Companies are starting to see pressure to perform as a risk, not an advantage

“This pressure usually comes from the outside—from the company or the supervisor. But we focus on how the individual, who feels this pressure, deals with it,” says Pavla Pavlíková. The four-module program, which can take place in the form of webinars or in-person sessions, aims to show participants that stress is not just an inevitable cost of professional success, but a phenomenon that can be recognized, understood, and actively managed.

The program is designed as a group training, ideally for 10-15 people. The content covers everything from basic time management tools to more subtle work with the mind. “One of the main goals is for participants to recognize how they come under pressure—what their main stressors are, and whether they may be approaching a state of burnout,”explains Pavla Pavlíková. The program includes exercises such as working with an importance and urgency matrix, techniques to minimize distractions, and relaxation methods.

What may initially seem like a typical stress management course actually goes much deeper. Pavla Pavlíková is not afraid to delve into topics such as inner critics and the ability to handle conflicts within a team. The ability to communicate openly and collaborate is considered by her to be a key skill in preventing stress—not just for individuals but for entire teams.

“If an employer is sensible, they understand that employees who are able to manage pressure over the long term are much more effective. Sure, you can push people in the short term to achieve results, but in the long run, the company will lose them,” adds Pavla Pavlíková. According to her, unmanageable pressure is a frequent reason for the departure of experienced professionals—people into whom companies invest considerable amounts, and who are irreplaceable not only due to their knowledge but also their cultural capital.

In addition to the tools participants can apply in their daily practice, the program offers a critical moment for pause. “The first step is to recognize where I stand. To find out where I am on the stress curve,” says Pavla Pavlíková, referring to the well-known Yerkes-Dodson model, which describes the relationship between performance and the level of stress. When there is too little stress, people get bored. When there is too much, they can’t handle even the basic tasks. Finding the balance, according to Pavlíková, is what can help companies prevent not only losses but also the overall decline in team morale.

In recent years, the program has found its way into a wider range of companies—from multinational corporations to smaller firms trying to create a healthier work environment. According to Pavla Pavlíková, it doesn’t matter whether senior managers or entry-level employees attend—the program can offer something to everyone to help them manage their own daily workload.

“We often talk about the effectiveness of training programs, and I say that if a person walks away from the program with at least one thing they will actually start using, that’s a success,” summarizes Pavla Pavlíková, whose approach contrasts with the common practice of ticking off “completed training.”

Training providers today often demand clearly measurable outcomes. “Certainly, it should be that the person knows their stressors and can manage them. They should be able to organize their work and time to minimize interruptions and distractions, thus giving them more space for what really matters—activities that fall within their role and bring results,” she states.

Although the program is grounded in practice, it doesn’t forget its theoretical foundations. Pavla Pavlíková, among other things, drew inspiration from the positive psychology of Martin Seligman and Shirzad Chamine’s concept of Positive Intelligence. However, the approach remains practical—the goal is not to overwhelm participants with theory but to offer concrete ways to relieve stress when it becomes overwhelming.

The “Managing Performance Pressure” program, in times of increasing psychological strain in the workplace, is not only a response to the demands of HR departments but also a tool for saving human potential. And perhaps a simple reminder that performance without space to breathe will never be sustainable in the long run.

Podcast transcript

Tomáš Pospíchal (moderator): My guest today is Pavla Pavlíková – lecturer, coach and founder of Innergy. Today’s episode is one of the first in a new format, which does not yet have an official name. In it, we focus on interesting educational programs and services that fall under the area of ​​corporate education – that is, everything that is usually the responsibility of the HR department. Pavla, what would you say about the name Showtime ?

Pavla Pavlíková (guest): That sounds interesting! I like it.

So maybe we’ll try that. Anyway – today I’d like to take a closer look at your program with the subtitle How to Work with Performance Pressure . How would you briefly describe it?

This program is a four-module webinar – or it can be done as a face-to-face workshop – and its goal is to explore how people get under pressure and what they can do about it. For example, we focus on planning and organizing time, working with your own mind, or relaxation techniques. In short – how to relieve yourself when you find yourself under tension.

I imagine this to be ambiguous – the pressure can come either from the employee themselves, who are trying to perform, or from the manager, who expects performance from their team. Which perspective prevails?

You’re right, the pressure usually comes from outside – from the company or the supervisor. But we focus on how the person who feels it works with that pressure. Because the truth is, there will always be demands on us. But we often increase that pressure ourselves – by the way we think, by the way we organize our work, by the way we place additional demands on ourselves. And that’s what the program is about.

You mentioned that it could be a webinar or an in-person format. What is the ideal format for this training?

I mostly delivered the program online, in a format of four three-hour modules – each once a week. But I also ran shorter versions like two- or three-hour webinars, where we focused only on selected topics.

And is this a group or individual program? From what you say, it sounds more like a group thing.

Yes, I forgot to mention, it’s a group program. For the four-module format, the ideal number of participants is up to 15 people. When a shorter version is done, for example as an inspirational tasting for a larger number of employees, there are usually more participants, sometimes even 50.

What is the main goal of the program? What should the participant ideally gain, what should be their benefit?

The aim of the programme is for participants to become aware of how they get under pressure – what their main stressors are and whether they are approaching burnout. In other words, where they are on the stress curve and what they can do about it. This is a kind of first clue. Another part of the programme is dedicated to organising tasks and time – for example, we work with an importance and urgency matrix, which helps participants to realise where they are investing their time. The aim is to strengthen the area of ​​important but not urgent activities, which is a frequent stumbling block and a major source of pressure.

Next comes the topic of how to approach stress, because how we perceive stress affects how much it harms us. We offer various relaxation techniques so that everyone can choose what suits them personally. And in the last module we focus on communication and cooperation in a team, i.e. how to avoid conflicts and how to promote open and functional cooperation.

So it’s a smooth transition from a broader perspective to daily practice?

Exactly. And we’re expanding it to include teamwork.

How does the program help people who are already under high levels of stress? And I don’t just mean on a work level, but also on a personal level – for example, mothers returning from maternity leave or young people at the beginning of their careers who may seem fine on the outside, but the pressure is on them.

The first step is to be aware of where I am. To find out where I am on the stress curve. Some participants decide to have individual consultations after completing the program, which is usually the case when the situation is really serious and needs to be addressed in a targeted manner.

And if the pressure is not that extreme, the program offers tools to work with the inner critic, to reduce interruptions and distractions, whether from oneself or from those around them. Participants will also learn simple techniques to relieve themselves when they find themselves in a challenging situation.

Do you take the composition of the group into account when implementing the program? After all, the difference between a senior manager and a junior can be quite significant.

Yes, and that is why the program is designed so that everyone can get what they need from it. We often talk about the effectiveness of educational programs. I say that if a person takes away at least one thing from the program that they really start using, it is a success. We cannot change everything at once. The content of the program is therefore diverse – from rational tools for working with tasks to techniques in the field of mindfulness and working with the mind.

Now I’ll allow myself to “categorize” this program. Can this program be classified as “stress management”?

Certainly yes. But it depends on what someone imagines under that label. It could be stress management, mental resilience, personal development… It depends on the point of view.

If we look at it from both sides – both from the sponsor’s side and the participant’s side: if I go through this program, does it mean that I will be able to be pressured even more because I already know how to handle pressure?

(laughter) If an employer is reasonable, they understand that people who can cope with pressure over the long term are much more effective. Sure, in the short term you can pressure people and get results, but in the long term the company will lose them.

If it’s an environment where people matter, where they have professionals and experts with valuable knowledge, it’s a shame to lose them just because they can’t handle the pressure or feel burned out. And that’s where this program makes sense.

I wanted to lighten it up a bit, but when I look at it from the perspective of someone who approves the budget, it’s important to know the key metrics. If there were just a few key terms that should be mentioned, what would they be?

It should certainly be that a person knows their stressors and knows how to work with them. They know how to organize their work and time in a way that minimizes interruptions and distractions, and thus has more space for the essentials, i.e. activities that fall within their role and bring results. 
It is also important to prevent conflicts in the team, which is also the topic of our final module. We focus on how to prevent conflicts, how to talk about them when they arise, and how to understand them.

What psychological trends, research or methodologies do you refer to in the program? Were you inspired by any particular theory?

I personally like a wider range of sources, drawing from my own practice and various trainings that I have completed. The program is clearly inspired by, for example, the stress curve according to Yerkes and Dodson, positive psychology by Martin Seligman, positive intelligence according to Shirzad Chamin, the iceberg of assumptions… There is a lot of it. We also focus on neuroscience in relation to motivation – that is included in one of the modules.

Is there any diagnosis or needs analysis before the program itself? This is the weakness of many training courses, people just show up and that’s it.

Yes, specifically in this program, participants fill out a test beforehand that shows how they react to stress and how they process it. During the program, we also work on their automatic behavior patterns – we pay special attention to them.

You mentioned a group size of around ten or more people. That’s not exactly a small group. How do you create an environment where people feel safe and are willing to share their stressors or what’s bothering them?

The program is designed to combine inspiration from me – a certain theoretical part, followed by individual or group exercises, and then sharing within the whole group. 
This combination allows everyone to set their level of openness as they feel comfortable. No one is forced, everyone has control over what they share.

Maybe I’m being a bit provocative, but is the program also suitable for highly performance-oriented companies? “We go 120%, stress is the norm. Either someone can handle it or not!”

That’s a great question. It’s for these companies that the program can be very beneficial, because in an environment of high pressure to perform, people often learn to manage stress in ways that are detrimental to them in the long run.

One starting point is the work of American psychologist Kelly McGonigal, who points out that the problem may not be stress itself, but the attitude we take towards it. 
In a study that lasted eight years and followed thousands of people, it turned out that stress is indeed harmful, but only to those who believe that stress is harmful.

Conversely, those who admitted to being stressed but believed it helped them prepare for challenges had the lowest risk of death of all the groups studied. That’s a very powerful idea that we’re developing in the program.

Personal question – how do you deal with stress yourself?

I try to see it as something that prepares me for something. Years ago, I had the opportunity to learn about the research presented by Kelly McGonigal in her TED Talk. And it actually connects beautifully with the concept of positive intelligence from Shirzad Chamin. It’s about the mode of mind we are in. When we are in the so-called “survival mode”, when the older parts of the brain are active, we perceive everything around us as a threat. And that exhausts us – the organism uses its reserves and we have to constantly overcome some obstacles. The result will come, but at the cost of great effort.

But when we learn to switch to those newer parts of the brain—I call it “growth mode”—our perspective starts to change. Suddenly you’re like, “Yes, it’s pressure, but what can I get out of this?” In that setting, we’re more open to opportunity, inspiration, and everything feels lighter. We get into flow—like we’re flying with the wind at our backs. So I try to be aware of whether I’m reacting out of fear right now, or if I can look at the situation as a challenge.

That’s great. I often have the old song “Alive” by Pearl Jam playing in my head – that’s probably the older part of the brain, right?

That’s right. Survival is our basic need. My favorite author, Martin Herman, writes in his book Find Your Martian that our brains are actually perfectly adapted to the Lower Paleolithic era. Back then, the biggest threat was, say, a bear or some other animal that could eat you. And our stress responses haven’t changed much since then.

But today? Today, the “bear” can be a slow-running computer, a system that crashes, or an unpleasant colleague. Seemingly minor threats, but we perceive them as vital. And our brain then reacts as if it were a matter of survival, and this triggers the same stress response that we would have before an attack by a beast.

You’ve beautifully recorded this for me on another topic. When preparing the podcast, you sent me the materials and I was interested in the idea of ​​the contagiousness of emotions. Do you have any specific techniques for listeners on how not to be pulled down by the negative mood of others?

Emotions are contagious, both negative and positive. And the first step is to even notice that other people’s moods are affecting us. Sometimes it’s enough to realize: “I don’t want this.” If the negativity is too strong, we can walk away. But we also have techniques, we call them “mental fitness exercises.” They help us stay in touch with ourselves, anchor ourselves, get into the present moment – the so-called “here and now”. I call it centering.

A simple example: put the thumb and index finger of one hand together and rub them together. Try it. Feel the touch, its intensity. When you focus on a sensory experience, newer parts of the brain are activated. And in this mode we have a greater perspective, we are more creative, we are better able to detach from the situation. Breathing or visual sensations work just as well. Sometimes in courses I say, when you are with someone you don’t like, try counting their eyelashes. It always makes you laugh, but it really works.

So less time management, more mental work?

Exactly.

While I was preparing for this interview, I was intrigued by another concept – stress curve. It reminded me a bit of Nohavic’s “Hill from the Year of the Devil”…

I don’t know.

The point is, if you take some drugs and go up a hill – you go up, you go up, but then you’re past the peak and it just keeps going down. It reminded me of that curve – as stress initially rises, it can be motivating, but then it starts to become destructive.

Yes, that’s right. This is also called the Yerkes-Dodson curve.

Did you mention anything about the law concerning the relationship between power and pressure?

Yes, it’s called Dodson’s Law . This concept examines how a person’s performance changes depending on the level of pressure or stimuli from the environment – that is, how much we are exposed to various stimuli, tension or level of activation. The resulting curve has the shape of an arc and is divided into three parts.

In the left part, the pressure is very low – little stimulation means that we can experience boredom, or even a certain form of deprivation. To give you a better idea – one of the harshest punishments is being placed in solitary confinement. A person without stimulation loses touch with reality, can feel completely miserable and in extreme cases it can even lead to a psychological breakdown.

One is basically just surviving and wasting time.

Exactly. We simply need a certain amount of stimulation. Then there is the right side of the curve – there is too much stimulation. When there is too much, we can perceive every next task as a burden. Anxiety appears, and if this state lasts for a long time, it can even lead to burnout.

And between these two extremes is the golden mean – the peak of the curve. That is where the so-called optimal performance zone is located . Stimuli in this area motivate us, bring us joy. We can reach the so-called flow , a state where we are fully immersed in the activity. A lot of people say: “I need a little pressure to get going.” And that is exactly what it is about – finding your ideal point.

I like to use a metaphor for this. Imagine a bow and arrow, without tension on the string the arrow will not fly. Pressure is necessary. But if we pull the string too far, the bow can break. And it is this quality of the bow that symbolizes our resistance to stress. Each of us has a “bow” that is different, strong and resilient.

That’s a nice comparison. Can we say that everyone’s curve is a little different?

Yes, that’s right. Someone may be well past the edge of their optimal zone, while another is not even “warmed up” yet – they are still bored and need more stimulation. This can then be a problem when these two people are supposed to work together. One needs to slow down, the other needs to speed up. That’s why it’s important to perceive the dynamics of the team – and perhaps also how our supervisor works.

Is it possible to work with this consciously?

Certainly. For example, if the manager can handle a high level of pressure, but I am already at the limit of my capabilities, it is important to talk about it, give feedback and try to set up the cooperation differently. Of course, I can also work on my resilience and gradually adapt, the question is to what extent this is possible and desirable.

Are there tools or methods that can help you figure this out when you’re building a team? Because once the team has been operating for a while, it may be too late.

Some companies use psychodiagnostic tests that map how people react to pressure, how they handle stress, or what their error rate is under load. I would recommend using them during selection procedures. And of course, when starting a new role, we have a trial period where both parties can test whether they are a good fit in this regard.

When we talk about stress, we’re not just talking about work stress. Personal life also plays a big role. How do you deal with it?

In our first module, participants focus on mapping their stressors – and very often personal life is among them. We address these influences and learn techniques for dealing with stress – for example, relaxation techniques or reframing situations. And these skills are applicable not only at work, but also in everyday life.

Many of the topics you mention require a great deal of self-reflection. And I think that’s something that can take a lot of people to even admit that the problem may not be “out there” but somewhere inside.

I agree. Realizing our own part in the things that happen to us is sometimes the hardest part of the whole process.

So what about it? Can participants get feedback?

Yes, that’s definitely one possibility. But as I always say, we can’t save everyone.

If you were to place this program in a broader concept of corporate training, where would it fit in? We’ve already talked about stress management. But if we take leadership academies or general development programs, for example – where would it fit in?

Personally, it makes sense to me to include it in the area of ​​stress management and the development of personal effectiveness. It’s also easy to do in connection with time management.

Now a completely practical question – do you have any materials, manuals or handouts for the participants?

Yes, I have found it helpful to prepare materials in advance so that participants can download them before the program itself. Some study them in advance, others save them until our meeting. In addition to these materials, I also prepare an extensive presentation that participants receive and can return to at any time. It also includes exercises and worksheets that guide them through the entire process.

What about the outcomes for employers or program sponsors? What benefit do they get from it?

It has been very successful for me when the employer provides feedback in the form of an anonymous questionnaire. They ask the participants how they evaluate the program, whether they would recommend it to colleagues, how they perceived the lecturer and what they specifically took away. This often gives them more information than my own feedback during the program. At the same time, the participants can also express their opinions on what they would change or what they would like to do next time.

And the last question – if everything went perfectly, what would be the best follow-up to this program? Individual coaching? Working in smaller groups?

Ideally, I would recommend individual work – offering participants one or two consultations according to their needs. And then definitely a so-called “refresh” – a reminder of the program after some time, when we go over together what everyone has achieved, what remains unresolved, and where we can move forward.

But I think the most important thing is for the participant to have a conversation with their supervisor after the program – a so-called 1:1 conversation. There, they go over what they took away from the program, what it brought them, and how they can follow it up in practice. In my opinion, this significantly increases the effectiveness of the entire development program.

Pavlo, perfect. I wish you and your program much success and thank you for the interview.

Thank you too, it was a very pleasant conversation. And I wish everyone to handle the pressure with ease and be kind to each other.

Taken from HR News.cz, 3.6.2025