Causes of Stress in Work Environment - Case Study Example

An employer has found that levels of sickness absence among his employees have recently increased. He is concerned that this coincides with a very stressful period Introduction Organization is a structure with a ‘collage’ of workers doing their allocated work under the supervision of a leader, for the benefit of the organization as well as them. So, a kind of psychological contract exists between the employer and an employee consisting of beliefs, informal obligations etc. These workers or employees will be apportioned different roles according to their educational qualifications, experience, skill, knowledge etc. After the recruitment and apportionment is over, it is the duty of the organization to provide the employees an optimal stress free working environment. In that environment only, employees will show optimum productivity. But, sometimes the organization will not be able to provide a best working environment, leading to a tremendous buildup of stress levels among the workers due to various factors. Importance of maintaining stress levels to bare minimum With stressed and less motivated mind, the employees will be hard-pressed to use his/hers physical and mental part, to work effectively for the organization. Stressed mind in the sense, due to the poor match between work load and the capabilities, resources etc of the worker, the mind of the worker could be become disoriented leading to the damaging of workers biological, psychological or social systems. So, the stress levels of the employees should be kept at bare minimum for the benefit of the employees. Also, with minimum stress levels, the motivation can be elevated to optimal levels, making employees work effectively bringing in profit for them as well as to the organization. On the other hand, according to the Perception and equity theories, individuals will also get stressed out, if they perceive themselves as under rewarded or if don’t receive the benefits they are entitled to. So, even with all the steps from the organization side, it is up to the each employee to balance and organize their work in a planned manner, so that stress is kept at low levels. This way their body’s physical parts and importantly their mental part will function in an effective manner. Causes of Stress in work environment Stress is something which can happen to an individual both due to a positive action or change as well as negative action or change. These positive and negative initiators are applicable to all the individuals of this world including the employees of organizations. That is, stress can be felt by the employees, if positive actions or changes like promotion, new assignments, new responsibilities, etc happen in his/hers professional life and also if it happens in personal life like marriage, birth of children, etc. Also in the same but different way, the employees will become stressed, if he/she faces negative actions or changes both in his/hers professional as well as personal life. The negative events or issues that could trigger stress are unemployment, suspension, failure to meet the targets, pressure, intimidation, abuse, etc from the superior as well as co-workers, divorce, deaths, etc, etc. The difference between the stress from positive and negative changes is that, the employees facing stress due to positive changes or actions will be able handle the resultant stress most times, because their motivation will be on the higher side and also they will think of the positive outcomes. For example, as mentioned above, stress due to positive actions or changes like promotion, new assignments, marriages, etc, will be normally be expected by the employees. That is, they would have worked with focus for those actions or changes, and if those positive changes happen, the employees will be ready to handle it. But, when the above mentioned negative changes or actions occurs, they will be least expecting it and so they will be unable to handle it. That is, those negative changes or events are not the things, which the employees will expect with interest, actually, they will be dreading about it. So, when those negative things happen or actualize, the mind will go into a stressful state, unable to handle or solve the things. Apart from the above mentioned negative stress initiators, Work related stress could occur to the employees if they face a grueling and exhausting workload, less than expected pay, politics in the work environment and the resultant job dissatisfaction. In those stressful environments, both the physical and the mental part of the employees will undergo negative changes, which will result in illness. Stress induced illness (Physical and mental) According to the Selye Stress theory, when an individual is going through first stage of stress, he/she will have an "alarm reaction," with his/hers body preparing oneself to "fight or flight”. (Gabriel). So, when the physical body prepares to fight the stress, the first thing or reaction that normally happens is the increase in the heart rate, with the breathing also accentuating very much. And, if these two physical actions happen, then the muscles of the physical body will also gets tensed up and will become static like a rock, unable to act or react quickly. In those conditions the heart needs to pump extra blood, to maintain a good circulation to the muscles, so that the muscles have a relaxed feel. This is where the distress, problems and the resultant illness on the bodily organs will start. That is, if the employees’ heart pumps extra blood in times of stress and importantly, if it happens very often, then it is not good for the employees’ heart condition. “Stress can cause increased oxygen demand on the body, spasm of the coronary (heart) blood vessels, and electrical instability in the heart’s conduction system. Chronic stress has been shown to increase the heart rate and blood pressure, making the heart work harder to produce the blood flow needed for bodily functions “(Torpy, Lynm and Glass). After the heart, stomach and the related digestive organs are the bodily parts, which will become ill due to the stressful activities in the brain. That is, due to stress, the employees may not consume correct or advisable quantity of food, importantly at appropriate or set times. If this happens, the functioning of all the digestive organs will collapse, causing diseases and other problems. The common digestive problems caused by stress are constipation and diarrhea. In some cases, the stress and the resultant irregular food habits could aggravate disorders like ulcers. Continuous exposure of stress on the employees could also affect their respiratory system. That is, stress in employees could lead to more frequent colds and other upper respiratory infections like allergies, continuous coughing, sneezing, etc. Stress will also have problematic impact on the skin of the employees. That is, the skin and its complexion will face problems due to the stress in the form of acne breakouts and hives. And importantly, stress will also affect its epicenter, that is, the brain of the employees. When the physical aspect of the brain is considered, one can be sure that stress can cause severe headaches and even migraines. Headaches are the common complaint of the stressed people, as their stressed mind will become complicated and also overworked, giving raise to pain at important parts of the brain. And if the stress and resultant headache continues for a long time, then it will result in migraines. Stress will also affect the brain of the employees by depriving them of good sleep. That is, normally, employees indulging in both physical as well as in mental work should have a good night or day sleep, according to the shift they are working (it is suggested that all the human beings should have 8 hours sleep and it is applicable to the employees as well). But, a stressed mind due to overwork, work related problems, etc, will not have a good sleep. So, insomnia is the major problem in stressed employees. And if there is loss of sleep, the mind of the employees will become more stressed out, affecting their daily workings. The brains will thus face many physical illnesses due to stress. So, the whole physical body could malfunction or could become diseased, if the stress continues to build up in the human brain. Apart from the physical side, the mental side of the employees will also undergo or face problems due to the stress. That is, when the stress buildups in the brain, apart from causing physical problems through out the brain, it would also affect the thought process or mindset or the motivation level of the employees. When the earlier stated positive and negative changes or actions happens, the stress in the employees mind will increase leading to loss of interest in the work, underperformance or deficient performance, major and minor mistakes in the work, failure to meet the set targets etc, etc. According to Maslows Motivation theory which includes the Hierarchy of needs, the workers will be insecure and less motivated to do their work when certain needs of them are not met. In those less motivated state, their stress levels will increase leading to more problems (Boeree). The other theory which is related to low motivation level and the correlated stress is the Vroom’s expectancy theory. This theory of Vroom is the “perceived value of a reward for accomplishing a goal. If the person perceives the reward to be high, then they will give more effort. If they perceive the reward to be low, then they will give forth minimal effort. If the reward seems undesirable, it could be an example of a de-motivator”. That is, if any organization overriding tried and trusted individuals; give important posts and responsibilities to individuals who might be family members, friends, and persons with negative influence on the leader etc, it will create negative effects on the other employees. That is, if this practice is followed, it will create de-motivation, disenchantment and stress among the workers and will show the organization in poor light. And in many companies, because of the ritual of awarding plum posts to the family members and shielding them, when they commit mistakes, many other members of the organization will normally band together in a kind of mutual protection society that developed a culture of its own. They were more loyal to each other than to the company, without any focus on the company’s goals. So, to keep the core group of good workers in a motivated state, the leader needs to award the right individuals. Higher stress levels in the mind of the employees will also inhibit their power to think clearly and work effectively. They will not concentrate on the work, even if they concentrate on the work, they will not be able to work on it or complete it effectively according to expected levels, also they will not be able to complete the work within the set deadline or quickly, the completed work will be ridden with mistakes, they will also be not able to correct those mistakes as well. So, stressed workers and their deficient performance will be detrimental to themselves, their associated and related ones, and importantly to the organization. Role of management to control Stress The organized human activity under the structure of organization has to be carried out with precision, for it to succeed. But, precision in organizing or planning cannot be done without the initiatives and the fullest co-operation of the motivated and hard working employees. But, the unison of many employees under single organization to reach a target is, and will always be a difficult proposition because each employee will have different stress thresholds. Even though, it is not always possible to work in a stress free environment, particularly in today’s competitive world, the strategy should be to keep the stress level to bare minimum. Along with this strategy of keeping the stress levels down, allocation of rewards, incentives, promotions and importantly appreciation to the deserving and hard working employees will increase the motivational levels, and thereby reduce the stress levels to as minimum as possible. That is, awarding the deserving and ‘success achieved’ employees will stick them to the organization, and importantly will motivate them to give better results. “Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it” (Dwight). So, if a goal is set and the motivation level is heightened without pushing the workers into a stressful environment, the workers can work in cohesion to achieve success. So, lesser stress levels will translate into higher motivation levels, which in turn translate to higher productivity and growth. And, if all the parts of an organization conduct this way, they can be fully utilized to have ubiquitous presence all over the world for the organization. Reference: Boeree, C. G. ABRAHAM MASLOW. Viewed January 18, 2008 http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/maslow.html Dwight, D. Inspirational Quotes for Business and Work: Motivation. January 18, 2008 http://humanresources.about.com/od/inspirationalquotations/a/quotes_ motivate.htm Torpy, J.M, Lynm C. L and Glass R.M. Chronic Stress and the Heart, Journal of American Medical Association. Viewed January 18, 2008 http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/298/14/1722.pdf Gabriel, G, Hans Selye: The Discovery of Stress, January 18, 2008 http://www.brainconnection.com/topics/printindex.php3?main=fa/selye Zilmann, M., Motivation, Viewed January 18, 2008 http://academic.emporia.edu/smithwil/00fallmg443/eja/zilllman.html Read More