A Study on Stress Management in BPO Sector

By
Nimita Singh

(Registration No: 08HBSPDM071)

Of

Hindustan Business School

A Project Report Submitted To

Ms. Nimmi Agarwal

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree

of

Post Graduate Diploma in Management

Sharda Group of Institutions

August 2010
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

S.NO CONTENTS

1 INTRODUCTION
2 COMPANY PROFILE

3 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

6 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

7 DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATIONS

8 FINDINGS

9 SUGGESTIONS

10 CONCLUSION

Introduction

Statement of the Problem

The present world is changing really fast and there are lots of pressures and
demands at work. These pressures at work lead to physical disorders. Stress refers
to individual’s reaction to a disturbing factor in the environment. Hence this study
i.e. Stress Management in BPO sector would help the organizations like
Vcustomers & HCL to know the factors of stress and to reduce the stress in
employees. Since it is a well known fact that healthy employee is a productive
employee.

Explanation of the Problem

Now days, the corporate sector is booming in a high speed that the people have to
work for prolonged hours to maintain the standard of living and achieve their basic
needs. So is the condition in the hospitals, colleges, BPO’s and lots of other places.
In spite of having the modern technologies and facilities, people are feeling
themselves to be work loaded and stressed. Stress arises because of many reasons
which are discussed in the following project. The project report also contain
techniques how to reduce the stress and overcome such problems.

Stress is now viewed as a "bad thing", with a range of harmful biochemical and
long-term effects. These effects have rarely been observed in positive situations.
Stress is that stress is a condition or feeling experienced when a person perceives
that “demands exceed the personal and social resources the individual is able
to mobilize.” In short, it is what we feel when we think we have lost control over
events. There are very many proven skills that we can use to manage stress. These
help us to remain calm and effective in high-pressure situations, and help us avoid
the problems of long term stress.

Importance of the Problem

Several of the factors that cause stress particularly task and role demands and
organizations structure are controlled by management. As such they can be
modified or changed. Some of the strategies that management want to consider
include improved personal self section and job placement, use of realistic goal
setting, redesigning of jobs, improved organizational communication and
establishment of corporate wellness programmes.

Certain jobs are more stressful than others. Individual with little experience or an
external lower of control tend to be more proven to stress. Selection and placement
decisions should take these facts into consideration. Goal setting helps to reduce
stress. It also provides motivation. Designing jobs to give employees more
responsibility, more meaningful work, more autonomy, and increased feedback can
reduce stress, because these factors give the employee greater control over work
activities and lessen dependence on others.

The word stress is derived from a Latin word “stringere”, meaning to draw tight.
From the view point of physical sciences, the phenomena of stress are evident in
all materials when they are subjected to “force, pressure, strain or strong-front”.
Every material steel, rock or wood has its own limit up to which it can withstand
stress without being damaged. Similarly human beings can tolerate certain level of
stress. Stress is highly individualistic in nature. Some people have high levels of
stress tolerance for stress and thrive very well in the face of several stressors in the
environment. In fact, some individuals will not perform well unless they
experience a level of stress which activates and energizes then to put forth their
best results.

For every individual there is an optimum level of stress under which he or she will
perform to full capacity. If the stress experience is below the optimum level, then
the individual gets bored, the motivational level of work reaches a low point and it
results to careless mistakes, forgetting to do things and thinking of things other
than work during work hours and also leads to absenteeism which may ultimately
lead to turnover. If on the other hand, stress experience is above the optimum level,
it leads to too many conflicts with the supervisor or leads to increase of errors, bad
decisions and the individual may experience insomnia, stomach problems, and
psychosomatic illness.
 The present world is fast changing and there are lots of pressures and
demands at work. These pressures at work lead to physical disorders. Stress refers
to individual’s reaction to a disturbing factor in the environment. It is an adaptive
response to certain external factor or situation or what can be called environmental
stimuli as reflected in an opportunity, constraint, or demand the outcome of which
is uncertain but important. In short stress is a response to an external factor that
results in physical, emotional, behavioral deviations in a person.

Stress is an all pervading modern phenomenon that takes a heavy toll of

human life. Different situations and circumstances in our personal life and in our
job produce stress. Those can be divided into factors related to the organization
and factors related to the person which include his experience and personality
traits. Job related factors are work overload, time pressures, poor quality of
supervision, insecure political climate, role conflict and ambiguity, difference
between company values and employee values. Person related factors are death of
spouse, or of a close friend, family problems, change to a different line of work,
prolonged illness in the family, change in social activities, eating habits, etc.,

Personality traits are ‘Type A’ personality. They are impatient, ambitious,

competitive, aggressive, and hardworking. They set high goals and demands of
themselves and others. And they are particularly prone to stress inducing
anticipatory emotions such as anxiety.

REMEDIES TO REDUCE STRESS

There are two major approaches to reduce stress. They are:-

• Individual approaches
• Organizational approaches

INDIVIDUAL APPROACHES

An employee can take individual responsibility to reduce his/her stress level.

Individual strategies that have proven effective include, implementing time
management techniques, increasing physical exercise, relaxation training, and
expanding the social support network.

 Time management
Many people manage their time very poorly. Some of well known time
management principles include,

o Making daily list of activities to be accomplished

o Scheduling activities according to the priorities set
o Prioritizing activities by importance and urgency
o Knowing your daily cycle and handling the most demanding parts of
your job.
 Physical exercise
Practicing non-competitive physical exercises like aerobics, race walking, jogging,
swimming, and riding a bi-cycle.

 Relaxation training
Relaxation techniques such as meditation, hypnosis and bio-feedback. The
objective is to reach in state of deep relaxation, where one feels physically relaxed,
somewhat from detached from the immediate environment. Fifteen or twenty
minutes a day of deep relaxation releases tension and provides a person with a
pronounced sense of peacefulness.

 Social support
Having families, friends or work colleagues to talk provides an outlet, when stress
levels become excessive. So expand your social support network that helps you
with someone to hear your problems.

ORGANIZATIONAL APPROACHES

Several of the factors that cause stress particularly task and role demands
and organizations structure are controlled by management. As such they can be
modified or changed. Some of the strategies that management want to consider
include improved personal self section and job placement, use of realistic goal
setting, redesigning of jobs, improved organizational communication and
establishment of corporate wellness programmes.

Certain jobs are more stressful than others. Individual with little
experience or an external lower of control tend to be more proven to stress.
Selection and placement decisions should take these facts into consideration. Goal
setting helps to reduce stress. It also provides motivation. Designing jobs to give
employees more responsibility, more meaningful work, more autonomy, and
increased feedback can reduce stress, because these factors give the employee
greater control over work activities and lessen dependence on others.

Increasingly formal organizational communication with employees

reduces uncertainly by lessency role ambiguity and role conflict. Wellness
program, say, employee counseling form on the employee’s total physical and
mental condition. They typically proud work ships to help people quit smoking,
control alcohol usage, eat better and develop a regular exercise program.

Another remedy for reducing stress is cognitive restructuring. It

involves two step procedures. First irrational or maladaptive thought processes that
create stress are identified. For example Type A individuals may believe that they
must be successful at everything they do. The second step consists of replacing
these irrational thoughts with more rational or reasonable ones.

One important remedy to reduce stress is the maintenance of good

sleep. Research conducted on laboratory specimen to have met with startling
discoveries. Sleep starved rats have developed stress syndrome. The amount of
sleep one requires varies from person to person and is dependent on one’s lifestyle.
The American National Sleep Foundation claims that a minimum of eight hours of
sleep is essential for good health. Generally studies shows that young adults can
manage with about 7-8 hours. After the age of 35, six hours of sleep is sufficient
whereas people over 65 years may just need three or four hours.

Company Profile
vCustomer believes that our clients are looking for a partner who can help
them strengthen their relationship with their customers. vCustomer provides
a unique focus around the customer that helps you gain insight into customer
behavior and leverage the solutions and services to improve the customer
support experience.

In the traditional model of outsourced contact center or CRM services,

clients provide all the customer intelligence, business platforms and process
knowledge. Today, we believe that our clients are looking forward to us to
deliver a world-class solution that enables their customers to get the benefit
of not only the best of class industry practices.

vCustomer partners with its clients to ensure that their customers have a
consistently great experience in the course of every interaction with the
support team. Our goal is to provide the most cost-effective solution that
leverages a global workforce that enables customers to get the help they
need, when they need it and via the communication channel they choose.

vCustomer has developed some of the most flexible and adaptive customer
communication tools designed to support both inbound and outbound
communications. Whether it is ensuring the customer is never on hold, or
assuring the customer with follow-up status updates after they have made a
request.

We understand that our clients have a limited budget within which they
would like to support their customers. While their budget is limited, they
also want the customer to feel like they care. This is why in addition to our
flat pricing structure; we provide state-of-the-art speech-based IVR solutions
and web-based self-service solutions.

Finally, we understand that not all customers have the same needs or the
same comfort levels with communication channels. Our CRM solutions help
us identify which customer profiles map best to which communication
channel and we help guide the customers to the channel that best suits them.
By having a common knowledgebase across all channels we are able to
ensure that regardless of the channel the customers choose, they will get the
identical information in the fastest and most effective way possible.

vCustomer is a leading provider of customer care contact center solutions

and services. We leverage the right blend of innovative technology, business
analytics and industry expertise to consistently deliver customized, high
quality, cost-saving services and solutions. We offer a unique combination
of best-in-class contact center services and an integrated, feature-rich CRM
suite to help increase your customers lifetime value. We provide industry
expertise in Communications, Retail and Consumer Technology sectors. Our
focus allows us to understand your business, help you reduce operating
costs, and improve quality levels by deploying self-service.

Established in 1999 and privately held, vCustomer provides its high quality
customer lifecycle solutions through state-of-the-art facilities in the United
States, India and the Philippines. vCustomer's North American headquarters
is located in Kirkland, Washington.

Review of Literature
Since the origin of the term 'stress' it is ambiguous 'stress' began life as a variant
on 'distress' in the 14th century. It meant the experience of physical hardship,
starvation, torture, and pain. These days, however, the term revolves around the
medieval definition, in which 'stress' simply meant 'hardship'. The recent scientific
developments inform us that 'stress' is actually good for us. Stress is derived from
the Latin word stranger, meaning to draw tight, and was used in the 17th century
to describe hardships or affliction. During the late 18th century stress denoted
"force, pressure, strain or strong effort," referring primarily to an individual or to
an individual's organs or mental powers (Hinkle, 1973).

As has already been noted, stress has been defined as a stimulus, a response, or the
result of an interaction between the two, with the interaction described in terms of
some imbalance between the person developed, particularly that surrounding the
person-environment (P-E) interaction, researches have considered the nature of
that interaction and, more importantly, the psychological processes which it takes
place (Dewey, 1992).

A review on the previous studies on stress among the employees is necessary to

know the areas already covered. This will help to find our new areas uncovered
and to study them in depth. The earlier studies made on stress among the
employees are briefly reviewed here.

The research study by Jamal. M finds that job stressors were significantly related
to employees’ psychosomatic problems, job satisfaction, unproductive time at the
job, and absenteeism. Type A behavior was found to be an important moderator of
the stress outcome relationship.

A. P. and J. M. Atieh, argues that it is not safe to assume that job conditions that
have an adverse impact on affective reactions to the job will also have a negative
impact on overall subjective well-being.

Fienmann views stress as a psychological response state of negative effect

characterized by a persistent and a high level of experienced anxiety or tension.

Recent research into the interaction between the mind body show that we may
place our body on stress ‘alert’ quite unconsciously, because of our psychological
and emotional attitudes to stress. Anticipatory emotions like impatience, anxiety,
and anger can produce the same nerve impulses and chemical reactions as being
faced with a concrete challenge. So when faced with a stressful situation, we must
either use up the energy created by the body to challenge or learn how to “turn
off”, the response using a conscious relaxation technique.

Hans Seyle, the endocrinologist, whose research on General Adaptation Syndrome

(GAS), for the first time, revealed how human beings adapt themselves to
emotional strives and strains in their lives. According to him emotional stress
occurs in three important stages. 1. Alarm reaction stage 2. Resistance stage 3.
Exhaustion stage.

Alarm reaction is caused by physical or psychological stressors. Resistances are

brought about by ACTH hormone of the body. Exhaustion follows when ACTH
dwindles as a result of continual stress. (ACTH-Aprinocorticotropic)

According to Stephen .P. Robbins, stress related headaches are the leading cause of
loss of work time in U. S. industry.

Cooper and Marshall visualize stress as characteristics of both the focal individual
and his environment. They designate the internal and external convulsive forces as
‘pressures’ or ‘stressors’ and the resulting stalk of the organism on stress.

Objectives
 • To undergo an in-depth study about the stress among the employees of
vCustomers.
• To identify the factors causing stress among the employees.
• To find out the level and kind of stress among the employees of different age
groups.
• To study about the effects of stress on employees in vCustomers.
• To identify the coping strategies to manage stress.

Scope Of The Study

The present world is fast changing and there are lots of pressures and demands at
work. These pressures at work lead to physical disorders. Stress refers to
individual’s reaction to a disturbing factor in the environment. Hence this study
would help the organization to know the factors of stress and to reduce the stress in
employees. Since it is a well known fact that healthy employee is a productive
employee.

Methods & Methodology

Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem. The
research methodology in the present study deals with research design, data
collection methods, sampling methods, survey, analysis and interpretations.

APPROACHES TO RESEARCH

Descriptive approach is one of the most popular approaches these days.

In this approach, a problem is described by the researcher by using questionnaire
or schedule. This approach enables a researcher to explore new areas of
investigation.

RESEARCH DESIGN

• A well structured questionnaire is framed.

• Data is collected from the employees in vCustomer.
• Findings are made and necessary suggestions and recommendations are
given.

DATA SOURCES

There are two types of data collection namely primary data collection and
secondary data collection.

PRIMARY DATA

The primary data is defined as the data, which is collected for the first time and
fresh in nature, and happen to be original in character through field survey.

Primary data collection, you collect the data yourself using methods such as
interviews and questionnaires. The key point here is that the data you collect is
unique to you and your research and, until you publish, no one else has access to it.

There are many methods of collecting primary data and the main methods include:

• Questionnaires

SECONDARY DATA
In research, Secondary data is collecting and possibly processing data by people
other than the researcher in question. Common sources of secondary data for social
science include censuses, large surveys, and organizational records. In sociology
primary data is data you have collected yourself and secondary data is data you
have gathered from primary sources to create new research. In terms of historical
research, these two terms have different meanings. A primary source is a book or
set of archival records. A secondary source is a summary of a book or set of
records.

Advantages to the secondary data collection method are - 1) it saves time that
would otherwise be spent collecting data, 2) provides a larger database (usually)
than what would be possible to collect on one’s own. However there are
disadvantages to the fact that the researcher cannot personally check the data so its
reliability may be questioned.

DATA COLLECTION METHOD

The data collection method used in this research is survey method. Here the data
are systematically recorded from the respondents.

RESEARCH TOOL

A structured questionnaire has been prepared to get the relevant information from
the respondents. The questionnaire consists of a variety of questions presented to
the respondents for their despondence. The various types of questions used in this
survey are:

 Open ended questions

 Closed ended questions
 Multiple choice questions

SAMPLE SIZE
 The sample size chosen for this study is 100.

Callers - 70

Team Leaders - 20

Supervisors - 10

----------

100

TYPE OF SAMPLING

The sampling type is non-probability which involves deliberating selections

of particular units constituting a sample, which represents the universe.

STRATIFIED SAMPLING

Stratum means a layer population from which samples are to be selected may
contain a number of layers from each layer a few samples are selected that is why
this method is called stratified sampling.

STATISTICAL METHODS USED

 Percentage analysis
 Bars & charts
 Pie diagrams

STATISTICAL TOOLS USED

 Chi-square test
 Weighted average

PERCENTAGE ANALYSIS:
 Percentage refers to a special kind of ratio. Percentages are used in making
comparison between two or more series of data. Percentage is used to describe
relative terms the distribution of two or more series of data.

No. of Respondents

Percentage of Respondents = ------------------------ X 100

Total Respondents

HYPOTHESIS

According to Goode and Hatt, "Hypothesis is a proposition, which can be put to

test to determine validity".

A hypothesis can be defined as a logically conjectured relationship between two or

more variables expressed in the form of testable statement.

NULL HYPOTHESIS (H0)

Null hypothesis is formulated only to test whether there is any relationship

between variables related to the problem being studied. Usually the null
hypothesis is formed as a negative statement.

ALTERNATE HYPOTHESIS (H1)

Alternate Hypothesis (H1) is a statement, which is accepted after the null

hypothesis is rejected based on the test result. The alternate hypothesis usually is
formed as a positive statement

CHI-SQUARE TEST

The Chi-Square test is one of the simplest and most widely used non parametric
tests in statistical work. The symbol X2 is the Greek letter Chi. Karl Pearson first
used the chi-square test in the year 1980. The quantity chi-square describes the
magnitude of the discrepancy between theory and observation.

In this Chi-square test Yates correction is used when the value of observed
frequency in less than 10. The formula is given as,
 X2 = (|Oi – Ei|)2

Ei

Power of Association Test

If calculated value (cal) > X2 table value the Null hypothesis is rejected and it is
interpreted that the two variables are associated with each other. This chi-square
test is strong one for determining the existence of association between two
variables.

WEIGHTED AVERAGE

It can be defined as an average whose component items are multiplied by certain

values (weights) and the aggregate of the products are divided by the total of
weights. If x1, x2, x3 ...xn are n values and f1, f2, f3........fn are their weights (frequencies)
respectively then,

f1x1+f2x2+.....+fnxn

X = ---------------------------

f1+f2+.......+fn

PILOT STUDY (Tested with 10 samples initially)

Pilot study is defined as a study, which is done in the initial stage of the
project in order to find the reliability of the questionnaire and to restructure the
questionnaire on the respondent's suggestions.

IMPORTANCE OF PILOT STUDY:

 It will increase the reliability of the scheduler.

 It helps to restructure the scheduler.
 It identifies the defects in the scheduler.
 It helps to add or remove the questions in the scheduler.

AREA AND PERIOD OF SURVEY:

 The project is being done for a period for three months from June 7, 2010 to July
7, 2010 and the survey was conducted in vCustomer, New Delhi.

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATIONS

NO. OF
AGE PERCENTAGE
RESPONDENTS
(21-30) YRS 69 23%
(31-40) YRS 75 25%
(41-50) YRS 72 24%
50 & ABOVE YRS 84 28%
Total 300 100%

CHART 9.2: AGE WISE CLASSIFICATION OF EMPLOYEES

90
80
70
60
50 NO. OF
40 RESPONDENTS
30
20
10
0
S
S

R
R

Y
Y

E
)

V
30

40

50

O
1-

1-

1-

B
(2

(3

(4

A
&
50
Inference:

It is observed from the survey that 25% of the respondents are between (31-40) yrs,
24% of the respondents are between (41-50) yrs, 28% of the respondents are above
50 years and 23% of the respondents are between (21-30) yrs.

TABLE 9.3: GENDER WISE CLASSIFICATION OF EMPLOYEES

NO. OF
GENDER PERCENTAGE
RESPONDENTS
MALE 171 57%
FEMALE 129 43%
Total 300 100%
 CHART 9. 1: GENDER WISE CLASSIFICATION OF EMPLOYEES

MALE
FEMALE

Inference

It is found from the survey that 57% of the respondents are male and 43% of the
respondents are female.

TABLE 9.4: CLASSIFICATION ON EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION

NO. OF
QUALIFICATION PERCENTAGE
RESPONDENTS
SSLC 60 20%
UNDER GRADUATE 69 23%
POST GRADUATE 51 17%
TECHNICAL 51 17%
 PROFESSIONAL 69 23%
Total 300 100%

CHART 9.2: CLASSIFICATION ON EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION

SSLC

UNDER
GRADUATE
POST GRADUATE

TECHNICAL

PROFESSIONAL

Inference

It is evident from the survey that 69% of the respondents are professionally
qualified 23% of the respondents have graduation, 17% of the respondents have
post graduation and technically qualified, 20% of the respondents have only done
finished SSLC.

TABLE 9.5: WORK EXPERIENCE WITH AVTAR STEELS

 NO. OF
ATTRIBUTES PERCENTAGE
RESPONDENTS
< 5 YRS 75 25%
(5-10) YRS 69 23%
(10-15) YRS 84 28%
> 15 YRS 72 24%
TOTAL 300 100%

CHART 9. 5: WORK EXPERIENCE WITH AVTAR STEELS

90
80
70
60
50 NO. OF
40 RESPONDENTS
30
20
10
0
<5 (5-10) (10-15) > 15
YRS YRS YRS YRS

Inference:
It is found from the survey that 24% of the respondents have more than 15 years of
experience, 23% of the respondents have (5-10) yrs of experience and 28% of the
respondents have their experience between (10-15)yrs remaining 24% of the
respondents have less than 5 years of experience.

TABLE 9.6: PHYSICAL WORKING CONDITION OF THE

ORGANIZATION

NO. OF
SATISFACTION PERCENTAGE
RESPONDENTS
HIGHLY SATISFIED 69 23%
SATISFIED 84 28%
NUETRAL 72 27%
HIGHLY
17%
DISSATISFIED 51
DISSATISFIED 24 8%
TOTAL 300 100%
 CHART 9.6: PHYSICAL WORKING CONDITION OF THE
ORGANIZATION
90
80
70
60
50 NO. OF
40 RESPONDENTS
30
20
10
0
DISSATISFIED
DISSATISFIED
SATISFIED

SATISFIED

NUETRAL
HIGHLY

HIGHLY

Inference:

It is found from the survey that more than half of the respondents (28%) are
satisfied with the physical working condition of the organization. 27% of the
respondents are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with the physical working
condition of the organization, 23% of the respondents are highly satisfied with the
physical working condition of the organization, 17% of the respondents are highly
dissatisfied with physical condition provided and 8% respondents are dissatisfied
with physical working condition of the organization.
TABLE 9.7: OPINION ABOUT THE PAYPACKAGE PROVIDED BY THE
ORGANIZATION

NO. OF
SATISFACTION PERCENTAGE
RESPONDENTS
HIGHLY SATISFIED 84 28%
SATISFIED 72 24%
NUETRAL 69 23%
HIGHLY
8%
DISSATISFIED 24
DISSATISFIED 51 17%
TOTAL 300 100%
 CHART 9. 3 : OPINION ABOUT THE PAY PACKAGE
90
80
70
60
50 NO. OF
40 RESPONDENTS
30
20
10
0

DISSATISFIED
DISSATISFIED
SATISFIED

SATISFIED

NUETRAL
HIGHLY

HIGHLY

Inference:

It is evident from the survey that 28% of the employees are highly satisfied with
the pay scale provided, 24% of the respondents are satisfied with their pay scale,
23% of them are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, 8% of them are highly
dissatisfied, and 17% of the respondents are dissatisfied with the pay scale
provided.
 TABLE 9.8: OPINION ABOUT THE JOB

PARTICULARS NO. OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE

CHALLENGING 24 8%
INTERESTING 84 28%
ROUTINE 51 17%
BORING 72 24%
MONOTOUS 69 23%
TOTAL 300 100%

CHART9.4: OPINION ABOUT THE JOB

90
80
70
60
PARTICULARS
50
NO. OF
40
RESPONDENTS
30
20
10
0
RO NG
G

BO E

US
NO G
TE GIN

IN

N
I

TO
RI
ST

UT
N
RE
LE

O
AL

M
IN
CH
Inference:

It is observed from the survey that 28% of the respondents feel the job interesting,
24% of them feel it boring, 17% of the respondent feel it routine, 23% of them feel
it boring and 8% of them feel it challenging.

TABLE 9.9: OPINION ABOUT THE COMPLETION OF THE WORK AT

THE SPECIFIED TIME

NO. OF
SATISFACTION PERCENTAGE
RESPONDENTS
STRONGLY AGREE 69 23%
AGREE 24 8%
UNDECIDED 72 24%
STRONGLY
28%
DISAGREE 84
DISAGREE 51 17%
TOTAL 300 100%
 CHART: PROGRAMS THAT COULD BE ADAPTED TO MANAGE
STRESS
90
80
70
60
50 NO. OF
40 RESPONDENTS
30
20
10
0

UNDECIDED
STRONGLY

DISAGREE
STRONGLY
AGREE

DISAGREE
AGREE

Inference:

It is found from the survey that 23% of them strongly agree that they can complete
the work at time, 8 % of them agree that they can complete work at time, 24% of
them have no idea, 28% of them strongly disagree that they cannot complete the
work in time, 17% of them disagree that they cannot finish the work in time.
 TABLE 9.10: WORK OVERLOAD

NO. OF
PARTICULARS PERCENTAGE
RESPONDENTS
STRONGLY AGREE 51 17%
AGREE 84 28%
UNDECIDED 72 24%
DISAGREE 69 23%
STRONGLY
8%
DISAGREE 24
TOTAL 300 100
 CHART 9. 10 : WORK OVERLOAD

STRONGLY
UNDECIDED DISAGREE
NO. OF
RESPONDENTS
STRONGLY
AGREE

0 50 100

Inference:

It is observed from the survey that 17% of the respondents are overloaded with
work, 24% left it undecided and 23% of the respondents say that they are not
overloaded with work.
 TABLE 9.11: STRESS IN JOB

NO. OF
PREFERNCE PERCENTAGE
RESPONDENTS
YES 183 61%
NO 117 39%
TOTAL 300 100%

CHART 9. 11: STRESS IN JOB

YES
NO

Inference:

It is evident from the survey that 61% of the respondents suffer stress and 31% of
the respondents do not suffer stress.
TABLE 9. 12: STRESS CAUSING FACTORS AMONG DIFFERENT
LEVELS OF EMPLOYEES

NO.OF
FACTORS PERCENTAGE
RESPONDENTS
ROLE
40%
OVERLOAD 120
ROLE
31%
UNDERLOAD 93
INTERPERSONAL
29%
RELATIONSHIP 87

TOTAL 300 100%

 CHART 9. 12: STRESS CAUSING FACTORS AMONG DIFFERENT
LEVELS OF EMPLOYEES
140
120
100
80 NO.OF
60 RESPONDENTS
40
20
0

P
AD
AD

NA

HI
O
O

NS
O
RL
RL

O
ER
DE
VE

TI
RP

LA
UN
O

RE
LE

TE
LE
RO

IN
RO

Inference:

It is observed from the survey that for most of the respondents of all the level of
employees role overload is the major stress causing factor; the second place goes to
the role under load and then comes the inter personal relationship
 TABLE 9.13: KIND OF STRESS IN JOB AMONG DIFFERENT AGE
GROUP

NO.OF
PARTICULARS PERCENTAGE
RESPONDENTS
PHYSICAL 93 31%

MENTAL 87 29%

BOTH 120 40%

TOTAL 300 100%

CHART 9. 13: KIND OF STRESS AMONG DIFFERENT AGE GROUP

140
120
100
80 NO.OF
60 RESPONDENTS
40
20
0
TH
L
AL

TA
IC

BO
EN
YS

M
PH

Inference:

It is found from the survey that 31% of them suffer physical stress, 29% of them
suffer mental stress and the remaining of them suffer from both the stress.
 TABLE 9. 14: LEVEL OF STRESS

LEVEL OF STRESS NO. OF PERCENTAGE

RESPONDENTS
VERY HIGH 72 24%
HIGH 69 23%
MODERATE 51 17%
LOW 72 24%
VERY LOW 36 12%
TOTAL 300 100%

CHART 9.14: LEVEL OF STRESS

W
LO

NO. OF
E
T

RESPONDENTS
RA
DE
O
M

H
G
HI
H
G
HI

0 20 40 60 80
Y
R
VE

Inference:

It is found from the survey that 17% of the respondents have moderate level of
stress, 24% of the respondents have high level of stress, and only 12% of the
respondents have very low level of stress.

TABLE 9.15: PHYSICAL INCONVENIENCE DUE TO STRESS

 NO. OF
PREFERNCE PERCENTAGE
RESPONDENTS
YES 156 52%
NO 144 48%
TOTAL 300 100%

CHART 9. 15: PHYSICAL INCONVENIENCE DUE TO STRESS

YES
NO

Inference:

It is evident from the survey that 52% of the respondents suffer from physical
inconvenience due to stress and 48% of the respondents do not suffer stress.

TABLE 9.16: KIND OF INCONVENIENCE

 INCONVENIENCE NO. OF PERCENTAGE
RESPONDENTS
HEADACHE 72 24%
HIGH BLOOD 36 12%
PRESSURE
DIGESTIVE 69 23%
PROBLEM
HYPERTENSION 72 24%
NERVOUSNESS 51 17%
TOTAL 300 100%

CHART 9.16: KIND OF INCONVENIENCE

80
70
60
50
NO. OF
40
30 RESPONDENTS
20
10
0
DIGESTIVE

HYPERTENSION
HIGH BLOOD
HEADACHE

NERVOUSNESS
PROBLEM
PRESSURE

Inference:
It is observed from the survey that most of the respondents 24% suffer from
headache and hypertension and second comes the digestive problem due to stress,
then comes the nervousness and only less % of the respondents suffer from
nervousness and digestive problems.

TABLE 9.17: ORGANIZATION STEPS TO MANAGE STRESS

NO. OF
PREFERENCE PERCENTAGE
RESPONDENTS
YES 153 51%
NO 147 49%
TOTAL 300 100%

CHART 9.17: ORGANIZATION STEPS TO MANAGE STRESS

 YES
NO

Inference:

It is evident from the survey that 51% of the respondents agrees that their
organization is helping them in overcoming stress, and the 49% of them are not
satisfied with the help provided by the organization to overcome stress.

TABLE 9.16: KIND OF INCONVENIENCE

INCONVENIENCE NO. OF PERCENTAGE
RESPONDENTS
HEADACHE 72 24%
HIGH BLOOD 36 12%
PRESSURE
DIGESTIVE 69 23%
PROBLEM
HYPERTENSION 72 24%
NERVOUSNESS 51 17%
TOTAL 300 100%
 CHART 9.16: KIND OF INCONVENIENCE
80
70
60
50
NO. OF
40
30 RESPONDENTS
20
10
0
DIGESTIVE

HYPERTENSION
HIGH BLOOD
HEADACHE

NERVOUSNESS
PROBLEM
PRESSURE

Inference:

It is observed from the survey that most of the respondents 24% suffer from
headache and hypertension and second comes the digestive problem due to stress,
then comes the nervousness and only less % of the respondents suffer from
nervousness and digestive problems.
TABLE 9.18 PROGRAMS THAT COULD BE ADABTED TO MANAGE
STRESS

PARTICULARS NO. OF PERCENTAGE

RESPONDENTS
EMPLOYEE 72
24%
COUNSELING
EFFECTIVE & 36 12%
TRAINING
DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAM
WORK GROUPS 69 23%
HEALTH CLUBS 72 24%
AUTONOMOUS 0 0%
TRANSPORT 51 17%
SUBSIDY
TOTAL 300 100%
 CHART 9.18: PROGRAMS THAT COULD BE ADABTED TO MANAGE
STRESS
80
70
60
50
NO. OF
40
30 RESPONDENTS
20
10
0
COUNSELING

AUTONOMOUS
WORK GROUPS
EMPLOYEE

Inference:

It is observed from the survey 24% of them recommend employee counseling,12%

of them need effective training, 23% need work groups, 24% need health groups,
and the remaining need transport subsidy
 TABLE 9.19: OPINION ABOUT COUNSELING TO REDUCE THE
STRESS

NO. OF
PARTICULARS PERCENTAGE
RESPONDENTS
STRONGLY AGREE 51 17%
AGREE 84 28%
NEUTRAL 72 24%
DISAGREE 69 23%
STRONGLY
8%
DISAGREE 24
TOTAL 300 100%
 CHART 9. 19 : OPINION ABOUT COUNSELING TO REDUCE THE
STRESS
90
80
70
60
50 NO. OF
40 RESPONDENTS
30
20
10
0

NEUTRAL
STRONGLY

DISAGREE

STRONGLY
AGREE

DISAGREE
AGREE

Inference:

From the above we can find that17% of them strongly agree that counseling can
overcome stress, 28% of them agree that they can over come stress through
counseling, 24% of them don’t have any idea, 28% disagree and the remaining
disagree.
 TABLE 9.20: ORGANIZATION POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ARE
STRESS FREE

NO. OF
PARTICULARS PERCENTAGE
RESPONDENTS
HIGHLY ACCEPTED 51 17%
ACCEPTED 84 28%
NOT ACCEPTED 72 24%
HIGHLY NOT
31%
ACCEPTED 93
TOTAL 300 100%

CHART 9. 20: ORGANIZATION POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ARE

STRESS FREE
 100
90
80
70
60
NO. OF
50
RESPONDENTS
40
30
20
10
0
ACCEPTED

ACCEPTED
HIGHLY

NOT

Inference:
It is observed from the survey that most of the respondents accept that the
companies policies are stress free, 28% of them have accepted that organization
policies are stress free, 24% of them have not accepted it, 31% of them have not
accepted that their organization policy is full of stress.

TABLE 9.21: BEST INTERVENTION TO REDUCE STRESS

 NO. OF
PARTICULARS PERCENTAGE
RESPONDENTS
RELAXATION
31%
TECHNIQUES 93
TIME
28%
MANAGEMENT 84
TRAINING AND
24%
DEVELOPMENT 72
WORKING 51 17%
TOTAL 300 100%

CHART 9. 21: BEST INTERVENTION TO REDUCE STRESS

100
90
80
70
60 NO. OF
50
40 RESPONDENTS
30
20
10
0
MANAGEMENT

DEVELOPMENT

WORKING
techniques

TRAINING AND
Relaxation

TIME

Inference:
It is observed from the survey that most of the respondents 31% says that
relaxation techniques, 28% of them need time management,24% says that training
is the best intervention,17% says working intervention is the best thing to
overcome stress.

TABLE 9.22: OPINION ABOUT INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIP

NO. OF
PARTICULARS PERCENTAGE
RESPONDENTS
STRONGLY AGREE 51 17%
AGREE 84 28%
NEUTRAL 72 24%
DISAGREE 69 23%
STRONGLY
8%
DISAGREE 24
TOTAL 300 100
 CHART 9. 22 : OPINION ABOUT INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIP
90
80
70
60
50 NO. OF
40 RESPONDENTS
30
20
10
0

NEUTRAL
STRONGLY

DISAGREE

STRONGLY
AGREE

DISAGREE
AGREE

Inference:

From the above we can find that17% of them strongly agree that they have strained
interpersonal relationship, 28% of them agree that they have strained interpersonal
relationship stress , 24% of them don’t have any idea, 28% disagree that they do
not have strained interpersonal relationship.
TABLE 9.23: OPINION ABOUT STRESS LEVEL IN NIGHT SHIFT
COMPARED TO DAY SHIFT

NO. OF
PARTICULARS PERCENTAGE
RESPONDENTS
VERY HIGH 51 17%
HIGH 84 28%
MODERATE 72 24%
LOW 69 23%
VERY LOW 24 8%
TOTAL 300 100

CHART 9. 22 : OPINION ABOUT STRESS LEVEL IN NIGHT SHIFT

COMPARED TO DAY SHIFT
90
80
70
60
50 NO. OF
40 RESPONDENTS
30
20
10
0
DE H
H

TE

W
G
G

LO

LO
RA
HI
HI
Y

Y
R

R
O
VE

VE
M
Inference:

From the above we can find that17% of them strongly agree that they have stress in
night shift, 28% of them agree that they have stress in night shifts,24% of them
don’t have any idea, 28% disagree that they do not have any stress in night shift.

TABLE 9.24: SPENDING THE WEEKEND

NO. OF
PARTICULARS PERCENTAGE
RESPONDENTS
GOING TO MOVIES 84 28%
GET TOGETHER 51 17%
VISIT
24%
FRIENDS/RELATIVES 72
MUSIC CLASSES 69 23%
ANY OTHER 24 8%
 (SPECIFY)
TOTAL 300 100

CHART 9.24: SPENDING THE WEEKEND

90
80
70
60
50 NO. OF
40 RESPONDENTS
30
20
10
0
GET TOGETHER

FRIENDS/RELATIV
GOING TO

ANY OTHER
MUSIC CLASSES

(SPECIFY)
MOVIES

VISIT

ES

Inference:

From the above we can find that 28% of them would like to go to movies, 17%
would like a get together,24% would like to visit friends/relatives, and23% would
like to go to music class and the remaining prefer any other thing.
TABLE 9.25: FAMILY FACTOR WHICH INFLUENCE STRESS

NO.OF
PERCENTAG
PARTICULARS RESPONDEN
E
TS
DEPENDENT 93 31%

ILLNESS 87 29%
FINANACIAL
20%
POSITION 60
OTHER
20%
PROBLEMS 60

TOTAL 300 100%

 TABLE 9.25: FAMILY FACTOR WHICH INFLUENCE STRESS

100
90
80
70
60 NO.OF
50
40 RESPONDENTS
30
20
10
0

FINANACIAL
DEPENDENT

ILLNESS

PROBLEMS
POSITION

OTHER

Inference:

It is found from the survey that 31% of them says dependency influence stress,
29% says that illness influence stress, 20% of them says that financial as well as
other problem influence stress.

TABLE 9.26: PERSONAL FACTOR INFLUENCING STRESS

 NO.OF
PERCENTAG
PARTICULARS RESPONDEN
E
TS
PERCEPTION 60 20%

ATTITUDE 87 29%
HEALTH
20%
CONDITION 60

PERSONALITY 93 31%

TOTAL 300 100%

TABLE 9.26:PERSONAL FACTOR INFLUENCING STRESS

100
90
80
70
60 NO.OF
50
40 RESPONDENTS
30
20
10
0
ATTITUDE

CONDITION
PERCEPTION

PERSONALITY
HEALTH
 Inference:

It is found from the survey that 20% of them says perception influence stress, 29%
says that attitude influence stress, 20% of them says that health condition influence
stress, and the remaining says that personality influence stress.

TABLE 9.27: STRATERGY TO REDUCE STRESS

FACTORS HIGHLY SATISFIE NEUTR DISSAT HIGHLY TOT PERCENTAGE

SATISFIE D AL ISFIED DISSATI AL
D SFIED
YOGA 10 10 10 10 11 50 17%
MEDITATI 10 11 11 17 20 69 23%
ON
MOTIVATI 11 11 10 20 20 72 24%
ON
COUNSELI 0 0 0 9 0 9 3%
NG
INDOOR 11 20 20 11 11 72 23%
GAMES
OHTERS 2 10 6 10 0 28 6%

CHART 9.27: STRATERGY TO REDUCE STRESS

80
70 YOGA
60 meditation
50 MOTIVATION
40
30 COUNSELING
20 INDOOR GAMES
10 OHTERS
0
l
N d

l
s s ied

d
Sa ied

g h ss tra

ta
fie

ie
To
Di e u

Di tisf
f

isf
tis
tis

at
a
Sa
y
hl

ly
g
Hi

Hi
Inference:

It is found from the above table that 17% prefer yoga, majority prefer indoor
games, and the next majority prefer motivation.

CHI-SQUARE TEST ON SPENDING WEEKEND Vs STRATEGY TO

REDUCE STRESS

Null Hypothesis (H0): There is no significant relation between spending weekend

and strategy to reduce stress

Alternate Hypothesis (H1): There is a significant relation between spending

weekend and strategy to reduce stress

TABLE 9.22: CROSS TABULATION FOR SPENDING WEEKEND Vs

STRATEGY TO REDUCE STRESS
STRATEG
Y
MEDIT MOTI COUN INDOO ROW
YOG OTHE
A V S R TOTA
A R
TION ATION ELING GAMES L

SPENDING

WEEKEND
GOING TO
- - 4 - 4
MOVIES
GET
TOGETHE 4 16 8 2 28
R
VISIT TO
FRIENDS/
8 22 10 10 48
RELATIVE
S
MUSIC
- 4 4 2 12
CLASSES
ANY
- - 6 - 8
OTHER
COLUMN
12 42 32 14 100
TOTAL
Degrees of freedom = 12

Calculated value = 27.497

For 12 degrees of freedom at 5% level of significance, the chi-square table value is

5.226.

Inference:

Calculated value > Tabulated value.

Hence H0 is rejected and H1 is accepted.

Conclusion:

There is a significant relation between the spending weekend and strategy to

reduce stress.

FINDINGS

• Out of the total sample most of the respondents are male and many are
between 50 and above. Most of the respondents are under graduate and have
professional qualification.
• Most of the respondents have 10-15 years of long association with the
organization.
• Almost all the respondents are satisfied with the physical and psychological
working condition of the organization, and only fewer respondents are
dissatisfied with the psychological working condition of the organization.
• The opinion about the training programs conducted by the organization is
almost better, according to majority of the respondents.
• Almost all the respondents are satisfied with the pay package provided by
the organization and nearly half of the respondents feel that they do a routine
job.
• Most of the respondents agree that they can complete their work within the
specified time and some of the respondents are undecided.
• Nearly half of the respondents agree that they are overloaded with work.
• More than half of the respondents suffer stress in their job.
• Among all other factors, role overload because more stress according to
most of the respondents.
• Most of the respondents from steels department suffer from physical stress;
most of the respondents from accounts department suffer from mental stress,
and most of the respondents from civil department suffer from both physical
and mental stress.
• Most of the respondents feel only moderate level of stress and some of the
respondents feel high level of stress in their job.
• More than half of the respondents have physical inconvenience due to
stress and most of the respondents suffer from headache and high blood
pressure.
• Almost all the respondents prefer to follow coping strategies personally, to
manage stress and they prefer to do meditation and yoga to reduce stress.
• Most of the respondents say that the organization does not take suitable
steps to manage stress.
• Employee counseling and effective training & development programs are
the company-wide programs that could be adapted to manage stress.
 SUGGESTIONS

 The employees must give importance to time management techniques

thereby they can complete their work within the specified time.
 Many tasks can be delegated to subordinates without losing effectiveness so
that we can reduce the overload of work.
 Adopt the work to home transition strategy. It means instead of carrying the
pressures of the work to home, the suggestion is to start the unwinding
process during the work day and enter the home in a relaxed and peaceful
mind.
 Giving counseling to the employees when they face problems, because
counseling is the discussion of a problem that usually has emotional content
with an employee in order to help the employee cope within better.
 The organization must introduce Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs)
and stress control workshops accordingly to the level of employees, because
there is a strong relation between the level of stress and level of employees.
EAP includes counseling employees who seek assistance on how to deal
 with alcohol and drug abuse, managing personal finances, handling conflicts
at the work place, dealing with marital and other family problems, and
coping with health problems.
 Engaging the bored employee in aerobic exercise, because it stimulates the
brain and the body. Also the employee must do meditation and yoga in their
daily life.

CONCLUSION

Stress in the work place has become the black plague of the present century. Much
of the stress at work is caused not only by work overload and time pressure but
also by lack of rewards and praise, and more importantly, by not providing
individuals with the autonomy to do their work as they would like. Most of the
employees were not satisfied with the grievance handling procedure of the
organization which was found by the unstructured interview.

Organization must begin to manage people at work differently, treating them with
respect and valuing their contribution. If we enhance the psychological well being
and health of the employees, in the coming future the organization would make
more revenue as well as employee retention. Because it is said that,
 “A Healthy Employee is a Productive Employee”

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS

1. Ahuja. K.K- “Industrial psychology and organizational behavior”,

Khanna publishers, New Delhi, 1991.

2. Biswanath Ghosh- “A new look organizational behavior”, Himalaya

Publishing House New Delhi, 1994.
3. Finemann- “A Psychological Model of Stress and its application to
managerial unemployment”, Human relations, 1979.
4. Ghosh P.K. and Ghorpade M.B. - “Industrial and Organizational
Psychology”, Himalaya Publishing House, Bombay 1991.
5. Kapur S.K, Punia B.K.-“Organizational Behavior and Management”,
S.K.Publishers, New Delhi.
6. Laurie J. Mullins – “Organizational Behavior”, Pitman’s publishing Ltd,
London, 1990.
7. PaulHersey, Kenneth H. Blanchard, Dewey E. Johnson –“Organizational
Behavior”, Prentice Hall of India Pvt. Ltd, 1998.
8. Srivastava.A.K, “A study of Roll Stress Mental health relationship a
moderator by adopted coping strategies, psychological studies”, 1991.
9. Stephen P. Robbins, “Organizational Behavior”, Prentice Hall, U .K.
1999.

JOURNALS AND MAGAZINES

1. Business line, “The stress is beginning to show”, Financial Express published

by Hindu, Trivandrum, 1989.
2. Brief A.P. and Atieth J.M., “Studying Job Stress: Are we making
mountains out of mole Hills?” Journal of occupational behavior, 1987.
3. Jamal M., “Job Stress-Prone Type A behavior and personal and
organizational consequences”, Canadian Journal of Administrative.
4. Dr.Satish Chandra Pandy, “Indian ways of winning Stress”, The Journal
of Indian Management and Strategy, 1997
 QUESTIONNAIRE

PERSONAL PROFILE

1. Name:

1. Age group (2 (21-30) yrs (31-40) yrs

(41-50) yrs 50 & above yrs

2. Sex :Male / Female

3. Educational Qualification: SSLC/UG/PG/Technical/Professional

5. Experience : < 5 yrs (5-15) yrs

> 15 yrs
 QUALITY OF WORK LIFE

6. How do you feel about the physical working condition of the organization?

Highly satisfied Satisfied Neutral Highly dissatisfied

Dissatisfied

7. How do you feel about the psychological working condition of the organization?

Highly Amicable Cordial Neutral Strained Very poor

8. What is your opinion about the training programs conducted in the organization?

Excellent Good Better Bad Worse

9. How do you feel about the pay package provided by the organization?

Highly satisfied Satisfied Neutral Highly dissatisfied

Dissatisfied

10. How do you feel about your job?

Challenging Interesting Routine Monotonous

Boring

11. Do you agree that you can complete your work within the specified time?

Strongly agree Agree Undecided Strongly Disagree Disagree

12. Do you agree that you are overloaded with work?

Strongly agree Agree Undecided Strongly Disagree Disagree

13. Do you suffer any stress in your job? Yes No

 FACTORS AND EFFECTS OF STRESS

14. In your accordance which of the following factors cause more stress?
Role overload Role under load Interpersonal relationship

15. What kind of stress do you suffer in your job?

Physical Mental Both

16. What is the level of stress that you feel in your job?
Very high High Moderate Low Very low

17. Do you suffer any physical inconvenience due to stress in your job?
Yes No

18. If yes, what kind of inconvenience?

Headache High blood pressure Digestive problem
Hypertension Nervousness

COPING STRATEGIES

19. Have you taken any coping strategies personally to manage stress?
Yes No

20. What kind of strategies of the following have you taken?

Exercise Meditation Listening music Take a walk
Spend time with children

21. Does this organization take any suitable steps to manage stress?
Yes No

22. What type of company-wide programs that are/could be adapted to manage stress?
Employee counseling Effective Training & Development program
Autonomous work groups Health clubs Transport subsidy
23. Kindly give your suggestions to reduce stress………………………………