APPROACHES TO OVERCOMING STRESS FOR SKEI MEMBERS

Hiter tempo življenja, pogoste spremembe in usklajevanje zasebnega ter službenega življenja, so le nekateri izmed izvorov stresa, s katerimi se moramo soočati. Stres se je razvil v enega izmed najbolj perečih problemov, ki grozi sodobni družbi. Posledice, ki jih prinaša stres so sicer tako pozitivne kot negativne, vendar je omejevanje oziroma odprava negativnih posledic osrednjega pomena. Škoda, ki jo stres povzroča, je namreč vidna tako na zdravju in počutju posameznikov, kakor tudi na sami družbi. Povzročitelje stresa lahko najdemo v delovnem okolju in izven njega. V zadnjem času je veliko pozornosti po celem svetu posvečeno predvsem stresu na delovnem mestu. Številne spremembe, kot so npr. uporaba novih informacijskih in komunikacijskih tehnologij, vedno večje zahteve s strani vodstva, odpiranje trgov dela za tujce in vplivi gospodarske krize, ki je prizadela našo družbo in povzročila izgubo številnih delovnih mest, so le nekateri izmed razlogov za razmah stresa med zaposlenimi. Dovzetnost za stres pa ni enaka pri vseh zaposlenih. Vsak zaposleni ima svojo osebnost, ki ima velik vpliv na to, v kolikšni meri je nekdo dovzeten za stres in na kakšen način se nekdo sooča z njim. Tukaj lahko poudarimo pomen različnih dimenzij osebnosti (sprejemljivost, ekstravertnost, odprtost, vestnost in nevroticizem). Stres ne pušča posledic samo na zaposlenih, ampak tudi na uspešnosti in učinkovitosti samih organizacij, v katerih so ti zaposleni. Delovna sila ima namreč velik vpliv na te dejavnike in dejstvo je, da bolan in slabo razpoložen delavec le stežka izpolnjuje vse naloge, ki so mu bile dodeljene. Slabša učinkovitost zaposlenih pušča posledice na celotni organizaciji. To je nekaj, kar si na dolgi rok ne moreš privoščiti. Še posebej zaradi hude konkurence. Zato je pomembno, da se organizacije zavejo, da nimajo samo zaposleni težave s stresom, ampak tudi organizacije same, in da stres predstavlja oviro, ki jo je potrebno premagati. S stresom se je potrebno na primeren način soočiti in omejiti njegov vpliv. Pri tem imamo na voljo različne pristope, ki nam lahko pomagajo na individualni in na organizacijski ravni. Z doslednim in predanim izvajanjem pristopov ne moremo pričakovati, da bomo postali odporni na stres, lahko pa v precejšnji meri omejimo njegove posledice. V okviru naše magistrske naloge smo preučili, kako so organizacije in posamezniki, ki so člani sindkata SKEI, do sedaj preprečevali in premagovali stres na delovnem mestu. Na podlagi pridobljenih rezultatov smo nato predlagali pristop, ki bi ga bilo po našem mnenju smiselno uporabiti v sindikatu SKEI.Fast pace of life, frequent changes and coordination of private and professional life, are only some of the sources of stress that we must face. Stress has evolved into one of the most pressing problems, which threatens modern society. Consequences caused by stress are both positive and negative but limitation and elimination of negative consequences are of crucial importance. Damage caused by stress is namely seen on the health and well-being of individuals as well as on the society itself. Causes of stress can be found in the workplace and outside of it. Recently, a lot of attention around the world is dedicated mostly to stress in the workplace. Many changes, such as the use of new information and communication technologies, increasing demands made by management, opening of labour markets to foreigners and the impact of the economic crisis that has affected our society and caused the loss of many jobs, are just some of the reasons for the expansion of stress among employees. Susceptibility to stress is not the same for all employees. Every employee has a personality of its own, which has a large influence on the extent to which someone is susceptible to stress and how someone copes with it. Here we can emphasize the meaning of different dimensions of personality (agreeableness, extraversion, openness, conscientiousness and neuroticism). Stress does not leave consequences on employees only but also on the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization in which they are employed. Workforce namely has a significant impact on these factors and the fact is that sick and moody person hardly fulfils all of the tasks that have been assigned to him/her. Lower efficiency of employees leaves consequences on the entire organization. This is something that you cannot afford on the long run. In particular, due to fierce competition. Therefore it is important that organizations recognize that employees are not only one with the problems related to stress but also organizations itself and that stress represents a barrier that has to be defeated. Stress has to be properly confronted and its impact has to be limited. In doing so, we have different approaches, which can help us on individual and organizational level. With consistent and dedicated implementation of approaches we cannot expect that we will become resistant to stress but we can to a large extent limit its consequences. Within our masters thesis we have examined how organizations and individuals, which are members of union SKEI, were preventing and managing stress in the workplace. Based on the obtained results we then proposed an approach for which we believe it would be reasonable to use in union SKEI