Structural and Transactional Approaches - Essay Example

There are different ways to alleviate the work stressors which can be implemented by the manager. The two of them: Structural and transactional will be discussed in detail below and how they can contribute to the reduction of stress.

Structural Approach

These refer to the psychosocial working conditions in the workplace that cause individual stress and negative emotional experience in the workplace. The best explanation of this approach is Karasek’s Demand-Control Model which explains that when the job demands are high and control over the outcome is low, the individual is highly stressed and especially over the performance outcome. When the demands of the job are low and the control is low as well, the job is passive. This is equally similar to when the demands are low and the control is high as the worker will still experience low strain and hence minimal stress (Barley, Meyerson & Grodal, 2011).

In order to prevent this type of stress, it is important to balance the demand even if the control will still be high. This will mean providing a work-life balance that will minimize the demand as well as handle employee relations effectively while still balancing the issue of increased computerization in the workplace which is not only demanding but draining and controlling (Barley, Meyerson & Grodal, 2011).

Transactional Approach

This is the approach that deals purely with the psychological mechanisms and stressors. According to this approach, work stress is caused majorly by psychological issues such as the process of appraisal, decision making, and even lack of coping mechanisms in each and every employee. It is the work environment that demands a lot from an individual leading to threatening their psychological well-being and hence hindering performance.

In order to alleviate workplace stress identified by this approach, it is important to identify which are the psychological stressors in the workplace first. Other than those mentioned above of decision making and appraisal, others include the emotional demands of the work which are likely to cause emotional breakdown which is psychological. There is also workplace violence, harassment, bullying, or even discrimination that is directed towards certain employees and especially female employees and those from a different race or ethnic community (Brummelhuis, Hoeven, Bakker & Peper, 2011). If these issues are addressed and eliminated, then the psychological stressors in the workplace will be a thing of the past and performance will increase.

Conclusion

As mentioned in the instruction, workplace stress is caused by different issues taking place in the organization. If the management is able to identify what these stressors are, then they can be able to alleviate the stress in the workplace. The structural and transactional approaches which deal with psychosocial and psychological stressors respectively provide a perfect guideline to the management of an organization on what issues to address. The result of the alleviation is increased performance.