EIILM Workshop on battling stress

Updated on: Thursday, December 01, 2011

In the wake of recession and the stress that it amounts to, the first year PGPM students of Eastern Institute for Integrated Learning in Management (EIILM) organised a workshop on ‘how to survive under the hammer? Stress vs. Recession.’

Prarrthana Pal Chowdhury, corporate sales manager – Eastern India, Spicejet Ltd and Kunal Chakraborty, head – HRD, Metro Dairy were the panelists for the discussion, and were present to elucidate on recession related stress and give the students an overview on the industry they are employed in.

“When recession hit in 2008 it wrecked major havoc but in India we faced it the least. As Indians we are more panic stricken and hence the hue and cry over it,” said Prarrthana. Speaking about the aviation industry she talked about the advent of low cost airlines and how they started emerging successfully from the time recession struck. “The low-cost operating structure of the no-frills carrier aids in its success,” she said.

Prarrthana spoke of a pragmatic approach to stress. According to her, one needs to have self-confidence and accept what comes their way; recession or not, a job doesn’t come with a guarantee therefore one has to be prepared for unforeseen circumstances and take it in their stride. “Being stressed would only add to the problem,” she avered.

Kunal Chakraborty had something different to offer. He said, “Stress is not always negative. It can bring out the best in individuals and this is called enstress.” He gave a short presentation on how to survive from recession related stress.

From talking about the macroeconomic parameters that are affected due to recession, the behavioral manifestation and organisational level strategies for managing stress to employee level strategies and the kind of communication that has to be there between the employer and the employee, Kunal Chakraborty answered all questions students raised before him.

Students who attended the workshop had a lot to take back with them. “We encourage students to organise workshops as frequently as possible. It gives them an insight into reality and they learn better,” said professor Rajeshwari Deb, programme coordinator, PGPM.

EIILM Workshop on battling stress

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