Thriving On Good Stress, Dying From Bad Stress
by Miki SaxonStress is like chlorestoral—there is good stress and bad stress.
A year ago I wrote a post about the problems of stress in the workplace. During the intervening months the economic situation has worsened and stress has increased exponentially.
Managers are under fire and being forced to do far more with far less—a situation that automatically raises stress in any workplace. And there are still those out there who prefer to manage by stress.
I decided to revisit that post, because I believe it’s very important.
Stress, Death and Obesity
Years ago I knew a manager who believed that high stress yielded the best productivity, he generated that environment by setting unrealistic deadlines and generating plenty of consequence-fear (I, and my fellow recruiters, considered his organization our happy hunting ground). The year his department’s turnover hit 99%, which was everyone except him, he was finally terminated.
There are still too many managers who run stress-filled organizations and too many companies that ignore, allow, and even support them—it’s called performance culture—but, as they say, these times they are a’changin’—even if it takes suicide as the wake-up call for some.
“Earlier this year, the French automaker, Renault, found itself doing some soul-searching following a rash of suicides at a design complex outside Paris. In the course of about five months, three engineers killed themselves. In suicide notes and conversations with their families before taking their lives, the three men voiced anxiety about unreasonable workloads, high-pressure management tactics, exhaustion, and humiliating criticism in front of colleagues during performance reviews.”
And companies are starting to get it, “Draper Laboratory, an R&D shop based in Cambridge, Mass., refuses to buy BlackBerrys for its engineers.”How can anyone be creative if they are on’ 24 hours a day?” asks HR Director Jeanne Benoit. “We want to keep them fresh and robust.””
Another recent finding adds another significant reason to reduce worker stress, touching on businesses’ greatest bogyman—obesity and its effect on worker health.
“Scientists reported yesterday that they have uncovered a biological switch by which stress can promote obesity, a discovery that could help explain the world’s growing weight problem…”
Now you have two negatives—death and obesity—and two positives—creativity and retention; separately or together they have an enormous impact on the bottom line.
Here are six ideas from Business Week that you can do to reduce stress in your organization.
- Educate employees about stress types
Good stress is about concentration and creativity. Bad stress is about panic and fear. - Never worry alone
Sharing concerns can turn problems into brainstorming sessions. Teams are cemented through problem-solving. - Create a listening culture
If you’re not hearing about problems, there’s a problem. A good gauge: How many e-mails do you get from staff? - Conduct autopsies without blame
Make it safe to fail. Innovation languishes in blame-happy cultures. - Create a listening culture
If you’re not hearing about problems, there’s a problem. A good gauge: How many e-mails do you get from staff? - Encourage workers to ask for help
What is toxically stressful for one can be an exciting challenge for a team.
No, they won’t get it done in a day, but there aren’t any silver bullets for organizational changes (or anything else, for that matter)—especially those involving individual MAP—all you can do is start and then keep going.
Finally, if you run a company, or any organization, and you don’t heed this wake-up call to start reducing negative stress then, as a manager (and a person), you are heading for the same fate as the dodo bird.
Image credit: TenSafeFrogs on flickr
August 10th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Hmm, may I use stress as an excuse for my weight problem. I’d love that instead of having to admit it’s probably just over eating.
August 11th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
Stop beating yourself up, Julie. Read the research. You’re in the medical world, overeating is what is such an oversimplification it isn’t even funny.