A PROJECT REPORTON

STRESS MANAGEMENT

AT

MONARCH ANANTHA PVC PIPES PRIVATE LIMITED

ANANTAPUR.

SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT FOR THE AWARD OF

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

BY

G.MANJUNATH KUMAR (H.T NO: 0011014014)

UNDER THE GUIDANCE

OF

Dr. P.VARAPRABHAKAR MHRM., ph.d.

(Asst. Professor)

DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

YOGI VEMANA UNIVERSITY

VEMANAPURAM

KADAPA, YSR (dist).2010-2012.

DECLARATION

I G.MANJUNATH KUMAR, bonafied student of YOGI VEMANA

UNIVERSITY, VEMANAPURAM, KADAPA, hereby declare that the project

on”STRESS MANAGEMENT” is carried out by me at “MONARCH ANANTHA

PVC PIPES (P).LTD, ANANTAPUR ” in partial fulfillment for award of the

degree of Master of Business Administration Degree course during the Academic

year 2010-2012.

I hereby declare that this work is my own and this report has not been

submitted for the award of any degree or diploma to any university or organization

earlier.

DATE :

PLACE :

MANJUNATH KUMAR.G

(H.T.NO.:0011014014)

BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE

Certified that this project report titled “A STUDY ON STRESS

MANAGEMENT” “MONARCH ANANTHA PVC PIPES(P)LTD ,

ANANTAPUR ” is a bonafide work of Mr. G.MANJUNATH KUMAR (Reg.

No. 0011014014) who carried out the research work under my supervision.

Certified further that to the best of my knowledge the work reported here in does

not form part of any other Project Report or dissertation on the basis of which a

degree or diploma is awarded. .

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to acknowledge and place on record my sincere sense

of regard an gratitude to Mr. VISHWANATH,.HR-Executive of MONARCH

ANANTHA PVC PIPES(P).LTD., ANANTAPUR for giving this opportunity

and guiding me throughout my project.

I take this opportunity to place on record my everlasting thanks

and feeling of gratitude to my Project Guide Dr.P.VARAPRABHAKAR

(MHRM.,ph.d.) (Asst. Professor),for his valuable suggestions and inspiring

guidance for completion of this project.

I thank staff of my college for their unstinted support and

encouragement in my entire endeavor throughout the preparation of the project

work.

I would also express my sincere gratitude to my parents, well-

wishers and friends for their support for the completion of this Project. .

(MANJUNATH KUMAR.G)

Table of contents

Chapters Page No

Chapter – I

Introduction of the Study

5 - 10

Chapter – II

Industry profile

Company Profile

11 - 17

Chapter – III

Research methodology

18 – 55

Chapter – IV

Analysis and Interpretation

56 - 71

Chapter – V

Conclusions

72 – 78

Chapter – VI

Bibliography and Questionnaire

79 - 83

INTRODUCTION OF THE STUDY

Introduction

A study on “Stress Management” is basically aimed at knowing the role

effeteness of Stress management with reference to “Monarch PVC” Anantapur.

The survey conducted presently enables the company to know the

satisfactory level of employees with the Stress Management system to know

whether the planned Stress management Approach worth the time and the effort

that are needed to make it effective.

INDUSTRY PROFILE 

 

PIPE TECHNOLOGY TERMS AND CONCEPTS:

 Pipe, hollow structure, usually cylindrical for conducting materials.  It is used

primarily to convey liquids, gases, or solid suspended in a liquid for e.g. slurry and

also used for electric wires.

      The earliest pipes were probably made of bamboo, used by the Chinese to

carry water 5000 B.C. The Egyptians made the first metal pipe of copper c. 3000

BC until the cast iron became relatively cheap in 18 th cent.  Most pipes were made

of bored stone or wood, clay, lead and occasionally, copper or bronze.  Modern

materials include cast iron. Wrought iron, steel, copper, brass, lead, concrete,

wood, glass and plastic.  Bending strips of steel into the form of a tube and welding

the longitudinal seam either by electric resistance, by fusion welding or by heating

the tube and pressing the edges together makes welded steel pipe.  Seamless pipe is

made from a solid length of metal pierced lengthwise by a mandral with a rounded

nose.

     Steel pipe introduced in the early 20th century is widely used for conducting

substances at extremely high pressures and temperatures.  Cast –iron pipes, which

came into common use in the 1840’s, resist corrosion better than steel pipes and

are therefore frequently, used under ground.  Clay and concrete pipes usually carry

sewage, and concrete pipes are also used to carry irrigation water at low pressures,

for moderate pressures the concrete is reinforced with steel or mixed with

asbestos.  Seamless copper and brass pipes are used for plumbing and boilers

because of its softness and resistance to corrosion.  Lead is used for flexible

corrections and for plumbing that doesn’t carry drinking water.  The chemical and

food industries are used glass pipes. During World War II manufacturers

developed plastic pipes to replace metals that were in short supply.  Today PVC

pipe is widely used to carry wastewater as well as certain corrosive liquids.

      A pipe line carries water, gas, petroleum and many other fluids long

distance in lying an oil pipeline. 40’ft (12-m) sections of seamless steel pipe are

electrically welded together while held over a trench.  Before being lowered into

place the pipe is coated with a protective paint and wrapped with a substance

composed of treated asbestos felt and fiber glass. Pumping section located 50 to 75

ml (80-120Km).

A part boosts the dwindling pressure back up as much as 1500’lb per inch.  The

piping must be kept clean either by applying a negative electric charge to the pipe

or by regular use of a “pig” or scribbling ball, inserted at one end and carried along

by the current. An oil pipeline 6 inches (15 cm) to 24 Inches (60cm) in diameter

will move its contents at about 3 to 6 ml (5-10) per hr.

      Water has moved since ancient times in pipe lines called aqueducts.  The

first natural gas and petroleum pipe line in US.  Were builds during the 19th Cent. 

Today in most part of the world pipelines are as extremely important means of

transporting divers fluids.  The Trans-Arabian pipeline, which carried oil from the

Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean, is over 1000ml (600 km) long. There is more

than 180000 ml (288000) Km of pipelines in the United States alone.

 

  

 COMPANY PROFILE

ORIGIN:

  Rayalaseema is an economically backward area in Andhra Pradesh, was

rarefied region for industries.  A dynamic entrepreneur Sri. S.P.Y. Reddy who is

basically Mechanical Engineer started a unit at Nandyal, which manufactured

black pipes in 1977.  The determination and hard work of Sri. S.P.Y. Reddy helped

him to overcome the problems faced by the company in the initial years, and with

financial assistance from local commercial banks.  The company could overcome

the problems of the merger and is running smoothly.

Later the company started manufacturing of PVC Pipes, which terminated the

manufacturing of black pipes.  This resulted in the formation of a Pvt. Ltd. 

Company called “SUJALA PIPES PVT LTD: with Sri. S.P.Y. Reddy as the

Managing Director.

       The only major competitors to the company are Sudhakar Pipes.  The

only backdrop to it is the competition from local brands.  As the majority of

customers are farmers, they consider cost than quality.  The company has to make

lot of efforts to make them aware of the company’s quality standards to them.

SIZES:

Various sizes ranging from ½ to 10 are offered to customers.  Even pipes with

different gauges and sizes are manufactured to suit specified conditions.

PACKING:

Packing plays less important role into the products like PVC pipes because the

hallow space inside can be utilized.  For the purpose of cubic space utilization in

trucks while transport, organization is adopting the technique like “pipes in pipes”.

PAYMENT PERIOD:

       For Monarch brand ,the company adopts zero credit policy and goods

are not delivered on cash and carry method..  For Monarch and Sagar brands credit

is entitled up to a week.  The difference between these brands is due to brand

image.

COVERAGE:

       At present Andhra Pradesh, parts of southern states of Karnataka,

Tamilnadu and Kerala are ambit of Sujala Pipes Pvt. Ltd.  The company extended

their sales in the regions shown below.:

1979 - Nandyal Region (Polyphone Pipes)

1984-85 - Rayalaseema Region (PVC Pipes)

1985-86 - Telangana Region

1986-87- Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh

1988 – 91 Tamilnadu and Karnataka

1991-94 Kerala

TRANSPORTATION:

  The transportation department of Sujala pipes Pvt. Ltd is very admirable. 

This unique strength of the organization enables the dealers to reduce inventory

levels to the minimum. Thus dealers are also supplemented with dealers to reduce

inventory levels to the minimum. Thus dealers are also supplemented with the

benefit of the lower tied-up capital in the form of inventory.

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE COMPANY:

       The company is equipped with sophisticated laboratory to carry all tests to

ascertain out going quality level of the pipes.  A Nandi pipe has the I.S.I.

Trademark, which speaks for itself for the quality of the pipes.  Numbers of

statistical quality control techniques are applied to sustain the quality level of the

product.

        Managers at the company are dynamic and are well-educated Supervisory

staff or intermediate managerial staff though proficient in their area, they are not

highly educated.  Most of the employees are skilled is the uniqueness of workers

in Sujala pipes Pvt. Ltd.  There is non-indulgence in trade union activities.

      As the company is located in industrial estate of Nandyal, it is facilitated

with good communication networks, which includes telex, fax machine and

internet.  Company has also got the support of electronic data processing.

       The company’s major strength is considered to be transportation vehicles;

a unique cash outflow justifies itself by providing good reputation of the company

through improved customer service. 

FINANCIAL DEPARTMENT:

      Through initially the company approached the external sources for

financial aid, now the financial status of the company is very sound and is being

run only with self-finance excepting for loans taken for hypothecation of

machinery and stock from SBI , Nandyal.       The company follows cash and carry

policy for Nandi brand.  The product is not delivered until the cash is paid and

Finance Department with the help of Marketing Department looks after these

transactions. 

MARKETING DEPARTMENT:

       Marketing manager reports to Executive Director. An assistant marketing

manager who reports and 20 salesmen headed by 30 sales representatives who are

headed by assistant marketing manager, heads the marketing department. 

Marketing mix and advertising particulars of Sujala Pipes Pvt. Ltd.,  shows the

department’s effective management of the marketing department in the

organization.

 PERSONAL DEPARTMENT:

      The personnel department consists the details of the executives and

workers of the organization. The organization is formed with Sri. S.P.Y Reddy as

the Managing Director and an Executive Director who reports Managing Director.

Two marketing managers, financial manager, public relations officer and quality

control officer who all reports to Executive Director.  Other than executives there

are thousand workers in the organization.   Panel consisting of Managing Director,

executive director and managers of concerned departments makes the recruitment

and selections of persons.  Apart form the attractive salaries company provides

health care facilities.

PURCHASING DEPARTMENT:

The perplexing situation i.e. conformed by the manufacturers of the PVC pipes

is scarcity of resin.  Though the govt. of India has taken various steps to improve

supply conditions of PVC resin, the Indian manufacturers could meet only 50

percent of demand and remaining 50 percent is met from the imports.

The major petrochemical companies are:

Sri Ram Vinay Ltd.

Chem-plast Ltd.

Reliance petrochemical Ltd.,

National organic chemical industries Ltd.,

Indian petrochemical industries Ltd.

Process:

       The main raw materials are HDPE granules, PP granules.  The

manufacturing for pipes consist of mixing various resigns along with coloring

materials in a mixture and the prepared material is fed to the extruder.

In the extruder, the material is heated to the required politicizing temperature

(190deg. Centigrade to 230 deg. Centigrade) the extruded through the die hard to

form the pipe.  The hot pipe coming out of the extruder is cooled in a water bath to

retain the final shape. The pipe coming out of the extruder is guided through the

water bath suitable transaction system.  The temperature of the water is maintained

by circulating through the cooling toward and with the help of a chilling plant. 

The required length of the pipe is cut with a planetary saw.  The cut lengths are

titled by titling units and get corrected in the pipe rack attached to the tilting

frames.  Later they are stocked separately.  The company has entered into a

technical has its own processing technology.

 ANANTHA PVC PIPES PVT LTD:

       Monarch Pipe Ltd was incorporated in the year 1986.  The factory is

situated at NH-7, Hampapuram village, Rapthadu mandal and Anantapur district. 

It was taken over by nandi grop co, and it is one of the sister company among

Nandigroups. Its annual production capacity is 16000 Mts. And it is one of the

leading manufacturers of PVC Pipes in south India.

The company is equipped with technical collaboration from Batten field of

west Germany.  It has made possible few other small ventures.  Pipes are sold

under brand names of KOHINOOR and KRISHNA., MONARCH.

      Anantha PVC Pipes with their good quality, trouble free services, durability

and commercial use or a better choice than mild steel, galvanized steel, cast iron

and plastic pipes. The company is managed by a term of professionals under the

guidance of a young, experienced and well-qualified dynamic managing director

Mr. S. SREEDHAR REDDY.

 APPLICATIONS OF UPVC PIPES:

Agriculture and irrigation schemes.

Rural & Urban water supplies scheme.

Tube well casing.

Gas and Oil supply lines.

Industrial effluent disposal.

Sewerage and drainage scheme.

Air-condition ducting.

Building installations

Industrial ducting.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

Need for Study:

One the employee is selected in an organization; they are trained and motivated

to take up the job/task assigned. After sometime, the Stress of the employee is

assessed and evaluated through a system called “Stress Management”. Stress

Management is which helps the management in decision making on the

promotions, retention, and productivity of the employee etc,. It also helps the

management to have quick review of the cases of employees who need any training

or counseling for their Stress.

Objectives of the Study:

To analyze the ongoing stress Management system in “Monarch

PVC”.

To know the stress management system of employees in Monarch

PVC’.

To assess the method the organization uses to decrease stress.

To evaluate whether the present stress management system serves as a

basis for other HR programs (Selection, Training, Promotions, Transfers,

etc…..)

To find out the benefits to the employees from the organization after

assessing their stress management system.

To find out the self-performance to decrease stress will be necessary

for review for employee stress management.

To suggest and recommend possible alternatives, if any, in improving

the stress management system.

To find out the present stress management system is sufficient enough

to motivate the employees or not.

To understand the current state of research into stress.

Methodology:

Research is scientific & systematic search for pertinent information on a

specific topic. The meaning of research is “A Careful Investigation or inquiry

especially through search for new facts in any branch of knowledge”.

Objectives of research:

To gain familiarity with phenomenon or to achieve new insights into

it.

To portray accurately the characteristics for a particular individual,

situation or group.

To determine the frequency with which something occurs or with

which it is associated with something else.

To test a hypothesis of a casual relationship between variables.

Data is the empowered information about the problem chosen. The data is

considered as raw material used in the interpretation part of the project work used

to find out the hidden problem of the topic chosen. Thus the collected data is

analyzed and interpreted to find out the exact reason for the problem and to give

out appropriate suggestions to overcome the problem.

The data relevant to problem identified is available in two forms they are:

Primary Data

Secondary Data

Primary Data:

Primary data includes interaction with the employees by direct method by

administrative questionnaire to the employees.

Secondary Data:

It collected from various books on the topic of research various records

maintained by personnel department of “Monarch PVC” and different publication

and manual of Monarch PVC.

Methodology and Database:

The proposed methodology involves the study of the various policies,

guidelines, printed material, booklet, Primary & Secondary material and

discussions with the executive in the Personnel Department.

Sampling:

It is not always necessary to collect data from the whole organization. A small

representative may serve the purpose. A sample means group taken from a large

lot. The small group should be miniature cross-section and really “representative”

in character. This selection process is called sampling.

Sample size:

Samples are devices for learning about large masses by observing a few

individuals.

Method of sampling:

The method adopted here is random sampling method. A random is one where

each item in the unversed has an equal chance of known opportunity of being

selected.

LIMITATION OF THE STUDY:

The study is limited to the policies and practices being followed in

Monarch PVC:

Time factor is the main constraint, as the time allowed to complete

the project report, it was not possible to study in depth.

To study of project period was too short, so the findings and

suggestions may or may not be applicable for long time.

Sampling error is not taken into consideration.

Employees are not interested in answering to the questions.

As the method adopted is Random Sampling, results may not be

accurate and believable.

As the sample size is 60, whole of the fact could not be collected.

The findings of the study are confined only to the question

asked in the questionnaire and through personal interview.

 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND:

Understanding Stress & Stress Management:

It defines stress and then explains the fundamental mechanisms behind it. Next,

it shows employees the effects that stress has on their health and on their

performance. Finally, it introduces employees to the different approaches to stress

management.

It also introduces to the fundamental principles behind stress management.

While the techniques on this project cover the most common sources of stress, a

good understanding of the fundamentals will help to adapt to these tools and create

new ones to handle unique situations.

Introducing stress management

Finally, we look at the three types of approach to managing stress:

action oriented (reducing stress by taking action);

perception oriented (dealing with attitudes and emotional responses to

stress);

And survival oriented (living and coping with stresses that cannot be

otherwise resolved).

There have been many different definitions of what stress is, whether used by

psychologists, medics, management consultants or others. There seems to have

been something approaching open warfare between competing definitions: Views

have been passionately held and aggressively defended.

Problems of Definition

One problem with a single definition is that stress is made up of many things: It

is a family of related experiences, pathways, responses and outcomes caused by a

range of different events or circumstances. Different people experience different

aspects and identify with different definitions.

Now, the most commonly accepted definition of stress is that “stress is a

condition or feeling experienced when a person perceives that demands exceed

the personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilize”.

People feel little stress when they have the time, experience and resources to

manage a situation. They feel great stress when they think they can't handle the

demands put upon them. Stress is therefore a negative experience. And it is not an

inevitable consequence of an event: It depends a lot on people's perceptions of a

situation and their real ability to cope with it.

“Fight-or-Flight”

Some of the early work on stress established the existence of the well-known

fight-or-flight response. His work showed that when an animal experiences a shock

or perceives a threat, it quickly releases hormones that help it to survive.

These hormones help us to run faster and fight harder. They increase heart rate

and blood pressure, delivering more oxygen and blood sugar to power important

muscles. They increase sweating in an effort to cool these muscles, and help them

stay efficient.

In the business environment, this exhaustion is seen in “burnout”. The classic example comes

from the Wall Street trading floor: by most people’s standards, life on a trading floor is stressful.

Traders learn to adapt to the daily stressors of making big financial decisions, and of winning and losing

large sums of money. In many cases, however, these stresses increase and fatigue starts to set in.

Stress and the way we think particularly in normal working life, much of our stress is subtle and occurs

without obvious threat to survival. Most comes from things like work overload, conflicting priorities,

inconsistent values, over-challenging deadlines, conflict with co-workers, unpleasant environments and

so on.

Stress is a matter of judgment:

In becoming stressed, people must therefore make two main judgments: firstly

they must feel threatened by the situation, and secondly they must doubt that their

capabilities and resources are sufficient to meet the threat.

Stress and Employee’s Health:

The survival benefits of the fight-or-flight response, as well as the problems

this caused for our performance in work-related situations. We've also seen the

negative “burnout” effect of exposure to long-term stress. These effects can also

affect your health – either with direct physiological damage to your body, or with

harmful behavioral effects. 

The behavioral effects of stress:

The behavioral effects of an over-stressed lifestyle are easy to explain. When

under pressure, some people are more likely to drink heavily or smoke, as a way of

getting immediate chemical relief from stress.

Others may have so much work to do that they do not exercise or eat properly.

They may cut down on sleep, or may worry so much that they sleep badly. They

may get so carried away with work and meeting daily pressures that they do not

take time to see the doctor or dentist when they need to. All of these are likely to

harm health.

Stress and heart disease:

The link between stress and heart disease is well established. If stress is

intense, and stress hormones are not ‘used up’ by physical activity, our raised heart

rate and high blood pressure put tension on arteries and cause damage to them. As

the body heals this damage, artery walls scar and thicken, which can reduce the

supply of blood and oxygen to the heart.

Other effects of stress:

Stress has been also been found to damage the immune system, which explains

why we catch more colds when we are stressed. It may intensify symptoms in

diseases that have an autoimmune component, such as rheumatoid arthritis. It also

seems to affect headaches and irritable bowel syndrome, and there are now

suggestions of links between stress and cancer.

Stress and employee’s Performance:

So far, we have seen that stress is a negative experience. We have seen the

short-term negative effects that stress hormones can have on their performance,

and have seen how stress can contribute to burnout.

The Positive Effects of Pressure:

Sometimes, however, the pressures and demands that may cause stress can be

positive in their effect. One example of this is where sportsmen and women flood

their bodies with fight-or-flight adrenaline to power an explosive performance.

Another example is where deadlines are used to motivate people who seem bored

or unmotivated. We will discuss this briefly here, but throughout the rest of this

site we see stress as a problem that needs to be solved.

Pressure & Performance:

The relationship between pressure and performance is explained in one of the

oldest and most important ideas in stress management, the “Inverted-U”

relationship between pressure and performance (see below). The Inverted-U

relationship focuses on people’s performance of a task.

The right hand side of the graph is more complex to explain.

Negative Thoughts Crowd employee’s Minds:

We are all aware that we have a limited short-term memory: If you try to

memorize a long list of items, you will not be able to remember more than six or

eight items unless you use formal memory techniques. Similarly, although we

have huge processing power in our brains, we cannot be conscious of more than a

few thoughts at any one time. 

Entering a State of “Flow” When you are operating in your “area of best

performance”, you are normally able to concentrate, and focus all of your attention

on the important task at hand.

Helping Yourself to Get Into Flow:

One of the frustrations of management is that managers can feel that they lose

the ‘right’ to these periods of deep concentration when they must be readily

available to others, and be able to deal with the constantly changing information,

decisions and activities around them. Studies of good managers show that they

rarely get more than a few minutes alone without distraction. This alone can be

frustrating, and can contribute strongly to managerial stress.

Introducing Stress Management:

Stress is that stress is a condition or feeling experienced when a person

perceives that demands exceed the personal and social resources the individual is

able to mobilize. From our definition, you can see that there are three major

approaches that we can use to manage stress:

Action-oriented: In which we seek to confront the problem causing

the stress, changing the environment or the situation;

Emotionally-oriented: In which we do not have the power to change

the situation, but we can manage stress by changing our interpretation of the

situation and the way we feel about it; and

Acceptance-oriented: Where something has happened over which we

have no power and no emotional control, and where our focus is on

surviving the stress.

Action-oriented approaches - best where you have some control:

To be able to take an action-oriented approach, we must have some power in

the situation. If we do, then action-oriented approaches are some of the most

satisfying and rewarding ways of managing stress. These are techniques that we

can use to manage and overcome stressful situations, changing them to our

advantage.

The Action-oriented sections of this site are:

Cope with the Stress of Work Overload

Survive the Stress of Problem Jobs

Deal With Problem People

Manage Environmental Stress

Manage Performance Stress

Avoid Burnout

Emotionally-oriented approaches - subtle but effective:

This section of stress.mindtools.com explains the fundamental ideas behind

stress management. By understanding these ideas, you can see how the tools on

this site work for most common sources of stress, and can understand how to adapt

them or create new tools to handle unique situations.

Definitions and mechanisms:

It introduces the debate over the definitions of stress, and gives the most

commonly accepted definition: that stress is experienced when a person perceives

that demands exceed the personal and social resources that the individual is able to

mobilize. It also brings in the intertwined instinctive responses to unexpected

events and threats that are so much part of stress.

The Inverted-U and stress management

We then looked at the “Inverted-U” relationship between pressure and

performance. We saw that when pressure is low, performance is normally low as

other activities compete for attention. When pressure and stress are high, anxieties

and disturbances can overload our thinking, reducing our ability to concentrate on

a task, and thereby reducing our performance. However, we saw that there is a

medium level of pressure, at which we can concentrate effectively. At this level of

pressure, we can enter a state of intense concentration or ‘flow’, in which we do

our best work. The goal of stress management is to help us to manage stress so

that we can maintain this state of flow and deliver exceptional performance.

In doing this, there are three different stress management approaches that we

can use:

Action-oriented

Emotionally-oriented

Acceptance-oriented

An action-oriented approach is often best used when you have some power to

change a situation. Where you do not have power, it may be appropriate to take an

emotionally oriented approach.

Stress SWOT Analysis:

Introduction:

SWOT Analysis is a useful technique used for understanding an organization’s

strategic position. It is routinely used to identify and summarize:

Strengths: The capabilities, resources and advantages of an

organization.

Weaknesses: Things the organization is not good at, areas of resource

scarcity and areas where the organization is vulnerable.

Opportunities: The good opportunities open to the organization,

which perhaps exploit its strengths or eliminate its weaknesses.

Threats: Things that can damage the organization, perhaps as people

exploit its limitations or as its environment changes.

The Stress SWOT tool is a variant of this technique, focused on helping you to

understand your unique strengths and weaknesses in the way you manage stress. It

also helps you to identify the resources you have available to you, and points out

the consequences of managing stress poorly.

Strengths:

To use the tool, start by listing your strengths. Write down:

Your personal strengths – things you are good at and people respect

you for, your areas of good experience, etc.;

Your support network – family, friends, professional or other

networks, government services, powerful contacts, co-workers, your team,

etc.; and

The resources you can draw on – money, assets, power, etc.

Next, work through your stress diary and look at the times where you managed

stress well. Write down the practical skills you used to do this -these are likely to

be your stress management strengths. Finally, look back into the past, and think

about times when you handled intense stress successfully. Again, write down how

you did this.

Weaknesses:

Next, list your personal weaknesses and the limitations in your position. Write

down:

Personal weaknesses – areas where you are aware that you are not

strong, or things that people fairly criticize you for;

Lack of resources – where other people at your level have access to

these resources, or where the absence of resources is impacting your

situation; and

Bad situations – where you are experiencing problems with your job

or relationships, or where you have a poor living or working environment.

Challenge these weaknesses rationally to ensure that they are fair and genuine,

and that you are not being excessively harsh and self-critical. At the same time,

challenge whether you could realistically expect more resources to be available.

Then work through the stress diary again, looking at the times where you did

not handle stress well. Identify where you have problems managing stress. Again,

look into your past at stressful situations. Where you think you handled stress

poorly, write down why you think this was the case.

Opportunities:

In the Opportunities section, brainstorm the opportunities you have available to

you.

First, work your way through the strengths you have identified. Ask yourself

how you can draw on these strengths to help you manage stress. For example, are

there people whose job it is to help you? Are there people whose help you could

call on? Could you pay people to take on tasks you do not have time for? Are you

fully using the tools or assets you have available? Could you use your skills and

strengths in one area to help yourself in another area?

Threats:

In the threats section, consider the consequences of leaving your weaknesses

uncovered. Consider the damage to relationships, career and happiness that would

come from failing to manage stress.

Use this consideration of the downside as a spur to ensure that you take stress

management seriously!

Summary:

A Stress SWOT Analysis helps you to understand your unique position with

respect to stress management.

  By looking at strengths, you ensure that you recognize all of the personal

strengths, skills, resources and social networks that can help you manage stress.

By looking at your weaknesses, you identify areas you need to change in your

life, including new skills that you need to acquire.

 Making a Stress Management Plan

The diagram below shows the stages of the stress management planning

process:

We looked at the first stage of this process in our articles on the Schedule of

Recent Experience, Stress Diaries and Stress SWOT. If you have used the tools we

discussed, you should already have a good idea of the most important sources of

stress in your life.

List and Prioritize the Sources of Stress in Your Life:

The next step is to prioritize these sources of stress so that you can separate the

important stressors that must be dealt with from the minor, infrequent irritations

that do not need as much attention.

Work out How to Target Each Source of Stress

A good way of doing this is to work through the most important stressors on

your list one-by-one. For each source of stress, work through the Stress Key. This

will help you find the techniques that are most relevant.

Coping with Work Overload

Workload issues lie behind much of the stress we experience. Not only can a

heavy workload be tiring in its own right, it often drives us to work much longer

hours than we would really like. This means that we spend time working that we'd

prefer to use for the things that give life value. It also means that we're working

when we should really be resting. Worse than this, a heavy routine workload leaves

us little time to deal with the emergencies that come up from time-to-time. This

adds to the feeling of being "out of control" that is so much part of stress.

Job Analysis - Understand the reality of employee’s job

Introduction: To do a good job, you need to fully understand what is expected of

you. While this may seem obvious, in the hurly-burly of a new, fast-moving, high-

pressure role, it is oftentimes something that is overlooked.

Job Analysis is a useful technique for getting a firm grip on what really is

important in your job so that you are able to perform well. It helps you to cut

through clutter and distraction to get to the heart of what you need to do. And it

shows you the tasks you should try to drop.

Using the Tool: To conduct a job analysis, go through the following steps:

1. Review formal job documentation:

o Look at your job description. Identify the key objectives and

priorities within it.

o Look at the forms for the periodic performance reviews. These

often show precisely the behaviors that will be rewarded and, by

implication, show those that are not respected.

o Find out what training is available for the role. Ensure that you

attend appropriate training so that you know as much as possible

about what you need to know

o Look at incentive schemes to understand the behaviors that

these reward.

2. Understand the organization’s strategy and culture:

Your job exists for a reason – this will ultimately be determined by the

strategy of the organizational unit you work for. This strategy is often

expressed in a mission statement.

3. Find out who the top achievers are. Make sure you understand

why they are successful:

Inside or outside the organization, there may be people in a similar role

to you who are seen as highly successful. Find out how they work, and what

they do to generate this success. Look at what they do, and learn from them.

Understand what skills make them successful, and learn those skills.

4. Check that you have the people and resources to do the job:

The next step is to check that you have the staff support, resources and

training needed to do an excellent job. If you do not, start work on obtaining

them.

5. Confirm priorities with your boss:

By this stage, you should have a thorough understanding of what your

job entails, and what your key objectives are. You should also have a good

idea of the resources that you need, and any additional training you may

need to do the best you can.

Summary:

Job analysis is a five-step technique for:

Understanding and agreeing what you need to do to perform well in

your job;

Ensuring that you and your boss agree on the areas you should

concentrate on when time gets tight; and the areas that can be de-emphasized

during this time; and

Making sure that you have the resources, training and staff needed to

do a good job.

Time Management

Good time management is essential if you are to handle a heavy workload

without excessive stress. By using time management skills effectively, you can

reduce work stress by being more in control of your time, and by being more

productive. This ensures that you have time to relax outside work.

The central shift of attitude within time management is to on results.

concentrate not on activity.

To this end, it embraces a range of skills that help you to:

Assess the value of your time, understand how effectively you are

using it, and improve your time use habits;

Focus on your priorities so that you focus on the most important jobs

to do, delegate tasks where possible, and drop low value jobs;

Manage and avoid distractions; and

Create more time.

Time Management helps you to reduce long-term stress by giving you

direction when you have too much work to do. It puts you in control of where you

are going, and helps you to increase your productivity. By being efficient in your

use of time, you should enjoy your current role more, and should find that you are

able to find the time to relax outside work and enjoy life.

Valuing Time - Find out what time is worth

Introduction:

A first step in good time management is to understand the value of your time.

If you are employed by someone else, you need to understand how much your

employer is paying for your time, and how much profit he or she expects to make

from you. If you are working for yourself, you should have an idea of how much

income you want to bring in after tax. By working these figures back to an hourly

rate, this gives you an idea of the value of your time.

Using the Tool:

Calculating the Value of Your Time:

If you are an employee and you don’t have a charge-out rate, estimate the annual value of your

time using the table below (we show you later how to estimate these figures if you can't get hold of

them).

  Your salary  

Add  Your benefits  

Add  Employer's payroll tax  

Add  A contribution for rent, equipment, heat, light, etc.  

Add  A contribution for overheads and supporting

services

 

Add  Profit expected  

   

Total:     

These figures can be difficult to get hold of. As all we need is an approximate

figure, the following may help:

Your salary and benefits: you should know! The value of benefits will

often be shown on, for example, end-of-year tax statements.

Employer's Payroll Tax: is dependent on the country you live in. Your

Human Resources or Accounting Department may be able to tell you this.

Contribution for rent, equipment, heat, light, etc: it is difficult to get to

this figure unless you can read the accounts of your organization. With this

in mind, you can use a value of 10% of your salary and benefits as a 'rule of

thumb.

Profit Expected:

In reality, this will depend on the sector you are in. Again, in the absence of

reliable figures, use a value of 50% of all other costs as the profit you should bring

in. This is a good value for a company that.

sells people's time. Other businesses may expect greater profit from your activity.

Effective Planning:

Managing deadline stress on complex projects:

To Do Lists are important tools for daily planning. They are, however, not

sufficiently powerful for planning large or complex jobs. This difference is most

notable when jobs have high visibility, must be completed to a deadline, or involve

coordinating many people to achieve a single goal. For these, some level of

planning is appropriate.

Surviving the Stress of Problem Jobs:

This looks at surviving the more subtle stresses that come with jobs that are not

well-designed. Stress here mainly comes from inconsistent and conflicting

priorities, lack of obvious career prospects and activities that are intrinsically

stressful.

A World of Rapid Change:

Jobs can be particularly unstable and inconsistent in fast-changing

organizations. This is evidenced even more when organizations are new, have

recently changed their strategy, or are taking on new and more complex work. This

will continue to be the lot of many organizations as globalization and the impact of

technology force change in the business environment. In these cases, job designs

can be non-existent, or can quickly become inconsistent and out of date.

Finding the Positives:

This all sounds quite negative. Yet, in the right organization, a lack of structure

and system can be intensely stimulating. Fast-growing organizations can offer

tremendous opportunities for quick career advancement. These organizations can

face enormous challenges, and working through these can give a tremendous sense

of achievement. Lack of structure also means that there is plenty of opportunity to

get experience (albeit sometimes quite shallow experience) in a wide variety of

roles.

An important point to remember:

When employers create jobs, they have no obligation to make them pleasant or

rewarding. Some employers will care little about anything other than their own

reward. It is up to you to find jobs with good employers, and in some cases, you

need to recognize that the best option may be to leave bad ones.

1) Review the formal documentation on the job:

Look at the most recent job description that exists. Identify the key

objectives within the job description and the priorities identified within it.

a)Look at the forms for any periodic performance reviews. These should show

precisely the behaviors that will be rewarded, as well as those that will be

punished.

b)Find out what training is available for the role. Ensure that you attend

appropriate training so that you know as much as possible about your role, and any

expectations of you in this role.

c)If any of these are not available, write down what you believe the roles,

responsibilities, objectives and performance criteria to be. You should then work

through these with your boss.

1. Understand the Organization’s Strategy:

Your job will exist for a reason, and this will be determined by the strategy

of the organizational unit you work for. This is often expressed in a mission

statement. In some way, what you do should help the organization achieve its

mission (if it does not, you have to ask yourself how secure the job ).

2. Understand the Organizational Culture:

Similarly, every organization has its own culture – its own, historically

developed values, rights and wrongs, and things that it considers to be

important. If you are new to an organization, talk through with established,

respected members of staff to understand these value.

Find out who the top achievers are, and understand why they are

successful:

Inside or outside the organization, there may be people in a similar

role to you who are seen as highly successful. Find out how they work, and

what they do to generate this success. Look at what they do and learn from

them. Understand what skills make them successful, and learn those skills.

3. Understand where your career could go from here:

If you find, as you work through this, that little thought has been put

into the design of your job, chances are that career progression from this

position has not been considered.

4. Check that you have the people and resources to do the job:

The next step is to check that you have the staff support, resources and

training that you think are needed to do the job well. If you do not, make a

note of this, as well.

Working with Problem People

It shows you how to stand up for yourself assertively so that you can defend

your rights in a fair and adult way. It looks at simple techniques for managing

unreasonable demands. It introduces important tools that help you to manage your

relationships with powerful people so that they support and help your activities

rather than undermining them.

Managing Environmental Stress:

We experience a variety of small environmental stresses every day. These

range from the frustrations of commuting to badly organized workspaces, poor

economics and many, many others. While these are small things, they can all add

up to make life more stressful - we call this "background stress”. By managing the

small stresses in our life, we can reduce the impact of the major stresses when they

occur.

Managing Environmental Stress:

In looking at managing environmental stress, we will look at the stress you

experience throughout your working day. We start with the crowding and

frustration that can be an every-day part of our commutes to work. We then look at

improving our working environments once we have arrived.

Minimizing Commuting Stress:

However it is done, commuting can be a source of unpleasant stress.

If we commute by car, then we can experience stress from congestion, physical

discomfort, air pollution and noise.

Minimizing Stress in Working Environment:

An obvious case is where the people and resources you need are not

immediately at hand. Here, physical barriers and distance stand in the way of being

able to work efficiently. This obviously obstructs people's achievement of work

goals and causes stress accordingly. Building Defenses against Stress This is one

part of dealing with intense long-term stress. Other parts involve developing

support networks to relieve stress, and adopting enjoyable pastimes to

counterbalance the unpleasantness of stress. Again, we look at these here.

Managing Stress with Regular Exercise:

Taking frequent effective exercise is one of the best physical stress-reduction

techniques available. Exercise not only improves your health and reduces stress

caused by unfitness; it also relaxes tense muscles and helps to sleep.

Minimizing Environmental Stress - A Recap:

Our environment is an important contributor to our lifestyle. We looked at this

in detail in our section on Environmental Stress. This article briefly recaps on the

key points in that section. Things that we could do to improve our environment

included making sure that:

We have enough privacy when we need it, and enough social

interaction when we want it;

Our furniture is designed well, is comfortable and properly adjusted;

Our space is well lit, and that light is not too dim, too bright or too

direct;

Air quality is good and that it is free of hidden pollutants; and that

Our living and working environments are pleasant and well

maintained

Managing Performance Stress:

We all know the feeling of sickness in our stomach before an important

presentation or performance. We also know how excessive pressure can undermine

our ability to perform well in these situations.

Performance Planning - Planning to Manage Distractions:

So far, we have looked at a range of tools that help you to prepare for stressful

events. We have shown you how to reduce uncertainty and rehearse properly for

the event. We have also looked at Thought Awareness, Rational Thinking and

Positive Thinking, so that you can manage the fears, anxieties and negative

thoughts that you might have about the event.

Stress & Perception - Thinking Stress Away:

In many cases, situations do not cause all of the stress that we experience.

Sometimes, our reaction to circumstances (and what we say to ourselves about

them) contributes to the stress we experience.

How Negative Thinking Undermines Performance:

Not only do these inappropriate negative thoughts cause a great deal of

unhappiness, they also reduce our performance.

Negative Thinking and Health:

Not only does negative thinking affect your performance, it also affects your

health. People who approach the stresses of life with depression, anxiety and

hostility experience significantly worse health.

Emotion as an "Early Warning Signal":

We assume that emotions give us the benefit of a speedy, and more-often-than-

not effective response to simple situations, at the cost of a sophisticated response to

more complex ones. As such, negative emotions are a useful early warning signal

that something may be wrong.

If instant action is required, then we may choose to act. If it is not, these

negative emotions can alert us to something we need to pay attention to. We can

then use more sophisticated techniques to understand the situation in appropriate

detail.

The Rationality of Emotion :

Emotional Analysis assumes that we experience different negative emotions

for different, very rational reasons. It assumes that each emotion has its own

underlying set of assumptions, and that we experience a particular emotion because

we are making a particular set of assumptions about a situation we are

experiencing.

Thought Awareness, Rational & Positive Thinking:

In our Performance Stress section, we looked at Thought Awareness, Rational

Thinking and Positive Thinking specifically in relationship to performance stress.

Here, we extend this important tool to apply to all instances of negative thinking.

This positive thinking tool also acts as the basis of the next two tools,

Emotional Analysis and Cognitive Restructuring. Whereas this tool helps with

general negative thoughts, Emotional Analysis helps you understand negative

emotions, and Cognitive Restructuring helps you tackle negative moods.

Thought Awareness You are thinking negatively when you fear the future, put

yourself down, criticize yourself for errors, doubt your abilities, or expect failure.

Negative thinking damages confidence, harms performance and paralyzes mental

skills.

Rational Thinking:

The next step in dealing with negative thinking is to challenge the negative

thoughts that you identified. Look at every thought you wrote down and rationally

challenge it. Ask yourself whether the thought is reasonable: Does it stand up to

fair scrutiny?

Positive Thinking & Opportunity Seeking:

Where you have used Rational Thinking to identify incorrect negative thinking,

it can often be useful to prepare rational positive thoughts and affirmations to

counter them. It can also be useful to look at the situation and see if there are any

useful opportunities that are offered by it.

 Continuing the examples above, positive affirmations might be:

Feelings of inadequacy: “I am well trained for this? I have the

experience, the tools and the resources I need. I have thought through and

prepared for all possible issues. I can do a superb job.”

Worries about performance: “I have researched and planned well

for this, and I thoroughly understand the problem. I have the time, resources

and help I need. I am well prepared to do an excellent job.”

Problems issues outside your control: “We have thought through

everything that might reasonably happen and have planned how we can

handle all likely contingencies. Everyone is ready to help where necessary.

We are very well placed to react flexibly and effectively to unusual events.”

Worry about other people’s reaction: “I am well-prepared and am

doing the best I can. Fair people will respect this. I will rise above any unfair

criticism in a mature and professional way.”

If appropriate, write these affirmations down so that you can use them when

you need them.

Relaxation Techniques:

We all know how unpleasant excessive stress can be. We also know the feeling of

sickness in our stomach before an important performance, and the intense 'fight-or-

flight' reaction we get when we face frustration after frustration.Imagery - Mental Stress

Management:

Imagery is a potent method of stress reduction, especially when combined with

physical relaxation methods such as deep breathing.

Imagery in Relaxation:

One common use of relaxation imagery is to imagine a scene, place or event

that you remember as safe, peaceful, restful, beautiful and happy. You can bring all

your senses into the image with, for example, sounds of running water and birds,

the smell of cut grass, the taste of cool white wine, the warmth of the sun, and so

on. Use the imagined place as a retreat from stress and pressure. Imagery also

allows you to pre-experience achievement of your goals, helping to give you self-

confidence. This is another technique used by successful athletes.

Meditation - Relaxing with sustained concentration:

As with our next tool (self-hypnosis), meditation has a popular image that can

lead to it being dismissed as a less-than-serious stress management tool. This is a

shame. Good research has been conducted into meditation that shows it is a useful

and practical technique for managing stress.

Self-Hypnosis:

Hypnosis, like meditation, has a dubious image. Many people over many

years have made their living by overlaying this practical and useful technique with

unwarranted mystical and magical rituals. In fact, it is a useful tool for achieving

deep relaxation.

Physical Techniques: Deep Breathing, Progressive Muscular Relaxation &

the Relaxation Response.

This introduces three useful physical relaxation techniques that can help you

reduce muscle tension and manage the effects of the fight-or-flight response on

your body. This is particularly important if you need to think clearly and perform

precisely when you are under pressure.

Using These Techniques Deep Breathing:

Deep breathing is a simple but very effective method of relaxation. It is a core

component of everything from the "take ten deep breaths" approach to calming

someone down, right through to yoga relaxation and meditation. It works well in

conjunction with other relaxation techniques such as Progressive Muscular

Relaxation, relaxation imagery and meditation to reduce stress.

Progressive Muscular Relaxation (PMR):

Progressive Muscular Relaxation is useful for relaxing your body when your

muscles are tense.

Summary:

“Deep Breathing,” “Progressive Muscular Relaxation,” and the steps leading to

the “Relaxation Response” are three good techniques that can help you to relax

your body and manage the symptoms of the fight-or-flight response.

Relaxation & the Relaxation Response:

Multitasking has become a part of our everyday lives. At any given time, most

of us are actively working on, or overseeing, a handful of projects and problems all

at once, making it nearly impossible to slow down and relax.

Avoiding Burnout:

Burnout is a very real threat to people in challenging and stressful

jobs. The feelings of intense tiredness and disillusionment that come

with it bring intense unhappiness, and can spell the end of otherwise

promising and emotionally rewarding careers.

Burnout - An Introduction:

Burnout happens when people who have previously been highly committed to

a job lose all interest and motivation. Sadly, this can spell the end of a successful

career.

Exhaustion – an important factor:

In our article on the mechanisms of stress, we looked at the way that Hans

Selye, one of the founding fathers of stress research, looked at burnout. Over many

hundreds of experiments, Selye looked at the way in which animals handled long-

term stress. What he saw was that after an initial period of adaptation, they

survived very well for quite a long period of time.

Disillusionment – the underlying cause:

The real damage of burnout comes from the sense of deep disillusionment that

lies at its heart.

Symptoms of Burnout:

Given what burnout is, the symptoms of burnout are much as you would

expect them to be. Physical symptoms can include physical fatigue, frequent illness

and sleep problems. Emotional symptoms include disillusionment with the job; the

loss of a sense of meaning and cynicism towards our organizations or clients;

feelings of helplessness; frustration of efforts and a lack of power to change events;

strong feelings of anger against the people we hold responsible for the situation;

and feelings of depression and isolation.

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION:

1) Do you know about the Stress? Table # 1

 No. of

Respondents% of

Respondents

Yes 55 92

No 5 8

Total 60 100

Graph # 1

55

5

60

92

8

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Yes No Total

No. ofRespondents

% of Respondents

Interpretation #

From the above table 92% of the Respondents say ‘yes’ we know about the

‘Stress’, and 8% say ‘No’.

2) Does your organization follow the Stress Management Rules?

Table # 2

 No. of

Respondents% of

Respondents

Fully 25 42

Partially 30 50

No 5 8

Total 60 100

Graph # 2

25 30

5

6042 50

8

100

020406080

100120

Fully

Partial

ly NoTota

l

No. ofRespondents

% ofRespondents

Interpretation:

50% i.e., 30 respondents say that the company partially marinating the stress

management.42% i.e., 25 respondents say that the company fully marinating the

stress management.8% i.e., 5 respondents say that the company did not marinating

the stress management.

3) Is the stress management relevant to jobs held by you?

a) Related b) Not related c) Partially related.

Table # 3

 No. of

Respondents% of

Respondents

Related 35 58

Not Related 3 5

Partially related 22 37

Total 60 100

Graph # 3

35

322

6058

5

37

100

020406080

100120

No. ofRespondents

% ofRespondents

Interpretation:

58% i.e., 35 respondents say that the stress management relevant to jobs

5% i.e., 3 respondents say that the stress management is not relevant to jobs

10% i.e., 5 respondents say that the stress management partially relevant to

jobs.

4) You know more about stress and the negative effects it can have, the

next thing to do is to discover ways that you can decrease stress in your life?

Table # 4

  No. of Respondents

% of Respondents

Change Lifestyle Habits 15 25

Change stressful Situations 19 32

Change thinking 22 37

Others 4 7

Total 60 100

Graph # 4

% of Respondents

25%

32%

36%

7%Change LifestyleHabits

Change stressfulSituations

Change thinking

Others

Interpretation:

Stress and the negative effects it can have, the next thing to do is to discover

ways that employees can decrease stress in their life. And from the above table we

can infer that the 25% of respondents say ‘Change Lifestyle Habits’ (Maintain a

well-balanced diet, Regular exercise). 32% respondents say that ‘Change stressful

Situations’ (Time and money management). 36% say that ‘Change thinking’.

5) Does the Time Management Helpful to you for decrease the ‘Stress’?

No. of Respondents

% of Respondents

Yes 56 93

No 4 7

Total 60 100

Graph # 5

56

4

60

93

7

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Yes No Total

No. ofRespondents

% of Respondents

Interpretation:

From the above table 93% i.e, 56 respondents say that time management

important for reducing the stress, and remaining 7% i.e, 4 respondents say that

time management is not an important issue for reducing the stress.

6) What Causes for your Stress? Table # 6

  No. of % of Respondents

Respondents

Health problems 7 12

Surroundings 5 8

Family problems 10 17

Unhappy with job 8 13

Life Cycle 19 32

Over time Duty 11 18

Total 60 100

Graph # 6

No. of Respondents

7, 12%

5, 8%

10, 17%

8, 13%19, 32%

11, 18% Health problemsSurroundings Family problems

Unhappy with jobLife CycleOver time Duty

Interpretation: Long-term (chronic) stress is the type of stress that causes the

most serious problems. It is caused by a host of irritating hassles over a period of

time, or an ongoing, difficult situation.

7) How well do you deal with your stress? Table # 7

 No. of

Respondents% of

Respondents

Flexibility 19 32

Self-Confidence 16 27

Creativity 13 22

Ability to Learn 12 20

Total 60 100

Graph # 7

Interpretation:

From the above table uses the values employees enter to calculate their score.

The calculation is based on those personality factors-such as flexibility (31%), self-

confidence (27%), creativity (22%), and ability to learn from experience (20%) -

that make people more resilient.

8) What are the common symptoms of stress? Table # 8

No. of Respondents

19, 31%

16, 27%

13, 22%

12, 20%FlexibilitySelf-ConfidenceCreativity

Ability to Learn

 No. of

Respondents% of

Respondents

Rapid Heartbeat 8 13

Headache 25 42

Backache 22 37

Sweating 5 8

Total 60 100

Graph # 8

8

25

22

5

0 20 40 60

Rapid HeartbeatHeadacheBackacheSweating % of Respondents

No. ofRespondents

Interpretation:

42% i.e., 25 respondents says that the common symptoms of stress is mainly

from Headache. 37% i.e, 22 respondents says that the common symptoms of stress

are coming from only ‘Headache’.

And remaining respondents says that from sweating, rapid heartbeat.

9) How do you evaluate your stress? Table # 9

 No. of

Respondents% of

Respondents

Family Or Personal Stress 19 32

Major Changes in Life 25 42

Copping with stress 10 17

Beliefs 6 10

Total 60 100

Graph # 9

No. of Respondents

19, 32%

25, 41%

10, 17%

6, 10%Family OrPersonal Stress

Major Changes inLife

Copping withstressBeliefs

Interpretation:

From the above table we can infer that the 32% ie, 19 members believe that

stress comes from ‘Family or personal problems’, 41% (25) respondents say that

can be arise from the ‘Major changes in life’, and others say that from copping

with stress and Beliefs.

10) How can you relieve ‘Stress’? Table # 10

 No. of

Respondents% of

Respondents

Writing 6 10

Expressing Feelings 19 32

Mindfulness Activities 25 42

Physical Exercise 10 17

Total 60 100

Graph # 10

6

19

25

10

0 20 40 60Writing

Expressing Feelings

Mindfulness Activ

...

Physical E

xercise

% of Respondents

No. ofRespondents

Interpretation:

In these situation 42% respondents say that they can relieve themselves from the stress through mind related activities i.e ‘Yoga, Meditation and etc., 32% respondents say that they can express their feeling, and then they feel relieved from the stress.

11) How can you relieve your unnecessary ‘Stress’? Table # 11

 No. of

Respondents% of

Respondents

Managing Time 28 47

Build Healthy ness 12 20

Lifestyle 10 17

Social Support 6 10

Treatment from other conditions 4 7

Total 60 100

Graph # 11

No. of Respondents

28, 50%

12, 21%

10, 18%

6, 11%Managing Time

Build Healthy ness

Lifestyle

Social Support

Interpretation:

Avoid unnecessary stress, because stress is unavoidable in life, it is important

to find ways to decrease and prevent stressful incidents and decrease employee

negative reactions to stress. Following are activities to helps employees do this.

Managing Time Build Healthy habits Lifestyle Social Support Treatment from other conditions.

12) How is problem solving used to manage stress? Table # 12

 No. of

Respondents% of

Respondents

Brain Storm 22 37

Behavior 20 33

Thoughts 12 20

Feelings 6 10

Total 60 100

Graph # 12

22 2012

6

05

10152025303540

No. of Respondents

% of Respondents

Interpretation:

37% i.e, 22 respondents say that problem solving used to manage stress

through the ‘Brain Storm.

33% i.e, 20 respondents say that problem solving used to manage stress

through the ‘Behaviour’.

20% i.e, 12 respondents say that problem solving used to manage stress

through the ‘Thoughts’.

10% i.e, 6 respondents say that problem solving used to manage stress through

the ‘Feelings’.

13) What professional help is available in your organization?

Table # 13

 No. of

Respondents% of

Respondents

Cognitive-Behavioral 24 40

Biofeedback 27 45

Other programs 9 15

Total 60 100

Graph # 13

No. of Respondents

24, 40%

27, 45%

9, 15%

Congitive-BehavioralBiofeedbackOther programs

Interpretation:

Stress can be overwhelming. If this is the case, employees may want to seek

outside help from a professional counselor or other health professional. This can

help employees find a number of approaches to reducing the symptoms of stress

and help employees decrease the stress in their life.

In the above table 45% respondents say that Biofeedback is available to

decrease their stress, and 40% respondents say that Cognitive Behavioral.

14) The major sources of job stress in organization?

Table # 14

  No. of Respondents % of Respondents

Control 15 25

Competence 11 18

Clarity 13 22

Communication 10 17

Support 7 12

Significance 4 7

Total 60 100

Graph # 14

No. of Respondents

15, 24%

11, 18%13, 22%

10, 17%

7, 12%

4, 7% ControlCompetenceClarity

CommunicationSupportSignificance

Interpretation:

Job stress comes in many different forms and affects employee’s body in

various ways. Minor sources of stress may include equipment that won't work or

phones that won't quit ringing. Major stress comes from having too much work, not

having enough work, doing work that is unfulfilling, fearing a job layoff, or not

getting along with their boss.

15) Does the company taking precautions for employees stress?

Table # 15

 No. of

Respondents% of

Respondents

Yes 36 60

No 24 40

Total 60 100

Graph # 15

3624

6060

40

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Yes No Total

No. ofRespondents

% of Respondents

Interpretation:

We can infer from the above table, 60% ie, 36 respondents say that the

organization taking precautions for employees stress, and 40% i.e, 24 respondents

say that organization taking precautions for employees stress.

       

Conclusions and suggestions:

Learning about stress:

Stress is what Monarch employee feels when they have to handle more than

they are used to. When employees are stressed, their body responds as though they

are in danger.

The good news is that they can learn ways to manage stress. To get stress under

control:

Find out what is causing stress in their life.

Look for ways to reduce the amount of stress in their life.

Learn healthy ways to relieve stress.

Stress is a fact of life for most people. While employees may not be able to get

rid of stress, they can look for ways to lower it.

Learn better ways to manage time. Employees may get more done

with less stress if they make a schedule. Think about prioritizing the most

important and doing them first.

Find better ways to cope with. Look at how they have been dealing

with stress. Be honest about what works and what does not. Think about

other things that might work better.

Take good care of their-self. Get plenty of rest. Eat well. Do not

smoke. Limit the alcohol you drink.

Try out new ways of thinking. When employees find self starting to

worry, try to stop the thoughts. Work on letting go of things they cannot

change. Learn to say “no.”

The best ways to relieve stress are different for each person. Try some of these

ideas to see which ones work for employees:

Exercise. Regular exercise is one of the best ways to manage stress.

Walking is a great way to get started.

Write. It can really help to write about the things that are bothering

them.

Let employee’s feelings out. Talk, laugh, cry, and express anger when

they need to.

Do something they enjoy. A hobby can help to relax. Voluntary work

or work that helps others can be a great stress reliever.

Learn ways to relax body. This can include breathing exercises,

muscle relaxation exercises, massage, aromatherapy, yoga, or relaxing

exercises.

Practice “being in the moment.” Try meditation, imagery exercises, or

self-hypnosis. Listen to relaxing music. Try to look for the humor in life.

Laughter really can be the best medicine.

Chronic stress can be caused by an ongoing stressful situation such as:

Family or relationship problems.

Caring for a family member who is elderly, has chronic health

problems, or is disabled. Care giving is a major source of stress. For more

information, see the topic Caregiver Tips.

Job stress.

A family member who is under stress.

The major sources of job stress fall into seven categories:

Control. This factor is the most closely related to job stress. Studies

show that workers who believe that they have a great deal of responsibility

but little control or decision-making power in their jobs are at increased risk

for cardiovascular disease and other stress-related illnesses.

Competence. Are employees concerned about their ability to perform

well? Are they challenged enough, but not too much? Do employees feel

secure in their job? Job insecurity is a major source of stress for many

people.

Clarity. Feeling uncertain about what employees duties are, how they

may be changing, or what their department's or organization's goals are can

lead to stress.

Communication. Workplace tension often results from poor

communication, which in turn increases job stress. An inability to express

their concerns, frustrations, or other emotions can also lead to increased

stress.

Support. Feeling unsupported by their coworkers may make it harder

to resolve other problems at work that are causing employee stress.

Significance. If employees don't find their job meaningful or take

pride in it, they may find it stressful.

Increased responsibilities. Assuming additional responsibilities in

their job can be stressful.

Ways to decrease STRESS:

Now that employees know more about stress and the negative effects it can

have, the next thing to do is to discover ways that they can decrease stress in their

life. Here are a few suggestions:

Change lifestyle habits:

Decrease caffeine intake (coffee, tea, and colas, chocolate).

Maintain a well-balanced diet

Decrease consumption of junk food

Eat slowly

Regular exercise (at least 30 minutes, three times per week).

Adequate sleep (figure out what you need, and then get it).

Time-outs and Leisure time (do something for you every day).

Relaxation exercises (e.g., breathing practice, imagery).

Change stressful situations and how ‘Monarch PVC’ approaches them:

Time and money management.

Assertiveness (rather than avoidance or aggressiveness).

Learn appropriate use of problem-solving coping skills

Change thinking:

Realistic Expectations (when expectations are more realistic, life

seems more manageable)

Keep a sense of humor. It’s important to be able to see the humor in

the things we sometimes say and do.

Have a support system

Reframe negative thoughts so that you focus on the positive

Challenge catastrophic thinking using cognitive restructuring.

Problem solving helps you overcome complex stressful events:

Identify all aspects of a stressful event, including behavior, thoughts, and

feelings. For example, if Monarch employees have just been laid off from their job,

they need to identify:

Behaviors, such as the need to look for another job, earn money for

employee’s families, and make other adjustments in their life.

Negative thoughts, such as "I'll never get another job."

Negative feelings, such as anger and depression.

FINDINGS

Take good care of their-self. Get plenty of rest. Eat well.

Do not smoke. Limit how much alcohol you drink.

Find out what is causing stress in their life.

Look for ways to reduce the amount of stress in their

life.

Learn healthy ways to relieve stress

Majority of employees are facing stress because of their

job.

The work load increases sometimes,there by causing

stress to employees.

Strict,long and unpredictable working hour’s leads to

stress in the employees.

Most of the employees felt that their stress level is

affecting their faily members.

SUGGESTIONS

Learn ways to relax body. This can include breathing exercises,

muscle relaxation exercises, massage, aromatherapy, yoga, or relaxing

exercises.

Practice “being in the moment.” Try meditation, imagery exercises, or

self-hypnosis. Listen to relaxing music. Try to look for the humor in life.

Laughter really can be the best medicine.

Effective management is one way to reduse stress.

Employees should take short breake to refresh their minds.

Learn better ways to manage time. Employees may get more done

with less stress if they make a schedule. Think about prioritizing the most

important and doing them first.

Find better ways to cope with. Look at how they have been dealing

with stress. Be honest about what works and what does not. Think about

other things that might work better.

Since stress is inevitable, employees should be traine to cope with

stress i.e.,

QUESTIONNAIRE

Employee Details

Name of the Employee

Designation& evelopment

Educational Qualification

Experience

1) Do you know about the Stress?

a) Yes b) No

2) Does your organization follow the Stress Management Rules?

a) Fully b) Partially c) No

3) Is the stress management relevant to jobs held by you?

a) Related b) Not related c) Partially related.

4) You know more about stress and the negative effects it can have, the

next thing to do is to discover ways that you can decrease stress in your life?

a) Change lifestyle habits b) Change stressful situations

c) Change thinking d) others

5) Does the Time Management Helpful to you for decrease the ‘Stress’?

a) Yes b) No

6) What Causes for your Stress?

a) Health problems b) Surroundings c) Family problems

d) Unhappy with job e) Life Cycle f) Over time duty

7) How well do you deal with your stress?

a) Flexibility b) self-confidence

c) creativity d) ability to learn from experience

8) What are the common symptoms of stress?

a) Rapid heartbeat b) Headache

c) Backache d) Sweating

9) How do you evaluate your stress?

a) Family or Personal Stressb) Major changes in life

c) Copping with stress d) Beliefs

10) How can you relieve ‘Stress’?

a) Writing b) Expressing Feelings

c) Mindfulness activities d) Physical Exercise

11) How can you relieve your unnecessary ‘Stress’?

a) Managing Time b) Build healthy coping strategies

c) Lifestyle d) Social Support

e) Changing thinking f) Treatment Form other conditions

12) How is problem solving used to manage stress?

a) Brain storm b) Behavior

c) Thoughts d) Feelings

13) What professional help is available in your organization?

a) Cognitive-behavioral therapy b) Biofeedback

c) Other Programs

14) The major sources of job stress in organization?

a) Control b) Competence c) Clarity

d) Communication e) Support f) Significance

15) Does the company taking precautions for employees stress?

a) Yes b) No

BIBLOGRAPHY:

BOOKS:

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

By K.Aswathappa.

Personal Management

By C.B.Momoria, S.V.Gankar.

Personnel and Human Resource Management

By SubbaRao.P

Sites:

www.google.co.in