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ShareMumbai: Apprehensive about personnel stress levels, businesses have increased welfare budgets. DNA asks people about how they deal with the urban phenomenon.
Coping up with work stress can be stressful
During earlier decades, the main attraction for educated youth was to secure a cosy government or public sector job offering various features like a decent pay packet, perks, accommodation, pension and gratuity benefits. Few left the job as it was basically free of stress.
But the scenario changed fast during the last two decades with the opening up of the economy and government controls providing an opportunity to private and corporate sectors.
The growth also saw a quantum jump in salaries and perks luring qualified professionals to achieve their short and long term goals.
Entry of BPO firms, further opened good paying jobs but with strings attached. Here, everything was linked to performance, productivity and profitability.One has to produce desired results all the time to stay on to the job. This continuous pressure to perform gives rise to stress levels that differ from job-to-job.
One's increment or promotion depends on performance which in most cases is monitored on a daily or weekly basis, adding more pressure to the already stressed employees.
-Baljeet Parmar
Working ambience should be made cool
If our work schedules have become more hectic, the overall salary packets have also improved substantially. At the same time, we need to know how to find the right balance between work and personal life. My office canteen provides healthy food but I have seen people eagerly opt for it, for a few weeks and then they are back to munching oily samosas and fried chips. So it's basically how one regulates one's eating habits. My organisation should have some health centre or a gymnasium. We need to make our working environment less stressful and more fun. We should also have more group activities like aerobics or yoga for all.
--Sanjay Pardesi
Lack of time compels us to eat junk food
Stress has become an inalienable part of our lives that we fail to recognise it nowadays. Achievers are expected to perform well in high pressure situations. I have enjoyed working under pressure, it's like a challenge for me. Sometimes it is difficult to exercise after a hard day's work, but I still manage to go for a walk at least. Sometimes appetite becomes the casualty of stress and it may affect consumption patterns. After working hard for the whole day, one may get so tired that he may skip a meal. In other instances, long working hours may make individuals to forget having meals. Lack of time for lunch or breakfast may compel some to eat junk food, which is a bad option.
--Pooja Kadge
Fixed working hours required to balance life
I guess people are so caught up with deadlines and projects today, that they don't even think about their health and avoid visiting a doctor. In all corporate groups, the senior management urges us to remain in the pink of health. They expect us to jog and indulge in exercising, but they also expect us to be in office at 9 am sharp. There are no fixed closing hours; the staff can leave only when their work is done. I had enrolled in a gymnasium but I couldn't be regular. We need to follow a pattern of fixed working hours, like it is practiced in foreign countries. I would welcome the move of having a health centre in my organisation and regular health checks being organised.
--Ravi Kanojia
Keep staff happy, it will boost productivity
My company has an informal atmosphere and it organises a lot of group events. These events bring co-workers together and break the monotony at work. For instance during Diwali, a lunch was organised which helped in boosting our morale. Such events help infuse new energy into our functioning. If a boss is friendly, then no amount of work can stress an individual. My superiors are easy and they give us freedom to work. This brings responsibility since we can't take the freedom for granted. The work ambience is good, we are not expected to stay till late and can leave as soon as we finish work.This gives us enough time with our family and friends.
--Sunny Almani
Expertview
Make them feel at home
Employees have to maintain a good balance between work and family commitments. Stress is induced due to reasons like long working hours, frequent change of duties and demanding superiors. Nowadays employees spend maximum time in the office. So it is very important that they feel at home at their work place too. If an employee doesn't enjoy the work atmosphere he will quit and that will result in a swift turnover rate for the company and affect productivity. Now that the corporate world has realised the importance of personnel, it has started programmes like taking employees to hill stations. They are equipping the offices with yoga and meditation centres. They are also arranging for counsellors. Employers understand that physical, mental wellness is necessary for their employees.
--Harish Shetty, psychologist
Gauge staffers' problems
We have 7,000 employees, who are like a family. So to make them feel at home, we conduct various activities. For this purpose, we have a dedicated 'Employee Relation Centre'. Through this facility, we give more attention to their work related and personal issues. Time and again, we organise contests to keep them engrossed. For example, we recently organised a tug of war which everyone enjoyed. Besides this, we also conduct yoga programmes for their mental and physical fitness. We also honour ten top performers and invite their families for the function. Moreover we look at all basic necessities of the employees like drop services for commuting to the office. Even for women, we give all necessary security. We give subsidised food in our canteen.
--Ajay Bhola, general manager (HR) Spanco Ltd
