Organisational Behaviour And Leadership BMG381 PDF

ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR AND LEADERSHIP BMG381 BY MRS MWONDELA-SUSIKU  Outline What is stress? General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) Causes of stress Effects of stress on employee behaviour Individual approaches to stress management...

ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR AND LEADERSHIP BMG381 BY MRS MWONDELA-SUSIKU  Outline What is stress? General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) Causes of stress Effects of stress on employee behaviour Individual approaches to stress management Organisational approaches to stress management  What is Stress? Psychologists define stress as “strain experienced by an individual over a period of time which impairs the ability of the individual to perform his or her roles”. It is vital to the survival of the individual because it prepares the individual to fight or take flight. However, an excessive level of this stress may not be tolerated by the body and it has a number of adverse effects. The level of uncertainty and the degree of importance will determine the amount of stress one feels.  What is Stress? Conts… A stress response is a mental and physical reaction to a stressor. Stressors are objects, events and situations in our physical and social environment that make a demand on our minds and bodies. Through mental perception stressors may either be perceived as positive or as negative. For instance, negative reaction to the stressor could arise where one believes that he is inadequate to control the situation e.g assignment deadline. In such an instance the individual could react with fear or panic.  Eustress v. Distress Eustress (challenge stress) is experienced when we respond to a request from a superior at work (stressor). This means that it is a positive mental or physical reaction that energizes and concentrates our effort to perform well. However, if we experience that same request as a threat to our job prospects, then we are experiencing distress. Distress is a negative mental or physical reaction to stress that always involves a mix of anger or fear. Distress usually means that the employee is unsuccessful in adapting to or removing the stressor from his work environment.  Stress Experiment An extensive surveys conducted on 45, 000 employees by North Western Life Insurance Company found that: employees with high levels of stress were found to be three times as likely as employees reporting low work stress to experience problems in their lives or work due directly to the stress that they experience on the job. Also, employers of those with high stress levels reported that these employees: made more physical and mental health insurance claims were less productive exhibited more outbursts on the job and exhibited more turnover, absenteeism and substance abuse.  General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) Professor Hans Selye coined the expression General Adaptation Syndrome for the process that governs human beings’ adjustment to stressors in their environments. According to Selye, this process involves the alarm stage , resistance stage and exhaustion stage. Two people with the same job can have totally different perceptions of stressors and opposite reactions to them. E.g, an experienced professional who has had successful past reviews on his project performance will not experience distress from an announcement of an oncoming review as much as a newly appointed professional would.  The body and mind prepare to fight or flight Resistance Adaption mechanisms can include increasing heart Stage Arises from chronic exposure to a stressor. rate, respiration, muscle The body tries to re- The body begins to wear tension, blood sugar level establish normal state using down and stress related etc more resources to adapt to illness may result This is done in alignment the stressor e.g less sleep with the endocrine system this stage arises from accepting the emotions and experiences of stage one Exhaustion Alarm Stage Stage  Causes and Consequences of Stress Kenneth Cooper identified three categories of causes of job stress: environmental, organisational and individual and three categories of consequences of job stress: physiological, psychological and behavioural. Environmental causes include economic uncertainty, political uncertainty and technological uncertainty. Organisational factors include task demands, role demands, interpersonal demands, organisational structure, organisational life-cycle stage. Individual causes include family problems and financial problems. There are, however, differences in the experience of stress between individuals owing to differences in perception, job experience, locus of control and Type A behaviour.  Causes and Consequences of Stress conts… For consequences, physiological consequences include headaches, high blood pressure, and heart disease. Physiological symptoms are the changes in our body’s metabolism caused by our interpretations of stressors. Psychological symptoms, including sleep disturbance, depression, anxiety, and decline in job satisfaction. Psychological symptoms may include mental related problems such as depression. Behavioural symptoms of stress are seen in productivity level, attendance pattern, quitting the job, incidents of accidents, and substance abuse.  Managing Stress Generally, three broad approaches may be singled out in the management of stress. These include attacking the source of stress, obtaining support from the organization or society, healthful diet, and relaxation techniques. Attacking the source of the stress involves either eliminating or modifying the stressor (e.g. change job to a less stressful one); place the stressful situation in perspective (meaning replace unrealistic and highly pessimistic thinking with more realistic or optimistic thinking); or gaining control of the situation.  Managing Stress conts… Individual Approaches to Managing Stress Exercise Relaxation Diet Managing time effectively Being realistic Problem sharing Self defeating behaviour tendency to intentionally or unintentionally engage in activities or attitude that work against the best interests of the doer. Resilience is the ability to withstand pressure and come out stronger than before.  Managing Stress conts… Organisational Programmes of Stress Management Reward performance and productivity (not time spent working) Encourage employees to live by their values and encourage others to live by theirs. (to reduce role conflict stress) Provide opportunities where employees can express themselves (formal and informal setups) Ensure that employees are well trained before introduction of new technology (including new methods and/or processes) Provide quick feedback to employees on performance  Managing Stress conts… Ensure that the work place has a pleasant environment for employees to work Provide alternative work systems for instance Four- day work week: employees allowed to work four 10 hour days in a week to allow three days of rest Job sharing: two or more employees fill one job. Telecommuting: employees work from home. Flextime: employees manage their arrival and departure time but must complete a full week’s work