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How Leaders Cause Stress
How Leaders Cause Stress
Word Count:
1677
Summary:
Workplace stress is a major problem for organisations throughout the world. The cost of the impact of stress on organisations can vary from many thousands to many millions of dollars. These costs are caused by the rise in absence, the rise in staff turnover, the fall in performance levels, the level of customer dissatisfaction, and increasingly in the cost of successful compensation claims.
Keywords:
distance learning,leadership,stress,management,business,courses,HND,HNC,diploma,foundation,DMS,CMS,studies,degree, postgraduate,certificate,
Article Body:
For the leaders of organisation there are two levels at which workplace stress must be addressed. Firstly at corporate, strategic level, where a degree of stress is inevitable, given the pace and frequency of change that businesses of all kinds are experiencing today. Political, economic, environmental, social, and technological changes combine to make it essential that the organisation is equipped to respond to or, better, to forecast and prepare for change. The need to manage change successfully adds to the complexities and pressures facing the leaders of the organisation. Secondly, at the operational levels stress which affects the managers and operational staff can be caused by many factors, not least the behaviour of the operational managers themselves.
However, the leaders of the organisation are responsible for the way in which the organisation responds to the threat of negative stress, at both strategic and operational levels. In fact, it is often the behaviour, the actions, the style of the leader(s) that causes the stress. Some of the most common areas in which the negative behaviour of the leader(s) can cause stress are described below.
Successful leaders ensure that their organisations are appropriately resourced. The needs of the organisations strategic objectives are assessed and funds are allocated and activity planned to deliver the necessary resources as and when required. Human resources, physical resources, technological resources, funds, systems, should all be in place or planned for. A monitoring and control process should be in place to respond to the need for changes to the plans. If these processed are not followed, then wherever the plans reach a point where the necessary resources are missing, or incomplete, the stress levels of managers and their teams will rise, as they attempt to achieve the set objectives with inadequate resources. As in most situations where the actions of the leader(s) have lead to problems or difficulties, it is the operational level people who are the first to suffer. However, ultimately it is the organisation that is damaged, through the direct repercussions of the initial mistakes causing problems in areas such as sales or customer satisfaction, and then again from the problems caused by the increase in negative stress levels.
In any organisation one of the most common sources of conflict, dispute, and ensuing personal distress, are the related issues of equality of opportunity, diversity, and discrimination. The leader(s) of the organisation must ensure that the culture of the organisation and the actions of individuals supports equality of opportunity and diversity and prevents discrimination of any kind. Effective leaders do this by: making equality, diversity, and prevention of discrimination an essential, high profile element of the organisations strategies and objectives; ensuring that all staff are familiar with the organisations policies in this area and that they understand their personal responsibilities in complying with the policy; ensuring that the organisational structure and processes are receptive to the different needs and abilities of a diverse workforce; implementing a rigorous monitoring and control process to identify and deal with any breaches of the policies; dealing ruthlessly with any employee, of any status, should they act in an unfair of discriminatory manner. Leaders who do not give strong, visible, leadership in these areas will be risking considerable damage being done. Without strong leadership there is a grave danger of discrimination and unfairness happening, not just at operational levels but also at the executive level. Managers behaving unfairly or in a discriminatory way, or not dealing with such behaviour in others, are the cause of considerable negative stress. The repercussions of these unacceptable actions can include personal distress, the break-up of teams, the collapse of projects, internal disciplinary action, industrial tribunals or civil court action, and leave a climate of hostility, blame, conflict, and unhappiness. The impact in terms of negative stress being generated is enormous. Effective leaders prevent such disastrous repercussions, by ensuring that promote, support, and insist on fairness and equality towards all.
One of the key responsibilities of the leaders of organisations, indeed in some cases a legal requirement in itself, is to ensure that the organisation complies with relevant legislation and regulations. Effective leaders do this by: monitoring the legal and regulatory environment to identify where the organisation must comply; developing, implementing and maintaining effective policies and procedures to ensure that the organisation meets all legal and regulatory requirements; making certain that relevant people are aware of the policies and procedures and their responsibilities in maintaining them; implementing a monitoring, control, and corrective action system to maintain compliance; providing appropriate resources for operational managers to carry out the policies effectively. Leaders who do not take this responsibility seriously will create opportunities for inadvertent and deliberate non-compliance. The pressures caused by this flawed approach will be felt most by individual operational managers. It is these managers who will be faced with the repercussions of non-compliance, particularly in areas such as health and safety, recruitment and selection, accounting and finance, equal opportunities and discrimination. For these managers, and by default the operational staff, one of the results will be increased negative stress levels.
The most visible role of the leader(s) is, by default, to lead the organisation into the future. This means planning and managing desired changes, whilst also responding to external forces of change. The manner in which the leader approaches this can influence the response to the changes by the organisations managers and employees, which in turn affects the levels of stress caused by the changes. Ways in which to lead change successfully are well documented. To lead change in a manner that will lead to negative stress being generated would need the leader(s) to: not communicate their vision of the future (or worse, not to have a vision); to actively of passively discourage consultation and participation in the change planning process; not give individuals clear information on their roles and responsibilities in implementing changes; denying individuals the influence and authority they need to successfully implement and manage change in their area; set objectives which are unachievable; make no effort to provide resources and support for the removal of barriers to change; not provide information on the progress of change activity; not to reward successful change implementation. The result of such negative behaviour would be to create delays, misunderstanding, tension, uncertainty, and conflicts, and would seriously damage the chances of the change being implemented successfully. The change process raise the negative stress levels of those implementing, or directly affected by the change. Unsuccessful change would inevitably have other negative impacts on the organisation, which in turn would potentially cause more stress.
Effective leaders cultivate and develop a culture that is positive, ethical, and value driven, in order to support the organisations strategies. The personal actions and behaviour of the leader(s) and the management of the organisation should reinforce this. Agreed values are communicated across the organisation and people are encouraged to pursue these cultural objectives as rigorously as the operational objectives. The condition of the organisations culture is monitored and corrected as required to maintain the set values. Poor leaders do not view developing a positive culture as important, pursuing instead only the profit-related objectives. Under such leadership the organisation will deteriorate, and managers and staff will have no guidance as to how to behave professionally and ethically. One by product of this will be that unethical practices will flourish and levels of trust and openness will diminish. Conflict and disagreement will grow. In such a climate it is inevitable that an increase in negative stress will occur, as motivation and morale levels fall.
The role of the leader is, of course, to lead, but to lead in a way which represents the values and mission of the organisation. In areas such as ethics, equality of opportunity, non-discrimination, fairness and openness, the leader(s) must also take on the mantle of acting as a role model for others in the organisation. Positive leaders will ensure that managers throughout the organisation are properly trained in management skills and undertake continuous development, that innovation and creativity is encouraged. Strong leaders will ensure that managers or staff who behave inappropriately in contradiction of the values of the organisation will be removed. Leaders who do not lead in these ways will confuse and dismay others in the organisation. Without strong, value driven leadership, the organisation is as a ship without a captain, drifting at sea, at the mercy of the winds and the tides. The chances of the organisation not running into difficulties will be slim. In such an organisation stress levels will rise and the ensuing damage will add to the organisations difficulties.
It is clear that the leader(s) of organisations have enormous influence on the culture, the values, the behaviour, of individuals, teams, managers, and the corporate body itself. It is also the case that poor or inappropriate leadership behaviour will damage the organisation. Until now this has not been linked to the amount of negative stress that is generated within an organisation. But it is equally clear that poor, unfocused, unethical, or weak leadership will cause serious damage to the organisation, both directly in terms of the consequences of poor decision making, or indirectly due to the repercussions of increases in negative stress levels in individuals within the organisation. It is no longer sufficient to assess the success of a leader by evaluating visible success factors only. The effect on stress levels, caused by the style of leadership and the actions of the leader, should also be taken into consideration. The behaviour and actions of an effective leader will reduce stress levels and generate a positive, productive, healthy workplace. The behaviour and actions of a poor leader will do the opposite and increase negative stress levels and create an unhealthy and unproductive workplace. Those with responsibility for the success of the organisation must ensure that the leader is one that produces a positive, healthy, productive organisation. Without such a leader the organisation will fail to achieve its objectives, decline, and die.
BONUS : Title:
How Middle Managers Create Stress
Word Count:
1445
Summary:
Managers are the great stress-carriers. Stress-carriers are people who, through their behaviour, their actions, their attitude, generate and distribute stress onto other people.
Keywords:
distance learning,stress,management,business,courses,HND,HNC,diploma,foundation,DMS,CMS,studies,degree, postgraduate,certificate,
Article Body:
In essence, the reason that they create stress for others is that they do not manage well. For all those working in the operational, functional areas of the organisation, most of the workplace stress is created by the team leaders, supervisors, and middle managers.
The ways in which managers create this stress are endless, but here are some of the most common ways.
Being Inadequately Trained. The underlying reason why middle managers are stress-carriers is that they are not trained to be effective managers. Even though management training and development is universally agreed to be essential, more than 80% of those managing in todays organisations have received no more than 5 days management training. It is tempting to believe that this statistic is biased because of the shortcomings of older managers, but this is not the case. The majority of younger managers have received no more. Little wonder that the majority of managers dont know how to manage effectively. The result is that the manager behaves in ways which are inherently flawed and therefore highly likely to cause stress levels to rise in those affected by their actions.
Implementing Operational Plans. The stress-carrying manager will: not be familiar with the corporate level strategies and objectives; implement local, operational plans without regard for the higher level objectives; not involve key individuals and teams in the planning process; not balance risks against desired outcomes; not build in an appropriate degree of flexibility into the plans; not ensure that individuals and teams are provided with the necessary training and resources; not monitor and adjust the plan on a regular basis. Will the plans be successful? No. Will stress levels rise? Yes.
Encouraging Innovation. Good managers encourage creativity and innovation, by: promoting a culture of continuous improvement; motivating individuals and teams to identify improvements to existing processes; responding positively to ideas from teams and individuals; discussing ways in which improvements or new methods could be implemented; promoting agreed changes to senior management; make sure that the originators of the changes are given recognition. Poor managers dont do these things. As a result, dissatisfaction and resentment is fostered, and individuals and teams feel worthless. Will stress levels rise? Yes.
Managing Health and Safety Conditions. A major cause of workplace stress is the condition of the workplace in which people work. This can include issues such as temperature, safety levels, personal space, air quality, cleanliness, access to emergency exits, and so on. The conscientious manager, aware of the high priority that health and safety should be given, ensures that: they are aware of their personal responsibilities regarding health and safety in their areas of responsibility; the organisations health and safety policy is communicated clearly to all relevant employees; each individual is aware of and trained to carry out their individual health and safety responsibilities; systems are in place for identifying, reporting, and removing hazards; sufficient resources are allocated to the management of health and safety; an effective monitoring and review process is in place. When the manager does not take health and safety seriously, conditions deteriorate and become dangerous, the health of the employees will be damaged, and accidents occur. Stress levels will rise and, perversely, the risk of illness and accidents will rise in proportion, as individuals become less confident, more distracted, and potentially ill, due to the negative impact of the stress.
Managing Operational Processes. The core activity for middle managers is to manage the operational processes, the business processes. The stress-carrying manager does this ineffectively by: not adjusting the processes so that they deliver the desired outcomes; not ensuring that necessary resources are allocated to each part of the process; not providing sufficient information to individuals and teams carrying out the activities; not defining responsibilities; not implementing a monitoring and control system; not taking appropriate corrective action when the process is failing. For the teams and individuals carrying out the operational activity, the result is lack of information, unclear objectives, unclear roles and responsibilities, conflict and frustration. As a direct result of these effects, stress levels will rise.
Developing Positive Working Relationships. Effective managers will work hard and continuously to develop and maintain positive, productive relationships with their colleagues and with other stakeholders. This requires the manager to: identify colleagues and other stakeholders such as internal and external suppliers and customers; establish positive working relationships with relevant people; respect the knowledge, skills, roles, and responsibilities of other people; provide colleagues and stakeholders with the information that they need; consult colleagues and stakeholders to learn of their priorities and needs; behave ethically towards colleagues and stakeholders; monitor and review the condition of these relationships. Do stress-carrying managers behave in this way? No. Will their behaviour cause damage to these relationships? Yes.
Managing Change. The amount and the pace of change is often blamed for the increase in negative stress levels in the workplace. This perception clouds the real issue, that of managers not being able to implement or respond to changes, effectively. Change can be managed in a way that minimises disruption, avoids conflict, reduces resistance, and leads to the change being welcomed, at least by most. There are, of course, some radical changes which cause distress to some individuals, such as when redundancies are necessary. Such changes and the impact they have are outside the control of the middle manager. However, the manager should be applying an approach to change that will, in most other circumstances, make change a relatively stress-free experience. This approach entails: assessing the impact of the proposed change and preparing for that impact; informing all individuals and teams of impending changes and the reasons for them; making clear the objectives of the change; ensuring that changes made at the local level take into account local circumstances, whenever possible; making certain that individuals are clear about their roles and responsibilities in respect of the change; providing support to people as they go through the change process; keep people informed about the progress being made; encouraging discussion and debate about potential and current changes. Managers who dont adopt this approach will find that change is a battlefield, there will be resistance and conflict, or at best there will be an unenthusiastic response to the change. The objectives of the change will not be achieved. In the process stress levels will have risen and will be difficult to lower.
Managing Personal Professional Development. Effective managers embrace the concept of continuous personal and professional development and practice it consistently and enthusiastically. They do this by: regularly forecasting the skills, knowledge, qualifications, they will need to continue to manage effectively and to progress in their careers; identifying ways to gain further knowledge, skills, qualifications; preparing and executing personal and professional development action plans; obtaining regular feedback on their performance from others; taking pride in their achievements in this area. Ineffective managers do none of these, or, at best, pay lip-service to organisational requirements by undertaking minimum or inappropriate development activity. They continue to be lacking in knowledge, unskilled in key areas of management, unaware of current best practices, and therefore continue to manage ineffectively. As a result, others continue to suffer from the stress caused by the managers actions.
There is no doubt that most workplace stress is caused by the managers. Managers are there, literally, to manage. Managers are given the responsibility of ensuring that the workplace around them is safe, healthy, organised, resourced, and achieving the set objectives. In support of this, the manager must maintain and continuously improve the levels of motivation, morale, quality standards, performance, and capabilities of individuals and teams. Managers who are not capable of managing in this way will cause problems, confusion, dissent, disagreement, conflict, disappointment, frustration, anger, higher levels of sickness absence and staff turnover. This in turn means that they will continue to generate workplace stress, and the individuals and teams that they manage will continue to suffer from the negative effects of that stress. The message is clear. To reduce workplace negative stress levels, it is necessary to have managers in place who are trained in management and who manage thoughtfully and competently. Yes, there will be times when increased stress is inevitable, but these periods should only be generated by the peaks and troughs of the activity of the organisation, not by the actions of an individual manager. Until managers know how to manage effectively, stress management will remain high on the agenda. Individuals will spend more and more effort and energy on coping mechanisms. The cost to the organisation will be higher levels of turnover and absence, and the cost of poor performance. The real problem, the cause of the stress, will remain.
How Middle Managers Create Stress
Word Count:
1445
Summary:
Managers are the great stress-carriers. Stress-carriers are people who, through their behaviour, their actions, their attitude, generate and distribute stress onto other people.
Keywords:
distance learning,stress,management,business,courses,HND,HNC,diploma,foundation,DMS,CMS,studies,degree, postgraduate,certificate,
Article Body:
In essence, the reason that they create stress for others is that they do not manage well. For all those working in the operational, functional areas of the organisation, most of the workplace stress is created by the team leaders, supervisors, and middle managers.
The ways in which managers create this stress are endless, but here are some of the most common ways.
Being Inadequately Trained. The underlying reason why middle managers are stress-carriers is that they are not trained to be effective managers. Even though management training and development is universally agreed to be essential, more than 80% of those managing in todays organisations have received no more than 5 days management training. It is tempting to believe that this statistic is biased because of the shortcomings of older managers, but this is not the case. The majority of younger managers have received no more. Little wonder that the majority of managers dont know how to manage effectively. The result is that the manager behaves in ways which are inherently flawed and therefore highly likely to cause stress levels to rise in those affected by their actions.
Implementing Operational Plans. The stress-carrying manager will: not be familiar with the corporate level strategies and objectives; implement local, operational plans without regard for the higher level objectives; not involve key individuals and teams in the planning process; not balance risks against desired outcomes; not build in an appropriate degree of flexibility into the plans; not ensure that individuals and teams are provided with the necessary training and resources; not monitor and adjust the plan on a regular basis. Will the plans be successful? No. Will stress levels rise? Yes.
Encouraging Innovation. Good managers encourage creativity and innovation, by: promoting a culture of continuous improvement; motivating individuals and teams to identify improvements to existing processes; responding positively to ideas from teams and individuals; discussing ways in which improvements or new methods could be implemented; promoting agreed changes to senior management; make sure that the originators of the changes are given recognition. Poor managers dont do these things. As a result, dissatisfaction and resentment is fostered, and individuals and teams feel worthless. Will stress levels rise? Yes.
Managing Health and Safety Conditions. A major cause of workplace stress is the condition of the workplace in which people work. This can include issues such as temperature, safety levels, personal space, air quality, cleanliness, access to emergency exits, and so on. The conscientious manager, aware of the high priority that health and safety should be given, ensures that: they are aware of their personal responsibilities regarding health and safety in their areas of responsibility; the organisations health and safety policy is communicated clearly to all relevant employees; each individual is aware of and trained to carry out their individual health and safety responsibilities; systems are in place for identifying, reporting, and removing hazards; sufficient resources are allocated to the management of health and safety; an effective monitoring and review process is in place. When the manager does not take health and safety seriously, conditions deteriorate and become dangerous, the health of the employees will be damaged, and accidents occur. Stress levels will rise and, perversely, the risk of illness and accidents will rise in proportion, as individuals become less confident, more distracted, and potentially ill, due to the negative impact of the stress.
Managing Operational Processes. The core activity for middle managers is to manage the operational processes, the business processes. The stress-carrying manager does this ineffectively by: not adjusting the processes so that they deliver the desired outcomes; not ensuring that necessary resources are allocated to each part of the process; not providing sufficient information to individuals and teams carrying out the activities; not defining responsibilities; not implementing a monitoring and control system; not taking appropriate corrective action when the process is failing. For the teams and individuals carrying out the operational activity, the result is lack of information, unclear objectives, unclear roles and responsibilities, conflict and frustration. As a direct result of these effects, stress levels will rise.
Developing Positive Working Relationships. Effective managers will work hard and continuously to develop and maintain positive, productive relationships with their colleagues and with other stakeholders. This requires the manager to: identify colleagues and other stakeholders such as internal and external suppliers and customers; establish positive working relationships with relevant people; respect the knowledge, skills, roles, and responsibilities of other people; provide colleagues and stakeholders with the information that they need; consult colleagues and stakeholders to learn of their priorities and needs; behave ethically towards colleagues and stakeholders; monitor and review the condition of these relationships. Do stress-carrying managers behave in this way? No. Will their behaviour cause damage to these relationships? Yes.
Managing Change. The amount and the pace of change is often blamed for the increase in negative stress levels in the workplace. This perception clouds the real issue, that of managers not being able to implement or respond to changes, effectively. Change can be managed in a way that minimises disruption, avoids conflict, reduces resistance, and leads to the change being welcomed, at least by most. There are, of course, some radical changes which cause distress to some individuals, such as when redundancies are necessary. Such changes and the impact they have are outside the control of the middle manager. However, the manager should be applying an approach to change that will, in most other circumstances, make change a relatively stress-free experience. This approach entails: assessing the impact of the proposed change and preparing for that impact; informing all individuals and teams of impending changes and the reasons for them; making clear the objectives of the change; ensuring that changes made at the local level take into account local circumstances, whenever possible; making certain that individuals are clear about their roles and responsibilities in respect of the change; providing support to people as they go through the change process; keep people informed about the progress being made; encouraging discussion and debate about potential and current changes. Managers who dont adopt this approach will find that change is a battlefield, there will be resistance and conflict, or at best there will be an unenthusiastic response to the change. The objectives of the change will not be achieved. In the process stress levels will have risen and will be difficult to lower.
Managing Personal Professional Development. Effective managers embrace the concept of continuous personal and professional development and practice it consistently and enthusiastically. They do this by: regularly forecasting the skills, knowledge, qualifications, they will need to continue to manage effectively and to progress in their careers; identifying ways to gain further knowledge, skills, qualifications; preparing and executing personal and professional development action plans; obtaining regular feedback on their performance from others; taking pride in their achievements in this area. Ineffective managers do none of these, or, at best, pay lip-service to organisational requirements by undertaking minimum or inappropriate development activity. They continue to be lacking in knowledge, unskilled in key areas of management, unaware of current best practices, and therefore continue to manage ineffectively. As a result, others continue to suffer from the stress caused by the managers actions.
There is no doubt that most workplace stress is caused by the managers. Managers are there, literally, to manage. Managers are given the responsibility of ensuring that the workplace around them is safe, healthy, organised, resourced, and achieving the set objectives. In support of this, the manager must maintain and continuously improve the levels of motivation, morale, quality standards, performance, and capabilities of individuals and teams. Managers who are not capable of managing in this way will cause problems, confusion, dissent, disagreement, conflict, disappointment, frustration, anger, higher levels of sickness absence and staff turnover. This in turn means that they will continue to generate workplace stress, and the individuals and teams that they manage will continue to suffer from the negative effects of that stress. The message is clear. To reduce workplace negative stress levels, it is necessary to have managers in place who are trained in management and who manage thoughtfully and competently. Yes, there will be times when increased stress is inevitable, but these periods should only be generated by the peaks and troughs of the activity of the organisation, not by the actions of an individual manager. Until managers know how to manage effectively, stress management will remain high on the agenda. Individuals will spend more and more effort and energy on coping mechanisms. The cost to the organisation will be higher levels of turnover and absence, and the cost of poor performance. The real problem, the cause of the stress, will remain.
