Stress in the Workplace - Essay Example

STRESS IN THE WORKPLACE al Affiliation) Introduction In the present of the economy, stress in the workplace is becoming a huge concern that needs to be addressed. It is whereby employees face conditions like job insecurity, overwork, lack of autonomy and poor working conditions in the workplace. Research shows that stress in the workplace is the number one reason for the detrimental effects on health as well as the wellbeing of employees. This results to negative impact on productivity and interest in the workplace. The management should be able to come up with measures that individuals and the entire organization can take to reduce or even stop the negative impacts of stress. Conversely, individuals need to first understand and learn to recognize the signs that show that they are stressed. The employer needs to be aware of the effects that stress causes to their workers (Casey, 2003). Stress is the feeling that people have when they have too much to take care of than they can handle. Generally, stress is part of people’s lives and occurs whenever peoples’ lives are experiencing some changes. Stress can be positive or negative. In addition, it is believed that some stress is okay to the human body but when it occurs in huge amounts than individuals can handle then it results to both mental and physical changes. If stress is not managed properly, it will have negative effects to both the employer and employee. This is because; it will lead the employee to have health and absence problems at work thus reducing individual and organizational productivity. The sources of workplace stress result from a number of situations in the workplace. They include factors like an employee having too much or too little work. In addition, the employees’ ability to make decisions about their job and specific tasks, isolation at work causes stress. Moreover, employees may be stresses if their job does not have security, if the company under or over promotes employees, if there are no career development opportunities and overall job satisfaction and if employees face threat of violence, harassment, poor communication patterns, and lack of participation in decision-making. These are some of the causes of employees stress in the workplace. The three theories that address work related stress include Person-Environment fit theory where stress arises from a misfit between a person and the environment. When employees work in poor working environment or that which does not fit their needs and wants that they would like fulfilled from work, then the difference creates work strains that will eventually affect workers health and well being. Some of the environmental demands include job requirements, organizational norms and expectations from their roles. When there is a huge difference between an employee and the environment, there is a great likelihood that strain and the need to cope with the stress related to the environment occurs (White, 1997). Secondly, the framework of occupational stress theory is almost similar to Person and environment theory. The difference is that occupational stress is a process including the environmental sources of stress as well as an individual’s perception towards stress. Perceived stress occurs whenever an employee has negative feelings regarding work increases strains which in turn contribute to even more negative feelings. The result from the accumulation of physiological, psychological and behavioral strains will result to acute depression, alcoholism and many more costly results (Cotton, 1995). Lastly, the demand-control-support model theory describes the role of work content as the number one source of workplace stress. It is further divided into two components. It includes job demands where the employees perception towards the work streams they need to accomplish. The second component is the workers perception towards the degree of control employees have while performing their roles. When employees have too many demands in the workplace that they cannot handle, they display signs and symptoms that show that they are stressed. It is unfortunate that most employees do not realize that they are suffering from work related stress as well as the signs therefore letting then go untreated. The result is that serious mental and physical conditions occur. Employees should learn to recognize symptoms within themselves and their colleagues to avoid stress becoming harmful to their health. The most cost associated with stress is sickness absence. According to a research conducted there are suggestions that the cost of reduced productivity at work due mental distress is higher than the cost of absence. Other costs related stress includes staff leaving organizations for others. A survey conducted by the annual Recruitment, Retention, and Turnover show that 19 percent of respondents said stress is mainly caused by their roles is the key reason for employee turnover. Another 19 percent stress is caused by the workload while 16 percent revealed they did not get work support from their line managers. In addition, 14 percent said that the number of working hours increased the level of employee turnover. Others expressed that their reasons for leaving was to change careers or a promotion outside the organization. From this perspective, employees protect themselves from mental and physical by looking for other opportunities in other organizations (Arlington, 2006). Employees should not be given too much or too little work. They should be given work that they can manage to handle. In addition, it is important for the management as well as the line managers to provide work that matches employees’ skills, knowledge, and experience. This is important, as employees will be able to provide their best in the areas where they are good at therefore achieving their set goals and objectives. In addition, managers should provide training to their employees especially when they have provided them with tasks that are without their specialty. On the other hand, whenever an employee is overworked, they should let their line managers know. Time pressure and deadlines to beat are increasingly becoming more strenuous to the employees. This is because failure to not provide work in full and at the right time results to an individual having pressure as employees are expected to give their best (Sormaz & Tulgan, 2003).. Employees need to plan their time well such that they are able to accomplish their work on time. Employees need to identify work that is urgent and important and plan themselves in a manner that ensures all work is done completely within the time frame. In addition, employees need to have a to-do-list that will guide them on the work that needs to be completed first (Claridge & Cooper, 2010). At times employees have a hard task in making decision while doing complex work. They need guidance from their line managers, but when they are not available or providing inadequate support then employees might poses stress. Managers and line managers should provide support to their team members. They should have a succession plan such that they are able to train the employees. Having succession plan helps the employees be able to know how to make best decisions in regards to work so that even if the managers leave work, the organization does not have to worry on who will take over. It is also important to look at stress from the financial viewpoint. In addition, it is generally accepted that untreated workplace stress is associated with increase level of employees’ absenteeism and turnover, levels of productivity that have reduced and lost working days due to employees not being able to come to work. Employers need to make organizational changes as they are proving to be expensive especially during the hiring process. On the other hand, it is expensive to treat mental and health problems which is an important tool for increasing productivity and profits. Treating mental illness early benefits employees as well as save companies a lot of money. Employers should be able to know how to deal with excessive and inconvenient working hours. If employees work requires them to provide extra hours to work then, the management should reward them for that or pay for the extra hours worked. By compensating employees for the extra hours they have worked, they feel appreciated and this motivates them. Managers should also distribute work evenly across the team members as per am individuals skills and expertise. Managers should not provide too much work to one person, as this tends to overwhelm an individual thus not providing their best. This may result to the team not delivering thus not achieving the company’s goals and objectives. The provision of highly repetitive work may seem to be boring and not motivating employees. This is because employees tend to do the same thing repeatedly. This type of work can be demoralizing and might even lead to stress and employee turnover. The management should be able to deal with such kind of work. Additionally, managers should be able to shuffle employees so that no one feels that they are doing a repetitive job. Moreover, managers should try to make the work exciting so that employees do not feel that they are doing the same job repeatedly. Employees who have this kind of work should not work in such departments for a long period. They should be promoted or given some other work, so that they do not feel demoralized at work (Healey, 2009). In order for employees to work fast, it is important for the management to ensure that they provide the right resources that will make employees work fast. In addition, the provision of a work environment that is conducive is important. Managers who demand that work should be done fast and have not provided the right tools and poor working environment provide workers with stress. Stress in the workplace can cause redundancy or employees being forced to premature retirement. This is because; when employees are stressed at work, they are unable to give their best. In addition, they feel that they are not in the right place thus making them redundant and forced to retire as they are unable to meet the organizational goals and objectives. In addition, employees who feel that they are trapped in a job, feel so because they do not believe in themselves and that is why they feel they cannot get a better one. Employees should value their careers and try to expand their knowledge, as this will make them become competitive in the market. They should also believe in themselves because if individuals do not believe in themselves, then no other person will. The perceived mismatch between performance on the job and the financial benefits secures is another form of stress in the workplace. Employees should be able to work hard at their jobs and meet the set targets. This will make them be able to get bonuses and other benefits. The management should also be able to reward employees who perform best at work (Julia, 2007). This motivates them to work even harder. However, if an individual feels like their financial benefits do not match the kind of work they do then they should talk to their line managers about their concerns and this should be accompanied by an outstanding performance. Moreover, employees can look for better opportunities in other organizations. Lastly, the employer and employees both face challenges when employees are stressed. This is because stressed employees can claim for compensation for the damages caused while working. This is expensive to an organization, as they have to pay for the damages as well as look for another person to do the work. Moreover, companies can be faced with labor costs like paying up for contracts, recruitment of replacements and hiring of a temporal staff to cover up for the stressed person. This proves to be a hectic task as well as expensive to the organization. In conclusion, stress in the workplace should not be dismissed as it can cause serious health problems and can ultimately result to death through strokes and high blood pressures. Both the employer and employees should work together in looking for ways that will reduce stress related illness. The top management and managers should know that they are responsible to protect the physical and mental well-being of the workers who are under them. Reference Arlington, V. 2006. Stress in the workplace: Costs, liability, and prevention. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of National Affairs ;. Casey, A. 2003. Methods for managing stress in the workplace coping effectively on the job. Chicago, Ill.: Thresholds. Claridge, B., & Cooper, C. 2010. Stress in the spotlight: Managing and coping with stress in the workplace. Cotton, P. 1995. Psychological health in the workplace: Understanding & managing occupational stress. Carlton, VIC, Australia: Australian Psychological Society. Healey, J. 2009. Managing stress. Thirroul, N.S.W.: Spinney Press. Julia, S. 2007. Managing stress in the workplace (5th ed.). Amsterdam: Elsevier. Sormaz, H., & Tulgan, B. 2003. Performance under pressure managing stress in the workplace. Amherst, Mass.: HRD Press. White, W. 1997). The incestuous workplace stress and distress in the organizational family. Center City, Minn.: Hazelden. Read More