Prevention of Stress

To help reduce stress and improve the quality of life, many organizations are becoming more involved in wellness programs. With increasing health care costs, many employers are concentrating on disease prevention and health promotion. By putting a wellness program in place, it leads to a healthier workforce which increases its productivity level, reduces employee absenteeism, creates less overtime, and it also cuts the cost of health benefits (Kizer, 1987).

Another reason that many companies are developing a wellness program within the organization is the effect it has on the bottom line. By preventing stress, an organization has happy healthy employees which means t quality and quantity of work will be improved. For example ” A middle manager may be a company’s shining star, but if he is living in constant disharmony at home, or if his teenage daughter, whom he suspects is using street drugs, did not come home until 3 a.m. last Saturday night this promising manager is not going to be particularly efficient at even routine daily tasks. A worksite wellness program could help” (Kizer, 1987, p. 36).

Another contributing factor to higher job-related stress is less leisure and vacation time. Throughout the 1980s, the amount of paid time off for employees is acting” shrinking. Many European workers are gaining vacation time, while Americans are losing it. ” In the last decade, U.S. workers have gotten less paid time off – on the order of three and a half fewer days each year of vacation time, holidays, sick pay, and other paid absences.” (Schor, 1991 p. 32). .

Many companies faced an economic squeeze in the 1980″s. Vacations and holidays were among the cost-cutting efforts. DuPont reduced its top vacation allotment time from seven t four weeks. They also eliminated three of their paid holidays a year. With the new trend of downsizing, many employees are fearful of job loss and therefore, spend less time away from the workplace (Schor, 1991, p.32).

Individuals who experience high or frequent levels of stress need to learn to cope. High levels of stress can affect job performance and it can also be unhealthy. To maintain a healthy lifestyle, people need to attempt to take responsibility for stress. Those individuals need to learn more about stress in general and how it affects them. They also need to develop technique., for monitoring personal levels of stress and develop techniques to deal with job-related stress. Employees should look within the organization on ways to alleviate stress and how to cope more effectively. Organizations often unnecessarily stressful and should be changed to reduce the negative impact on individuals’ physical and mental health (Paine, 1982, p. 21).

Three major strategies for strengthening individuals are workshops, stress management skills, and focused short-term counseling. Introductory workshops are essential to communicate and educate to be more mentally and physically healthy. Such workshops which specialize in topics as time management or relaxation techniques help to alleviate the stress in one’s life (Paine, 1982, p. 22). Finding techniques that deal with personal stress can also be useful in dealing with job stress. Regular aerobic exercise to deep breathing techniques is potentially useful in stress management. Many specialists agree that there is not any one method to overcome the problem. One needs to realize their own self-needs and strengths in dealing with stress management (Paine, 1982, p. 23).

There are many different ways in which you can deal with job stress. Individuals can take on simple self-help countermeasures. There is also help from friends, colleagues, spouse, or other relatives. Professional help is available from clergymen, physicians, or counselors.