Stress Questionnaire for Employees Sample:

Full Name: Address: _______________________ _______________________

Phone Number: _______________________ Email id: Designation: Organization: _______________________ _______________________ _______________________

Q1: Do you feel you suffer stress in your life? ____________________________ Q2: Can you provide some of the symptoms of stress that are visibly palpable? __________________________ Q3: How often do you have peaceful sleep? a) Rarely b) Sometimes c) Mostly d) Almost everyday Q4: Are you suffering a financial turmoil? a) Yes b) No Q5: Do you have a good work-life balance? a) Yes b) No

Q6: Do you enjoy your time at work and at home? a) Mostly yes b) Rarely yes c) Never Q7: What steps do you take to relieve yourself of stressful situations? ____________________ Q8: What options have worked positively and alleviated your stress? __________________ Q9: Do you get the support of family, friends, and colleagues while suffering stress? a) b) Yes No

Q10: Are you getting into substances like alcohol, drugs or smoking for mitigating stress? a) b) c) d) Yes No Sometimes Rarely

Q11: Are you taking a healthy diet? a) Yes b) No Q12: Are you suffering from excessive work load? a) Yes b) No

Q13.. From how long have you been working? a) Less than a year b) Between 1-4 years c) Between 4-10 years d) More than 10 years Q14. What do you feel about your career and industry? a) Flourishing with tremendous opportunities b) Stagnating c) Declining d) Others _____________________ Q15. Does your job involve stress and work pressure? a) Yes b) No Q16. Does your job involve frequent travel and postings? a) Yes b) No c) Sometimes Q5. What is your marital status? a) Unmarried b) Married and divorced/separated c) Widowed d) Other _____________________

Q6. Did you or your colleagues experience workplace harassment? a) Yes b) No c) Rarely d) Never Q7. If yes, did your organizational HR policies firmly deal with them? a) Yes b) No Q8. Do you have stress handling sessions or seminars in your firm? a) Yes b) No c) Yes but no time to attend them Q9. Do you have flexible working hours? a) Yes b) No c) Only on paper Q10. In which kind of organization are you working? a) Government or public sector b) Private c) Other _______________ Q11. Are your deadlines realistic and achievable? a) Yes b) No

Q12. Do you have 360 degree appraisal procedure? a) Yes b) No Q13. Which of the following is the main focus of your organization? a) Employee care and empowerment b) Customer satisfaction c) Business profit d) Others _____________________________

Q1: Do you suffer from stress?

Yes No

Q2: If yes, what symptoms can you comprehend for stress? _________________________________________________ Q3: Would you say you are able to get enough sleep?

Yes No Sometimes Rarely

Q4: Do you have a good work-home balance?

Yes No

Q5: When faced with stressful conditions, what do you do to combat it?

Try sleeping Increase my appetite Indulge in various activities such as reading, writing, gardening etc. Become upset and remove anger on others Others: _____________________________________

Q6: Amongst the following which is the major cause of stress in your life?

Job Relationship with spouse Relationship with other family members Other issues __________________________

Q7: At the end of the day, do you feel emotionally and physically drained out?

Yes No

Q8: How do you spend your free time/ leisure time? _________________________________________ Q9: Are you satisfied with your working environment and your designation?

Yes No

Q10: Do you indulge in cigarette, tobacco, drugs or alcohol abuse?

Yes No

Types of stress at work Role interaction A role can be defined as the set of expectations that others have of a role incumbents behaviour. There are a number of ways in which roles can become stressful. _ Role ambiguity is information deficiency, potential sources of which are peers, manager, subordinates and customers. Studies show that role ambiguity reduces organizational commitment, job involvement and job satisfaction. _ Boundary spanning roles these are roles which involve taking the activities of the organization to the outside world and seem to carry a higher than average level of stress _ Single role conflict this form of role stress is caused by the various components of a role becoming difficult to reconcile. This is particularly prevalent in first line supervisory roles, particularly when an individual has been promoted from the team and the expectations of the supervisors staff conflict with the expectations of the supervisors managers. _ Multiple role conflict people invariably fill more than one role and multiple role conflict in some degree is inevitable. _ Work role transitions this refers to the stress experienced when an individual enters a new job and is faced with a novel, uncertain environment _ Burnout - this occurs when individuals feel locked into roles. Such stress is particularly common in large bureaucratic organizations where very few job opportunities are

available Point 4 Decision- making stress Uncertainty is currently seen as the underlying source of much occupational stress. To reduce some forms of uncertainty, individuals can make decisions but the decision making process itself is not stress-free. In the process, individuals may experience an acute form of uncertainty. They may become aware of the limitations of their knowledge and abilities and the losses which may result from choosing any of the options available. This makes decisional stress a particularly potent form of stress, which may result in a significant reduction in the quality of an individuals decision making. Point 5 Over and under-stimulation The level of stimulation a job provides is associated with the amount of stress it can cause employees to experience. _ Under-stimulation can occur in jobs that involve repetitive work and under-utilization of skills. The emotional responses to these jobs are apathy, boredom and reduced levels of motivation. _ Over-stimulation can be as stressful, if not more so, than under-stimulation. Long hours and excessive workloads inevitably lead to stress-related problems such as increased alcohol and cigarette consumption, depression and low self-esteem. Point 6 Type As and type Bs It is now accepted that individuals differ in their proneness to stress-related health risks. In 1959 Friedman and Rosenmann made a controversial contribution to the understanding of the relationship between stress and heart disease. They operationalized a behaviour pattern termed type A. Individuals who fall into the type-A category display: 1. A strong and sustained drive to achieve poorly defined goals they have set for themselves 2. An intense desire to compete 3. A desire for recognition and promotion 4. Involvement in numerous and varied activities which have deadlines 5. Habitually fast completion of physical and mental functions 6. High levels of mental and physical alertness The type-B individual displays less striving, aggression, hostility and competitiveness and is generally more relaxed. While these are extremes, most people fall into only one of the categories. Point 7 Occupational stress management Interest in stress management has burgeoned in recent years, with numerous consultants and trainers delivering stress management programmes. Individuals are not passive recipients of workplace pressures; if left alone we can develop our own characteristic coping strategies. Research carried out by a number of psychologists indicates that individuals adopt one of the following strategies: _ Appraisal focused individuals may undertake a conscious logical analysis of what is troubling them _ Problem focused individuals actively tackle the problems causing their stress. This can involve obtaining guidance by talking the problem through or it might involve taking direct action. One form of direct action identified by Bunce and West (1996) in work groups was role innovation. They found that individuals who had innovated in their roles demonstrated improvements in work related stress. _ Emotion focused emotional defences are engaged which help individuals manager their anxieties. 1. First by affective regulation individuals try to avoid paying attention to them

2. Secondly by resigned acceptance individuals accept the situation and expect the worst is likely to occur 3. Thirdly by using palliatives such as smoking, daydreaming, taking a day off 4. Fourthly through emotional discharge this form of behaviour can include violence Investigations of the relationship between coping strategies and stress outcomes have demonstrated that individuals using the active appraisal or problem-focused strategies experience fewer harmful physical and psychological outcomes than those using the passive avoidance methods. Interventions in the worksite can have an organizational or individual focus. These can be primary dealing with the source of the problem through better work design or secondary providing individuals with enhanced coping skills. Table 2.1 page 52 indicates the number of possible interventions. The most effective approaches may be those that the straddle the two domains individual and organizational. Point 8 Conclusion Stress is the outcome of some of the characteristics of modern market economies uncertainty, high demands and low control. It is not restricted to certain occupational groups, nor it is simply out there; rather it is the result of an interaction between and individuals emotional. Intellectual, social and physical resources and the demands on him or her. Individuals develop their own coping strategies, some more effective than others, and increasingly organizations are using stress-management techniques to encourage effective coping. What is important and urgent is for a new generation of stress-management research, focusing upon what the active ingredients of stress-management programmes are. DISCUSSION POINTS 1. You are the Human Resource team within an innovative manufacturing organization, which has just implemented some new manufacturing initiatives. Since the inception of these techniques, there has been a marked increase in the number of stress related incidents. To overcome this growing problem, you want your organization to provide stress management training. As a group, put together a business case to be presented to senior management, to encourage them to adopt a stress management programme. 2. Single role conflict is particularly prevalent in first line supervisory roles. Design a training programme, which would address this problem. 3. According to strategic management consultancy Datamonitor, call centres in Europe are expanding at an astonishing rate of 40% per year. By 2001,2.2% of the UK workforce will be employed in them. Chris Stephens is a department manager in a new call centre, which has been set up very hurriedly. She is concerned that as a result of this, the people issues have been neglected. The employees within the call centre call themselves battery hens as they work in cramped conditions and have little control over the pace of work. Stress levels and staff turnover are exceptionally high in relation to other conventional office environments Chris has worked in. _ Discuss this situation, analyzing the reasons why stress levels may be so high. A review of F W Taylors principles will support your findings. _ What can the organization do to alleviate the problem? 4. High stress levels in an organization are often considered the norm and accepted way of working. How would you attempt to change such an entrenched culture, in an attempt to lower stress level