Feeling Anxious? Don’t Relax, Get Excited!

Feeling Anxious? Don’t Relax, Get Excited!

Expected Learning Outcomes

• Relationship between employee performance and workplace stress
• Various approaches and techniques used to manage anxiety and regulate stress

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Job Performance and Stress

1. Given below are some commonly experienced scenarios. Assuming that each one of you must have encountered one or more of the below mentioned  situations, which among the three, would best describe the emotion experienced by you – anxiety, tension or stress?

• a) Your first ever public speaking experience
• b) Last minute examination preparation for a subject that you are not particularly good at
• c) The last few seconds before a competition commences, for example, a race, a quiz, a dance
• performance, etc.
• d) .................

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Managing Anxiety

1. According to you, what are the smoking signals for employee burnout? What measures should be taken to prevent employees from a burnout scenario? What is the role of the HR in preventing employee burnout?

2. In certain professions like event management, neurosurgeons, sales, etc., high levels of stress are inherently embedded into the very nature of the job. What measures should be taken to cope-up with stress under such circumstances?

3. ............

Feeling Anxious? Don’t Relax, Get Excited!

Synopsis

This case flyer focuses on the growing stress levels among working professionals and its impact on employee productivity. It deliberates on the reasons that have resulted in the mounting pressure levels at workplaces and the importance of regulating stress in order to create a productive and happy workforce. What are the main reasons for employee burnout? Who is responsible for preventing employees from reaching a stage of burnout? The accompanying article highlights that it is only natural for human beings to feel nervous and anxious when faced with a challenging situation. The accompanying article not only showcases the benefits of regulated stress, but also throws light on the consequences, of letting stress levels go unchecked. Is trying to calm down under high pressure situations a futile effort? Can getting excited in stressful circumstances improve performance, in general, and employee productivity, in particular?

Expected Learning Outcomes

• • Relationship between employee performance and workplace stress
• • Various approaches and techniques to managing anxiety and regulating stress

Positioning and Setting

This case flyer can be used in the following course:

• a) Organizational Behavior – Stress Management – How regulated stress can result in a productive workplace while unregulated stress levels may prove disastrous for employees and organizations alike.

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Suggested Orchestration

Before the Case Flyer Discussion

a) The students were asked to watch the movie The Devil Wears Prada1 as it would help sensitize students towards the reality of stress at work. Set in the backdrop of the extremely competitive and glamorous fashion industry, the film unravels the story of a young, aspiring journalist, with poor fashion sensibilities, and her struggle to cope with the soaring stress levels of her job as she tries hard to please her tyrannical boss.

b) Watching this film before this case flyer discussion in the classroom will not only help students gain an insight into the real-time pressures of the corporate world but will also help them appreciate the reality that landing a job in a leading corporate house, marks the beginning of a challenging and testing journey.

c) Students were also asked to read the following articles:

• “Are You Working Too Hard”
• “Pull the Plug on Stress”
• “Your Innate Asset for Combating Stress”

d) The above mentioned articles will collectively help students gain an understanding of the various reasons for the mounting stress levels and the physiological and psychological response to these soaring pressure levels. These articles will also help sensitize students towards the inevitability of stress and how employees and organizations can benefit by regulating these pressure levels.

e) Most importantly, prior to the actual classroom discussion, the students were encouraged to analyze all the questions given in the case flyer (either individually or in learning teams or in appropriate discussion forums) to enable them to participate effectively and to enrich the learning outcomes.

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