A Study of Stress Management in the Current Changing Economic Situation

Abstract

Stress is a mixture of psychological and physiological reactions of human body. It is a universal element and almost every man irrespective of their demographic differences have the experiences of stressful situation. It may occur due to a simple problem or a complex one in life. Not all individuals interpret the same event as stressful; what may seem stressful to one may not be the same for the other. Macro and Micro HR issues confront organizations engaged in globally distributed work. These impact not only the work and organizational productivity but also the people delivering that work and therefore, need to be addressed adequately for the benefit of all stakeholders. In the present globally competitive environment outsourcing has emerged as a feasible option through which in-house operations/ business processes are contracted to an outside agency- a method to reduce operational costs and get access to superior technologies or more efficient personnel at reduced cost. This BPO industry has been rapidly expanding in over the last 10 years growing at the rate of 40 – 50 %. There are however concerns regarding issues of health and safety that are unique to this new and developing industry. The management across the sector is increasingly aware of occupational hazards associated with the job, but dearth of innovative techniques can be felt as small companies are still gearing up to provide employees with proper working conditions. In this context there is a paucity of empirical work on this emerging field. However this paper aims to include through a survey of specialist medical practitioners preventive techniques to combat occupational stress- as this sector has elevated our society from poverty, it also faces threats of outsourcing of health problems to our people. The results of the survey will enable our BPO vendors to enhance their health care strategies to combat the inbuilt stress factor in this occupation – else the phenomena of stress will dig a grave for this industry amidst the other threats that this flourishing industry is facing in the competitive scenario.