Individualisation of Employer-Employee Relationship and Workplace Stress - Assignment Example

Topic: The contribution made by organisational behaviour to the individualisation of the employer/employee relationship, especially through the growing use of Process Theories by employers, has led to an increase in workplace stress. This assignment looks at the process theories and work-related stress and how these two effect an employee’s health, with the help of national statistics, It begins with talking about the current economic climate and its contribution to increase in work-related stress issues and diseases. Finally this paper will conclude the essay by discussing a few key factors generating stress and its implications on human health. First of all, one needs to define what is a process theory? It is a scientific research where events occur as a result of certain inputs following a specific process lead to specific outcomes. ‘Process views stress as a series of interactions and adjustments between the person and the environment. These interactions and adjustments are called transactions. Stress is not seen as a stimulus or a response, but rather as a process. The person suffering stress is seen as an active agent who can influence the impact of a stressor through behavioural, cognitive and emotional strategies’. (Free-online 2010 [online]) Stress is the feeling of being under pressure. A little bit of pressure can increase productivity, it can be motivating, and improve performance. However, too much pressure or prolonged pressure can lead to stress, which is unhealthy for the mind and body. It can cause symptoms such as difficulty sleeping, sweating, lack of appetite, difficulty concentrating. How Common is Stress? It is difficult for a person to estimate how common stress is because not everyone who has stress visits their GP. However, research suggests that a quarter of all adults will have a mental health problem, such as depression or anxiety, at some point in their lives. The same issues that contribute to these conditions, such as divorce and unemployment, may also cause stress. A recent survey estimated that during 2008 and 2009, over 400,000 people in Britain experienced work-related stress that was making them unwell. Another survey from 2009 found that around one in six workers thought that their job was stressful. (NHS 2010 [online]) According to the UK work-stress network, Pressure is part and parcel of all work and helps to keep workers and managers motivated. It is excessive or uncontrolled pressure which can lead to stress which undermines performance, is costly to employers and above all can make people ill. Stress is therefore a response to pressure. To some degree pressure can be beneficial, when it inspires motivation and commitment, but excessive pressure becomes stress which is harmful and can lead to major illness, even death. There is no such thing as good stress. Work-related stress is the result of a conflict between the role and needs of an individual employee and the demands of the workplace. Physiologically humans are programmed to deal with threatening situations by producing more adrenaline which increases heart-rate and puts human bodies into a state of arousal, the fight or flight reaction. This response is only intended to be short-term. The effect of excessive pressure is to keep the body constantly in such a state, which leads to the harmful signs and symptoms. (Work Stress 2010 [online]) One may ask that what are the causes of work related stress? The answer is well presented in the following paragraph extracted from CIPD-absence management 2009 report; ‘The top three causes of work-related stress are workload, management style and relationships at work. Organisational change/restructuring, pressure to meet targets and lack of employee support from line managers are the next most significant causes of work-related stress’. (CIPD-absence management 2009 [online]) This assignment also focuses on the organisational behaviour and employer-staff relationships. According to G. Hurd (1986) ‘The relationship between employers and employees are based on a contract of employment which regulates the sale of labour-power by the employees in return of a wage or salary. The employment contracts may also be, and frequently is, surrounded by a variety of other obligations and expectations’. (Hurd 1986, p. 146) This assignment begins with discussing the effects of work related stress in the UK. The annual statistical report of HSE for 2009/2010 shows the following results; 1.3 million people who worked during the last year were suffering from an illness (long standing as well as new cases) they believed was caused or made worse by their current or past work. 555 000 of these were new cases. 152 workers were killed at work, a rate of 0.5 per 100 000 workers. 121 430 other injuries to employees were reported under RIDDOR, a rate of 473 per 100 000 employees. 233 000 reportable injuries occurred, according to the Labour Force Survey, a rate of 840 per 100 000 workers. 28.5 million days were lost overall (1.2 days per worker), 23.4 million due to work-related ill health and 5.1 million due to workplace injury. (HSE 2010 [online]) There are a lot of factors affecting performance of an employee and generating stress at work. Some key factors are discussed below; The first and foremost important factor is KPI development. as described by Miller (2008), ‘Before one person can manage well, one needs to have aspects to measure. It is in this regard that there is a need for KPI development. KPI means Key Performance Indicator. It is one of the most effective tools in the management system that corporate leaders, managers, and supervisors use to gauge the effectiveness of their employees. This is comprised of a set of metrics and accompanying scores based on what is desirable and what is unacceptable. In most cases, the middle score or passing score is equivalent to the actual expectation of the job. If the employee is meeting the expectation, then he passes the assessment. KPI is what is used to measure employee performance in a regular interval. This is the basis of managers if one is ready for a promotion, or if one person deserves an appraisal. It should be made clear to employees what these metrics in the Key Performance Indicators mean so they can work at par with the standards’. (Miller 2008) In the current business environment, one can see that the performance expectations have increased enormously and the employees have to work harder and under time pressure in a highly competitive environment to show their capabilities and to present themselves for appraisal or promotion to next level, leading themselves to work related stress and its aftermaths. In the recent years, as the economies have grown tremendously fast and the world is heading towards globalization, individuality or individualism is becoming more common, and people at workplaces have developed a fairly high competitive environment around them selves. In pursue of achieving the best and getting recognition individually, individuals has complicated job market and employment standards putting an enormous pressure on individuals to work individually rather then being a part of a team, resulting sometimes in poor performance, stress and anxiety among employees and increase in absenteeism at work. The second most important factor is performance appraisal or sometimes known as performance evaluation as well. According to Tapomoy Deb (2006), ‘It is also known as performance evaluation or performance review. It is the most crucial phase of the performance management process. The employee and the manager collaboratively discuss and evaluate the employee’s performance for the past year. Performance appraisal is an essential management technique. Performance appraisal allows to have written records of the employee’s performance get more productivity through goal setting and have an objective way of judging the relative worth or ability of an employee in performing his job’. (Deb 2006, p. 205) The above quote supports the evidence that the performance appraisal technique surely is an essential one, but to meet its criteria, the managers often tend to set goal that are harder to achieve in real terms for the employees, thus developing an uncertainty and pressure that if they do not meet the targets or goals set by the management, they may not get their bonus or even salary, so they are exposed to such an environment where they are just chasing a target and ignoring basic health and safety rules ending up in a stressful condition. Another important factor contributing to stress is the current economic situation. As said by the former finance minister Mr Alistair Darling, ‘The present economic climate is "arguably the worst" in the last 60 years, according to the chancellor Alistair Darling’. (The Guardian 2008) With the current economic downturn, annual salary increment freeze in most small and medium sized businesses, shocking rise in unemployment and increasing VAT rates in the UK, stress environment at work is something employees have to live with, they are not left with much choice of switching jobs and employers as the job markets are dried out and it will take considerable amount of time to revive it. During this course of time, working individuals have to go through the scrutiny of target driven performance which will impose a hike in stress level within the organisations. The employees or workers have to except the challenges and targets set by the management or otherwise they feel a threat in their minds of loosing the job as there is a lot of labour power readily available in the market who are willing to do the work at even lower cost to the management. With all the critical factors discussed above, one cannot ignore health and safety rules at work place. Sometimes to achieve quick results, management tends to neglect these rules and regulations which eventually develops stress in the employees. According to Margaret Foot and Caroline Hook (2005) ‘We define safety as absence from danger and avoidance of injury. According to this definition, we should expect employers to do everything in their power to keep employees away from danger and free from injury while at work. This does not sound like a great deal to expect from an employer, but there is often a conflict in the employer’s mind between the increased production, which sometimes may involve risk taking and the necessity to keep employees safe and uninjured, which may cost money’. (Foot and hook 2005, p. 361) One of the most common issues in the UK is social divisions,According to Erickson et al (2009) ‘Our society, like most other industrial societies, is deeply divided. Social divisions are rife and pattern UK society in quite specific ways. And, of course, this is what we would expect of any industrial society- people are different from each other, have different skills and abilities, different psychological make-ups, live in different places and have different life experiences’. (Erickson et al. 2009, p. 200) As mentioned in the above quote, different people have different mindsets and skills, and the employer should take these factors into consideration to avoid the build up of stress and strain in the employees, as discussed in the discussion above, due to the worsening economic climate and increasing management pressure to perform well and achieve set targets with tough deadlines, has led to an enormous increase in the rate of sick and absenteeism throughout UK and has also led the employees sue their management for stress related diseases which have damaged them in the long run. Whether its performance management, individualism or objective targeting, these are all processes which are used to judge the performance of an employee, but provided with the current economic situation and the ever increasing demand for perfection from management, these processes are tremendously increasing work-related stress. References Hurd, G (1986) ‘Industrial organisation and industrial relations’ Human societies: an introduction to sociology, Routledge, London, pp. 146 Miller, S (2008) Deb, T (2006) ‘Characteristics of performance appraisal’ Strategic Approach to Human Resource Management, Atlantic Publishers, New Delhi, pp. 205 Guardian (2008) ‘Economic climate worst in 60 years’ The Guardian, London, 30 August Foot, M and Hook, C (2005) Human Resource Management (4th edn), Pearson Education Ltd, Harlow, pp.361 Erickson et al (2009) Business in Society, Polity Press, Cambridge, pp. 200 Read More