Who kicked the cat?
Learning to cope with work stress helps the employee leave negative emotions at work and not take them home
Published: 06:11 PM,Nov 23,2024 | EDITED : 10:11 PM,Nov 23,2024
Once upon a time, there was a worker who suffered from the mistreatment of his manager, who would scold him in front of others for trivial reasons and attempt to steal his projects, adding her name without actually contributing to their completion. This employee began to feel distressed about staying in that company and losing passion for his job. One day, he came home angry about his manager's behaviour, only to find that his wife was late in preparing lunch. He started shouting and accusing her of negligence. His wife felt upset and unappreciated by his exaggerated reaction.
Later, when their son accidentally broke a vase while playing ball in the living room, she yelled at him. Angry at his mother's harshness, the son kicked the cat.
The question arises: who kicked the cat?
This story illustrates the psychological pressures an employee faces in the workplace and how these pressures can affect his or her family members and sometimes their pets at home. The answer to the question above is that everyone participated in ‘kicking the cat,’ starting with the manager, followed by the stressed employee, the upset wife and the innocent child.
To prevent such a chain of negative reactions, we must start at the top. The manager needs to adopt skills in dealing with employees and evaluating their performance without undermining their dignity, focusing on performance rather than personal criticism and remembering to provide feedback in a constructive and confidential manner.
Likewise, the employee should learn to accept evaluations from supervisors as opportunities to improve and communicate openly if they feel the assessment is unfair. A successful work environment provides a sense of psychological safety, where the employee sees evaluation as a tool for self-improvement and can express concerns if it lacks objectivity. Additionally, learning to cope with work stress helps the employee leave negative emotions at work and not take them home.
The wife can also remind her husband of the importance of balancing work and personal life, so he does not overreact to small things like a delayed meal and remembers her efforts in raising children and managing the household.
Reports from the World Health Organization (WHO) indicate that a significant number of working-age adults worldwide suffer from mental disorders that could be triggered by a stressful work environment. The cost of these disorders amounts to 12 billion lost workdays annually due to sick leave caused by the impact of stress on workers' physical and mental well-being.
This is why some organisations have started introducing programmes to enhance mental health, allowing employees to perform their duties to the fullest while enjoying stability and psychological well-being.
Later, when their son accidentally broke a vase while playing ball in the living room, she yelled at him. Angry at his mother's harshness, the son kicked the cat.
The question arises: who kicked the cat?
This story illustrates the psychological pressures an employee faces in the workplace and how these pressures can affect his or her family members and sometimes their pets at home. The answer to the question above is that everyone participated in ‘kicking the cat,’ starting with the manager, followed by the stressed employee, the upset wife and the innocent child.
To prevent such a chain of negative reactions, we must start at the top. The manager needs to adopt skills in dealing with employees and evaluating their performance without undermining their dignity, focusing on performance rather than personal criticism and remembering to provide feedback in a constructive and confidential manner.
Likewise, the employee should learn to accept evaluations from supervisors as opportunities to improve and communicate openly if they feel the assessment is unfair. A successful work environment provides a sense of psychological safety, where the employee sees evaluation as a tool for self-improvement and can express concerns if it lacks objectivity. Additionally, learning to cope with work stress helps the employee leave negative emotions at work and not take them home.
The wife can also remind her husband of the importance of balancing work and personal life, so he does not overreact to small things like a delayed meal and remembers her efforts in raising children and managing the household.
Reports from the World Health Organization (WHO) indicate that a significant number of working-age adults worldwide suffer from mental disorders that could be triggered by a stressful work environment. The cost of these disorders amounts to 12 billion lost workdays annually due to sick leave caused by the impact of stress on workers' physical and mental well-being.
This is why some organisations have started introducing programmes to enhance mental health, allowing employees to perform their duties to the fullest while enjoying stability and psychological well-being.