Truth about coping with stress - the commercial cost.
Perhaps its just the circles I've worked in, or the people that I speak to. But it would appear that stress at work isn't reducing. Either in ferocity or frequency. Pressure to achieve goals is high, money is tight, and corporate business owners simply want more. More market share, more profit and quicker. Desperation can cause managers with poor people skills to simply apply more pressure to colleagues. The sad fact of the matter is, in certain circumstances, more pressure works. When laziness is the cause, more applied, or even implied pressure will give some people a kick up the backside and productivity will increase; for a short period.
The problem is the belief from many, that most people are lazy. The best quote I heard, is
"no one goes to work to to a bad job".
I believe that most people feel better about themselves, if they think their work is valuable, if they're 'useful'.
By most, I mean plus 90%, which, if it's true, then the increase in pressure, 90% of the time is inneffective. Or worse still it causes stress, paranoia, illness, absenteeism and in extreme cases, when the effort is high, and the pressure is high, suicide.
Even if the effort isn't high, if the employee believes their effort is high, and isn't fully supported in achieving the goals laid out in front of them (assuming the goals are set by a superior) then the same stress levels exist and can lead to very bad places.
The dreadful truth about this, is that without a culture change, in order to cope there are limited solutions to this problem for the employee,
a) The employee leaves the business, in which case the company loses out on experience and manpower, and has to find someone else, to train or replace the colleague.
b) The colleague has to change their mindset, to care-less, to become less passionate about the job that perhaps they once loved. Employee disengagement is the only option for a person who is so attached to their role that the threat of losing it causes illness and the symptoms of stress and anxiety. To simply survive and operate normally on a day to day basis, they have to not care. Which is a disaster for the business.
High pressure environments are dreadful, not only for the employee's, but they're also a poor strategic method for getting the most out of a workforce. I genuinely believe we're in the dark ages of employee engagement, and in only a few years, I am optimistic that the most of the world will understand. High pressure environments are pure negativity, and more importantly, completely cost ineffective.
The problem is the belief from many, that most people are lazy. The best quote I heard, is
"no one goes to work to to a bad job".
I believe that most people feel better about themselves, if they think their work is valuable, if they're 'useful'.
By most, I mean plus 90%, which, if it's true, then the increase in pressure, 90% of the time is inneffective. Or worse still it causes stress, paranoia, illness, absenteeism and in extreme cases, when the effort is high, and the pressure is high, suicide.
Even if the effort isn't high, if the employee believes their effort is high, and isn't fully supported in achieving the goals laid out in front of them (assuming the goals are set by a superior) then the same stress levels exist and can lead to very bad places.
The dreadful truth about this, is that without a culture change, in order to cope there are limited solutions to this problem for the employee,
a) The employee leaves the business, in which case the company loses out on experience and manpower, and has to find someone else, to train or replace the colleague.
b) The colleague has to change their mindset, to care-less, to become less passionate about the job that perhaps they once loved. Employee disengagement is the only option for a person who is so attached to their role that the threat of losing it causes illness and the symptoms of stress and anxiety. To simply survive and operate normally on a day to day basis, they have to not care. Which is a disaster for the business.
High pressure environments are dreadful, not only for the employee's, but they're also a poor strategic method for getting the most out of a workforce. I genuinely believe we're in the dark ages of employee engagement, and in only a few years, I am optimistic that the most of the world will understand. High pressure environments are pure negativity, and more importantly, completely cost ineffective.
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