The Employee Wellness Programme (EWP) at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) hosted a webinar to assist its staff on looking at Simple Strategies to Reduce Stress at Work on Microsoft Teams.

Addressing the DUT staff, EWP Manager, Samantha Rajcoomar thanked everyone for availing themselves for the webinar.
“Your presence is indicative that you are indeed impacted by workplace stress. I am confident that we are all at the same space where we are grappling with managing our job stress. And yes, this prolonged stress is becoming a health hazard. We are all experiencing stress differently and our coping skills varies. The need to acquire skills to manage our stress is more critical now than ever. Whether you are going into work physically or working from home, the COVID-19 pandemic has created new causes of job-related stress that has displaced the our ‘traditional’ stressors. So, what are the other contributors of our work stress… poor management style, lack of support and flexibility, heavy workloads, unrealistic deadlines, conflict, bullying and victimisation. Sounds familiar… This stress is now threatening our mental health and spilling into our family life,” she said.

She relayed that to equip DUT staff with tools or mechanisms to cope with their work stress, Ms Nandisa Thusini, a psychologist will address staff, as she has a vast amount of experience in this field and also has a good understanding of the tertiary environment and dynamics. Thusini spoke on the stresses that DUT may be experiencing, especially during COVID-19.
“If you get a sneeze or cough, you start to get really stressed out and you become anxious and that leads to you feeling like you not coping with your workload. Therefore, you get a few times where you fall behind and you become really, really stressed about that. Also, the other thing has been the impact of interpersonal relations and this is a huge deal with you guys at DUT because it sounds like part of the culture of the organisation is to respect each other and people are struggling to cope with the fact that they are not being respected and this causes a lot of stress,” she said.

Thusini stressed that everyone needs to be action people and know what is going on with their bodies and how to prevent illnesses from happening, and how to process stress on a daily basis.
“So, what we look at first is how we notice our body? So, every single day take a lunchbreak because one needs to recollect. When you take a break at lunchtime, what you do is step away from your laptop, phone, and you actually take a break for 15 minutes. The idea is that when you work from home you have to take that 15 minutes to stretch your legs, go to the toilet, drink some water or eat some food,” she said.

She also said that specific issues that people need to deal with are personality issues, saying that stress is not only environmental but sometimes internal. Sometimes a person experiences work stress because their qualifications are not the right qualifications and makes them feel so much shame and guilt in relation to this factor. This in turn tends to create stresses that are not really real, that are internal and has to do with the person than opposed to other people.
“The idea here is to start and listen for what people are saying is the issue, not to mind read, not to assume, not to think that I know what’s going on and its actually the opposite of what’s going on. So, we always have to be able to check for ourselves individually how much shame and guilt I carry about certain things, whether it’s my body, my marriage, my race, whether it’s who I am in terms of my temperament, am I just the person who is impossible, and as a result I take it out on everyone and actually I need to focus on myself and figure things out. So, these are the things you will find you may need to see a psychologist,” she said.

Thusini indicated that peoples’ voices can be heard and change can happen as she believes in humans and that at some point, people do have means to do certain things, especially if someone or a team are being continuously disrespected. They should contact HR or EWP anonymously and relay their experience or experiences.
Rajcoomar thanked Thusini for an informative session.
“I am sure you have given us a lot to ponder over. Colleagues, it is time that you identify your true sources of your work stress and manage it mindfully,” she said.

Pictured: Attendees at the webinar.

Waheeda Peters