Page 282 - DMGT106_MANAGING_HUMAN_ELEMENTS_AT_WORK
P. 282

Managing Human Element at Work



                        Notes          more companies are exploring this option. Finally, organizations try to help employees cope
                                       with stress through other kinds of programmes. For example, existing career development
                                       programmes, like the one at General Electric, are used for this purpose. Other companies use
                                       programmes that promote everything from humour to massage as antidotes for stress. Of
                                       course, little or no research supports some of the claims made by advocates of these
                                       programmes.

                                                     Managers must take steps to ensure that any organizational effort to help
                                                     employees cope with stress is at least reasonably effective.





                                                     The Stress of Leadership


                                              eing aware of the sources of personal stress is an important step in managing and
                                              mitigating its negative effects. By first understanding where in the workplace stress
                                        Bemanates from, leaders can more effectively and directly manage it. The leaders
                                        surveyed provided a number of ways in which they manage stress, and they also provided
                                        insights into how they manage stress from specific sources.
                                        Demands on Leaders

                                        As the number of demands placed upon leaders increases, so does the level of stress.
                                        Relationship building and dealing with conflicts, as well as decision making and job
                                        responsibilities, are the most frequent demands contributing to increased levels of stress for
                                        leaders. Also adding to the sources of stress are leadership demands such as developing
                                        people and managing limited resources. Many leaders are also finding physical demands
                                        such as travel, work hours and the work environment compounding their levels of stress.

                                        Leadership Demands
                                        When asked what demands contribute most to a leader’s stress, 28 percent of responses
                                        described having a lack of resources and time. Stress is caused by trying to do more with
                                        less, and to do it faster. Workloads, budget cuts and travel are demands that create stress.
                                        Leadership demands that take time away from the leader’s primary job responsibilities are
                                        another source of stress. These demands include long or frequent meetings and navigating
                                        organizational bureaucracies. Developing others is another leadership demand causing
                                        stress. Motivating employees, resolving conflicts and providing feedback were examples of
                                        stressful leadership demands. Establishing and maintaining relationships was also seen as
                                        a stressful leadership demand. These demands included dealing with difficult personalities
                                        and relationship building with peers and bosses.

                                        Interpersonal Demands
                                        As relationships were a central theme of recent CCL polls and research, we asked participants
                                        to provide the interpersonal demands that caused the most stress for them as leaders. The
                                        most frequent interpersonal demand causing leaders stress is dealing with the negative
                                        aspects of interpersonal relationships. Twenty-one percent of responses revealed that leaders
                                        experience stress from interpersonal conflicts, political maneuvering and dishonesty.
                                        Overcoming job-related constraints to maintaining interpersonal relationships is a source of
                                        stress. Leaders find it stressful allocating time to connect with others interpersonally because
                                        of meetings, travel and workloads. Additionally, personal insecurity dealt mainly with
                                        stress over how best to communicate and present to others. Examples include giving
                                        developmental feedback and being more patient with employees.
                                                                                                             contd...


             276                              LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY
   277   278   279   280   281   282   283   284   285   286   287