Stress Management Techniques

[Dwayne]

What techniques are being employed by the corporate organizations for stress management of their employees, and are they really beneficial and what extent are they successful in implementing these techniques?

[FBN]

The first obstacle here is for most organisations to realise and accept that there is such an entity!

There are more than 250 accepted individual aspects to stress management and any program may involve any number of combinations of these. This usually depends on the training and skill of the practitioner and the specific work environment or group of people he/she has to work with.

Equally, as it is such a difficult aspect of workplace hazard and risk assessment to quantify, the outcomes or impacts of the stress management programs are difficult to evaluate.

A literature search on the outcomes of these programs will usually not deliver any concrete evidence of the efficacy of any individual program or part of a program above another.

Most corporations, that I am aware of, are reactive in their management of this. They would provide Employee Assistance Programs that usually involves counselling etc. This is mostly after the fact and not really within the scope of a Stress Management program which would be designed or intended to be preventative or proactive.

Perhaps, as this forum has valuably produced in the past, there are some individuals out there who have been through such a program and can provide some useful inputs??

[tim armstrong]

The first obstacle here is for most organisations to realise and accept that there is such an entity!

There are more than 250 accepted individual aspects to stress management and any program may involve any number of combinations of these. This usually depends on the training and skill of the practitioner and the specific work environment or group of people he/she has to work with.

Equally, as it is such a difficult aspect of workplace hazard and risk assessment to quantify, the outcomes or impacts of the stress management programs are difficult to evaluate.

A literature search on the outcomes of these programs will usually not deliver any concrete evidence of the efficacy of any individual program or part of a program above another.

Most corporations, that I am aware of, are reactive in their management of this. They would provide Employee Assistance Programs that usually involves counselling etc. This is mostly after the fact and not really within the scope of a Stress Management program which would be designed or intended to be preventative or proactive.

Perhaps, as this forum has valuably produced in the past, there are some individuals out there who have been through such a program and can provide some useful inputs??

Some very useful observations FBN. I have been through and presented stress management programs in public and private sector organisations for 20years. The success depends on all the factors above as well as the motivations of the organisation and the employees. At one end there used to be public sector bodies that had to spend end of financial year budgets on something. Stress management programs were feel good, 2 day affairs away from the office, that often included much partying.

At the other end some larger organisations responded to an identified need - eg. safety concerns in high risk jobs, staff groups exposed to high levels of mental trauma, police, nurses, and managers affected by restructuring, downsizing, etc. Its important therefore to identify both personal and organisational stressors.

Programs seem to work best when conducted over a long timeframe ie. 3 sessions at 1or 2 month intervals, organised to allow changes and new coping mechanisms to be tested, rather than one off, motivational events. Psychological approaches are many, but often easy to learn, simple relaxation techniques have a big impact. Input on organisational communication, team building, change management, and conflict resolution can also be included in sessions.

Often, and at all levels of the organisation, stress is caused by staff losing sight of what it is they are supposed to be doing, with petty bickering, mistrust loss of productivity and accountability being the outcome. I think its also important for managers and funders to engage a consultant to work with over time and not to go with each new 'cure all' workshop that offers to fix their problems, and to carefully assess and plan workshops well ahead.

In the current financial turmoil there is going to be plenty of work for competent stress management consultants.