ROLE OF COMMUNICATION IN THE STRESS MANAGEMENT EFFORTS
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ROLE OF COMMUNICATION IN THE STRESS MANAGEMENT EFFORTS
Introduction
The obsession for satisfying physiological and psychological needs has put a lot of strain on men. We all confront different problems and hurdles, and sometimes pressure is difficult to manage.
Our prehistoric forefathers who faced wild beasts, an interviewee who faces a panel in a job interview, a witness who stands to testify before a court, a man whose wife is in labour, a firefighter in a burning house, workers in an advertising agency who must meet a deadline, a student who walks into an examination hall unprepared, and a woman whose child is hit by a moving vehicle all share a common experience: stress.
Stress is an unavoidable part of human life.
According to Hans Selye (quoted in Akpan, 2008, p.7), it is the rate of wear and tear within the body caused by various stressors. Stressors are stress-inducing factors.
Man, like other animals, has an inborn reaction to stressful events known as the “fight or flight” response. For example, our prehistoric forefathers had to choose between fighting and fleeing a ferocious animal.
People have similar physiological responses to stress. Blood pressure rises, heart rate increases, breathing accelerates, and muscles prepare for action. That’s wear and tear.
Stress can be caused by a variety of factors, including troubles at home, health concerns, emotional problems, and workplace issues.
According to the National Consumers’ League, employment is the leading source of stress for adults who face challenges and stress in their life. Awake (February 8, 2005). Job stress is a prevalent worry in many countries around the world, both developing and developed.
Bratton and Gold (1997) describe the situation in Canada: “Toronto workers are nearly three times more likely to complain of health problems caused by workplace stress than by work-related illness or injury.
Work-related stress impacts workers across the employment spectrum. Social workers, doctors, nurses, and teachers are particularly vulnerable.
University academic personnel may experience stress as a result of managing students, compiling results, meeting deadlines, and completing paperwork. If this is combined with stress from their personal life, such as keeping a household and managing finances, the outcome may be an overload of their functional skills.
When well handled, stress can have a good impact; however, when disregarded or ineffectively managed, the repercussions can be damaging to the staff’s well-being, student performance, and the total output of the institution in question.
Numerous intervention or management options exist. Some focus solely on minimising preventable stressors or removing employees from stressful situations. Others assist employees in changing their view of their surroundings, so mitigating the consequences of stressors.
Fitness and lifestyle programs urge employees to improve their physical defences against stress, while social support offers emotional, informational, and material resources to help them cope with stress.
Regardless of the stress management approaches used, the effective execution of these techniques must be conveyed to everyone within the organisation.
The manner in which communication is carried out, the reason for which it is carried out, the channel/media of information transmission, and response from message recipients all contribute significantly to the effectiveness of any stress management plan. This is the preferred area of focus for this investigation.
Statement of the Problem
A casual assessment of corporate life in Nigeria reveals that the education sector is among the busiest. Academic professionals are known to be extremely busy, working even during non-official hours.
Over the years, scientific research have identified job stressors for lecturers and proposed stress management techniques.
However, there has been little research on the impact that communication plays in the implementation of these tactics. The purpose of this study is to investigate the extent to which communication serves as an informational, mediatory, and interpretative function in the stress management programme for academic staff at the University of Uyo.
In other words, how much has communication played an informational, interpretive, and mediating role in stress management among academic staff at the University of Uyo.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
1. Identify common stressors among the University of Uyo’s Academic Staff.
2. To learn about stress-reduction exercises or programs communicated to academic personnel at the University of Uyo.
3. Determine the extent to which communication plays an instructive role in stress management among the University’s academic personnel.
4. Determine the extent to which communication plays an interpretive role in stress management among the University’s academic personnel.
5. To analyse the extent to which communication plays a mediating function in stress management among university academic personnel.
6. To investigate the usefulness of communication as a stress management tool among the University’s academic personnel.
1.4 Research Questions.
1. What are the most common stressors among academic personnel at the University of Uyo?
2. What stress-reduction exercises or courses are communicated to academic personnel at the University of Uyo?
3. To what extent does communication help the University’s academic staff handle stress?
4. To what extent does communication help academic personnel at the University of Uyo handle stress?
5. To what extent does communication serve as a mediator in stress management among university faculty and staff?
6. How effective is communication as a stress management tool among academic staff at the University of Uyo?
1.5 Significance of the Study
A substantial amount of studies, as evidenced by the reviewed literature, agrees that when stress becomes overpowering, it has a negative impact on almost every element of human existence.
Workplace stress can lead to job unhappiness, a lack of organisational commitment, and poor performance. This can result in reduced productivity and uncalculated expenses. This makes a study of this nature extremely important.
The initial beneficiaries of this study will be the management of the institution under study and their academic staff, since the importance of communication will be stressed to the point where it will receive enough attention and positively influence staff output.
Other educational institutions and corporate entities whose employees confront similar stressors would adapt the ideas proposed in this study to employee management in their own organisations.
Nigeria and other societies will profit from this research since the application of the findings will eventually facilitate the production of improved human resources.
Finally, the outcomes of this study will serve as valuable resources for academics and scholars in the disciplines of communication, education, and organisational behaviour.
· Scope of Study
This study will focus on occupational stress and its direct relationship with individual and corporate conditions.
• Limitations
The researcher’s biggest issue during this study was time. The researcher spent several days gathering pertinent study materials. Furthermore, the Registrar of the university, whom the researcher regarded as a more reputable source of information for the research, could not be reached.
Finally, several resource materials were lost during a robbery and hence cannot be included in the references.
• Definition of Terms
Stress is the physiological, psychological, and behavioural response to stresses.
Stressors are environmental or organisational variables that induce discomfort or put strain on an individual.
Job stress refers to the detrimental physical and emotional responses that occur when job demands do not meet an employee’s talents, resources, and/or requirements.
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