Dialogue: Stress is reality and we've just got to cope with it

By CHRISTINE RANKIN

Soon we will be able to claim against our employers for stress as a workplace hazard.

Does Margaret Wilson have any idea what this will mean to every business in New Zealand? Stress is an epidemic these days.

A polite "how are you?", even to a stranger, often gets a "stressed" response.

Being stressed today is an acceptable response because it is so normal that it's not a cause for concern.

It's part of the teenage vernacular. It may even be cool to be stressed.

Now we face the prospect that being stressed may become a lucrative business.

There has been a lot of debate since this announcement on the effects on small to medium-sized business.

Those effects may be devastating, but neither big business nor the public service is immune.

The penalties are substantial, the situation impossible to prevent.

Some employers are undoubtedly negligent and careless, and they deserve to be reminded of their responsibilities to their staff. But the proposed legislation will make stress the employer's problem - period.

Let's get real: stress is part of living in the 21st century. It's part of the home and the workplace.

How does the employer assume accountability for this?

My experience is that a significant source of stress is the home environment, which gets projected into the workplace. Staff don't leave it at the front door when they arrive at work.

What's more, one person's stress is another person's motivation. Some people can't operate without being stressed - it's their way.

Some people wear a "poor me, I'm stressed" label on their sleeves with a level of stress that fellow workers see as paltry.

Stress is a very personal thing. It comes from without and within. How on earth are employers going to deal with the situation?

How is the Government going to cope? Look at the health sector. Look at any sector.

The Government, like the previous one, manages the public sector by reducing funding and raising expectations - trying to get more for less. This is their stress philosophy of financial management.

Will Ms Wilson put some of her ministerial colleagues in the dock?

Our world is challenging, demanding and fragile. There are enormous financial and emotional pressures.

We expect a huge amount from ourselves before we begin factoring in the expectations of others.

This is reality. It is part of life and we have the responsibility as individuals to manage our stress.

We need to listen to our stress because it might indicate that changes are necessary in our lives.

The Government seems to want to make everything someone else's problem and this is yet another example of that mentality. It wants to cocoon people from reality, whether it's in the education system, the welfare system or the workplace.

I have certainly had my fair share - in fact, way beyond anything that is fair.

My employer, in my opinion, did nothing to relieve the stress that the people who have crafted this legislation deliberately set out to cause for me. But I had to take personal responsibility.

My capacity to deal with stress is high but not exhaustive. That ability has grown from working in a pressure-cooker environment, one that I learned to thrive in.

I did have to take personal steps during the past three years and do things for me. They were not much in the scheme of things. They might have been useless in someone else's situation.

Regular facials and massage proved real stress-breakers. I have now added exercise which, I can confidently report, works well.

I knew that stress was an inevitable part of my life and I needed to manage it. Everyone does.

This new legislation threatens business progress and development. Anyone who has led and managed change will tell you that staff hate change.

They like the confines of their familiar worlds. Thoroughly nice people become axe-murderers during change processes.

If we are to drive performance and profitability, which is what this country needs, we must challenge our employees.

Of course this is stressful for everyone, but it is also exciting and stimulating and most people respond to that challenge once they adjust.

Working hard creates stress. Wake up, Margaret Wilson - get your head out of the theory and into the real world.