Holistic Stress Management at Corning, Incorporated.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Jonas H ; Mathey J ; Monroy J ; Murphy L
• Description:
  The stress management program of Corning Incorporated was discussed. The program was created with the assistance of NIOSH and was designed to deal with worker stresses associated with fears about downsizing. It was based on a 'reengineering approach' in which the levels and sources of stress in the workforce were determined and individually and organizational based intervention strategies were employed to assist the workers to cope with their stress. An initial survey found that 38% of a sample of several hundred Corning employees felt themselves to be highly stressed compared to 23% identified in the 1985 National Health Interview Survey. Employees who reported the highest levels of stress were three to four times more likely to rate their work group and overall organization as ineffective, not feel valued as employees, rate their job training as ineffective, to be dissatisfied with their job, and to leave the company within 5 years as those with low levels of stress. The intervention program utilized simple in/house media communications, formal symposia, and skill acquisition seminars. The skill acquisition seminars targeted worker specific, well established stress management strategies such as muscle relaxation, biofeedback, meditation, and cognitive restructuring. The goal of the seminars was to enable each worker to build an individual capability to view work experiences and events in a proactive manner that favored taking action rather than adopting avoidance behaviors or blaming others. The seminars were held each week and lasted 60 to 90 minutes. They were conducted during lunch breaks or before or after normal working hours. The entire training program lasted 12 weeks. The participants felt that the seminars were successful. This was borne out by the results of surveys conducted periodically during and near the end of the program which showed that the prevalence of selected stress symptoms such as restlessness, depression, and excessive worry was sharply decreased and stress management skills were improved. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Coping Skills Epidemiology Mass Behavior Mental Health Occupational Health Safety Staff Development Stress, Psychological
• Keywords:
  Job-stress; Occupational-health-programs; Group-behavior; Human-factors-engineering; Epidemiology; Coping-behavior; Occupational-psychology; Education;
• ISBN:
  155798462X
• Publisher:
  American Psychological Association
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Book
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 10 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  239-255
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00241765
• Citation:
  The New Organizational Reality. Downsizing, Restructuring, and Revitalization 1998:239-255
• Editor(s):
  Gowing MK; Kraft JD; Quick JC
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1998
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  The New Organizational Reality. Downsizing, Restructuring, and Revitalization
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7dc847c09aedf140bc731323e8446b4703641ae07d6ad9e7b7238120dab30b8f7dcaa9b938d34d035f87873a0fe7fec262d5d13dcaf290925445e82b6de3b57d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/243652/cdc_243652_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 168.02 KB ]