UNIVERSITY OF NEW BRUNSWICK FOREIGN TRADE UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS HO CHI MINH CITY CAMPUS

ADMINISTRATION
----------***---------- ----------***----------

MID-TERM ASSIGNMENT

Module: Organizational Behaviour

Code: F-01-ORB-00

STRESS MANAGEMENT
FOR EXAMINERS
ONLY
Grade (in number):
Group 4 ………………..
Grade (in words):
Cohort: K60CA-A
………………..
Semester: II
Examiner 1
Academic year: 2021-2022 (Signature & Full name)
Head teacher: Nguyễn Thị Minh Hà ………………..
Submission date: 19th May 2022 Examiner 2
(Signature & Full name)
Student’s signature:
………………..

Ho Chi Minh City, May 2022

UNIVERSITY OF NEW BRUNSWICK FOREIGN TRADE UNIVERSITY
 SCHOOL OF BUSINESS HO CHI MINH CITY CAMPUS
ADMINISTRATION
----------***---------- ----------***----------

MID-TERM ASSIGNMENT

Module: Organizational Behaviour

Code: F-01-ORB-00

STRESS MANAGEMENT

Group 4
Class: K60CA-A
Semester: II Academic year: 2021-2022
Lecturer: Nguyễn Thị Minh Hà

Ho Chi Minh City, May 2022

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 GROUP MEMBERS AND CONTRIBUTION
Contribution
Student’s Feedback
Name Content Ideas Attitude Total
ID and Editing
(70%) (10%) (10%)
(10%)
Lê Kim Ngân 2142219059 70% 10% 10% 10% 100%
Trần Nguyễn Minh 2142219060 70% 8% 10% 5% 93%
Ngân
Võ Hoàng Bích Ngọc 2142219061 70% 10% 10% 10% 100%
Phan Tâm Nguyên 2142219062 70% 10% 10% 10% 100%
Dương Thảo Nguyên 2142219063 70% 8% 10% 10% 98%

3
STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP
Except where reference is made in the text of the end-module assignment,
this assignment contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or
in part from an assignment which I have submitted or qualified for or been awarded
another degree or diploma.
No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgements in the
end-module assignment.
This end-module assignment has not been submitted for the evaluation of
any other modules or the award of any degree or diploma in other tertiary
institutions.

Ho Chi Minh City, May 2022

Group 4 Representative
Lê Kim Ngân

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 Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................6

1. THEORY OF STRESS...........................................................................................................7

1.1. Definition of stress.....................................................................................................................7

1.2. Definition of stressors................................................................................................................7

1.3. Definition of Strains...................................................................................................................8

2. THE COPING PROCESS......................................................................................................9

3. ABOUT GRAB......................................................................................................................10

3.1. Overall Introduction................................................................................................................10

3.2. Competitors/Threats...............................................................................................................11

3.3. GRAB's Strategy.....................................................................................................................11

3.4. Most critical jobs.....................................................................................................................13

4. GRAB'S BIGGEST OB CHALLENGE – STRESS............................................................13

4.1. Overview..................................................................................................................................13

4.2. Stressors Grab dealing with....................................................................................................13

5. STRESS MANAGEMENT...................................................................................................16

5.1. How Important is Stress?........................................................................................................16

5.2. Application: Stress Management............................................................................................17

5.4. Recommendations....................................................................................................................20

REFERENCES:...........................................................................................................................22

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INTRODUCTION
Stress is an inherent part of life, regardless of who you are or what you do. While stress cannot be
avoided, it may be controlled in such a way that it does not overpower you. Changes in our lives,
such as attending college, changing jobs, dealing with an ever-increasing workload, or dealing
with mental health issues, are typical sources of stress. Although it is widely assumed that stress
has a negative effect on us, keep in mind that changes that cause stress can also be helpful.
Changing jobs, for example, allows room for personal development by introducing a new work
environment, new challenges, and new experiences. As a result, it is critical to understand oneself
and carefully assess the stressors. It takes time to learn how to do this, and while you cannot
prevent stress, the good news is that you can lessen its harmful effects, including depression or
hypertension. The idea is to become more conscious of how you interpret and react to
circumstances. This understanding will help you create stress-management techniques.
Started as a taxi-hailing service in Malaysia, Grab Holdings has since expanded to provide a
wide range of consumer services such as ride-sharing, food and parcel delivery, and contactless
transactions, among others. Previously known as GrabTaxi, the firm rebranded in 2016 to
broaden its capabilities beyond ride-hailing. However, the firm would not be where it is now if it
did not provide a sophisticated platform that allows its customers to book a journey with a few
smartphone taps. Grab has grown dramatically since its debut in 2012 to become Southeast Asia's
most valuable startup, with a $16 billion value.
With Grab’s fast-paced growth comes several problems. For example, morale may deteriorate if
employees are unable to cope with the increased workload, resulting in a fall in production;
management may be stressed and acting responsively rather than actively; due to excessive
workloads, staff turnover may increase. The company also had to deal with the COVID-19
epidemic for two years in a row, which resulted in a significant reduction in profit due to the
social distancing policy. Multiple issues merge to cause a significant internal problem: stress.
This paper will look at how stress affects Grab and what the company can do to minimize it.
This paper is divided into four sections. The first section will go over stress theory and stress
management theory. In the second section, we will take a broad look at our choice of company,
Grab. Then we will talk about Grab's most significant organizational behavioral challenge: stress.
The final section contains our advice on how Grab may modify or reduce its stressful
circumstances.

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 1. THEORY OF STRESS
1.1. Definition of stress
Stress is described as a physiological reaction to demands that a person does not have enough
resources or capacity to meet. Commonly, the “stressed out” feeling occurs when they have
struggles dealing with these demands. For instance, employees that have overwhelming workload
and unsold tasks will experience time pressure which eventually makes them exhausted. The
demands that cause people to suffer from stress are named stressors. The negative results on
people’s health are commonly known as strains.

1.2. Definition of stressors

Stressors refer to the actual threats or the perceived challenges that people are experiencing such
as an activity, momentous events or another stimulus that causes stress. Psychologists have
categorized stressors into four main categories.

 Work hindrance stressors are work-related problems that people are likely to see as
slowing down their process toward personal fulfillment and goal achievement. Work
hindrance stressors include role conflict, role ambiguity, role overload and daily hassles.
 Non-work hindrance stressors include work-family conflict, financial uncertainty, and
negative life events. To illustrate, people who experience the death of their loved ones
such as husband, wife or parents have to bear the negative feelings associated with that
event, distracting them from working.

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  Work challenge stressors are mostly accountabilities that could consequently lead to
benefits, consisting of time-pressure, job complexity and job responsibility. These
demands are perceived as requirements and challenging practices.
 Non-work challenge stressors include family time demands, personal development and
positive life events. This refers to the need of participating in family activities or personal
education programs.

1.3. Definition of Strains

Stress and Strains are fundamental concepts that are used to describe how a body responds to
external loads. In this chapter, strains are defined as the negative consequences associated with
stress.
There are three types of strains:
 Physiological strains: Stressors lessen the strength of the body’s immune, cardiovascular,
musculoskeletal, and gastrointestinal system. For example, students are more likely to get
sick during the exam week.

 Psychological strains: Stressors result in negative impacts on mental health, including

depression, anxiety, increased tension and fearfulness, mood changes and inability to
concentrate or finish tasks.

 Behavioral strains: Severe stressors might lead to unhealthy behaviors like using drugs,
alcohol to cope with stress.

The experience of strains occurs when stressors repeated frequently without any solutions or
treatment.
How stressors and strains affect Job performance and Commitment:
The behavior pattern influences the stress process and easy to see:
 Hindrance stressors have a weak negative relationship with job performance and have a
strong negative relationship with organizational commitment (satisfaction has a strong
impact on the degree to which a person feels committed to their organization).
 Challenge stressors have a weak relationship with job performance and have a moderate
relationship with organizational commitment. Contrast to hindrance stressors, the
relationship of challenge stressors is positive rather than negative.

8
 2. THE COPING PROCESS

The transactional theory of stress states that people question themselves, "What should I do?" or
"What can I do?" after evaluating a stressful situation. These questions, which relate to the
secondary appraisal (Figure 5-1), are concerned with how people cope with the numerous
demands they face. Coping is described as the use of cognitive and behavioral techniques to
manage the stressful demands of a situation and the emotions linked with those demands. Coping
can encompass a wide range of actions. It is divided into four groups based on two main
dimensions. The first dimension focuses on coping methods (behavioral versus cognitive). The
second dimension is concerned with the focus of coping (problem-solving versus regulation of
emotions). (Table 5-3)
Source: Adapted from J.C. Latack and S.J. Havlovic, “Coping with Job Stress: A Conceptual Evaluation
Framework for Coping Measures,” Journal of Organizational Behavior 13 (1992), pp. 479–508

The first component of the coping definition emphasizes the idea that coping approaches can be
classified based on whether they involve behaviors or thoughts. Any approach in which a person
tackles a stressful event or scenario by changing their actions is referred to as behavioral coping.
Seeking social support or other forms of aid from people, directly working to remedy the difficult

9
circumstance, modifying everyday routines (for example, starting an exercise routine, or going on
vacation), and expressing feelings are all examples of behavioral coping.
Cognitive coping, as opposed to behavioral coping, refers to any method of dealing with a
stressful event or scenario that involves mental activity. There are various forms, such as putting
the experience into context, attempting to understand the causes of the situation, considering
steps to resolve the situation, recalling pleasant experiences rather than the current situation
(positive refocusing), reinterpreting the situation to highlight potential advantages (positive
reappraisal), exaggerating the negative effects of the incident (catastrophizing), blaming oneself
or others for the incident occurring (rumination), as well as downplaying the issue or its
consequences (cognitive avoidance).
The second aspect is about the coping focus: Is the purpose of the coping to deal with the
stressful demand or the emotions that come with it? Problem-focused coping is a stress-
management technique in which a person confronts a stressor to reduce or eliminate it. It might
entail discussing potential solutions to a problem, confronting those responsible for and or closely
linked with the stressor, and taking other appropriate actions. A student who is worried about an
entrance test, for example, may cope by studying harder, attending every class, and additional
review sessions to ensure they completely grasp the essential subjects. According to others,
problem-focused coping is mostly utilized when a person feels that a stressor is controllable.
Emotion-focused coping, as opposed to problem-focused coping, is a stress-management
technique in which a person concentrates on managing their unpleasant feelings about a stressor.
Instead of trying to alter the stressor, the individual attempts to control feelings through a variety
of cognitive and behavioral mechanisms, including spiritual practice and other relaxation
techniques, positive reframing, blind optimism, and other avoidant coping techniques, self-blame,
seeking social support (or, conversely, social withdrawal), and speaking with someone else
(including mental health care professionals). Returning to our earlier example, this student may
cope by relaxing their brain or avoiding preparing for the exam because the idea of it is too
stressful. Emotion-focused coping is said to be utilized largely when a person views a stressor to
be beyond their abilities to alter.
How do people decide on a coping strategy? People's views on how effectively different coping
skills may handle different pressures are one factor affecting this decision. People's confidence in
their ability to use the coping approach correctly also influences their selection. Another major
aspect impacting coping strategy selection is people's assumption that a certain approach gives
them some control over the stressor (when individuals see a stressor as a hindrance rather than a
challenge, they are less likely to feel in control of it). Individuals who believe that a demand can
be satisfied with a problem-focused coping strategy and are confident in their ability to apply that
approach effectively will feel more in charge of the situation and will be more likely to use a
problem-focused strategy. Individuals who do not believe that, on the other hand, are more
inclined to utilize an emotion-focused coping strategy.

3. ABOUT GRAB
3.1. Overall Introduction

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Grab or Grab Holdings Incorporated is a technology company headquartered in Singapore. The
main service of the business is the Grab super app, which offers deliveries, ride-hailing and
financial services. Grab's main market is Southeast Asia, with the app being present in eight out
of eleven countries in the region (Grab is unavailable in Brunei, Laos, and Timor-Leste). The
company aims to provide accessible safe mobility to its users while empowering its partners in
gaining economic opportunities and better livelihoods. This mission is stated as the “Grab Way”
and has been the guiding principle for the company's activities ever since its founding.
Originally called MyTeksi, Grab was founded by Anthony Tan and Hooi Ling in Malaysia in
2012. The company started internationalizing in 2013 as it entered the Philippines, Singapore,
and Thailand. Originally, Grab was a mobility-centric service aimed at connecting taxis with
customers. However, the company soon developed partnerships with independent car and
motorbike drivers to cater to the demand and expanded its portfolio into delivery and financial
services. Grab successfully outcompeted Uber in the Southeast Asian market and is currently the
market leader in ride-hailing and delivery apps within the region.

3.2. Competitors/Threats

However, there are swift followers that are competing with Grab for the market share. First,
Gojek from Indonesia is competing fiercely with Grab in both its home market and other nations
such as Vietnam and the Philippines. The recent merger with Tokopedia to form GoTo - a
comprehensive super app that can rival Grab - also raised the stake in the competitive intensity.
Secondly, SEA group - the parent company of Shopee, is also competing with Grab for being the
top super app in Southeast Asia.
Despite not offering ride-hailing services like Grab, SEA group focuses heavily on eCommerce
and payment services, with integration between its e-wallet services and the Shopee eCommerce
platform. However, Grab continues to maintain its top position as the market leader in ride-
hailing (see Figure X). Beyond these competitors, there are factors that impact Grab’s ability to
further consolidate its market position (see Figure Y). For Grab, the biggest challenge would be
the negative sentiments the public has toward the company. For example, the company failed in
maintaining security and privacy for its user information, leading to backlash from not only the
customers but also regulators.

3.3. GRAB's Strategy

In analyzing the strategy of Grab, it is best to compare Grab with Uber, and derive the reason for
Grab’s competitive advantage. First, Grab pursued a focus strategy, adapting its super app to be
as fitting with the Southeast Asian market as possible. On the other hand, Uber employed a
strategy that maintained standardization between markets while leveraging its operation
efficiency in service delivery. For example, while Uber only accepts credit cards as a payment
method, Grab pioneered the process of payment using cash for payment. This focus strategy and
emphasis on localization of its activities helped Grab to gain insights and knowledge while also
building closer relationships and reaching a broader addressable market. As a result, Grab
successfully adapted its offering to cater for the needs of South-East Asian consumers while Uber
only focused on maintaining operation consistency. This led to Grab winning over Uber in the
ride-hailing war and achieving its current market position.
11
 Figure X: Most used ride-hailing app in Southeast Asia in 2021.

Figure Y: Forces that impact the Total Addressable Market

12
 3.4. Most critical jobs
3.4.1. What are the most important departments that contribute to the success of the
company?

For Grab, the product development department would play the pivotal role in maintaining its
success. As analyzed above, Grab pursues a focused strategy that aims at localizing the service to
fit with every market that it enters. As a result, the product development would be constantly
innovating and adapting Grab to suit the market taste.
3.4.2. What are important components and examples of good performance within these
jobs to make your company successful?

To be specific, through doing market research and testing with the customers, the product
developer can gain a deeper understanding of the demand, and quickly iterate to bring the service
that could best solve the customer’s problems. For example, despite starting out as a taxi-hailing
service, Grab recognized that in Vietnam the demand for hailing motorbike transportation is
greater. Consequently, the company quickly adopted and introduced the Grab Bike service first in
Vietnam to cater to this demand. Without the work of a highly innovative product development
department, that would not be possible. Grab could have met the same fate as Uber in Southeast
Asia when it goes beyond the home market of Malaysia.

4. GRAB'S BIGGEST OB CHALLENGE – STRESS

4.1. Overview
In recent years, the ride-hailing business in Vietnam has grown significantly, with Grab leading
the way as the market's unrivaled, differentiated service. Being as successful as Grab, however, is
no simple task. In actuality, the company had to outperform several other local companies as well
as ASEAN enterprises that had entered the country at the same time.
Ride-hailing services, the region's second most profitable digital economy business, have grown
fivefold in the previous five years, hitting $13 billion in 2019 and predicted to reach $40 billion
by 2025 (Hoppe & Baijal, 2019). According to Bloomberg, Gojek and Grab, the area's two
leading ride-hailing platform providers, are expanding their services to encompass a full range of
products to remain competitive in the ASEAN region (e.g., food delivery and financial services).
While the Grab service has the potential for expansion, it is still in its early phases due to
competition from both foreign (e.g., Gojek) and domestic (e.g., AhaMove; Be) opponents.
Furthermore, because the ride-hailing service is new, its acceptance and dissemination by users
are hampered by issues such as the app's compatibility with users' travel patterns or the method
by which users become accustomed to the app's features, which is a major challenge for Grab's
Software development department. Furthermore, factors such as ride-hailing regulations,
contracts with the Grab firm, and client pressure have an influence on Grab drivers' efficiency in
their everyday work.

13
 4.2. Stressors Grab dealing with
4.2.1. For Grab driver-partners

The advantage to the millions of drivers throughout the country is far more elusive. Drivers must
work significantly longer hours merely to pay for their families since Grab takes greater cuts
from each fare as opposed to the initial 28-33 percent commission. This policy change was
supposed to support the drivers' income; however, it has got to a negative impact - creating more
financial uncertainty for Grab driver-partners.

Deduction per ride

(Application usage fee, VAT, and PIT)
Application usage fee

Before 05/12/2020 From 05/12/2020

20% 23,6% 28,364%

25% 28,375% 32,841%

(Source: Grab.com)
According to Grab, the Grabcar and GrabBike prices were raised by 5-6 percent beginning
December 5 to protect drivers' revenue as value-added tax (VAT) increased after Decree No 126
outlining certain aspects of the Law on Tax Management, which went into force the same day.
According to the new legislation, Grab must pay 10% VAT on the entire income passengers paid
for each journey. Grab predicted that if the fees were not raised, its drivers' earnings would
decline by about 7% every year. Therefore, the driver receives only about 68.5% of the fare
increase (before deducting the cost of gasoline, oil, and so on), while the remaining 31.5% goes
to the firm’s pocket.
The hike in Grab's fees was met with outrage by drivers, who went on strike and turned off the
app. Drivers are concerned that their income would be affected as consumers would switch to
other transport service providers as the Vietnamese market becomes more competitive with the
presence of several companies.
For financial reasons, the city's Grab drivers must work up to 14-16 hours a day, working such
extended hours since their income is significantly lower than it used to be. As a result, the
company's current price cuts may aggravate their situation - and imperil passengers.
4.2.2. For Software Development Department

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As mentioned earlier, ride-hailing digital platforms, such as the Grab app, are innovative mobile
apps that promote rider-driver interactions for transportation services using internet-enabled
mobile devices or smartphones. Despite the importance of user adaptation and its driving impact
on the choice to continue using the app, empirical data on the relationship between adaptation
and user intention to continue using the app is scarce. Furthermore, the adaptation process and
some adaptive behaviors are essential since a platform will never fully fit into a user scenario.
So, to build a friendly super app with the best customer experience, it is uncommon for Grab
software engineers to work into the hours and on weekends during rush seasons. The problem
with this burden is working much more than 40 hours per week for an extended period reduces
productivity, and lots of developers have spoken out about the emotional and physical toll of
protracted crunch times.
For instance, to keep the app updated, software developers must continuously estimate how long
it will take to add new features or fix current faults. It is difficult, and they frequently fail to
estimate accurately, resulting in delays on top of already tight timelines.
Most software engineers will agree that, while their jobs are challenging, they are also
tremendously rewarding. There are times when a project is down to deadlines. There will be
instances when they will have to work with new people or on a fresh idea. Despite this, Grab has
supported them with all the best to help them reach their full potential. Grab software developers
enjoy a lot of freedom and recognition in their area. And they get significantly more benefits and
rewards than any other department in the company.
4.2.3. For Grab Help Centre

The Grab Help Centre operator team is the only department at Grab whose working time is
measured in seconds. Despite receiving hundreds of calls every day and working time defined in
seconds, the operator must keep a positive attitude toward users and drivers.
People contact the switchboard when there is an issue. As a result, most of the calls received are
complaints, including loud swearing. The receiver's request, on the other hand, is to listen,
soothe, and solve difficulties for users and partners.
The switchboard operators must ensure that 80 percent of calls are answered within 20 seconds,
and for emergencies, this percentage must be more than 90 percent. The monitoring team will
keep track of whether the issue is rectified on the initial call and will conduct a post-call
evaluation.
The team in charge of missing things or accidents is the most stressful. This group is required to
be on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week and has the most stringent personnel standards.
When customers leave their items in the car or the driver gets in an accident, the personnel here
frequently must handle difficulties in the least amount of time. To organize the quickest reaction
in an emergency, the team is linked to a group that comprises Grab's senior management.
One team member in this department handles 70-100 calls every shift on average, with pressure
to ensure the metrics are utilized throughout Southeast Asia.
During the Covid-19 season, for example, when customers limit their travel, the number of rides
15
decreases. Many drivers phone to inquire about the situation, and some even call to confide in the
absence of passengers at night. The staff must listen patiently, ensuring that the time of other
calls is not disrupted, while still gladly sharing.
Despite dealing with difficulties on a daily basis, nearly no operator recalls loud complaints when
questioned. They all have great moments with customers or lovely drivers.

5. STRESS MANAGEMENT
5.1. How Important is Stress?

In previous sections of the paper, we discussed how stressors and the stress process lead to the
experience of strains and people’s physical and mental health. Just as people are influenced by
stressful events, so too their job performance and organizational commitment are changed by
work and non-work stressors. It is obvious that there are associations between personal issues,
strains, and other important outcomes. In this section, work-related stressors are more focused on
than non-work stressors as researchers and managers have been concerning how seriously they
could impact the organization and the economy.
To be specific, hindrance stressors, including role ambiguity, role conflict, role overload, red
tape, and others, have negative indirect relationships with performance through both motivation
and strains. By contrast, challenge stressors consisting of work complexity, work responsibility,
and workload, have a positive relationship with motivation and performance.
As regards organizational commitment and turnover intentions, there are similar findings on the
effect of these two types of stressors.

Figure 1. General conceptual model of challenge and hindrance stressor relationships with
retention-related criteria. Solid lines in this figure represent the paths in the model that are
based on Schaubroeck et al. (1989); dotted lines indicate those paths that were hypothesized as
part of the present study. Plus, signs indicate hypothesized positive relationships, and minus
signs indicate hypothesized negative relationships.
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To explain this difference, even though challenge stressors lead to strains, they also trigger the
adrenaline and the type of positive problem and emotions-focused coping strategies that help
employees overcome their issues. The benefits of these positive strategies outweigh the costs of
strains. It is reasonable to state that challenge stressors are beneficial to employee performance
and commitment.
However, repeated frequency of any kind of stressors will result in chronic stress and high levels
of strain. A manager would have to manage their employee stress in order to enhance
productivity in the workplace.
5.2. Application: Stress Management

There are four major steps to manage employee stress that most organizations use, including
assessment, reducing stressors, providing resources, and reducing strains. Next, the application of
this process will be discussed, before analyzing how Grab is currently managing stress and what
it should improve.
5.2.1 Assessment

The first step in managing stress is to approach the level and sources of stress in the workplace.
This is to determine whether stress is actually or potentially a problem for the company. A
manager can conduct a stress audit that is designed to ask employees about some key areas:
· Working schedule
 Working relationship with coworkers
 The status of communication and reporting
 The working environment
 The employee’s expectation of work

The aim of this step is to:

 Give employees the opportunity to share their opinions honestly and anonymously.
 Investigate main stressors, such as lack of leader and manager support, work-related
demands, uncertainty, or conflicts with colleagues.
 Priorities stressors for different types of employees, allowing organizations to determine
differences in their workforce and develop strategies to undertake them.
 Combine a personal stress audit (if required) to classify signs and symptoms of stress in
the individual.
 Support management strategies such as training needs, absence management, and anti-
discrimination.
5.2.2. Reducing Stressors

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When a stress audit discloses that stress could be an issue, managers must prepare to take action.
One way to deal with stress is to reduce the cause of it - stressors. If the main culprits are work-
related stressors, organizations can make an effort to eliminate stressful work demands. For
example, managers may enhance organizational communication to reduce role ambiguity,
meaning that employees are able to discuss and give opinions to figure out their duties.
Additionally, companies have certain solutions such as:
 Job sharing - diminishing work overload and work-family conflict by enabling two (or
more) people to take the responsibilities of one job.
 Employee sabbaticals - allowing agents to take time off from work while still being
employed.

This course of measures indicates that managers can give their employees support at work and
encourage them to take a break from the stressful routine for a period.
5.2.3. Providing Resources

As there are challenge stressors that are sometimes beneficial for organizations, it is unnecessary
to reduce all types of stressors. Instead, agents are encouraged and provided with resources to
deal with work pressure.
Commonly, most people feel stressed when they do not have the ability to handle work
complexity. That is why organizations usually conduct training courses to build their
employees’ skills and expertise.
Another way to encourage employees is through supportive practices. The aim is to help
employees manage and stabilize the demands of their roles. These practices could be considered
as benefits or compensation, which include:
 Flexible working hours  Childcare programs and facilities
 Telecommunicating  Performance bonus
 Compressed workweek  Stock options
 Paid vacations
5.2.4. Reducing Strains
Eliminating strains is another way to manage stressors. The experience of strains is roughly
inevitable since people nowadays must handle plenty of demands.
Though practices to decrease the negative effects of stressors can be undertaken individually,
organizations can encourage their employees to use:
 Relaxation techniques: meditation, deep breathing, joining physical activities, and writing a
journal.
 Cognitive-behavioral techniques: learning to look at stressful demands with a rational and
optimistic perspective.

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 Wellness program: rehabilitating from addictions, health screenings, smoking cessation, and
sports competitions.

5.3. How Grab manages stress

5.3.1. Assessment

For Grab employees

 There are frequent meetings between managers and employees to check up.

 Human Resource Department is in charge of receiving feedback and complaints and helping
employees solve conflicts with coworkers.

For Grab drivers

Although the Grab Help Centre is available to help drivers with their daily tasks, there is no
public information that Grab has a particular measure (such as a stress audit) to identify its
drivers’ stress.
As drivers are merely Grab’s partners, which are not its main workforce, it is understandable that
there is no frequent survey of driver stress. Instead, the Grab Help Team would gather
information from drivers’ feedback and inquiries.

5.3.2. Practices to manage stress

Grab is a unicorn startup. In 2020, a survey showed that Grab is the company that has the best
working environment among all technology companies in Viet Nam. The stress management
strategies of Grab will be listed below.
For Grab employees
As mentioned before, Grab’s product development department is the most critical group of
workers. Mobile app developers must handle lots of work, including updating the app, fixing
bugs, acquiring new functions, and others. Therefore, they must deal with constant changes and

19
work in a fast-paced environment on a daily basis. Grab managers know how to create a healthy
and active working environment where their young talents can perform at their best.
Employees are mostly provided with resources to overcome stress:
· Modern workspace with rooms for creativity, socialization, and communication.
· Devices required to carry out tasks, for example, Macbook Pro for software engineers.
· Paid vacations to take time off work and recharge energy.
· Free lunch at the work office.
· Stock options - employees can share a part of the ownership.
Most importantly, Grab managers operate in a decentralized working environment. They
encourage employees to participate in decision-making, giving them motivation and great
independence. Logically, most of the work-related stressors that Grab employees, especially
developers, are dealing with is challenge stressors (job complexity, time pressure, job
responsibility). The role of the company is to enrich their motivation by giving them the
necessary support in the workplace.
For Grab drivers
As drivers are the main partner of Grab, they are the face of the company when it comes to
shipping and ride-hailing services. It is apparent that managing drivers’ performance at work is
one of Grab’s responsibilities. As stated in the
previous part, drivers have to deal with daily
hassles and suffer from working long hours.
Obstacles such as bad weather conditions and
complaints from customers are inevitable. The
best approach to manage stress is to reduce the
strains that drivers always experience.
Grab managers estimated possible struggles and
are offering some solutions:
· Discount on motorbike repairs and
maintenance.
· Free iced tea shops all over Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
· Wellness programs for socializing and connecting with coworkers.

5.4. Recommendations

For Grab employees

Since Grab changes its policy quite often due to competition and fast changes in the market, its
marketing and business department still suffer from role uncertainty. The solutions to this

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problem depend on the company’s strategies, which create difficult decisions for managers to
choose.

The best way for a rapidly growing company like Grab to manage stress is to help its employees
be more resilient by using cognitive-behavioral techniques. These techniques include:

· Converting anxiety, depression, and negative thoughts into self-care and forgiveness
· Learning how to gain self-esteem and “self-talk” more effectively
· Using technology and apps to measure the level of stress and balance between work and
relaxation
· Prioritizing tasks and managing time
It is said that someone’s world acts the way they perceive it. The ultimate way to handle stress is
learning to act better when things are not favorable. Leaders with good leadership would motivate
their followers by giving them chances to grow in their career paths.
For Grab drivers
The most severe problem is that drivers bear the burden of financial uncertainty. Choosing to
increase the application usage fee is a mistake that Grab must recover. There is increasing
competition in the ride-hailing and shipping market, with the appearance of competitive
companies such as Gojek and Be. It is possible that drivers would switch to those companies if
the salaries were not attractive enough.
Managers could consider some of these solutions:
· Provide compensation and benefits for drivers
· Reducing application usage fee when possible

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