Assignment # 5
DeVry University
Professor Butler

Week 7 Assignment

Chapter 13: Question 1, Page 202 (Reviewing the Facts section)
1. Which of the two general causes of stress, worker characteristics and working conditions, is the most significant in your job? How can you control or manage it?
The uncertainty of the economy these days has made most of us in the state of depression. As a result of this uncertainty, people get stressed not only at home in everyday life but most especially at work. Regardless of the kind of work we have, the amount of salary we are receiving, we are faced with day-to-day situation of being out of control because of the stress we are experiencing most especially due to the working conditions in our work environment.
It is normal in a workplace to experience stress which interferes with the way we work and our productivity. Given the situation that there could always be the presence of stress, the important thing is its management and control. For me, the most significant in my job is the working conditions.
Stress in the workplace occurs when there is no matching between the demands of the job and the capabilities, resources, or needs of the worker. A variety of factors contribute to it like negative workload, isolation, extensive hours of work, toxic work environments, lack of autonomy, difficult relationships with management and colleagues,, lack of opportunities and advancement. To manage or control stress in my workplace, I prioritize tasks. Multiple tasking is very common in a work environment. To control or mitigate stress, I prioritize tasks. I tackle the tasks in order of importance and urgency. When I have to do something that I think I am not interested in so much, I do it first. This I do so that the rest of my day will be more pleasant for me. Whenever I am assigned projects, I break it into small steps and delegate responsibility. I know I don’t have to do it myself. I am willing to compromise when needed especially when there is a deadline. Bending a little will make the atmosphere more flexible. This way, stress is reduced to a lower level.
Emotional intelligence and management of stress can be elevated to relieve the situations. This I do by realizing when I am stressed. This way, I will be able to make use of my senses and find things that are more soothing to me. I develop the capacity to meet challenges with humor. A laughing heart reduces stress and lightens the burden of the day. I try to resolve conflicts positively by making negative feedback constructive and learning from errors and mistakes. I try to eliminate self-defeating behaviors like resisting perfectionism. There is no project or situation that I can do 100% perfect. There are always rooms for improvement. One most important thing I do is that I don’t try to control the uncontrollable. I know that there are many things that happen beyond my control especially the behavior of people. I just focus on those things that are within my control. As far as social interaction with my colleagues is concerned, I try to cultivate a friendly conversation and socialization with my boss and peers. As much as possible, I try to make my actions consistent with the expected behavior in my workplace.

Chapter 14: Question 2, Page 216 (Reviewing the Facts section)
2. How can a manager best set a strategy for improving customer loyalty? What steps make sense?
The companies cannot exist without the employees. The employees are the representatives of management and the direct contact of the customers from within and without. The employees’ satisfaction radiates to all the people inside and outside the work environment. So, it is important that management makes employees happy. Happy employees create happy customers and happy customers connect to the company for a longer period of time. Customers’ lifetime value