EMPLOYEE HEALTH AND SAFETYEMPLOYEE HEALTH AND SAFETYEMPLOYEE HEALTH AND SAFETYEMPLOYEE HEALTH AND SAFETY
Stress in the workplace
Employee wellness
Work-life balance
Beryl Baterina
March 3, 2012
EMPLOYEE HEALTH AND
EMPLOYEE HEALTH AND SAFETYEMPLOYEE HEALTH AND SAFETYEMPLOYEE HEALTH AND SAFETYEMPLOYEE HEALTH AND SAFETY
Stress in the workplace
This Handout belongs to:
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EMPLOYEE HEALTH AND SAFETY March 3, 2012
EMPLOYEE HEALTH AND SAFETYEMPLOYEE HEALTH AND SAFETYEMPLOYEE HEALTH AND SAFETYEMPLOYEE HEALTH AND SAFETY
This Handout belongs to:
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March 3, 2012 EMPLOYEE HEALTH AND
Objectives:
� To be able to share insights about health and
safety awareness
� To be able to share insights about stress
prevention
� To be able to share insights about wellness and
work-life balance promotion
Health
A general state of physical, emotional, and
mental well-being.
Safety
Condition in which the physical well
people is protected.
Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC)
Established in the Employees Compensation
Commission under E.O. 307 to cover the
preventive aspects of occupational safety and
health in every workplace, public or private
Work accidents
Unplanned or unexpected occurrence that may
or may not result in personal injury, property
damage, work stoppage or interference or any
combination thereof, which arises out of and in
the course of employment.
EMPLOYEE HEALTH AND SAFETY
To be able to share insights about health and
To be able to share insights about stress
To be able to share insights about wellness and
A general state of physical, emotional, and
Condition in which the physical well-being of
Center (OSHC)
stablished in the Employees Compensation
Commission under E.O. 307 to cover the
preventive aspects of occupational safety and
health in every workplace, public or private
Unplanned or unexpected occurrence that may
t result in personal injury, property
damage, work stoppage or interference or any
combination thereof, which arises out of and in
Causes of Accidents
EMPLOYEE HEALTH AND SAFETY March 3, 2012
Stress in the Workplace
The Workplace Stress Scale™
Copyright © The Marlin Company, North Haven, CT, and the American Institute of Stress, Yonkers, NY
Directions: Thinking about your current job, how often does each of the following statements describe how you feel?
Never Rarely Sometimes Often Very Often
A. Conditions at work are unpleasant or
sometimes even unsafe. 1 2 3 4 5
B. I feel that my job is negatively affecting my
physical or emotional well being. 1 2 3 4 5
C. I have too much work to do and/or too
many unreasonable deadlines. 1 2 3 4 5
D. I find it difficult to express my opinions or
feelings about my job conditions to my
superiors.
1 2 3 4 5
E. I feel that job pressures interfere with my
family or personal life. 1 2 3 4 5
F. I have adequate control or input over my
work duties. 5 4 3 2 1
G. I receive appropriate recognition or
rewards for good performance. 5 4 3 2 1
H. I am able to utilize my skills and talents to
the fullest extent at work. 5 4 3 2 1
Total Score: __________ Interpretation: ________________________________________
What Is Stress?
Stress is a dynamic condition in which an individual is confronted with an opportunity, constraint, or demand
related to what he/she desires and for which the outcome is perceived to be both uncertain and important.
Stress is not necessarily bad in and of itself. Individuals often use stress positively to rise to the occasion and
perform at or near their maximum.
Stress is associated with constraints and demands. The former prevent you from doing what you desire. The
latter refers to the loss of something desired.
March 3, 2012 EMPLOYEE HEALTH AND SAFETY
Potential Sources of Stress
Environmental factors
• Environmental uncertainty influences stress
levels among employees in an organization.
• Changes in the business cycle create economic
uncertainties.
• Political uncertainties can be stress inducing.
• Technological uncertainty can cause stress
because new innovations can make an
employee’s skills and experience obsolete in a
very short period of time.
Organizational factors
• Pressures to avoid errors or complete tasks in a
limited time period, work overload, a
demanding and insensitive boss, and
unpleasant co-workers are a few examples.
Task demands are factors related to a person’s
job. They include the design of the individual’s
job (autonomy, task variety, degree of
automation), working conditions, and the
physical work layout.
• Role demands relate to pressures that are a
function of the role an individual plays in an
organization.
a. Role conflicts create expectations that may
be hard to reconcile or satisfy.
b. Role overload is experienced when the
employee is expected to do more than time
permits.
c. Role ambiguity is created when role
expectations are not clearly understood.
• Interpersonal demands are pressures created
by other employees.
• Organizational structure defines the level of
differentiation in the organization, the degree
of rules and regulations, and where decisions
are made. Excessive rules and lack of
participation in decisions might be potential
sources of stress.
EMPLOYEE HEALTH AND SAFETY March 3, 2012
• Organizational leadership represents the
managerial style of the organization’s senior
executives.
a. Organizations go through a cycle.
b. They’re established, they grow, become
mature, and eventually decline.
c. An organization’s life stage—that is, where
it is in this four-stage cycle—creates
different problems and pressures for
employees.
d. The establishment and decline stages are
particularly stressful.
Individual factors
• These are factors in the employee’s personal
life. Primarily, these factors are family issues,
personal economic problems, and inherent
personality characteristics.
• National surveys consistently show that people
hold family and personal relationships dear.
• Economic problems created by individuals
overextending their financial resources.
• A significant individual factor influencing stress
is a person’s basic dispositional nature.
Individual Differences
Five individual difference variables moderate the
relationship between potential stressors and
experienced stress:
• perception
• job experience
• locus of control
• self-efficacy
• hostility. Perception
• Moderates the relationship between a potential
stress condition and an employee’s reaction to
it. Stress potential doesn’t lie in objective
conditions; it lies in an employee’s
interpretation of those conditions. Job experience
• The evidence indicates that experience on the
job tends to be negatively related to work
stress.
a. First is the idea of selective withdrawal.
Voluntary turnover is more probable among
people who experience more stress.
b. Second, people eventually develop coping
mechanisms to deal with stress.
c. Collegial relationships with co-workers or
supervisors can buffer the impact of stress. Locus of control
• Those with an internal locus of control believe
they control their own destiny.
a. Internals perceive their jobs to be less
stressful than do externals.
b. Internals are likely to believe that they can
have a significant effect on the results.
• Those with an external locus believe their lives
are controlled by outside forces.
a. Externals are more likely to be passive and
feel helpless. Self-efficacy
• The confidence in one’s own abilities appears to
decrease stress Hostility
• People who are quick to anger, maintain a
persistently hostile outlook, and project a
cynical mistrust of others are more likely to
experience stress in situations.
Consequences of Stress
Stress shows itself in a number of ways—
physiological, psychological, and behavioral
symptoms.
Physiological symptoms:
• Most of the early concern with stress was
directed at physiological symptoms due to the
fact that specialists in the health and medical
sciences researched the topic.
• Physiological symptoms have the least direct
relevance to students of OB.
Psychological symptoms:
• Job-related stress can cause job-related
dissatisfaction.
• Job dissatisfaction is “the simplest and most
obvious psychological effect” of stress.
March 3, 2012 EMPLOYEE HEALTH AND SAFETY
• Multiple and conflicting demands—lack of
clarity as to the incumbent’s duties, authority,
and responsibilities—increase stress and
dissatisfaction.
• The less control people have over the pace of
their work, the greater the stress and
dissatisfaction.
Behavioral symptoms:
• Behaviorally related stress symptoms include
changes in productivity, absence, and turnover,
as well as changes in eating habits, increased
smoking or consumption of alcohol, rapid
speech, fidgeting, and sleep disorders.
Managing Stress
High or low levels of stress sustained over long periods
of time, can lead to reduced employee performance
and, thus, require action by management.
Individual approaches:
• Effective individual strategies include
implementing time management techniques,
increasing physical exercise, relaxation training,
and expanding the social support network.
• Practicing time management principles such as:
a. making daily lists of activities to be
accomplished.
b. prioritizing activities by importance and
urgency.
c. scheduling activities according to the
priorities set.
d. knowing your daily cycle and handling the
most demanding parts of your job during
the high part of your cycle when you are
most alert and productive.
• Noncompetitive physical exercise has long been
recommended as a way to deal with excessive
stress levels.
• Individuals can teach themselves to reduce
tension through relaxation techniques such as
meditation, hypnosis, and biofeedback.
• Having friends, family, or work colleagues to
talk to provides an outlet for excessive stress.
Organizational approaches
• Strategies that management might want to
consider include:
a. improved personnel selection and job
placement
b. use of realistic goal setting, redesigning of
jobs
c. training
d. increased employee involvement
e. improved organizational communication
f. establishment of corporate wellness
programs.
Employee Wellness
What is wellness program?
• Organizationally supported programs that focus
on the employees’ total physical and mental
condition.
6 Dimensions of Wellness
1. Intellectual Wellness
• Encourages creative, stimulating and mental
activities. An intellectually well person uses all
resources available to expand his or her
knowledge. The intellectually well person is a
lifelong learner.
2. Occupational Wellness
• Encourages preparing for work that one will
gain personal satisfaction and find enrichment.
Occupational wellness is related to one’s
attitude about his or her work and to wellness
promotion.
3. Spiritual Wellness
• Involves seeking meaning and purpose in
existence. It includes the development of a
deep appreciation for the depth and expanse of
life and for the natural forces that exist in the
universe
EMPLOYEE HEALTH AND SAFETY March 3, 2012
4. Social Wellness
• Encourages contributing to the human and
physical environment and to the common
welfare of the community. Social wellness
emphasizes interdependence with others and
nature. It includes the pursuit of harmony in
one’s family.
5. Physical Wellness
• Encourages the development of cardiovascular
endurance, flexibility and strength through
regular physical activity. Physical wellness
encourages knowledge about food and
nutrition, and discourages excessive alcohol
consumption and use of tobacco and drugs. It
encourages medical self-care and appropriate
use of medical systems. It also advocates sexual
behavior that is responsible, safe and healthy.
6. Emotional Wellness
• Emphasizes awareness and acceptance of one’s
feelings. Emotional wellness is a capacity to
appropriately control feelings and related
behaviors including the realistic assessment of
limitations, development of autonomy and
ability to cope effectively with stress. The
emotionally well person maintains satisfying
relationships with others.
Wellness Programs
� Employee Assistance Program
� Health Information Newsletter
� Health Assessment
� Fitness Program
� Nutrition Clinic
� Needs and Interest Survey
� Retreat/Recollection
Contests
Question: In your company, what wellness
programs do you give to the employees?
Work-life Balance
• It is not about being perfect
• It is not about being right
• It is not about being clever or having all the
answers
• It is not about being a superwoman or
superman
• About staying connected
o To our self
o To our values
o To the relationships we create along the
way
o To work and actions that are
meaningful
Balance
• Living truthfully
• Having a job that feels rewarding
• Working with integrity
• Giving attention to oneself, to our family, to our
friends
• Remembering to breathe
• Having time to take care of my own health, my
needs for rest, exercise, giving my body good
food, for the people we love
Tips for Better Work-life Balance
1. Build downtime in our schedule
2. Drop activities that sap our time or energy
3. Rethink our errands
4. Let’s get moving
5. Remembering that a little relaxation goes a long
way
6. Put our health first
7. Let go of perfection
8. Let go of our arrogance that we can do it all and
ask for help
9. Look for the joke
10. Pay attention to the people in your lives
March 3, 2012 EMPLOYEE HEALTH AND
Our work we do is important...
....but it is not our whole life
Sources:
Robbins, S. (2001). Organizational Behavior
India: Pearson Education Asia Pte Ltd.
Dessler, G. (2005). Human Resource Management
Edition). Florida: Prentice Hall.
Uscher, J. (2012, February). 5 Tips for Better Work
Balance. WebMD. Retrieved from
http://www.webmd.com/ balance/guide/5
strategies-for-life-balance
EMPLOYEE HEALTH AND SAFETY
Our work we do is important...
....but it is not our whole life
Organizational Behavior (9th Edition).
Pearson Education Asia Pte Ltd.
Human Resource Management (10th
. 5 Tips for Better Work-life
from
http://www.webmd.com/ balance/guide/5-
Notes: