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