StressWise

“Stress is like a violin string. If there's no tension, there's no music.
But if the string is too tight, it breaks. You want to find the right level
of tension for you - the level that makes harmony in your life.”
Allen Elkin Physician

Stress affects everyone. It is a necessary and essential part of our lives. Just the right amount of tension is essential for a violin to produce beautiful, harmonious music. In the same way, people need a certain level of stress to enable them to perform at their peak and adapt to the continual changes of the environment.

Too little stress leads to stagnation while too much stress can take an immense toll on the physical and emotional health of individuals. Indeed, stress can lead to negative consequences such as depression, burnout and low job satisfaction.

According to Prof Ian Rothmann, of the Workwell Research UNIT of North West University:

• 6.3 days per employee per month are lost to unapproved absences from work
• About 4.5% of the South African workforce is absent on any given day, sometimes this is as high as 18%
• The 10 most general claims accepted by medical schemes are for the treatment of stress related illnesses
• 75% of visits to primary care facilities are stress related.

All indications are that the incidence and magnitude of stress experienced in today’s business environment continue to escalate. In South Africa, the challenges related to diversity, affirmative action and globalisation compound the stress levels of individuals.

The effects of unmanaged stress may be devastating for the individual and for the organisation, which may pay the price in the following ways:

• High levels of absenteeism
• Low morale
• High staff turnover
• Declining safety record
• High medical costs
• Poor quality control
• Low quality of service

StressWise is designed to help individuals become aware of the role of stress in their lives, help them identify their optimum stress levels and provide them with tools to manage their stress effectively.

Benefits

Treatment of the cause, not merely the symptoms:

StressWise goes beyond the transfer of knowledge and skills regarding stress, to address underlying perceptions and attitudes that contribute to increased stress levels.

Customisation: The course content can be customised to address the stress-inducing challenges of your specific environment.

Alignment to the NQF: The course is aligned to the unit standard 15096 (Demonstrate an understanding of stress in order to apply strategies to achieve optimal stress levels in personal and work situations) on NQF 5 and has 5 credits.

Group size

A maximum of 16 -20 learners per workshop to ensure individual attention.

Duration

One day.