations and agreements that employee and employer have reached. The organizational policy is 'the permeable of all that employee and employer' (Management of Innovation) have developed understanding upon. The organization then develops a front for itself, and the strategies launched share mutual participation from employee and the employer.

However on the sideline of the understanding between employee and employer, there is a need of mutual co-ordination for creating a conductive environment that empowers the employee without any threat to the standing of the employer. Conducive environment is broad term, and includes many different aspects associated with the mental moral, psychological behavior, socializing factor of the workforce.

Encouraging rivalry and grouping within the organizational structure'. (Fortune Magazine)

Therefore it is important to realize that such organizational development plans and programs should be launched that support and provide free hand to the employees to practice and exercise their knowledge, keeping in view the expectations associated with their moves. Organizational policy should discourage any offensive strategy against the workforce. The moral values have to be respected and practiced, and human values have to be considered before involving the workforce into any activity. Recruitment of employees not at all means that employer has the ownership right of the workforce, rather the free will of the employee has to be respected, and such activities have to be introduced which requires heavy participation the workforce, to ignite the spirit of enthusiasm and motivation.

ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM: IMPROVING ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AND STRESS Management

Stress Management and Conflict resolution are related. The organization's development program should encompass the resolution of differences and conflicts that are experienced within the organization. In this regard, the organizational authority has to be responsible in evaluating its own policies and attitude towards the workforce. On parallel, within the workforce the elements of disparity and grouping have to be discouraged and dissolved. The workforce should support and influence the organization and fellow employee's activity but none has the right to dominate the organizational policy and free will of the employee with any concrete reason.

Organizational situations are also accountable for creating a stressful work environment. Organizational situations and conditions should be improved so that the employee has free environment to exercise and practice his knowledge and contribute towards the growth of the organization. Within the workplace, factors evolving stress and pressure on the workforce should be minimized. Motivation is the force that drives the spirit of the employee, and enhances his professional capabilities. The program should focus more on motivating the employees, giving them boost, assuring them of consistent support, providing them with incentives, rewarding them periodically, and looking into the other aspects so to reduce the element of stress.

In some of the cases when the nature of the job requires complete focus and attention towards the work load of the organization, the employee should be asked to handle such situations with proper training and aid. Training sessions emphasizing more on the stress management, individual support, enhancement professional capabilities should be arranged such that the employee is provided with guidance to reduce his stress level, without demanding relieve from work load.

Potential conflict is a reality when you have two or more people in an organization. Even when we are all alone, we frequently argue ourselves.

Learn the subtle but important difference between confronting and confrontation.

If we are able to confront skillfully without putting people on the defensive, we are likely to avoid a confrontation.

Learn how to deal with the differences in those you manage. Learn how different people are motivated. Realize where your buttons are, what happens when they get pushed, and how to deal with them. Understand the same for the employees' (The Networking Survival Guide).

Stress Management requires flexibility on part of employer, expecting a lot or coming up with unrealistic goals for the employee to be achieved is immoral practice. The employer has to keep himself on the level of employee, and after understanding the employee's constraints and limitations; only then the employer has the right to expect more out of the employee. If the limitations or constraints either professional or personal, within workplace or outside can be sorted out be employer, will definitely provide significant relief to the employee, resultantly improving the employee's efficiency and dedication towards the workload.

Stress Environment has to be 'wiped out' (Net-Working Survival Guide), if not than employee has to be trained to handle stressful situations. But expecting a lot out of employee's limited resources and restrictions is unfair. Deterministic view has to be adopted while improving the organizational structure such that the level of stress is significantly reduced.

Organizational structures can be improved by adopting following strategies,

Realistic Approach: Realistic Approach is required not just in terms of imposing the employee with the work load but also while making expectations out of the employee. The performance of the employee has to be evaluated much on the grounds of the results the employee within the work environment rather than evaluating on the basis of results only. Proper and realistic margin should be kept in case the employee fails to handle the job. The employee firstly has to be assured that his performance will never have significant impact on his job security, but it is also the right of the employer to warn the employee of reduction or limitation of other financial offerings. Definitely an understanding has to accorded reach time assignments are handed over to the employee, but it is important that all policies and organizational structures are devised with realistic approach.

Work Environment and Favoritism: The employer should adopt neutral and impartial stand, the employer's preference or likeness for a particular employee should be on the based of performance. The bias attitude of the employer also subjects the employee under stress. Organizational structure should be such that it provides the employees under same position with equal opportunity to excel and participate. The work environment should be conducive, and polarities within the employees should be avoided. This factor can be minimized if within organizational structure such methodology is devised which discourages the top management from splitting up. The grouping within the top management of the organization leads way for the formation of poles within the employees, and this further develop certain stress and pressure on the employee, who has no other option but to join any for his survival.

Work Load: It has better and practical to have replacement or substitute employee for required position, rather than assigning heavy credit assignments to the sole employee, who with his limited resources and excise pressure finds it difficult to carry forward. In every multinational company instead of having single authority for the key position, we have more than one candidate to share the work load mutual. This again depends much on the nature of the assignment, and can be avoided in certain cases.

Organizational Structure can be grouped on the basis of tasks, performance, number of employees and certain other criteria. It is however common practice to divide and fragmentize the organization on the basis of the performance and project. The organizational structure should have enough allowance for the employee to have time for himself and his personal family needs have to be respected, and the employee should be given enough resources and opportunities to fulfill his personal and family needs.

CASE STUDY

Chevron, the American Oil giant, suffered major economic blow during 2001-2, the oil company was on the verge of bankruptcy. However the company management even then prevented move of lying off thousands of its employees. During this crucial phase maximum number of the employees retained their positions. However it was observed the by the management of the company that the employees were heavily under stress, much because of the uncertainty that surrounded the company's future activities. Under this scenario the company launched motivation campaigns only to subjugate the stress and pressure employee faced. The employees were provided with enough financial offerings, regular salaries, bonuses just to ensure that the company was on smooth sail. The organizational structure was been thoroughly reviewed, and employees skeptical opinions were being removed. In some of the cases the responsibilities of the certain employees were increased, but those employees at parallel were provided with relaxed rules and regulations to achieve without any haste. Results have been outstanding even after 5 years we find Chevron existing, the company has successfully climbed the ladder of hardships and uncertainties, and is on the peak again.

CONCLUSION

The Organization Development Plan is paramount to the success of the organization, provided it strengthen the workforce and successfully delivers the expectations of the workforce. The Stress Management has to be implemented, and employees have to be offered certain training courses through which the workforce can reduce the stress factor rather than compromise over the workload. The employee has to be motivated, rewarded, respected, appreciated and his feelings and limitations either personal or professional have to be respected.