Stress Management- Individual and Organizational Techniques & Methods

Preventative Stress Management

Manager Violet Jones just quit her job at Burger Queen. She could not handle the stress of the management demands and customer/employee complaints. The upper management at Burger Queen is very sad to see Violet leave the company and want to find ways to prevent losing excellent managers like her in the future.

The group wants to develop a Preventative Stress Management Tactical Team (PSMTT). This PSMT Team will head out and intervene when stress is a problem in the company. The team is being debriefed by the company stress-buster expert before they are sent into the field.

Preventative stress management is a corporate philosophy that is concerned with eliminating stress and improving employee health.

Levels of Prevention

The stress-buster expert is educating the team on the three stages of preventative stress management, which are primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention . The stress-buster refers to the stages as the tools to destroy stress.

The first stage of preventative stress management is called primary prevention and deals with the overall reduction or elimination of the stressor causing the individual’s stress. Secondary prevention is the next stage of eliminating stress. This step helps mold the individual’s or company’s reaction to a stressor. The last stage of preventative stress management is tertiary prevention , which focuses on healing the individual or organization from the symptoms caused by the stress.

Each of the three levels must be directly tied in with the organizational and individual prevention framework. The stress-buster expert asserted that stress reduction has to be part of both an organization’s and individual’s focus.

Organizational Stress Prevention

Employees that work at Burger Queen restaurants do report stress issues frequently. The PSMT Team has specified tools in how to help reduce stress on the job, which include:

Job redesign

Goal setting

Role negotiation

Social support systems

These tools will allow the PSMT Team to help many individuals at Burger Queen.

The first employee that needs rescuing is Amanda, who has an assistant management job at one of the restaurants. Amanda is suffering from stress due to the uncertainty of her job activities and authority. She tries to give orders and plan worker schedules but is undermined by another assistant manager.

The PSMT Team has decided that to cure Amanda’s stress, she needs a job redesign . The team will increase her decision authority and allow her to plan subordinates’ schedules without any interference. She also was given selective training events to attend in order to improve her skill set for future job growth opportunities. Amanda gave the team a big hug as her stress level had decreased immensely. The team went to their next assignment.

The PSMT Team was off to help a Burger Queen restaurant that was mired in stress. Most of the part-time workers complained that they were unmotivated and stressed about their jobs. Once the team investigated, they found an easy solution in their stress-busting tool kit.

Goal setting would allow the part-time workers to better understand their jobs and improve their motivation. The team suggested that the managers write daily goals on the board where the workers can see and provide incentives if the goals are completed. The first goal of receiving a day of perfect customer reviews resulted in a drawing for a free tablet computer.

The team was back to headquarters to deal with the next report of stress. Margaret is a marketing manager for Burger Queen. Her job is causing enormous stress as she feels that her expectations are not being met. She thought that her job would allow creative work, such as packaging design and advertising. Instead, she spends most of her days crunching marketing research numbers.

The team felt that using the role negotiation tool would help Margaret out of her stressful situation. Role negotiation is where the employee’s role and expectations for the job are compared to the corporate role and expectations. Once the issue is uncovered, negotiation can occur.

Management did not realize that Margaret had a creative interest and skill set. Once the job role was fully discussed with help from the team, Margaret’s duties changed tremendously. She happily now spends part of her day with the creative team.

The team had one more member to help. One of the newest hires to Burger Queen was also reportedly suffering from stress. Calvin felt lost at the new job and lacked any social support system . The team identified that all Calvin needed was a supportive supervisor, family member, or club.

They arranged for him to be matched with a work mentor who helped provide emotional support and feedback to acclimate him to his new position. The team was happy with their success. They were needed to provide one final piece of advice to the entire company in a de-stress workshop.

Individual Stress Prevention

The team also wanted to educate the Burger Queen workforce on a few tips to help stress reduction through individual prevention . This is self-directed intervention that eliminates stress and creates a more positive worker. The team showed examples, which included:

Positive thinking , such as employees remaining optimistic and handling diverse problems with professionalism.

Time management skills , which allow employees to set goals, schedule, delegate, and plan to avoid stressful deadlines and situations.

Leisure time activities can help provide a relief from stress through pleasurable activities.

Physical exercise is also a great stress reducer as it helps employees be able to handle and eliminate stress and battle health issues.

Relaxation training is another great tool for individuals to use to combat stress through activities such as yoga and breathing exercises.

Diet is an important tool in stress reduction when individuals supplement their meals with fruits, veggies, and good proteins and fats. This leads to the body’s ability to better handle stress.

Professional help is sometimes an individual’s last resort. Counselors can help heal through treatment and advice.

The PSMT Team orders were carried out successfully. The team will reconvene in one month to tackle any new stress outbreaks amongst Burger Queen employees.

Lesson Summary

Companies need to help employees learn to manage their stress at work. Preventative stress management is a corporate philosophy that is concerned with eliminating stress and improving employee health. There are three levels of preventative stress management.

The first stage of preventative stress management is called primary prevention and deals with the overall reduction or elimination of the stressor causing the individual’s stress. Secondary prevention is the next stage of eliminating stress. This step helps mold the individual’s or company’s reaction to a stressor. The last stage of preventative stress management is tertiary prevention , which focuses on healing the individual or organization from the symptoms caused by the stress.

There are ways to prevent stress within an organizational setting. They are:

Job redesign

Goal setting

Role negotiation

Social support systems

In addition, individual stress prevention consists of self-directed intervention that eliminates stress and creates a more positive worker. Some examples include positive thinking, time management, leisure-time activities, physical exercise, relaxation training, diet, and professional help.