Studies shows that occupational pressures, gossips and fears are so far the major source of stress. Any trouble starts when employees take on more job responsibilities, and  lose their sense of control over their work. Working excessively long hours begins to take a heavy toll on family life and social relationships, adding to the stress level, researchers say. If you knew  this symptoms early, you have a better chance of fixing the problem. Your goal is not to  end up with more chronic and serious problems. Here’s what to look out for:  

• Job dissatisfaction
• Sleep disturbances
• Short temper
• Upset stomach
• Headache
• Disturbed relationships with family and friends
• Low morale
• Teeth grinding
• Increased use of drugs or alcohol

Long-Term Problems

If left untreated, job stress can lead to some serious problems. They are:  

• Cardiovascular disease
• Musculoskeletal disorders
• Psychological disorders

by: Christine Zafra

Aristotle once said that “man is a political animal”. By political, he didn’t mean engaging in politics per se (like running for office) but, it was more of being “social” and engaging in the different city rendezvous. John Locke, a prominent theoretician, has confirmed this by saying “man is a social animal”.

Now, what is the importance of these sayings in the working arena? The key here is teamwork. People love teamwork since they get to interact with other people. If they get confined in a certain area (the dreaded office cubicle for example), they get a little discouraged. Isolation is not the key here. It is better if you put your employees in “teams” and make them work on projects as a “team”. Who knows? You might get better results.

Photo taken from http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu

Everyone goes through personal issues of some  sort during their lives. When I was just starting my career in the corporate life, I was always told not to mix business with personal problems. Personal issues together with family problems, life changing situations, emotional difficulties, illness, and even one’s sexual orientation, can impact your job and the ability to  advance on your career. Of course there’s no need to share specifics unless you want to. It’s your choice. But sometimes when you let others know about the circumstances, it negates gossip and sets your co-workers’ expectations properly. Beating yourself up will accomplish nothing except low self-esteem and this will only add up to difficult circumstances. Accept the fact that you won’t be at your best in the office during this time.

Everyone is in panic whenever a year end evaluation or appraisal is coming. As managers, we oftentimes asked our subordinates to make a review status or evaluation with their performance. Employee assessment involves reading the notes of your performance and attitude throughout the assessment period. But what if you received a  bad review or evaluation? How would you react and handle the situation? Here are some techniques that you can find uselful.

1. Read your review very carefully and don’t respond immediately.

2.Take time to determine if the negative review is really unjust or if you’re just taking offense at being criticized.

3. If you can honestly say that you’ve received an unfair review, make an appointment to meet with the person who wrote it.

 4. Acknowledge any points that are correct. 5. Use clear examples to contradict those points you feel are untrue. Use a paper trail to back yourself up.  6.You’ve realized your reviewer was fair. The truth hurts, but you can use a bad review as a learning experience.

7.Make an appointment to meet with your boss so you can find out how to improve your performance. 8.Keep a paper trail of everything you do, beginning with that meeting. You’ll want to have evidence of the effort you’ve made to improve your performance. 9.If you follow your boss’s suggestions, next year’s review should be much better.

by: Christine Zafra

Previous posts here (like this, this and this) have included theories from different theoreticians and experts. Now you ask, “why is this so and how important can these be?” Well, theories are important in understanding a certain phenomenon. Although these statements are still unproven (the reason why it’s called theory), they provide an overview about what the experts have observed about the said phenomenon and have provided conclusions that will help people understand the phenomenon further.

These theories are indeed helpful to those managers and company executives who feel their employees are losing interest. They can experiment with the working atmosphere in the office using different kinds methods to motivate their subordinates, hoping to yield positive results in the end.

Photo taken from http://www.theories-itsagame.com

Procrastination is one of the biggest problems that most people have. Sometimes when we are at work, we think that we  do not “manage our time very well” and hence we get upset with the little work we have done. This may be true but, for a few people only! Most of the people, do not get any work done because they are “Procrastinators”! Here’s How:

1. Identify which tasks you can do and not? Assess yourself if you lack the knowledge in keeping you on  doing something, and get help. Break down each task into small manageable parts. Work on each part for a set amount of time, ie.g. ten minutes, and then stop. Don’t forget to take a break and then work on the next part. And Reward yourself for completing a task.

Tips:

1. Organize your work area.

2. Complete tasks you don’t like doing, when your mind is clear.

3.Sometimes we avoid tasks we don’t think we can do well — make sure you ask for help if you don’t understand how to do something.

by: Christine Zafra

Have you heard of the name Maslow? No? Well, he’s actually a pioneer of the social sciences and is known to those who took up psychology, political science or behavioral sciences as their degrees. The social scientists would probably say, “if economics got Marx’s triangle, we got Maslow’s hierarchy of needs”.

Maslow’s triangle is composed of 5 goals that a human being should attain:

1. The physiological part.
2. His/her own safety.
3. Love.
4. Self-Esteem.
5. Self-fulfillment.

It’s something transitional. The person must fulfill first number 1 before proceeding to number 2; it is therefore implied that for a person to be motivated (reach number 5), he must first accomplish the first 4.

Photo taken from http://goosei.info

Why use icebreakers?

•to create a positive group atmosphere
•to help people relax
•to break down social barriers
•to energize and motivate
•to help people think outside the box
•to help people to get to know one another

The right icebreaker games make a vital difference to your meeting, training or team building, and in building your reputation as a good facilitator? Ice Breakers can be an effective way of starting a training session or team-building event. As interactive and often fun sessions run before the main proceedings, they help people get to know each other and buy into the purpose of the event.

In a job interview, the employer usually ask questions on what motivates a candidate. I, myself, encountered such questions from my previous employers in describing the work environment or culture in which you are most productive and happy.

Here are some frequently asked questions that you should not tend to forget:

•Imagine you have received a coveted national award five years from now. Why did you receive the award, what is the award, and what are the circumstances under which you are receiving the award?
•What goals, including career goals, have you set for your life?
•How would you define “success” for your career? At the end of your work life, what must have been present for you to feel as if you had a successful career?
•Describe a work situation in which you can demonstrate that you motivated another person.

by: Christine Zafra

As seen here on this website (previous post), Douglas McGregor created a theory regarding job motivation. Now, another theoretician made his own hypothesis about it. Frederick Herzberg, a prominent psychologist who has published his own book regarding job motivation, said that hygiene is the key to every office that has motivated employees. If you think hygiene refers to the physical cleanliness of the office, well, it’s more than that. It requires cleanliness in the organization (people-related), policies, management (type of leadership), working conditions, job security and so on and so forth. Basically, it envelopes all the qualities of a “perfect” job arena. Can managers really do that?

Photo taken from http://www.wpclipart.com