| The United Nations declares workplace stress to be a | | | | ++ Including employee in making decisions thataffect |
| worldwide epidemic. In the United States alone, | | | | their jobs |
| forty-six percent of workers report that their job is | | | | ++ Avoiding excessive overtime, even if there |
| very stressful. This adds up to a million stress related | | | | isadditional compensation |
| workplace absences each day. | | | | ++ Distributing unpleasant tasks fairly |
| Individual stress control techniques are important. | | | | ++ Enforcing policies equally throughout theorganization, |
| Meditation, soothing music, biofeedback, and other | | | | from top to bottom |
| techniques work well to help people cope with the | | | | ++ Implementing problem-solving strategies |
| stress of our modern workplace. | | | | andacceptable mediation of conflicts |
| The real solution, however, is to recognize that stress | | | | ++ Using family stress control strategies tominimize the |
| control is a leadership responsibility. Leaders and | | | | impact of family separationcaused by travel or long |
| managers can do more to control stress than all of the | | | | office hours |
| individual stress relief techniques combined. Leaders | | | | ++ Demonstrating concern for employee welfare |
| who implement stress control strategies see the | | | | ++ Eliminating or minimizing intolerable conditionssuch as |
| results in reduced absenteeism, medical costs, health | | | | temperature, hazards, noise, light, andodors |
| care insurance expenses, workers comp payments, | | | | It is difficult to remove some of these stressors when |
| accidents, complaints, and so on. | | | | the competition is attacking your company or when |
| The following 13 stress control strategies minimize | | | | you are faced with unfavorable economic conditions, |
| costs such as these and productivity soars. The | | | | but this challenge is just as important as anything else |
| workplace is improved. Employees and their families | | | | facing those who wear the mantle of leadership. |
| are happier. Business owners make more money. | | | | Making all of these changes can seem overwhelming. |
| Management can control stress by: | | | | However, you can make an impact by selecting a |
| ++ Eliminating unreasonable expectations | | | | single strategy and making a plan to improve it. |
| ++ Positioning people in jobs that use theirskills and | | | | Just as corporate leaders are responsible for |
| abilities | | | | maximizing performance and increasing net profits, |
| ++ Adjusting pay for the level of responsibilityassigned | | | | they are also responsible for controlling stressors that |
| to individuals | | | | affect the bottom line. |
| ++ Correcting vague and arbitrary promotionpolicies | | | | |