ACKNOWLDEGEMENT

A project work is a combination of views, ideas, suggestions & contributions of, many people. Thus, one of the pleasant parts of writing the report is the opportunity to thank those who have contributed towards it fulfillment. Behind every success there is certainly an unseen power of almighty god but an aim is the internal condition of success which is attainable at perfection is everything by who preserves with association of the predecessors, teachers, family members, friends and colleagues. We consider it as great privilege to have esteemed LECT. Ms Nidhi Sharma (Faculty, GNIMT) as my project guide. I take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to her through constant advice and constructive criticism nourished my interest in the subject and provided a free and pleasant atmosphere to work against all odd situations. We avail this opportunity to extend my heartfelt thanks and deep respect to faculty members for their able guidance during the course of this project. We would also like to thank Dr, Sandhya Mehta (Deputy Director) for their valuable suggestions & continuous guidance, which have gone a long way in providing necessary impetus to our efforts in consummating this report. We would be failing in my duties if II do not express my countless regards and fathomless gratitude for Dr. H.S Singha (Director) and as my corporate guide, for his direct corporation and suggestion during the research project. We would like to communicate a deep sense of gratitude to all faculty members without whom my project would not have been such a great learning experience.

NAVDEEP KAUR

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
It is difficult to define stress, as its meaning is different to different people. Some see stress as any external stimulus that causes wear and tear, such as pressure to perform at work. Competition and uncertainties of modern life, unemployment and job security, the threat of chemical and nuclear weapons all such factors have made life increasingly stressful. Stress is taking a heavy tool of the nation with leaders and managers of industry are alarmed about the huge costs of absenteeism, lost productivity and increasing medical expenses, researchers have proved stress directly or indirectly as correlate of coronary heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidental injuries, cirrhosis of lever and suicidal in the world. The Insurance sector in India governed by Insurance Act, 1938, the Life Insurance Corporation Act, 1956 and General Insurance Business (Nationalization) Act, 1972, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) Act, 1999 and other related Acts. With such a large population and the untapped market area of this population Insurance happens to be a very big opportunity in India. Today it stands as a business growing at the rate of 15-20 per cent annually.This is an indicator that growth potential for the insurance sector is immense in India. The insurance sector in India has been growing at a great pace over the last decade or so. If industry estimates are any pointers, insurance sector should employee over 10 million before the end of this decade.

Insurance in India can be broadly bifurcated into three eras: a) Pre Nationalization b) Nationalization and c) Post Nationalization. Life Insurance was the first to be nationalized in 1956. Life Insurance Corporation of India was formed by consolidating the operations of various insurance companies. General Insurance followed suit and was nationalized in 1973. General Insurance Corporation of India was set up as the controlling body with New India, United India, National and Oriental as its subsidiaries. The process of opening up the insurance sector was initiated against the background of Economic Reform process which commenced from 1991. For this purpose Malhotra Committee was formed during this year who submitted their report in 1994 and Insurance Regulatory Development Act (IRDA) was passed in 1999. Resultantly Indian Insurance was opened for private companies and Private Insurance Company effectively started operations from 2001. The insurance sector was opened up for private participation four years ago. For years now, the private players are active in the liberalized environment. The insurance market have witnessed dynamic changes which includes presence of a fairly large number of insurers both life and non-life segment. Most of the private insurance companies have formed joint venture partnering well recognized foreign players across the globe. Despite significant growth and a bright future, the insurance sector continues to suffer from high attrition levels stemming from factors like high levels of stress and in some cases lack of growth opportunities.

The sector is characterized by odd work hours and targets; high work targets: pressure to work on metrics, innumerable calls & follow ups. All factors, standalone, could contribute to different levels of stress. The management and HR teams are trying to offer career paths to executives, but that will be only be possible when they are in position to hold back people and control attrition numbers. Attrition today has reached an all time high of more that 50%, although the figure would differ significantly from one firm to another. High turnover rate and employee dissatisfaction are partly due to fatigue and a high stress environment.

CHAPTER 2 RESEARCH METHODOLO GY

A research methodology defines what the activity of research is, how to process, how to measure progress, and what constitute success. A research methodology broadly constitutes: DATA COLLECTION For my research study the data has been collected by both primary & secondary means. For primary data collection I adopted the structured questionnaire and was filled by employees of LIC, Aegon religare life insurance, max life insurance. The secondary data of my research has been collected through websites, books, journals etc. SAMPLE PLAN: A sampling plan includes definition of: population target population sample sampling size sampling frame sampling technique

For our project these variables can be defined as follows:

POPULATION: a population can be defined as an aggregate of all the elements sharing some common set of characteristics that comprises the universal for the purpose of the problem. The population for the project- any employee in Ludhiana who is working in selected companies. TARGET POPULATION: the collection of elements or objects that possess the information sought by the researcher and about which inferences are to be made. The target population should be defined in terms of: elements, sampling units, extent. Element: is the object about which or from which the information is desired. In our study target population is defined as: any member in the region surveyed who is working in selected companies. Sampling unit: is an element or a unit containing the element that is available at some stage of the sampling process. Extent: extent refers to geographical boundaries. In our study extent was: Ludhiana SAMPLING FRAME: a sampling frame is the representation of the elements of the target population. It consists of a list or set of directions for identifying the target population. Sampling frame for our study was: Consultant data Employee response

SAMPLE SIZE: sample size is the number of elements to e included in a study. The sample size taken was 40 each from following companies: LIC Aegon religare life insurance Max life insurance

These firms were chosen because they are approachable and quite known companies in insurance sector. SAMPLING TECHNIQUE: a selection method where the elements are selected randomly. Various sampling technique used was: Both convenient sampling and judgmental sampling were used. TOOLS OF ANALYSIS: Tabulation Bar diagrams

Chapter-3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

To study the main reasons of stress among employees. To study the affect of stress on their job.

A BRIEF REVIEW WHAT IS INSURANCE?

Insurance is not necessarily an investment from which one expects to get ones back. Nor it is gambling a gambler takes risks. While insurance offers protection against risks that already exist Insurance is a way to share risk with others.

The Origin of Insurance

Insurance has existed for thousand of years a form of credit insurance was included in the Code of Hammurabi, a collection of Babylonian laws said to predate the Law of mosses for finance their trading expeditions in ancient times. Ship owners obtained loans from investors, if a ship was lost the owners were not responsible for paying back the loans since many ship returned safely. The interest paid by numerous ship owners ship owners covered the risk to the lenders. It was likewise in a maritime setting that later one of the worlds most famous insurance providers. Lloyds of London was born by 1688, Edward famous insurance provider accepts in exchange for certain payment, to premium. These insurers came to be known as underwriters. Finally in 1769 Lloyds became a formal group of underwriters that in time grew into the foremost market for marine risks. LIBERALIZATION OF INSURANCE SECTOR: Liberalization commitment of the country to help in disciplining future economic policies will include the insurance reforms. When world over insurance market has been opened up. India cannot remain in isolation. History has shown that it is very difficult to proper in isolation.

Globalization is the new economic reality, which is here to stay, heralding a new era of Insurance in India. With the opening of the insurance industry, Indian stands to gain with the following major advantages. Globalization will provide opportunities to the consumer for the better production. With more reasonable and affordable pricing. The customer will get quicker service. It will enhance the saving rate. Long term funds for infrastructure development will be available to the country. It will secure for India larger inflow of foreign capital need to sustain our GDP growth.

Advantages of Liberalization:
The opening up will enable the country to save more and invest more for the development in infrastructure. With new insurance intermediaries and more distribution channels the market is bound to develop by leaps and bounds. In the next few years it is established that the Indian insurance sector will developed a better understanding of consumer requirement leading to more satisfaction of consumers. Lead to increase in employment. Social and rural obligations will also be served as IRDA has come out with clear regulation in this regard which makes the development in this area mandatory. Global competition will help in building expertise with their global practice.

IRDA
The Insurance sector has been opened up in India, as there was an urgent need. The international experience indicates those country with a liberalized insurance sector have witnessed a rapid growth in premium volumes enhancing the domestic saving rate. This happened in China, Malaysia and Singapore where a competitive market has led to improvement in Services and Quicker settlement of claims. It is also important to note that competition will bring about advancement in information, communication and technology. And rightly there force a decision was taken by the Government of India to open up Insurance sector. The establishment of IRDA in the month of April 2000 has been important development in this direction, making the end of monopoly in the insurance sector.

Why Insurance in India

Only 22% of the insurance population has been extended cover. Market penetration is low and the potential to exploit is high. Insurance premium per capital is very low. Lack of comprehensive social system benefit and welfare means that demand for pension products is high. Huge middle class of approximately 300 million. Existing insurance company score low on customer service front.

LIFE INSURANCE CORPORATION OF INDIA

Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India is the only public sector Life Insurance Company in India. The company was formed in September 1956.

LIC was formed in 1956 with the merger of more than 200 insurance companies and provident societies. Since then they have been among the most trusted brands in India providing insurance solutions to even the remotest corners of India through their huge network of agents and distributors. It was only in 2001 that the private sector was allowed into the insurance sector in India. LIC has maintained its dominant leadership status even with the presence of 22 other life insurance companies LIC is the largest life insurance company in India with a huge presence in both urban and rural markets. Its distribution is unmatched and has a strong agent force which reaches out to every small town in India ensuring that their products are being offered to one and all in the country. The insurance products of LIC are often the most simple and consumer friendly and it is displayed by the enormous response it gets to the launch of any new product. LIC has an insurance product for almost any need - from protection, savings and investments, micro-insurance plans to special plans for women and even for handicapped individuals. The insurance agents of LIC have been the backbone of the company for long and their agent network keeps getting bigger by the day.

OBJECTIVES:
To maximize mobilization of peoples savings by making insurance linked saving adequately attractive. To spread life insurance much more widely and in particularly in rural area, providing them with insurance at reasonable price and adequate finance cover.

GROWTH:
LIC has come a long way since its nationalization in 1956 over 40 years later in 1997 LIC had grown from Rs. 3.78 billion of new business in 1957 to Rs 555.5 billion The rural India accounting for around 40% of the business. In 1997, LIC had spread to the farthest corners of the country with an extensive network of over 8 lakh agents, 2048 branches(1370cities), 100 Divisional office, 7 Zonal offices and 1 Central office. LIC has branch offices in U.K., Mauritius, & Fiji. In U.K.

Max New York life insurance

Max New York Life Insurance Company, established in 2000, is one of the most admired private insurance companies. Max New York is a joint venture between Max India Indias multi business corporate and New York Life International New York Life, US based Insurance Company. Max New York Life is the first life insurance company to be awarded 9001:2000 ISO certifications. Incorporated in 2000, Max New York Life started commercial operation in 2001 and today is one of Indias leading private life insurance companies. The company offers individual and group life insurance products and is present across the country through a wide distribution network of multi channel distribution Product Portfolio: Max New York has variety of products covering Child Plans, Retirement Plans, Health Plans and savings & investment plans. Retirement Plan: The cost of living is experiencing fast steady rise which makes retirement plan an important financial decision. Better known as Pension plan, this plan takes care of financial needs after retirement by investing a part of your savings for limited period. Pension plan provides steady income after retirement and takes care of daily needs. The pension plan offered by Max New York Life is Life Partner Plus. Child Plan: Parenthood brings happy times as well as responsibilities. Child Plan is a plan specifically designed to take care of financial needs of your child. Child plan provides with necessary funds that will take care of childs education, marriage etc. By investing small portion of your savings you secure the financial end of your child. Child plans of Max New York Life are called Life Shiksha plus II and Life Smart Bond.

Term Plan: A risk plan which provides comprehensive cover for your family in the unfortunate event of untimely demise. A term life insurance plan provides good cover at relatively nominal cost and has no survival benefits. Max New York Life term plans are Platinum Protect and Lifeline Safety Net. Investment Plan: Popularly known as ULIP, an investment plan invests part of your savings in equity or debt market as per your preference. The objective of investment plan is to give you returns which easily beat the rising costs since the usual returns in a bank are extremely low. ULIPs offered by Max New York Life are Max New York Life Shubh Invest, Whole Life (Par), 20 year Endowment (Par), Endowment to Age 60 (Par), Life Gain Plus25 (Par), Life Pay Money Back, Life Gain Endowment, Max New York Life Smart Bond, Max Mangal, Max Vriksha and Bonus Builder. Max recently launched Flexi Fortune which offers more flexibility in choosing Sum Assured and premium payment term. Health Plan: Slightly different from health insurance, health plan provides cover for surgery costs, critical illness. A lump sum is paid irrespective of actual hospital bill. Lifeline Medi Cash Plus, Lifeline Safety Net, Max New York Lifeline Healthy Family and Lifeline Wellness Plus are Max New Yorks health plan.

Distribution Network: Max New York Life has multi-level distribution network with over 650 branches and 70,000 agents. Financial Information: The total premium earned for the half year ended September 30, 2010 was Rs 26,653 million. The profit after tax for the same period is Rs 654 million.

Marketing Campaigns: Max New York Life launched its initial campaigns focusing on the aspect of Max heritage, quality advice and the expertise offered by Max financial consultants. The recent campaign of Max New York Life revolved on the theme of Karo zyaada ka iraada encouraging youngsters to be more ambitious with Max New York being their partner. Max New York also was exclusive life insurance sponsor with Indian Premier League (IPL) - biggest domestic cricket event for shorter format of the game. Max New York also initiated long term parent-child nurturing program (igenius.org) which has many events for children to participate in. Distinctions: Outlook Money survey ranked MNYL No.1 in Slow, Medium and Quick fund categories BT Mercer Ranked No7 in the Best companies to Work For Awarded the Gallup Great Work Place Award 2009 CII Exim Bank Commendation Certificate for Business Excellence 2008 & 2009 Received Best Six Sigma Project award at 6th CII National Six Sigma conventions 2009. Recipient of 2008 CIO 100 Award for technology implementation Golden Peacock Award for Innovation 2008 Among the top 25 companies to work for in India, according to Business world 2003 Great Workplaces of India Among the top five most respected insurance companies in India as per Business world 2004 & 2006 survey Won Indo-American Corporate Excellence Award for Best Indo-US company in Financial Services Category in 2006

AEGON RELIGARE LIFE INSURANCE

AEGON, one of the worlds largest life insurance and pension groups, Religare, one of Indias leading integrated financial services groups and Bennett, Coleman & company, Indias largest media house, have come together to launch AEGON Religare Life Insurance Company Limited.

This venture is dedicated to build a firm future, both for customers and employees and will continue to balance a local approach with the power of an expanding global operation.

It launched our pan-India multi-channel operations in July, 2008 with over 30 branches spread across India.

Our business philosophy is to help people plan their life better. We provide high quality advice to our customers and offer superior customer service.

AEGONs businesses serve over 40 million customers in over 20 markets throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia, with major operations in the United States, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. With headquarters in The Hague, the Netherlands, AEGON companies employ almost 32,000 people worldwide. The companys common shares are listed on four stock exchanges: Amsterdam, London, New York and Tokyo. It manages EUR 351 billion in revenue generating investments. AEGON has more than 160 years of experience with its roots going back to 1844. It holds 26% equity in our company.

Religare is a diversified financial services group of India offering a multitude of investment options. Financial services which Religare offers can be broadly clubbed across three key verticals - Retail, Institutional and Wealth spectrums. Religare has also ventured into the alternative investments sphere through its holistic arts initiative and Film fund. With a view to expand, diversify and introduce offerings benchmarked against global best practices, Religare operates in the wealth management space under the brand name 'Religare Macquarie Private Wealth'. Religare has a pan India presence, 1837 locations across 498 cities and towns. It also currently operates from nine international locations following its acquisition of London's brokerage & investment firm, Hichens, Harrison & Co. plc. (Now Religare Hichens, Harrison Plc). 6 Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. (BCCL), part of the mammoth Times Group, is Indias largest media house. It reaches out to 2468 cities and towns all over India. The group owns and manages powerful media brands like The Times of India, The Economic Times, Maharashtra Times, Navbharat Times, Femina, Filmfare, Grazia, Top Gear, Radio Mirchi, Zoom, Times Now, Times Music, Times OOH, Private Treaties and indiatimes.com. All of its brands are multinational in outlook, traditional at heart and national in spirit. From the very first edition on November 3, 1838 the mammoth BCCL Group has come a long way. By way of the innovative venture of Times Private Treaties, the BCCL Group holds 30% equity in our company.

CHAPTER 4

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Meaning of stress

Stress is simply a fact of nature -- forces from the inside or outside world affecting the individual. The individual responds to stress in ways that affect the individual as well as their environment. Because of the overabundance of stress in our modern lives, we usually think of stress as a negative experience, but from a biological point of view, stress can be a neutral, negative, or positive experience. In general, stress is related to both external and internal factors. External factors include the physical environment, including your job, your relationships with others, your home, and all the situations, challenges, difficulties, and expectations you're confronted with on a daily basis. Internal factors determine your body's ability to respond to, and deal with, the external stress-inducing factors. Internal factors which influence your ability to handle stress include your nutritional status, overall health and fitness levels, emotional wellbeing, and the amount of sleep and rest you get. Stress has driven evolutionary change (the development and natural selection of species over time). Thus, the species that adapted best to the causes of stress (stressors) have survived and evolved into the plant and animal kingdoms we now observe. Researchers have focused on stressful events what are called stressors. Although the overall experiences of stress include both stimulus and response variables. Generally all the definitions emphasize one aspect of stress in terms of stressors. It includes variety of external and internal stimuli that evoke stress such as noise, crowding, bad relationship, around of job interview commuting to work or highly competitive work environment.

The study of stressor has helped to define some conditions that are more likely to produce stress that others. The focus on stressful events cannot fully explain the experience of stress. Consequently the other researcher emphasizes the importance of our perception and response to such events. The noise or music played by your radio may not be stressful to you but can be stressful to your neighbors. Loss of job may be highly stressful to you but to another it may be a new opportunity trying for new field. One can see an interview as threatening but another can view it as a challenge. It depends on a person how one perceives the things. It is also to note that stress initiate some non- specific physiological reactions in the body such as increased flow of adrenaline that enables us for extra effects. Zimbardo defines stress as, The pattern of specific and non- specific responses an organism makes stimulus events that disturb its equilibrium and tax or exceed its ability to cope. Some definitions of stress has focused as an external negative forces impinging on an individual responses; as an individuals emotional physiological response to external and internal environment events or intersectional elements; as a personal environment problem resulting from perceptions and appraisals of ones internal or external environments.

Stress and distress are separate and should not be mixed with each other. Stress is a multiphase phenomenon that may also have a beneficial effect. Stress due to harmful effect of events can be correctly labeled Distress. Generally all the stress in modern society is distressful. Stress due to events having beneficial effect like new job, marriage, and joining exciting job may have stimulating effect, can be labeled Eustress or good stress. When stress is due to positive events; cross the boundary limits of our adaptability can be labeled as hyper-stress or excessive stress. Whenever we are lacking stimulation or stimulation have not sufficient potency to stimulate the individual such event produces insufficient stress, which is labeled hypo-stress Distress Eustress Hyper-stress Hypo-stress

Adjective demands of stress may occur at both biological and psychological levels. Fever, infection or bodily injury produces stresses primarily on biological levels where as death or divorce is stressful on psychological level. Flood and war are stressful situation for both society as a whole and for the individual also. Generally, individual reaction to stress will be either effective or adaptive or adaptive. In some cases the reactions may be maladaptive or ineffective. All these reactions weaken or threaten the individual physically and psychologically. A person can do hard work rather over work and also can adapt by taking stimulants, denying his bodily needs for rest. If he does it occasionally in that case it will not harm him. But if it is a part of his habit and does it continuously then he is inviting danger to his physical and psychological health.

STRESS MANAGEMENT
Stress management refers to a wide spectrum of techniques and psychotherapies aimed at controlling a person's levels of stress, especially chronic stress, usually for the purpose of improving everyday functioning. In this context, the term 'stress' refers only to a stress with significant negative consequences, or distress in the terminology advocated by Hans Selye, rather than what he calls eustress, a stress whose consequences are helpful or otherwise positive. Stress produces numerous symptoms which vary according to persons, situations, and severity. These can include physical health decline as well as depression. According to the St. Louis Psychologists and Counseling Information and Referral, the process of stress management is one of the keys to a happy and successful life in modern society. Although life provides numerous demands that can prove difficult to handle, stress management provides a number of ways to manage anxiety and maintain overall well-being. Despite stress often being thought of as a subjective experience, levels of stress are readily measurable using various physiological tests, similar to those used in polygraphs. Many practical stress management techniques are available, some for use by health practitioners and others for self-help, which may help an individual to reduce stress, provide positive feelings of being in control of one's life and promote general well-being. The effectiveness of the different stress management techniques can be difficult to assess, as few of them have received significant attention from researchers. Consequently, the amount and quality of evidence for the various techniques varies widely. Some are accepted as effective treatments for use in psychotherapy, whilst others with less evidence favoring them are considered alternative therapies.

Many professional organizations exist to promote and provide training in conventional or alternative therapies. There are several models of stress management, each with distinctive explanations of mechanisms for controlling stress. Much more research is necessary to provide a better understanding of which mechanisms actually operate and are effective in practice.

There are very many proven skills that we can use to manage stress. These help us to remain calm and effective in high pressure situations, and help us avoid the problems of long term stress. In the rest of this section of Mind Tools, we look at some important techniques in each of these three groups. This is a much-abridged excerpt from the 'Understanding Stress and Stress Management' module of the Mind Tools Stress Management As well as covering this material in more detail, it also discusses: Long-term stress: The General Adaptation Syndrome and Burnout. The Integrated Stress Response. Stress and Health. Stress and its Affect on the Way We Think. Pressure & Performance: Flow and the 'Inverted-U'.

These sections give you a deeper understanding of stress, helping you to develop your own stress management strategies for handling unique circumstances. Click here to find out more about the Stress Management.

STRESS & ITS VARIOUS FORMS

According to medical practitioners, stress comes in four different terms

Acute stress is what most people identify as stress. It makes itself felt through
tension, headaches and gastrointestinal disturbances, feelings of agitation and pressure. Its easily treatable and can be brought under control in 6-8 weeks.

Episodic acute stress is more serious and can lead to migraines, hypertension,
stroke, har attack, anxiety, depression, series distress. Its treatable, but it takes general life style readjustments, four to six months, and often requires professional help.

Chronic stress is the most serious of all. Its the stress that never ends. The
grinds us down until our resistance id one. Serious systemic illness such as diabetes, decreased immunocompetence, perhaps cancer is its hallmark. It can be treated, even reversed, but it takes time- sometimes two to three years and often requires professional help.

Traumatic stress is the result of massive acute stress, the effects of which can
reverse through our system for years. Post traumatic stress disorder is treatable and reversible and usually requires professional aid.

Our body experience distress signals in a variety of ways, often in the form of:
Depression Fatigue Tension Headaches Hypertension Migraines Ulcers Heart attacks Colitis Eventually, stress can lead to even more serious distress, such as cancer, diabetes or thyroid dysfunction.

Stress also affects our personality and attitude like:

Irritability & anger

Solitude Eating disorders Relationship issues Getting low on self esteem

Stress is additive and cumulative- reasons are not isolated but connected to each other.

There are almost universal consequences that call center work is stressful. Even in case where some of the staff actually mentioned that they enjoyed their work, mention of stress was still there, citing various source of stress in call center work.

The major sources of stress in insurance companies fall into seven categories:

Lack of control- workers who have a great deal of responsibility but little or no
control or decision- making power in their jobs are at increased risk for stressrelated illness.

Job insecurity- are you challenged enough, but not too much? Do you feel secure
in your job? Job insecurity is a major source of stress for many people.

Lack of communication- poor communication is one of the major reasons

leading to workplace tensions, which in turn increases job stress. An inability to express your concerns, frustrations, or other emotions can also lead to increased stress.

Lack of interest- if you dont find your job meaningful or take pride in it, you
may find it stressful.

Lack of support- lack of support from your colleagues not only makes it difficult
to resolve other problems at work but also make you feel as an alien which leads to emotional distress an leads you to stress.

Lack of clarity- feeling uncertain about what your duties are how they may be
changing, or what your department or organizations goals can lead to stress.

Increased responsible- assuming more responsibilities than one can be stressful.

Four key stressor in insurance companies

Work timings Almost no breaks Quality/Quantity conflict Intensity Targets

Managing stress in insurance company

Steps to manage stress
1. Awareness about your stressor and your emotional and physical reactions

Notice your distress. Dont ignore it. Determine what events distress you. What are you telling yourself about meaning of these events? Determine how many your body responds to the stress. Do you become nervous or physically upset?

2. Recognize what you can change Can you change your stressor by avoiding or eliminating them completely? Can you reduce their intensity (manage them over a period of time instead of on a daily or weekly basis)?

3. Reduce the intensity of your emotional reaction to stress The stress reaction is triggered by your perception of danger physical danger/ emotional danger. Work at adopting more moderate views; try to see the stress as something you can cope with rather that something that overpower you. 4. Learn to moderate your physical reactions to stress Slow, deep breathing will bring your heart rate and respiration back to normal. Relaxation techniques can reduce muscle tension. Electronic feedback help you gain voluntary control over tension, heart rate and blood pressure.

5. Build your physical reserves

Exercise for three to four times a week. Eat well- balanced, nutritious meals. Maintain your ideal weight. Mix enjoyment with work. Take breaks and get away when you can get enough sleep. Be as consistent with your sleep schedule as possible. 6. Maintain your emotional reserves Develop some mutually supportive friendship/ relationships. 7. Expectation Pursue realistic goals, which are meaningful to you, rather than goals other have for you that you do not share. Expect some failure and sorrows. Always be kind and gentle to yourself and others.

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

1. Being worried about noncompliance of work. Options NA Frequently occasionally Neutral rarely never No. of respondents 0 116 4 0 0 0 Percentage 0 96.6 3.3 0 0 0

worried about work

140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0

NA Frequently occasionally
nt s

Neutral
er ce nt ag e

on de

rarely nev er

es p

Analysis:
From graph it is clear that 112 respondents are frequently worried about noncompliance of work where as 4 are occasionally worried about noncompliance of work.

N o

.o fr

2. Due to work load, personal life gets affected.

Options NA Frequently occasionally Neutral Rarely Never

No. of respondents 27 83 10 0 0 0

Percentage 22.5 69.7 8.3 0 0 0

work load
90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
Analysis: It is interpreted that 83 respondents think that personal life gets affected due to work load and 10 respondents think that personal life gets affected due to work where as 27 respondents didnt attempted the question.

Options NA Frequently occasionally Neutral Rarely Never

3. Few staff members dont understand my goals and expectations. Options NA Frequently occasionally Neutral rarely never No. of respondents 0 85 35 0 0 0 Percentage 0 70.8 29.2 0 0 0

Staff members don't understand

90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
nt s Pe rc en ta ge es po nd e

NA Frequently occasionally Neutral rarely never

Analysis: From graph it is clear that 85 respondents frequently thinks that few staff members dont understand their goals and expectation where as 35 thinks occasionally.

No .

of r

4.Feelings that I am not fully qualified to handle my job. Options NA Frequently occasionally Neutral rarely never No. of respondents 0 0 0 0 0 120 Percentage 0 0 0 0 0 100

Not qualified to handle job

140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 No. of respondents Percentage NA Frequently occasionally Neutral rarely never

Analysis: It is clear from graph that all respondents think that they are qualified enough to handle job assigned to them.

5. Thinking that I will not be able to satisfy the conflicting demands of those who have authority over me. Options NA Frequently occasionally Neutral rarely never No. of respondents 0 0 0 0 0 120 Percentage 0 0 0 0 0 100

Not be able to satisfy others

140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 No. of respondents Percentage NA Frequently occasionally Neutral rarely never

Analysis: It is interpreted from graph that all respondents never think that they are not able to satisfy the demands of those who have authority over them.

6. Trying to resolve differences among staff members. Options NA Frequently occasionally Neutral rarely never No. of respondents 10 60 30 20 0 0 Percentage 8.3 50 25 16.6 0 0

Try to resolve differences

70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 No. of respondents Percentage NA Frequently occasionally Neutral rarely never

Analysis: According to graph it is interpreted that 60 respondents frequently try to resolve differences among the staff members, 30 respondents occasionally tries to resolve differences where as 20 respondents have an equal say.

7. Feeling not enough is expected of me by my superiors. Options NA Frequently occasionally Neutral Rarely Never No. of respondents 20 0 0 0 0 100 Percentage 16.6 0 0 0 0 83.3

Feeling not enough is expected from me

120 100 80 60 40 20 0 No. of respondents Percentage NA Frequently occasionally Neutral Rarely Never

Analysis: It is clear from graph that 100 respondents never think that enough is not expected from them where as 20 didnt attempt the question.

8. Having my work frequently interrupted by staff members who want to talk. Options NA Frequently occasionally Neutral rarely never No. of respondents 10 0 0 0 20 90 Percentage 8.3 0 0 0 16.6 75

Frequently disturbed by staff members

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 No. of respondents Percentage

NA Frequently occasionally Neutral rarely never

Analysis: According to graph, 90 respondents never get disturbed by the interruption from staff members who want to talk where as 20 rarely gets interrupted by staff members and 10 respondents didnt attempted the question.

9. Imposing excessively high expectations on myself. Options NA Frequently occasionally Neutral rarely never No. of respondents 20 0 60 40 0 0 Percentage 16.6 0 50 33.3 0 0

High expectations from myself

70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
nt s Pe rc en ta ge es po nd e

NA Frequently occasionally Neutral rarely never

Analysis: It is interpreted that 60 respondents occasionally impose high expectations from them and 40 respondents have equal say where as 20 didnt attempted the question.

No .

of r

10. Feeling pressure for better job performance over and above what I think is reasonable. Options NA Frequently occasionally Neutral rarely never No. of respondents 0 67 42 11 0 0 Percentage 0 53.3 35 9.1 0 0

Pressure for better job

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 No. of respondents Percentage

NA Frequently occasionally Neutral rarely never

Analysis:

From the graph it is interpreted that 67 respondents frequently feel pressure for better job performance

11. Speaking in front of groups. Options NA Frequently occasionally Neutral rarely never No. of respondents 0 120 0 0 0 0 Percentage 0 100 0 0 0 0

Speaking in front of groups

140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 No. of respondents Percentage NA Frequently occasionally Neutral rarely never

Analysis: It is clearly interpreted from graph that all respondents have to speak frequently in front of groups.

12. Having to make decisions that affect the lives of individual people that I know (colleagues, staff members, etc). Options NA Frequently occasionally Neutral Rarely never No. of respondents 0 100 20 0 0 0 Percentage 0 83.3 16.6 0 0 0

Make decisions that affect life of people

120 100 80 60 40 20 0 No. of respondents Percentage NA Frequently occasionally Neutral Rarely never

Analysis: It is analyzed that 100 respondents think they have to frequently take decisions that affect life of people while 20 occasionally think that they have to take decisions which affect life of individuals they know.

13. Feeling I have to participate in work activities outside of the normal working hours at the expense of my personal time. Options NA Frequently occasionally Neutral rarely never No. of respondents 10 90 20 0 0 0 Percentage 8.3 75 16.6 0 0 0

Participate in work activities at expense of personal life

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 No. of respondents Percentage NA Frequently occasionally Neutral rarely never

Analysis: It is interpreted from graph that 90 respondents frequently have to participate in the work activities at the expense of personal life, 20 respondents occasionally think that they perform work at the expense of personal life where as 10 didnt attempted the question.

14. Feeling that I have too much responsibilities delegated to me by my supervisor. Options NA Frequently occasionally Neutral rarely never No. of respondents 33 59 28 0 0 0 Percentage 27.5 49 23.3 0 0 0

Too much responsibilities over me

70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 No. of respondents Percentage NA Frequently occasionally Neutral rarely never

Analysis: It is clear from graph that 59 respondents frequently think that they are delegated too much responsibilities where as 28 thinks occasionally and 33 didnt attempted the question.

15. Trying to complete reports and other paper work on time. Options NA Frequently occasionally Neutral rarely never No. of respondents 0 112 0 8 0 0 Percentage 0 93.3 0 6.6 0 0

Prepare reports on time

120 100 80 60 40 20 0 No. of respondents Percentage NA Frequently occasionally Neutral rarely never

Analysis: It is clear from graph that 112 respondents try frequently to complete work reports on time and 8 respondents have the neutral thoughts.

16. Feeling that I have too little authority to carry out responsibility assigned to me. Options NA Frequently occasionally Neutral rarely 30 No. of respondents 33 50 30 7 0 0 Percentage 27.5 41.6 25 5.8 0 0

Little authority to carry out work

60 50 40 30 20 10 0 No. of respondents Percentage NA Frequently occasionally Neutral rarely 30

Analysis: According to analysis, 50 respondents frequently think that they have too little authority to carry out work given to them, 30 respondents occasionally and 7 respondents have common say regarding the authorities given to them where as 33 respondents didnt attempted the question.

17. Feeling that meetings take up too much time. Options NA Frequently occasionally Neutral rarely never No. of respondents 0 76 21 23 0 0 Percentage 0 63.3 17.5 19.1 0 0

Meetings take too much time

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 No. of respondents Percentage

NA Frequently occasionally Neutral rarely never

Analysis: It is interpreted from graph that 76 respondents frequently think that meeting take up too much time, 21 respondents occasionally think that meetings take too much time and 23 respondents have common say.

18. Being unclear about the job

Options NA Frequently occasionally Neutral rarely never

Respondents
0 0 0 0 0 120

Percentage
0 0 0 0 0 100

being unclear about job

140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 Respondents Percentage NA Frequently occasionally Neutral rarely never

Analysis: It is clearly interpreted from graph that 120 respondents are never doubtful about their jobs.

Options NA Frequently Occasionally Neutral Rarely Never

No. of respondents 42 69 9 0 0 0

Percentage 35 57.5 7.5 0 0 0

19. Feeling that the progress of my job is not what it should be or could be.

Not satsified by job performnce

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 NA Frequently Occasionally Neutral Rarely Never

Analysis: From analysis it is interpreted that 69 respondents think that their job performance is not satisfactory, 9 occasionally think that their job is not satisfactory where as 42 didnt attempted the question.

Options NA Frequently Occasionally Neutral Rarely Never

No. of respondents 0 82 38 0 0 0

Percentage 0 68.3 31.6 0 0 0

20. Work load, timings also affect the performance.

Timings affect performance

90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 No. of respondents Percentage NA Frequently Occasionally Neutral Rarely Never

Analysis: From graph it is interpreted that 82 respondents frequently think that work load and timings affect their performance and 38 occasionally thinks that these two affect their performance.

Findings of Analysis
Employees are frequently worried about the noncompliance of work. Employees think that due to work load their personal life gets affected. Employees frequently feel that staff members dont understand their goals and expectations. Employees think that they are fully qualified to perform their jobs. Employees feel that they will be able to satisfy the demands of those who have authority over them. Employees frequently try to resolves differences among staff members. Employees never get interrupted by the staff members who want to talk. Employees occasionally impose high expectations on themselves. Employees always have pressure for better performance and job. Employees have to frequently speak in front of groups. Employees have to frequently take decisions which affect the lives of individuals they know. According to employees they have to perform work at expense of their personal lives. Employees think that they are delegated with too many responsibilities by their supervisors. Employees have to complete reports and other paper work in some time limits. According to employees they have little authority to carry out responsibilities assigned to them. Employees think meetings take up too much time of them. According to employees they are never unclear about the jobs they have to do. Employees are not satisfactory about their job performance as they think it can be better. According to employees, work load and time limits affect their job performance.

Conclusion

Time limits- According to analysis, time limits provided to employees to

complete tasks leads to stress.

Work load- It is analyzed that work load is one of the main cause of stress in the
field of insurance.

Lack of understanding by staff members- From analysis it is concluded that

the lack of understanding by staff members also causes stress to employees.

Little authority- It is analyzed that little authority delegated to employees to

carry out the work is also one of the causes of stress.

Unsatisfactory performance- Unsatisfactory performance of individuals also

causes stress to employees.

Pressure for better performance- It is analyzed that the pressure for better
performance is also one of the cause of stress to employees.

Work at cost of personal life- It is analyzed that employees also feel stress
when they have to perform work at the cost of their personal lives.

High expectations- According to analysis high expectations of employees from

others and from oneself are one the main cause of stress.

Limitations

The sample size selected might not have depicted a true picture of the population. The extent of the project was restricted to just three companies, which might not have presented the true picture.

Employees may have biased answers, which may lead to incorrect results. Time available for the completion of project was limited. Survey was mostly biased on human perceptions related to various factors, which may lead to subjective results.

Bibliography

Organizational behavior by Stephan Robbins. How to stop worrying and start living by Dale Carnegie. Business impact of employees stress by Sudipta Dev.
http:/www.lic.com http://www.acadjournal.com/2008/v22/part7/p2/ http://wellnessproposals.com/wellness-library/stress-management/stressmanagement-presentations/

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stress-symptoms/SR00008_D http://www.citehr.com/research.php?q=STRESS-IN-INSURANCE-INDUSTRY http://www.helpguide.org/mental/stress_management_relief_coping.htm http://www.aegonreligare.com/about_aegon_religare.php http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_New_York_Life_Insurance http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stress_management http://business.mapsofindia.com/insurance/brief-history-of-insurance-sector.html