Assessment in counselling
BACKGROUND RESEARCH OF THE CHOSEN CLIENT GROUP
1. INTRODUCTION TO THE CLIENT GROUP
The client group here refers to male executives in the age group of 40 – 45 years old who assume senior management or executive roles in a commercial organisation.
For a male executive, work is likely to be the primary source of stress in his life. Occupational stress has been defined as a "global epidemic" by the United Nations ' International Labour Organization. A study by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in 1999 showed that twenty-three percent of female and 19 percent of male executives in the world claimed to be feeling “stressed” at work.
Having a leadership role increases the level of stress for these executives. Job responsibilities, performance pressure and decision making, as well as relationship building and dealing with conflicts are the most frequent demands contributing to a high level of stress for the senior executives.
Leadership demands that take time away from the executives’ primary job responsibilities are another source of stress. These demands include long or frequent meetings, having to manage limited resources arising from downsizing and budget cuts, having to navigate organisational bureaucracies, etc. Many senior executives are also finding physical demands such as frequent travelling, irregular work hours and the work environment compounding their levels of stress.
Work-family conflicts is another factor that significantly contributed to the experience of overall work stress, more so in a dual-income family structure. The executive and his spouse have to deal with critical points in the family life cycle (particularly birth of a child), in the career life cycle (role enlargement or contraction) of either partner, and in the life space of their children (eg. illness, academic performances, etc.)
In recent years, the repercussions of the global financial crisis continue to affect business operations. As
1. INTRODUCTION TO THE CLIENT GROUP
The client group here refers to male executives in the age group of 40 – 45 years old who assume senior management or executive roles in a commercial organisation.
For a male executive, work is likely to be the primary source of stress in his life. Occupational stress has been defined as a "global epidemic" by the United Nations ' International Labour Organization. A study by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in 1999 showed that twenty-three percent of female and 19 percent of male executives in the world claimed to be feeling “stressed” at work.
Having a leadership role increases the level of stress for these executives. Job responsibilities, performance pressure and decision making, as well as relationship building and dealing with conflicts are the most frequent demands contributing to a high level of stress for the senior executives.
Leadership demands that take time away from the executives’ primary job responsibilities are another source of stress. These demands include long or frequent meetings, having to manage limited resources arising from downsizing and budget cuts, having to navigate organisational bureaucracies, etc. Many senior executives are also finding physical demands such as frequent travelling, irregular work hours and the work environment compounding their levels of stress.
Work-family conflicts is another factor that significantly contributed to the experience of overall work stress, more so in a dual-income family structure. The executive and his spouse have to deal with critical points in the family life cycle (particularly birth of a child), in the career life cycle (role enlargement or contraction) of either partner, and in the life space of their children (eg. illness, academic performances, etc.)
In recent years, the repercussions of the global financial crisis continue to affect business operations. As
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