Stress management training
Completing this activity will help you prepare for the upcoming assignment in Week 9. Think of it as practice for the assignment. As such, focus on content, not formatting. Your paper should be no more than 1 to 2 pages in length.
Imagine you are a new employee in a HR department. Your first task is to develop a stress management training session for the employees.
What topics should be covered during training?
Justify your topic selections.
Identify methods of tracking employee attendance and dealing with employees who do not attend or participate in mandatory training.
Develop criteria to assist in selecting a vendor to use for the training.
Which of the following training methods do you consider to be the most effective? Why?
Presentations.
Case studies.
Simulations.
Discussions.
SAMPLE PAPER
Stress Management Training
This stress management training program will cover the following topics: definition of stress, the nature of stress in the workplace, causes of stress, impact of stress on employees’ work and lives, and effective ways of handling workplace-related stress. The above topics have been selected because they are the most pertinent when it comes to managing stress. To begin with, it is important that employees understand what stress means because the line between personal life demands and work pressures is often blurred (WorklifeBalance, 2018). As a result, most people often confuse stress with motivating pressure (Critchley, 2010). In other words, people may not notice when the force that motivates them to work turns into disabling stress. In the same way, it is essential to outline the signs that an individual is stressed as this will help the individual to seek help in time.
To ensure that all employees attend and complete the training, an attendance policy will be developed and communicated to every employee. Employees will have to put their signatures on this policy, consenting that they will attend all training sessions. Apart from this, employees will be required to sign an attendance sheet every day of the training. Roll calls will also be taken each day. Employees who are found not to attend or take part in the training program will have to face disciplinary action. Unless an employee makes prior communication indicating that he/she will not make it to the training, absenteeism from training programs will be penalized heavily to make employees understand the costs that the organization has incurred. Depending on how frequent employees fail to attend training, disciplinary action will range from having employees pay for extra training to demotion or even salary reduction.
To make the training exercise as helpful as possible, the organization will hire an expert trainer in the area of stress management. Key criteria to be used in selecting the training vendor include sufficient experience together with a relevant background and an excellent fit with the organizational culture. The latter means that the person chosen to conduct the training must be one who is conversant with regulations applying to our industry. Our organization will also be keen to hire a trainer who can offer customized training package to suit the needs of our employees.
There are various techniques used in training; these include case studies, simulations, interactive presentations, role playing, and group discussions. According to the American Society for Training and Development (2006), effectiveness of training is enhanced where interactive techniques are used. More importantly, it is advisable for trainers to employ multiple techniques. In light of these considerations, my take is that presentations and simulations would be most appropriate for the training. Through presentations, employees would be shown images or videos highlighting the impact of stress. Similarly, simulations would assist employees with practical skills of stress management.
References
American Society for Training and Development. (2006). Instructional systems development. American Society for Training and Development.
Critchley, K. (2010). Stress management skills training course: Exercises and techniques to manage stress and anxiety, build success in your life by goal setting, relaxation and changing thinking with NLP. Lancashire, UK: Universe of Learning Ltd.
WorkLifeBalance. (2018). Stress management in the workplace. https://worklifebalance.com/stress-management/
