Human Resource Management - Stress and Burnout - Essay Example

? Human Resource Management: Stress and Burnout Introduction Human resources are one of the most vital resource in the production process. The management therefore needs to ensure that their employees are of the right mental and psychological state to maintain optimum productivity (Sims 2). However, the different challenges of completing tasks with deadlines and the pressures of the workplace often result in stress and burnouts in the employees. While stress refers to the emotional pressure suffered by human beings burn out refers to the exhaustion or tiredness following a difficult endeavor. Tire and stressed employees cannot always work effectively, such employees merely strain the resources of the organization thereby resulting in losses through the wastage of both time and other vital resources directly involved in the production process. The human resource management us the department directly involved with the management of employees and therefore ensures that all the employees in the organization stay relevant to their objectives thereby earning the firm the profits for which the employees are often hired. The department recruits the best brains for the organization, which it ensures that the employees stay effectively functional in achieving the objectives of the organization. This is only achievable through effective management and motivation of employees (Price 3). Stress is arguably the number one factor that inhibits productivity in employees. The human resource manager should ensure that the employees are in the right mental state to sustain the profitability dictates of the organizational objectives. After recruiting the employees in the firm, the department orients every employee into the new system and ensures that they are capable of undertaking their roles effectively. This important process initiates the employees into the production system making them aware of their roles as stated in their job specifications. Additionally, the process of orientation makes the employees familiar with their new environment thereby contributing to their adaptation to their new workplace. The human resource manager is mandated with the description of the jobs in the firm and therefore apportions appropriate assignment to every employee. In doing this, the manager considers the academic qualifications of their employees and the description of the job positions. Main Body Workload and intensification Every position in the organization has an effective description detailing the roles of the employee and the assignment he or she is required to undertake. In designing this, the human resource manager must be humane enough to recognize the abilities of an average human and the person-hours per day. Overworking employee is one sure way of reducing productivity at the organization by instilling stress in them. Workload refers to the amount of work that an employee undertakes in a day while the intensification refers to the details involved in completing the tasks. While the human resource manager must demand exhaustively in completion of the tasks, he or she must ensure that he apportions the employee realistic assignments, which they comfortably complete within their active hours a day (Saroj and Joseph 2). The work environment is often one of the main motivators for the employees. In developing an enabling work environment, the manager should be considerate and develop realistic assignments to the employees. This includes setting the time within which the employees complete their assignments. The amount of the workload and the intensity of the work that employees undertake at the office often result in the buildup of both pressure and tension. Giving employees appropriate assignment improves motivates them as they complete such assignments with ease and within the stipulated time thereby having some time to build up energy. What is stress? How can it be resolved? Stress refers to the buildup of emotional pressure within the brain of an individual. Stressed individuals cannot always concentrate on any work and therefore always make very poor employees (Kelliher and Anderson 1). There are different sources of stress among employees key among which could be both their work environment and their private lives. Whichever the sources, stress does not discriminate and its effects spill over thereby affecting the productivity of the employees. Work related stress often result in either fear or defiance among the employees factors that both impair their productivity. Work related stress often compel the employees to dislike either their jobs or managers cases that both have consequences on their levels of productivity. Stress occurs when employees become so thoughtful about their operations at the workplace. This arises when they are not certain of their future or any aspect of their work some of which may affect the stability of their productivity. The extensive buildup of the mental pressure often leads to breakdowns besides the numerous mix-ups. Every human has a level of concentration that they do not often exceeds, when the managers therefore compel the employees with more work some of which they take home as an assignment, they become stressed up and often begin mixing up concepts thereby hampering the productivity of the organization. The best way of eliminating stress at the workplace is by creating a friendly and a holistic workplace in which every employee is of significance to the production process. In such a workplace, the employees become concerned with each other thereby keeping their colleagues from thoughtful mindsets. This way, they collectively manage personal stress most of which affect the productivity of the employees. Effects of stress and burnouts Stress and burnouts affects the productivity of the employees and may often prove more costly than the organization may afford. Stressed minds are often unstable, they therefore do not have effective control of the operations and some of such people do things absent-mindedly. This leads to mix-ups of operations, which result in the production of substandard products and services (Losyk 2). In intense cases, the pressure build-up in the employees result in paranoia, which makes the employees repulsive and therefore security threats to both themselves and those around them. Burnouts, which are obvious indications of overworking, may result in resentment. This refers to the unloving attitudes that employees depict to either their managers or their jobs. Resentment is a negative attitude that hampers the creation of a working relationship between the employees and their managers. Such attitude compels employees to complete tasks simply for the sake of meeting target. Such employees are not motivated enough and may never try undertaking a task that is not part of their assignment. This affects the productivity of the organization since the employees begin to depend on their managers for supervision and monitoring without which they resort to idling. The poor relationship between employees and their managers often influence the employees to execute their roles, as they would interact with their managers, with resentment and hatred. They therefore offer poor services and often act carelessly resulting in the wastage of the resources in an attempt of getting even with their managers. How can managers prevent stress? Stress prevention is therefore an important management role. One of the most efficient means of reducing stress and burn out is through motivation. There are different factors at the workplace that motivate employees and the managers must ensure that they use these factors effectively to encourage productivity. Remuneration is one important motivator. However, money alone cannot alleviate the effects of stress and burnouts in employees. Managers should therefore find other common methods of lifting the minds of their employees from the stress of the day. Some companies invented a break time in which employees play and interact with one another freely thereby rejuvenating their spirits. Conclusion In retrospect, stress and burn are great inhibitors of the employee productivity. In most cases, the two arise from the work environment through the pressure that managers assert on their employees. Supervision is compulsory but in doing this, managers should find the best methods, some that does not breed resentment or pile pressure on their employees (O'Donnell 2). The effects of stress and burnouts are costly as they involve financial loss through reduced rates of productivity. Managers must therefore invest in managing stress in their employees by providing an enabling environment and encouraging productivity and innovation through free consultations. Bureaucratic systems often scare employees thereby making them keep their ideas to themselves. However, a free environment in which managers and employees interact freely encourages employees to try out new mechanisms of solving problems thereby innovating new ways of solving problems. Works cited Deakin University. Reducing Work Related Stress: A Guide for Managers. URL: http://www.deakin.edu.au/hr/assets/resources/ohs/managers-guide2.pdf Kelliher, Clare and Anderson, Deirdre. Doing more with less? Flexible working practices and the intensification of work. Human Relations. 2010, 63(1), 83-106. Internet resource. Losyk, Bob. Getting a grip on stress. What HR managers must do to prevent burnout and turnover? Employment Relations Today. 2006, 33(1), 9-17. Internet resource. O'Donnell, Michael P. Health Promotion in the Workplace. Albany: Delmar Thomson Learning, 2002. Print. Price, Alan. Human Resource Management. Andover: Cengage Learning EMEA, 2011. Print. Saroj, Parasuraman and; Joseph A. Alutto. Sources and Outcomes of Stress in Organizational Settings: Toward the Development of a Structural Model. Academy of Management Journal, 1984. 27(2), 330-350. Print. Sims, Ronald R. Human Resource Management: Contemporary Issues, Challenges and Opportunities. Greenwich, Conn: Information Age Publ, 2007. Print. Read More