CHAPTER 4:

MANAGING STRESS & THE

WORK LIFE BALANCE
BBM2013:
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
BBA / BBAHRM / BBAM
By: Dr. Siti Noorjannah Binti Abd Halim

AQIDAH AKHLAQ ADAB AMANAH AMALAN

 Learning Outcome:

End of this chapter, the students should be able to:

• Describe the nature of stress.
• Evaluate the individual differences on stress.
• Identify the common causes of stress and how to overcomes it.
• Understanding the stress in the workplace.
• Describe what is the Work Life Balance (WLB).
• Identify how to create WLB.

AQIDAH AKHLAQ ADAB AMANAH AMALAN

AQIDAH AKHLAQ ADAB AMANAH AMALAN
AQIDAH AKHLAQ ADAB AMANAH AMALAN
 STRESS
STRESS
Define Stress:
Define Stress:
STRESS is an unpleasant psychological process that occurs in response to environment
STRESS is an unpleasant psychological process that occurs in response to environment
pressures.
pressures.

• Stress is a “wear and tear” experienced by an individual while they adjust to

the environment.
• Stress will affects individuals emotionally and physically.
• It is a dynamic condition in which an individual is confronted with an
opportunity, constraints, or demand related to what he or she desires.
• Stress can be “Positive” as well as “Negative”.
• Positive Stress:
• Known as “Eustress” & may result in providing opportunity for one
in gaining something.
• Negative Stress:
• Can be associated with fear, absenteeism, heart diseases, anger,
depressions and so on.
 STRESS
STRESS
CHALLENGE STRESSORS HINDRANCE STRESSORS
Stressors associated with: Stressors that keep you from reaching your
• Workload goals for eg:
• Pressure to complete tasks • Red tape
• Time urgency • Office policies
• Confusion over job responsibilities.

More typically, stress is associated with “demand” and “resources”.

More typically, stress is associated with “demand” and “resources”.
1) Demand:
1) •Demand:
Responsibilities, pressure, obligations, and even uncertainties that individuals
• Responsibilities, pressure, obligations, and even uncertainties that individuals
face in the workplace.
face in the workplace.
2) Resources:
2) •Resources:
Things within an individual’s control that can be used to resolve demands.
• Things within an individual’s control that can be used to resolve demands.
 POTENTIAL
POTENTIALSOURCES
SOURCESOF
OFSTRESS
STRESS

Environmental Organizational
Factors Factors

Personal Stressors Are

Factors Additive

AQIDAH AKHLAQ ADAB AMANAH AMALAN

 1)1)Environmental
EnvironmentalFactors
Factors
• Environmental uncertainty influences the design of an organization’s structure and also
influences stress levels among employees in the organization.

• There are 3 main types of environmental uncertainty:

1) Economic Uncertainty:
 Happen when there is a changes in the business cycle.
 For eg:
• When the economy contracting, people become increasingly anxious
about job security.

2) Political Uncertainty:
 Happen when there is a crisis issues about the people’s country politics.

3) Technologies Uncertainty:
 Happen when there is an innovation which make an employee’s skills and
experience obstacle in a very short time, computers, robotics, automation,
and similar forms of technological change which create a threat to many
people and cause them stress.
 2)2)Organizational
OrganizationalFactors
Factors
• Few examples of organizational factors:
• Pressure to avoid errors or complete tasks in a limited time.
• Work overload.
• A demanding and insensitive boss.
• Unpleasant co-workers are a few examples.
• This organizational factors can be categorized around:
• Task Demands:
• Relate to a person’s job include:
• The design of the job (task variety, degree of automation).
• Working conditions.
• Physical work layout.

• Role Demands:
• Related to pressures placed on a person as a function of the particular role he
or she plays in the organizations.

• Interpersonal Demands:
• Are pressure that created by other employees.
• Lack of social support from colleagues & poor interpersonal relationships can
cause stress, especially for employees with a high social need.
 3)3)Personal
PersonalFactors
Factors

• This factors referring to the employee’s personal life such as:

• Family issues
• Some of marital – get divorce

• Personal economic problems

• Lower income levels - the income is not enough to support the living.

• Inherent personality characteristics

• The personality also could influence the people to react in different
way.

• For eg:
• Typically, an individual works about 40 to 50 hours a week. However, there
would be a company forces their employees to work in the other 120 plus
hours and can spill over to the job.
 4)4)Stressors
Stressorsare
areAdditive
Additive
• Stress is an additive phenomenon which is build up:
• Managerial behaviour:
• Show lack of concern to employees.
• Providing inadequate direction.
• Failure to provide support.
• Sexual harassment
• Workplace violence

• Each new & persistent stressors adds to an individual’s stress level.

• So, if it is a single stressor may be relatively unimportant in and of itself, but if

added to an already high level of stress, it can be too much.

• To appraise the total amount of stress, we have to sum up his or her:

• Opportunity stresses
• Constraint stresses
• Demand stresses
 Reasons
Reasonsfor
forStress
StressatatWorkplace:
Workplace:

1) Demands of workload, work pattern and working environment.

2) Lack of Control.
3) Role Ambiguity.
4) Work-life Balance Issues.
5) Unfair Treatment.
6) Longer hours.
7) Little or no Acknowledgement or Reward.
8) Micromanagement.
9) Lack of Job Security.
10) Office Politics.
 INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

Perception Experience

Social Support Personality

 1)1)Perception
Perception
• The difference person have the difference kind of stress.
• Some people thrive on stressful situation, while others are overwhelmed by
them.
• Employees react in response to their perception of reality rather than to reality
itself:
• Perception – will moderate the relationship between potential stress
condition & an employee’s reaction to it.
• For eg:
• Layoffs ma cause one person to:
1) Fear losing his job
2) While another sees an opportunity to get a large severance
allowance & start own business
• Hence, stress potential does not lie in objective conditions but more on how
employee’s interpretation of those conditions.
 2)2)Experience
Experience
• Experience on the job tends to be negatively related to work stress.

• Based on statement above, the reasons are:

1) Selective Withdrawal:
• Voluntary turnover is more probable among people who experience
more stress.
• Therefore, people who remain with an organization longer are those
with more stress resistant traits.

2) People eventually develop coping mechanisms to deal with stress.

• It is because this takes time, senior members of organization are
more likely to be fully adapted & should experience less stress.
 3)3)Social
SocialSupport
Support
• The relationship between co-workers or supervisors which an buffer the impact
of stress.
• Social support acts as palliative (special medical care for people living with
series illness), mitigating (having the effect of making something bas less
severe, serious, or painful) and negative effects of even high-strain jobs.

4)4)Personality
Personality
• Refers back to the personality chapter.
• There would be many people characteristic which can related with stress.
• For eg:
• The aggressive personality would take difficult tasks as a challenges and the
stress would turn to positive stress.
• However, some of people they feel that every problem is hard to be solved
and the level of stree would increase.
 IMPACT
IMPACT//CONSEQUENCES
CONSEQUENCES//OUTCOME
OUTCOMEOF
OFSTRESS
STRESS
• Stress has behavioural, cognitive and physiological consequences:
• Burnout
• Effect on physical & mental health
• Psychological health
• Behavioural impact

Stress Burnout

Person experience emotions more strongly. Person experience emotions flattening out.

It causes hyperactivity. It causes a helpless feeling.

It can lead to anxiety. It can lead to depression.

There are physical consequences. There are emotional consequences.

There are higher chances of early death. There are higher chances of hopelessness.
 MANAGING
MANAGINGSTRESS
STRESS
1) Individual Level:
• Physical exercise.
• Relaxation techniques & meditation.
• Work-home transition.
• Networking.
• Effective time management.

2) Organizational Level:
• Supportive organizational climate.
• Job enrichment.
• Career planning & counselling.
• Stress control workshops / training.
• Proper selection, placement & training.
 WORK
WORKLIFE
LIFEBALANCE
BALANCE(WLB)
(WLB)
• Work life balance (WLB) is a concept that supports the efforts of employees to
split their time & energy between work and the other important aspects of
their lives.

• It is a daily effort to make time for family, friends, community participant,

spiritually, personal growth, self-care, and other personal activities.

• It is a comfortable state of equilibrium achieved between an employee’s

primary priorities of their employment position & their private lifestyle.

• Hudson defines:
• WLB as a satisfactory level of involvement or a “fit” among multiple roles
in a person’s life.
 NEED
NEED&&IMPORTANT
IMPORTANTOF
OFWORK
WORKLIFE
LIFEBALANCE
BALANCE(WLB)
(WLB)
• Increased productivity.
• Reduce stress & health problems.
• Boost employee morale.
• Better relations.
• Goodwill.
• Better organizational culture.
• Reduced absenteeism & turnover.
• Competitive advantage.
• Greater flexibility.
• Attract talent.
• Employee retention.
AQIDAH AKHLAQ ADAB AMANAH AMALAN