that employees can use on and off the job. Onsite support groups: Stress can be alleviated when employees share concerns
n PAGE 6: Guest Column Vikas Lakhani of InstaOffice
VOLUME-VII I ISSUE 8 I AUGUST 2017
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n PAGE 8 : Interview Dhiresh Sharma of Yatra.com
VOLUME-VII I ISSUE 9 I SEPTEMBER 2017
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Dealing with workplace stress
E
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ngagement
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How industry stalwarts #BeatTheOfficeStress
Workplace
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#BeatTheOfficeStress
Workplace stress and the solutions you need The alarming spike in the incidents of stress among employees in the recent years and its impact on the bottom line has made stress management an urgent and necessary business strategy for the Indian companies
APEKSHA KAUSHIK, TIMESJOBS BUREAU
A
ccording to a recent survey by TimesJobs, nearly 75 per cent of the surveyed India Inc. employees reported experiencing symptoms of stress due to work. Of these an average 85 per cent reported high stress levels at work. Most (60 per cent) of these employees feel tired because of stress at workplace. Nearly 25 per cent feel unusually emotional while 10 per cent of the employees get easily annoyed because of stress.
Probable reasons The uncertain economy, shrinking incomes and widespread layoffs are undeniable factors that are contributing to the increased stress levels. On-thejob stress factors range from heavy workloads to fear of job loss, unrealistic job expectations and low salaries. For most employees workload is the primary reason for workplace stress, finds the TimesJobs survey. Work pressure can create physical stress which further takes toll on the emotional well-being, and in severe cases triggers depression in workers.
Coping mechanism Whatever the root cause is, stressed workers tend to be fatigued, prone to mistakes and injuries and are more likely to be absent. And most significantly, they incur healthcare costs double than that for other employees. Our survey found that to cope with stress, 35 per cent of the employees resort to overeating, 20 per cent talk to friends, 10 per cent sleep, read and diet. Of the 35 per cent who eat to overcome stress, nearly 26 per cent of employees said they gained more than 10 kilograms at work, in the last one year; while 15 per cent said they gained more than 20 kilograms. Regardless of what stress coping mechanism the employees follow, they don’t find it effective. VOLUME-VII I ISSUE 9 I SEPTEMBER 2017 www.content.timesjobs.com
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How do you deal with stress?
Nearly 60 per cent employees find their current stress coping mechanism poor, 30 per cent find it average while only 10 per cent are satisfied with it.
Workplace stress and gender
Overeat – 35% Talk to friends – 20% Read – 10%
Workplace stress affects both men and women, although there are some gender differences in certain aspects. In general, women are more likely than men to experience physical symptoms of stress. According to the TimesJobs survey, 65 per cent women feel tired at work while just 35 per cent men feel tired at workplace.
Diet – 10%
Women are also more likely than men to cope with job stress with unhealthy behaviours, such as poor eating habits. The survey shows 55 per cent women taking to overeating compared to 45 per cent men who do so when they are stressed.
Sleep – 10%
What employers should do
Exercise – 5% Listen to music – 5% Work – 5%
Describe your present level of stress?
Tired 60%
Unusually emotional 25%
Irritable 10%
Anxious/ worried – 5%
More employers are recognising that now is the time for action. Workers who are stressed today can be disabled tomorrow. Establishing work schedules that are compatible with demands and responsibilities outside the job and offering supportive services can help reduce stress. Here are some key strategies: Flexi time: Allowing workers to start or end the workday earlier or later can reduce work-life stress, especially for working parents. Flexi time can also reduce the stress of commuting in rush hour traffic. Job sharing: This allows at least two people trained to perform each job, enabling each employee to have time off without losing productivity. Work from home: Working from home results in higher morale and job satisfaction and lower employee stress and turnover. The prime reason is that working at home provides employees more control over how they do their work. Healthcare advocacy: Offering an expert who can personally address healthcare issues, such as helping to resolve medical bills and interacting with insurance and providers, can help employees reduce worry and stay focused on their job. Stress management workshops: Scheduled workshops that educate employees about the sources of stress, effects on their health and how they can reduce stress can be effective. They have to be backed by practical stress management techniques that employees can use on and off the job. Onsite support groups: Stress can be alleviated when employees share concerns about work issues, life crises, family issues, caregiving and stress management methods. These support groups should include employees at all levels. VOLUME-VII I ISSUE 9 I SEPTEMBER 2017 www.content.timesjobs.com
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Define your stress levels at work?
How effective do you find your present coping mechanism?
High – 85% Average – 15% No stress – 0%
Poor 60%
Average 30%
Good 10%
What employees can do?
What causes stress?
Studies have shown that chronic stress can take a beating on health. Thus, it is imperative for employees to address their stress-related concerns.
Heavy workloads – 35%
Here’s what they can do:
Low salaries – 20% Job insecurity – 20% Unrealistic job expectations – 15% Lack of opportunities for growth and advancement – 10%
Ask for support: Turn to your co-workers for support when required. Having a solid support system at work can help buffer you from the negative effects of job stress. Be social and talk to people around, you don’t need ‘best friends’ to share your concerns, you can even share it with a close acquaintance. The bottom line is – to communicate. Create work-life balance: Work-life balance is something which all of us seek but most of us usually compromise on it to advance in our careers. However, it is not a hindrance to our career success but is essential to escape burnout. Try to find a balance between work and family life and social activities.
A step towards healthy lifestyle: Many of us feel obliged to be available 24 hours. This creates unnecessary pressure which can lead to workplace health hazards. It is important to maintain periods when you’re not working or thinking about work. That may mean not checking emails or taking work calls at home in the evening or at weekends. Over-commitment kills: Don’t try to fit too much into one day. If you’ve got too much on your plate, then ‘prioritise’. Don’t commit beyond what you can complete in the stipulated work hours or in the set deadlines. Drop tasks that aren’t truly necessary to the bottom of the list or eliminate them entirely. VOLUME-VII I ISSUE 9 I SEPTEMBER 2017 www.content.timesjobs.com
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What’s Trending! What’s Consulting services sector hired most Office check: Razorpay’s new colourful office professionals in Aug 2017: TimesJobs RecruiteX report
In Aug 2017, hiring drop across most key industry segments. Comparatively, the consulting services hired most professionals and registered 2 per cent rise in hiring. Automobiles sector posted 1 per cent rise in demand whereas IT/telecom and logistics sectors saw 11 per cent drop in demand. Complete report @ http://content.timesjobs.com/recruitex
Reality check: LGBTQ+ and their work life challenges While India is still accepting, and relating with LGBTQ+ community at work place, Kochi metro incident where recently inducted transgenders faced hardships continuing work comes as a tough reminder. It proved yet again that acceptance is still afar. TimesJobs does a fact check on what LGBTQ+ community faces at workplaces. Read article @ http://content.timesjobs.com/trending
in Bengaluru
After relocating its headquarters from Jaipur to Bengaluru in April 2015, the fintech major and India’s leading payment solutions company, Razorpay has now opened its new corporate office in Bengaluru. This office has striking vivacious interious. Check it @ http://content.timesjobs.com/corporategallerylist.cms
My First Job: Kishore Jayaraman, President (India & South Asia), Rolls-Royce Job experiences teach you many things beyond polishing your skill-sets. These learnings tend to be your guidelines for the coming times in personal and professional life. The ‘My First Job’ captures this essence from the industry leaders. Here is an account from Kishore Jayaraman, President (India & South Asia), Rolls-Royce. Read it @ http://content.timesjobs.com/my-first-job
VOLUME-VII I ISSUE 9 I SEPTEMBER 2017 www.content.timesjobs.com
LEADERS’ SPEAK
Team TJinsite brings you candid interviews of Gautam Sinha, CEO, Times Internet Ltd How well do you deal with stress?
I use my weekends to de-stress. I start these days at 7-7.30 AM with retro music, since I am huge fan of that genre. I play golf, spend time with family or plan a movie outing with family. Sometimes, attending a social event with friends or relatives helps shrug off work stress.
What’s the most stressful situation you’ve faced at work so far? How did you handle it?
As a leader, there are times when responsibility of all employees weigh heavily on your shoulders. That fear of letting them down worries me. As a leader I have to maintain a
level of integrity and honesty with the company, stakeholders and employees. I tend to think a lot about this aspect.
What advice would you give to calm down a colleague who’s stressed out about a deadline?
Deadline stress happens because of multiple factors. In any situation one should know who to reach out to, how to reach out to that person and when to reach out to. For example, in office, you should know when to reach out to your manager. Even among your colleagues there are many who can help you meet the deadline. And even in stressful situations, have a clam mind, walk around and figure out how to de-stress the situation.
Describe a time you had to make a tough when decision. How did you make sure you were objective?
When you have to take a tough decision, you should to be as impartial and transparent as you can be. You should make the other person understand why you are taking that decision. You should also communicate the rationale behind that decision upfront with the right reason.
How do you ensure that stressful situations in your personal life don’t affect your work performance?
Both work and life (family) are a high priority for everyone, but you have to keep them like two separate boxes - apart from each other. This, however, comes only with maturity and experience. With little practise you can keep these two aspects separate otherwise the collision is bound to happen and your work and life both will suffer.
Sharat Dhall, COO (B2C), Yatra.com How well so that we are well prepared, and there is no last minute tension with do you deal with thedeadlines. stress? I believe in What kind of people do you the idea of struggle to work with?
work-life balance and make time for both work and play. I try not to fall behind with my work and get down to it immediately so that my team and I finish projects before the deadline. Over the years, I know the situations that are likely to get stressful and try to ensure that my team and I start work well in advance
I see myself as a generalist who can adapt to any kind of organisation and business situation, and whose core competence is to get the best out of people who work with me. I believe in setting clear goals and then giving the space to people to execute, while constantly engaging to ensure that things are on track. I give people complete freedom to speak their mind in terms of how we
should go about achieving our goals and encourage open and active discussions. Typically, people react well to being given freedom and space, but the ones that are lazy are the ones that I find require constant monitoring prove to be the ones I find most difficult to deal with.
How do you prevent a situation from getting too stressful to manage?
I think taking control of a stressful situation at the right time and being aware of the developments that would follow is the best way to prevent things from getting out VOLUME-VII I ISSUE 8 I AUGUST 2017 www.content.timesjobs.com
LEADERS’ SPEAK
industry leaders on how they bust work stress Amit Sinha, COO, Paytm Mall How well do you deal with stress?
personal life don’t affect your work performance?
It’s crucial to separate your professional and private lives. While technological advances and various work patterns have Stress is made it increasingly difficult to often an indication get enough rest, it’s important to have boundaries and set aside time of being stuck at a job you’re not interested in. for your most important needs. Focusing on deadline-driven I prefer staying away from anything projects, overcoming distractions I am genuinely not interested in, and keep my weekends reserved for and procrastination often go a long quality time with family and engage way in managing expectations and needs to ensure your work and home in my hobbies. are separate.
What kind of people do you struggle to work with?
It’s critical to surround oneself with people who share similar work ethics and work culture. I appreciate sincerity in colleagues I work with.
How do you ensure that stressful situations in your
of hand. As a team leader, I try to understand the gravity of any given situation and make a decision keeping everybody in mind. I keep myself updated and get involved in every development from the very start to avoid a situation from getting too stressful to manage.
What advice would you give to calm down a colleague who is stressed out about a deadline?
The only way one can deal with such situation is by prioritising the work is important and drop the things
How do you prevent a situation from getting too stressful to manage?
Its only human nature for our bodies to react the way they do at times of stress. I focus on the action and moving closer towards the solution. The only way to manage stress is to
that are not urgent and focus on the immediate task on hand. If someone is stressed out, I would advice them to focus on the work and not the deadline which only acts as a distraction and creates more stress. If one is stressed, it is impossible to think straight. If totally stressed out, I would advice a short break, with a few deep breaths and then back to the task on hand. A little get humour in such a situation is often a great stress buster as well!
Describe a time where you had to make a tough
have hope for a solution, that can be one way to beat stress.
What advice would you give to calm down a colleague who is stressed out about a deadline? Stress is not caused by the problem itself, but how we handle the problem. I advise my colleagues that being stressed out would only prevent them from getting the job done within the deadline.
Describe a time you had to make a tough decision. How did you make sure you were objective?
Every job requires a certain amount of focus and the ability to make a judgment. It’s important to have clarity about the final objective – you must know the problem you are looking to solve. Everything in the middle are means towards achieving that goal.
decision. How did you make sure you were objective?
When faced with difficult situations, I try to step back and evaluate things by putting down the pros and cons of each of the options on the table. I actually like to write these down on a piece of paper, before taking a call on the course of action to be taken. A decision like a job change or terminating someone is a very big one with huge personal ramifications for the people involved and hence one has to make sure that these are taken on the basis of data rather than emotions.
VOLUME-VII I ISSUE 8 I AUGUST 2017 www.content.timesjobs.com
Here is a glimpse of the 10 best rated companies from India Inc. for work-life balance. The ratings are provided by the employees of these companies on JobBuzz, a company rating platform powered by TimesJobs
Best New-Age Employer for Work-Life Balance
10 best companies for work-life balance 4.73
4.21
4.19
4.16
4.08
4.07
4.05
4.05
4.05
4.04
