Stress Management in the Professional Management Activities of a Manager
Abstract
Abstract. In the context of military operations and prolonged socio-economic instability in Ukraine, managers work under chronic stress, which increases the risk of emotional exhaustion and impairs the quality of management decisions and team interaction, highlighting the need for systematic stress management as a management competence. To theoretically and analytically justified stress management as a component of effective management activity, to systematised groups of stressors in management activity, and to developed a three-level model of stress management (individual, team, and organisational levels). A theoretical and analytical approach was used; systematic theoretical analysis and comparison of scientific approaches; qualitative content analysis of semantic categories; generalisation, systematisation and structural-logical modelling. The specifics of professional stress among managers have been clarified as a phenomenon exacerbated by role overload and uncertainty, the need to make decisions under conditions of time and resource constraints and high responsibility for people, as well as moral dilemmas exacerbated by the military context. Groups of stressors in managerial activity and their typical consequences have been systematised: (1) psychological and personal (self-regulation, emotional control, value conflicts) with consequences in the form of exhaustion and reduced quality of decisions; (2) command-role and interpersonal (conflicts, crisis communications, secondary traumatisation) with consequences in the form of a deterioration in the climate and effectiveness of interaction; (3) organisational and managerial (excessive demands, resource shortages, organisational changes) with consequences in the form of chronic stress and an increased risk of burnout. Based on this systematisation, a three-level integrative stress management model is proposed, combining individual self-regulation and resource recovery tools, team support and psychological safety practices, and organisational interventions for managing psychosocial risks in accordance with international standards, emphasising the interdependence of levels as a condition for effectiveness. The model can be used as an ‘intervention map’ for managers, HR specialists, and organisational psychologists when implementing mental health support programmes, managing psychosocial risks, and increasing team resilience in Ukrainian organisations during wartime and post-war periods.
Keywords: manager; command level; organisational level; occupational stress; stress management; stressors; managerial activity.
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