Employee Engagement - Case Study Example

Topic: Employee Engagement Name: Tutor: Introduction In life people are faced with many pressures from unexpected events or expected ones. However, how they perceive and react to these events determines the physiological responses magnitude. The feeling of inability to cope with the burden amounts to stress (stress.org 2016). There are hormones which are released in response to stressors which help flee or fight. Day to day circumstances such as traffic, divorce, terrorism or even change of workplace, aging parents or even positive events like wedding or promotion at place of work. Lately, there is a prodigious alarm in the society today as far as stress is concerned. All this is likely to be carried home and in the end affects the individual both physically and emotionally. Therefore, due to the adverse effects of stress both on an individual and quality of work delivered, people have to learn how to manage it (David, 2016). In addition, organizations and companies ought to lay strategies of addressing how to cope with stressors and mitigate stressors since they are health hazards. Work related stress can have adverse effects on the performance of an individual. A lot of pressure to complete tasks and work conflicts can affect the morale of the individual. Contemporary employee engagement is key to strategic human resource management. It rests on believe that employees are the backbone of success of the business since they deal with clients and customers directly (Ccohs.ca, 2016). Therefore, since stress concerns employees, they ought to be engaged in risk assessment and finding out the mitigation measures. Factors causing stress at work These are mainly explained under two classifications. Content work factors like complex issues, long working hours, work overload, interpersonal relationships, role characteristics, working conditions and demands (Michie 2010, p. 69). Stressors without the work place comprise of societal issues and expectations, influx in economy, personal relationships, family issues and health issues. All these pause a big challenge on the individuals and those around them. It is essential that they learn to strike a balance between personal issues and work related issues. Types of stress In case an individual wears out due to stressor, the organization he or she works for will suffer big time. Occupational Safety and Health conducts audit in companies, firms and organizations to determine any health hazards and work place which could cause stress to the workers (Supati et al. 2015, p. 1483). For example the working area space, working hours and nature of work. Even though stress is a health hazard which cannot be avoided in Toto, the severity is a key concern which is a determinant on the categorization. Mild stress is mostly found among individuals who have a great zeal for excellence. They strive hard and do not want to fail. They get anxious over an approaching promotion and work or the fear of failing to meet deadline. It is quiet harmful to individual’s health. Acute stress is much worse than mild stress or rather its advanced level (Widanarke et al. 2012, p.5734). It not only affects an individual’s health but also their productivity at work. More often than not, it is fueled by workload or too much pressure to excel. The third type of stress is the top most aspect which can cause an employee to totally burnout. Chronic stress advances due to failure to mitigate the stressors at the previous stages. This is characterized by indulgence in too much drinking, lack of self-worth and care and probably overeating or failure to eat at all. Impacts of stress on the body The immune system is stimulated by stress whose useful effect is limited to a short time. The advanced effect is a compromised immunity which renders one susceptible to influenza infections and other opportunistic disease. It also increases the period of time taken to heal from injuries. Sexuality and reproductive system respond differently to stress.in women, it may prolong the menstrual cycle and reduce their sexual desire (Sinclair et al. 2014, p.1583). In men, mild stress increases production of testosterone thus increasing their sex drive. However, chronic stress leads to erectile dysfunction and the male sexual organs become more susceptible to infections. While under stress, the liver tends to produce more glucose in order to provide the individual with more energy. If the stress is at chronic level however, it is likely not to withstand the glucose influx which renders one prone to diabetes mellitus (Takala & Hamalainen 2009, p. 71). Addition, poor digestion due to impaired breathing system is likely to cause acid influx that activating ulcers. The endocrine and central nervous system are responsible for flight and fight reactions to stressors. The hypothalamus prepares all body systems to react to a stressor (Hansel & Kanel 2012, p.33).Chronic stress causes personality changes such as hostility, people tend to indulge in obsessive activities like watching television, social withdrawal, rudeness as defense mechanism, anger and making excuses for tasks not completed. In addition, being quick to irritation over minor issues which could cause harm to those around is a common reaction. Cardiovascular and respiratory systems through breathing faster as the heart pumps blood to the brain to supply sufficient oxygen. The stress hormones however cause vasoconstriction of blood vessels raising threat to hypertension, heat attack and stroke. Other effects are pain in the neck and the lower back (Widanarke et al. 2015, p.1513). These may cause gaited posture and crocked walking style. The strain can also limit the amount of work done by and individual. Impacts of stress at work The body of a human being is composed of all the systems addressed above. Therefore, all of them will impact on the individual’s performance. The cognitive understanding of the person is likely to be impaired and their reasoning in handling their roles and responsibilities becomes poor thus reducing their productivity. Ease to irritation is likely to affect relationships with workers which is likely to result in conflicts (Leyung et al. 2005, p. 897). This makes the working environment unconducive for them and is likely to affect their performance. Eventually, the employee may be sacked which puts pressure on the current employees to perform all the duties. The productivity of the organization are likely to reduce drastically which is threat to their competitive advantage over their competitors in business. In the process of coping with stress at work, many unethical issues are likely to arise which may put the organization under investigation. Role of employer Most employers place demanding roles to their employees which cause pressure resulting to stress. However, it is the obligation of the employer to assign reasonable duties to the employees. In the course of employment, an employee suffers a lot in the hands of customers and client demands. Therefore, there is need to put preventive guidelines which protect the employee against avoidable risks. The working environment ought to be clean, spacious enough and have comfortable furniture which ensure employees’ comfort (Sheriff et al. 2011, p. 601). It is also the obligation of the employer to provide protective clothing to workers in case of health hazards depending on the nature of the work. The employer has a role to appoint a committee which will have representatives trained on occupational safety and health. They will thus be tasked with overseeing the risks in the office and coming up with mitigation measures. Contemporary employee engagement Employee engagement in the issues affecting the organization affirms their self-worth and makes them feel appreciated. It is depended on various tools and concepts. The employers ought to view it as a rich a useful tool to enhance the organization working environment and customer relations (Brajer, 2014, p. 38). By conducting a risk assessment to identify the issues which ought to be improved on or discarded completely ensures building up of energy among all participants. A clear definition and guideline of all the measures in employee engagement has to be tabled to all employees. Creating a communication channel with those who seem disengaged will help them feel cared for. This is likely to make them open up and share their burdens thus resolve any issues affecting their productivity (David, 2016 p.91). In the current world, most people are glued to electronic media especially the use of smartphones. Therefore, this is a good channel for employee engagement. For instance, a whatsapp group where issues can be aired out is essential. This is because an organization is made of people with different personalities. There are introverts who will open up probably in such a platform. This will help those in charge get modes of mitigating the issue by gathering views from different people within a short period of time. The work environment ought to be kept conducive as this will make the employees to automatically get in engaged as opposed to coercion. There are individuals who thrive on compliments, therefore, understanding the strengths of all employees and building on their weaknesses will help reduce a risk to stress because the vice versa would put them under pressure as they try to make themselves better. Emerging themes Stress management is an emerging theme which can be used wisely to help reduce the psychosocial hazard. It entails a broad spectrum of practices and therapies which aim to reduce the stress levels in an individual thus enabling them to handle day to day activities normally without pressure (stranks, 2009). People have to learn to balance work and family issues. The employers however play a key role in managing work related stress. Stress can be managed in three level. The primary level entails looking at the stressor itself and addressing it. Risk assessment is the key tool which helps identify the magnitude of the impact of the stressor on the individual. It may call for total change of the workplace design or organization in order to mitigate it. This encompasses the preventive measures. The second one is the secondary level which entails management of the stressors. It entails training the employers and assisting them when they have workload. It also comprises measures to help a stressed employer to recover. This could be through giving them less work, buying them gifts to motivate them and always appreciating their work. The third level entails tertiary interventions which aim to minimize the stressors. Counselling sessions for the stressed employees and encouraging outdoor teamwork activities are remedies (Hansel & Kanel, 2016). It is a resource needing endeavor due to the need of professional counselling. However, in small firms where the fiscal resources are limited, the human resources which are available in plenty can be used to help their colleague recover. Stress management and employee motivation Employee motivation is a broad subject which entails both long term and short term techniques. However, it is hard to create a sustainable employee motivation channel. Nevertheless, this does not mean that the short term motivation actions do not matter. Stress management at work place is one if the ways to motivate employees and comes with broad impacts both on individuals and the work place (Employer engagement, 2009). It increases employees zeal to work and increase productivity. This increases the organization output. Motivated employees enhance their leader’s ability to lead and guide them since the environment is friendly enough. It leads to improved communication at the work place and enhanced interpersonal skills. There are reduced unethical issues at workplace hence building trust and respect among employees. Conclusion Stress is a health hazard which varies in three types. It can lead to generative disease and eventually death. At the work level, it affects employee productivity and hence reduces organization output. However, if employers view employees as heart of their organization, they will adhere to their obligation to make the working environment conducive. Employee engagement in all aspects that concern them is key in managing work related stress. This is essential because stress free employees will be highly motivated to give their best as far as productivity is concerned. Leaders with motivated workers are the happiest and are obliged to lead with integrity. Bibliography Awang Idris, M., Dollard, M.F. and Winefield, A.H., 2010. Lay theory explanations of occupational stress: The Malaysian context. Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, 17(2), pp.135-153. Brajer-Marczak, R. (2014). Employee engagement in continuous improvement of processes. Management, 18(2). Ccohs.ca, (2016). Workplace Stress - General : OSH Answers. [online] Available at: http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/psychosocial/stress.html [Accessed 08 April. 2016]. , David. "ARTICLES & REPORTS." Employee Stress and Performance. Web.08 April. 2016. http://www.humannatureatwork.com/Workplace-Stress-2.htm. Employer engagement: the critical role of employee commitment. 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Widanarko, B., Legg, S., Devereux, J. and Stevenson, M., 2015. Interaction between physical and psychosocial risk factors on the presence of neck/shoulder symptoms and its consequences. Ergonomics, 58(9), pp.1507-1518. Read More