Manage Stress at Work Through Preventive and Proactive Coping

This chapter outlines an approach to coping with stress at work that makes a distinction between four perspectives, namely reactive coping, anticipatory coping, preventive coping, and proactive coping. In addition to this approach, numerous ways of coping are presented, and their use at the level of organizations and at the level of individuals is discussed. Coping can occur as a response to an event or in anticipation of upcoming demands, but it can also involve a proactive approach to self‐imposed goals and challenges. Coping with stress is considered as one of the top skills inherent in effective managers. Stress in organizations is related to their culture and leadership, organizational structures, and developments. The chapter also presents a case example that demonstrates how an organization may cope with the demographic changes of its workforce in a preventive as well as a proactive manner.