Managing Workplace Stress

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Managing Workplace Stress

• Juggling Your Full Plate
• Santee Coopers MIS Department
• Annual Fall Meeting 11/8/06

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Change equals workplace stress!What kind of
changes occur routinely? Out of the blue?

• Budgetary changes
• Regulatory requirements
• Staffing freezes or hiring increases
• Reorganization
• Training requirements
• Mission redirection
• Dissonance
• And?

In over your head?
3
What is change, exactly?

• Organically, its internal or external stimuli
  that cause a unit (an individual, a team, a
  division, an organization) to accommodate/adapt/le
  arn.

• How much can we handle at once?

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So, whats changing at work and what does it mean
to me? Is it manageable?

• Do I know whats expected?
• Do I have what I need?
• Do I have the chance to do what I do best
  everyday?
• This week have I received recognition/praise for
  doing good work?
• Does my supervisor or someone at work care about
  me as a person?
• Is there someone at work who encourages my
  development?
• At work do your opinions count?
• Do I feel that my job is important in the purpose
  of Santee Cooper?
• Are my fellow employees committed to doing
  quality work?
• Do I have a best friend at work?
• Has someone talked to me about my progress in the
  last 6 months?
• Have I had the chance at work this last year to
  learn and grow?

5
Know the stressors

• All work and no play can be hazardous to your
  health 50 hours and high blood pressure.
• ¼ of employees view their jobs as 1
• ¾ of employees believe the worker has more
  on-the-job stress than a generation ago
• Work problems are more strongly associated with
  health complaints than any other life stressor

6
Job stress costs!

• 300 billion annually from absenteeism, ?
  productivity, turnover and direct medical, legal
  and insurance fees
• 60-80 accidents are due to stress
• ? Workers comp awards for job related stress

7
PRIMARY cause of job stress?

• Its a matter of perspective
• Worker characteristics
• Working conditions

The chicken or the egg?
8
Watch out for these potential stressors!

• Design of tasks
• Management style
• Interpersonal relationships
• Work roles
• Career concerns

• Environmental conditions

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Make healthy CHOICES to managestress and to be
resilient!

• Know what causes YOU stress (How do you know?)
• Identify what you can control and what you cant.
  Remember the Serenity Prayer?
• Know whats negotiable and whats not.
• Seek work-life balance via diet, exercise, sleep
  and fun.
• Be organized, use your time well, be on time.
• Have a strong support system at work.

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Tips for juggling multiple priorities

• Focus on personal balance FIRST.
• Schedule planning/organization into your day
  top of the day/week.
• Ask Is it a priority? Is it mine? Can it be
  delegated?
• Over communicate.
• Ask for what you need.

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You can never know enough! Resources!

• http//humanresources.about.com/od/stressandtimema
  nagement/
• www.cdc.gov/niosh/stresswk.html
• www.essisystems.com/business-case/facts.php3
• First Break All the Rules by Buckingham and
  Coffman
• Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman