Factors Affecting the Well-Being of a Working Person - Essay Example

Negative Impact of Work on the Wellbeing of Employees Compared to Unemployed People Introduction Healthy well-being is a situation whereby a person is in his best physical completeness, proper mental condition and a good well being socially. Work can have negative impacts on the wellbeing and health of the employees in some few circumstances. It depends greatly on the quality of work one does. Flexibility in work is extremely crucial for ones positive wellbeing and maintenance of a good health. However, when an employee is unable to balance work, family responsibilities and ones personal life to satisfaction, then the person is likely to experience a negative impact in their own well-being (Cartwright & Cooper, 2009). An employed person is likely to experience imbalance if he or she cannot make it to work optimum hours in order to reach the level of living standards one wants. Some policies of job may affect ones flexibility in terms of hours of working, may not lead to the employees satisfaction while working. Work balance arises when one is flexible enough and has time to attend to other personal issues and relationships outside the work environment. When one’s job takes long hours, such a person is likely to suffer neglect since due to lack of time to utilize outside the job bracket. In this case, one is likely to suffer work stress because all through, one is either working or sleeping. While one has a job, the work one does can negatively affect ones wellbeing if the job is not stimulating and if it is not appealing. In this case, one will feel useful because such due to inability to utilize their up to the required level. In such a case, one feels stressed by the work because he or she is working just to earn a living. Job insecurity is another factor that negatively affects the wellbeing of the employees. Any employee who suffers a feeling of insecurity in a job has a lesser job satisfaction, and as a result, one cannot commit himself to the job as required. In this situation, one suffers stress and psychological torture. Such employees may suffer to a point of death because life without a job is the most distressing and thought that one will not have a job tomorrow leads to distress. Temporary jobs have a negative impact on welfare and health of an employee. However, permanent jobs are more secure and the employee’s probability of suffering stress is very low as compared to no-permanent jobs. Considering that life is getting harder and more expensive day to day, a person who fears loosing his or her job must think a lot concerning the future, and the needs one has to meet (Antoniou & Cooper, 2005). Work relationships can have either a negative or a positive impact on an employee’s wellbeing. A decent salary or an important job with a high status quo is not the benchmark to ones good life and life. What matters most is how meaningful the relationships in a job place are to the employee. This concerns how one feels valued, trusted by his or her fellow employees. Good and healthy relationships at work impact the well-being of an employee positively while poor and unhealthy relationships in an organization impacts negatively on an employees’ well being. If one is not in a good relationship with other employees, such a person feels insecure since future happening remains unknown. Some people are very jealous towards others and they can do all it takes to ensure that one looses his or her job. In this situation, one suffers stress and discomfort in a working place where the employees work in an open office. Negative relationships amongst employees in an organization leads to lower satisfaction in a job (Peterson, Ashkanasy & Wilderom, 2011). If an employee has a limited access towards the resources of an organization he or she is working for, this can cause frustration in terms of low performance and this has a negative impact on the employee’s well-being. Temporary employees are likely to encounter this situation of limited use of the organization’s resources because they are more of external employees. When one feels satisfied with his or her performance, then type employee probability of having a good and healthy wellbeing is very high as compared to that of an employee who underperforms and realizes. When one gets the required resources to perform the task given, one performs best and through this, one gets satisfied with the work. For example, an employee in an accounting department requires a computer, a calculator, and writing materials in order to give the best results. If the person cannot access the tools of working, paper work is tiresome and mental sums are very difficult and stressing to perform. Finally, the person will be stressed up and suffer from workload (Dewe & Cooper, 2012). Exercise is very important for one’s good healthy. However, in many jobs where one works using brain and no physical exercise is involved, one is likely to suffer poor health. In most jobs, the employees do not get time to exercise because one is so occupied with the job. Sitting throughout the day working is very tedious and one may suffer from backaches and headaches. Therefore, many employees do not involve themselves in exercises because they have limited time and all through they have something to work on. As compared to the unemployed, people who have plenty of time, most of them involve themselves in exercises as a way or reducing stress. Many employed persons are always stressed because they do not exercise regularly especially those who work long hours. Employment is important for one to improve standards of living. It helps one in meeting his or her needs. Persons with a permanent and satisfactory job experience a good well-being and good health too. A steady source of income is the most exciting thing because one is in a capability to meet his basic needs. It is from the same that one meets secondary and tertiary needs depending on the amount of salary one salaries. When a job is flexible, one balances all other aspect of life, and as a result, the person’s well-being is improved. However, it is hard to have a satisfactory job because other factors such as access to resources, relationships and other factors leads to low levels of satisfaction. Employment is an important aspect of life. As a result, employed people have a good health despite the challenges at work. Overcoming all challenges is what matters in determining the health and well-being of a person. Unemployed persons suffer stress and mental illnesses because they have needs, but they do not have a source of income to meet them. Today’s life is very expensive and difficult. For a person without a job, life becomes a burden and one suffers stress and depression on how to meet his needs. Most unemployed persons suffer psychologically more than the employed persons (OECD, 2012). For example, a person wants to improve his standards of living, wants to educate his children, has basic needs to meet, but there is no income to help in solving such problems. Every one would like it when he is a position to meet all the requirements of life. In the case of an unemployed person, his health can never improve because mental sickness is very serious and it leads to body illnesses. Depression is a serious disease that one may not realize and continuous mental torture continues to trigger poor health to the persons who experience the condition (Antoniou & Cooper, 2005). However, the unemployed persons have time to explore their talents and exercise more. Another beneficial thing about unemployment is that one invests more time on personal matters and relationships. Unemployed person can involve himself in other activities such as sports, music, and other activities that can grant him or her income. One has time to socialize with people and do constructive interesting activities. When one is unemployed, he or she does not suffer long time of working because one does not have a task required to accomplish within a given time (Antoniou & Cooper, 2005). Conclusion Working person’s wellbeing is influenced by many factors depending on the job, time of working, lack of enough exercise and negative type of relationships. It is clear that employed persons can suffer double stress and mental disorders at home and as well as at work (OECD, 2012). However, unemployed persons who have a source of income are more likely to experience a proper well-being and a good thing. Considering that, life is hard and difficult to handle without an income, employment is a better option, and one has to overcome the possible challenges encountered in one’s work. That is the reason why employed persons have a good health because meet their needs has been enhanced and they are socially experienced. However, those unemployed persons who utilize their talents and have a steady income, they have a good well-being than the employed persons. Since work contains a lot of strain, which is a major source of stress, employed persons who strain a lot are prone to illnesses (Newell & Newell, 2002). References Cartwright, S & Cooper, L. Carry. (2009). The Oxford Handbook of Organizational Well- Being. New York: Oxford University Press. Newell, Sue. & Newell, Susan. (2002). Creating the Healthy Organization: Well-Being Diversity and Ethics at Work. Mason: Cengage Learning. Barling, J, Kelloway, E. Kevin. & Frone, R. Michael. (2005). Handbook of Work Stress. California: SAGE Publications, Inc. Antoniou, G. Alexander-Stamatios. & Cooper, L. Carry. (2005). Research Companion to Organizational Health Psychology. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited. OECD. (2012). Mental Health and Work Sick on the Job? Myths and Realities about Mental Health and Work. : OECD Publishing. Dewe, P. & Cooper, C. (2012). Well-Being and Work: Towards a Balanced Agenda. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan Publishers Limited. Peterson, F. Mark. Ashkanasy, M. Neal. & Wilderom, P M. Celeste. (2011). The Handbook of Organizational Culture and Climate. California: SAGE Publications, Inc. Read More