Stress Managers for a Healthy Organization
In a dynamic world, organizations pioneering in stress management will go a long way in holding on to talent; a pivotal asset for any organization. — BY NUPUR MODI
In recent times, many organizations have conceived new roles to accommodate the necessities of the organization. Roles such as the Chief Happiness Officer, Chief Belief officer and the like have made their foray into the corporate world, and, bear highly detailed responsibilities and goals. A Chief Happiness Officer is primarily an HR Manager with a special qualification- he or she believes happy employees make better employees. In fact, Chief Belief Officer is a designation created by the Future Group to draw attention to the value of ‘belief’ in a business.
Recognizing the fast pace of the corporate environment, I find a dire need for the creation of a position — ‘Stress Manager’. A huge cache of articles is written over the causes that lead to stress and the measures to deal with stress. However, little has been done to deal with “stress seriously”, so that it can be eliminated at its very roots.
The term “stress” is used in several ways today, from feeling ill to anxiety and depression. Many factors can contribute to workplace stress, and they can be broadly categorized into two work related categories viz. context and content. Context refers to the amount of work or the difficulty level of work, while content covers the social aspects such as work culture, role, function, career growth etc. Stress that falls in tolerable limits proves to be constructive and vital for the job, but beyond the optimal point, it may have hazardous effects such as health-related impairments. These may include mental and behavioural disorders such as exhaustion, anxiety, burnout and depression, along with other physical impairments such as cardio-vascular disease and musculoskeletal disorders.
It has been observed that certain industries entail higher stress levels. Owing to continuous work stress, employees working in the IT industry are prone to develop several physical ailments and mental issues as well. In the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, workers have reported the maximum rise, 65%, while those in the retail industry showed the minimum rise, 52%^. A research has found that India’s rapid economic expansion has boosted corporate profits and employee incomes, but has also sparked a surge in workplace stress and lifestyle diseases that few Indian companies have addressed.
The Necessity Of A Stress Manager
The general levels of stress in the corporate world are increasingly alarming for both the employees and the employers. A stress management strategy for employees would be to adopt a healthy and balanced lifestyle, while the employers would have to curb and moderate the stress levels in the organization. This forms the very essence for the genesis of the need for the position of a Stress Manager.
The crux of this role should be to identify individuals suffering from high stress, identify reasons leading to stress, and then devise an effective strategy to counter stress.
The Role of a Stress Manager
In today’s world, this is a role of immense importance, and the incumbent needs to bear significant address. The primary job of a stress manager is to assess the conduciveness of the environment for employees across all levels. He or she needs to design a detailed plan to assess individual stress levels of the employees in the organization. Post identification, he or she needs to transition to the solution level, and bear a creative approach to come up with suitable interventions.
The position of a stress manager goes a long way into understanding the psyche of the employees and improving their quality of work environment. In a dynamic world, organizations pioneering in stress management will go a long way in holding on to talent, the pivotal asset for any organization.
Nupur Modi is working in the Talent Management division with Merck/MSD Pharmaceuticals. She has previously worked at Nucsoft and Shivani Enterprises. She is an MBA in HR from Thakur Institute of Management Studies and Research, Mumbai.
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