How to Recognise and Deal with Stress in the Workplace

Stress, simply put, is a person’s natural reaction to the demands and pressures of everyday life, both in the workplace and in our personal lives. Appropriate amounts of stress can stimulate and motivate all of us into action. This in itself is not a harmful or dangerous thing; indeed it is quite necessary.

However if the demands and pressures we face are too great, or are prolonged, the stress we experience can become harmful. In this difficult economy, workplace stress is a very real occurrenceStress in the workplace reduces productivity, increases management pressures, and makes people ill in many ways, evidence of which is still increasing. Workplace stress affects the performance of the brain, including functions of work performance; memory, concentration, and learning.Typical causes of workplace stress

· Lack of job security
· Lack of recognition
· Bullying or harassment, by anyone, not necessarily a person's manager
· Feeling powerless and uninvolved in determining one's own responsibilities
· Continuous unreasonable performance demands
· Lack of effective communication and conflict resolution
· Long working hours
· Excessive time away from home and family
· Office politics and conflict among staff
· A feeling that the reward is not congruent with the responsibility

How to Recognise Stress

Stress can be the cause of certain behavioural changes and as managers, it is not only important to recognise this in your self, but also those around you. Here are some clues as to what may be going on:-
· It may be hard to concentrate and remain focused on tasks in hand.
· It can become easy to lose the thread of what is being thought or said, even in mid–sentence.
· Memory, even for familiar things, declines.
· As a result of all these above, more errors are made than was previously the norm.
· The ability to relax, to feel good or happy, to ‘switch off’ anxiety reduces.
· Personality traits or standards might change
· Feelings of self-esteem and competence might diminish.

How to Deal with Stress

· Improve communication
· Share information with employees to reduce uncertainty about their jobs and futures.
· Clearly define employees’ roles and responsibilities.
· Make communication friendly and efficient, not mean-spirited or petty.
· Consult your employees
· Give workers opportunities to participate in decisions that affect their jobs.
· Consult employees about scheduling and work rules.
· Be sure the workload is suitable to employees’ abilities and resources; avoid unrealistic deadlines.
· Show that individual workers are valued.
· Offer rewards and incentives
· Praise good work performance verbally and institutionally.
· Provide opportunities for career development.
· Make management actions consistent with organisational values.
Stress is just an emotion and it is important that we feel no attachment to it. When you notice any of these clues to stress, just allow either yourself (or your staff member if applicable) to become aware of the emotion and to feel it rather than try to ignore it. It is when we ignore and stuff down our emotions that we incur problems.

Yvonne Bleakley is the manager's mentor, director of http://www.coachuk.ltd.uk/ and creator of The Silent Motivator System, the proven step-by-step programme to maximise staff and gain true respect and commitment.

Download your free e-book "How to Maximise your Staff and Gain Respect" at http://www.silentmotivator.com/

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Do You Play The Blame Game?

When something goes wrong, most organisations and managers need someone to blame and almost instigate a hunt to put a name to the culprit without ever thinking of the impact that this has on employees. If this is what is going on in your organisation then all employees will do is try to cover up mistakes and hide problems hoping that no one will find out. Genuine mistakes may go unnoticed and un-reported which may lead to even greater problems in the future. The result is that nothing ever gets resolved.

However, the impact of harnessing a blame culture is far greater that unresolved issues. Staff will lack initiative and creativity in case they make a mistake and are more concerned with covering their own back rather than engaging in more productive actions. If any staff member receives negative feedback for their actions, then this will soon become common knowledge within the workplace, especially if they have been dealt with harshly. They will start to loose trust and respect for their leaders.

If you use or hear such language as “who is responsible for this” or “when will they ever learn?” then this is the language of a blame culture. Rather than being focused on learning how to improve the situation or on the solution, this is focusing on finding someone to blame because it is always someone else’s fault.

So how do you move from a blame culture towards a culture where people feel empowered to take responsibility and feel personally accountable to solving problems?

Recognise that everybody makes mistakes.
Thank people for bringing problems to your attention.
Praise what people have achieved.
Take responsibility for your own actions.
Clarify what lessons can be learnt.
Recognise staff for identifying problems early and for suggesting improvements.

There is no such thing as failure, only results. If we learn from our results, then we can never fail.
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