Stress and Wellbeing - Essay Example

Stress and wellbeing Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code: Date of Submission: Introduction Stress is something that alters the normal functioning of an individual. It combines factors such as physical, psychological and the behavior that an individual has when responding to some events which seem to be threatening him or her. Stress can be good or bad depending on the outcomes. To start with, it lowers the productivity of people; it lowers the concentration of people at work places and affects the health of individuals (Farrell & Martin 2005). Many organizations are considering better ways of managing stress at their work places so that they will improve the productivity of their employees through motivation. For a long time now there have been discussions on the causes of stress at any workplace. Some of the arguments raised on the causes of stress include health issues, high workloads, poor relationships among the stakeholders of the organization and poor job control. Some argue that stress is caused by health issues. This essay will be based on Swan care organization, the issues which raise stress at this organization, organizational perspectives on stress, ways of managing stress and wellbeing and finally the importance of managing stress. Swan Care is an organization which is sponsored by the government to take care of the older people. However, of late the organization has been facing the difficulties in recruiting the right people and difficulty motivating the employees. The employees are not committed and there is high absenteeism (Swan Care 2013). Issues Promoting Stress There are various issues which promote stress at Swan Care organization. The first one is the heavy workloads which overworks the employee. Personal wellbeing can only be achieved when the employees have no stress or it is managed (Coope & Palmer 2000). When the employees are overworked, they become so stressed and therefore they are not satisfied with their jobs. This hinders the personal wellbeing of the employee at any given time. According to the research which has been conducted in the health sector it was found out that stress was caused by heavy work loads hence leading to the poor wellbeing of an individual (Farrell & Geist-Martin, 2005). Another factor which promotes stress is the poor relationships among employees and between the employees and the management. In this organization we see different employees like Jane not relating well at their workplace because the management is forcing the employees to overwork so that they can be able to accomplish the daily tasks (Lennard 2001). For instance, Jane the caretaker boss does not have good relationships with some of the employees because of the pressure she puts on the employees. This has caused stress among the employees hence they are not satisfied with their jobs leading to poor personal well being. Another factor that promotes stress at Swan Care is the poor scheduling. The employees work for long hours hence there is no flexibility in the working hours. For instance the employees work from 6 in the morning to 6 in the evening at Swan Care (BEch et al 2003). This is a great challenge that stresses the employees because they don’t have adequate time to balance time for the family and the time for work. They work for longer hours than the time they spend with their families and this has caused stress among the employees and therefore there is no personal wellbeing as the employees are stressed always leading to poor services given at work place as a result of getting tired. Change in the management of the organization. At Swan Care we see the management being changed without the employees having any knowledge and this was the biggest the challenge in the management (Bagoien 2010). They employees felt that their jobs were at risk because they did not take any part in the management process, hence they were stressed. Besides working for long hours, their efforts were not recognized and the management hired employees from outside when there are positions hence the employees were stressed as they felt that their positions were at risk. Furthermore, there was no opportunity for learning and development of the employees. For any person to be satisfied with his or her job there is a need for training and development so that the employees will improve their skills and develop better ways of achieving tasks (Lennard 2001). At Swan Care we don’t see any training taking place and the employees work at the same place for a long time which leads to boredom. This is a cause of stress at the organization because the employees do not have the opportunity to advance their skills hence there is stress and affects the personal wellbeing of the employees due to lack of job satisfaction (Farrell & Geist-Martin, 2005). Another promoter of stress at Swan Care is the shortage of employees. Caring for the old people needs special attention and much time. The caretakers are not adequate to take care of the elderly. This is why they work for long hours and there is no adequate time to take a rest (Keyes & Haidt 2003). This has stressed the employees and has affected their wellbeing and despite working for long hours, the employees are not paid for the overtime hence they keep contemplating why they work for long hours without their efforts being recognized leading to stress. On the other hand, the employees are not satisfied with their job because of the remuneration they get. The employees are not paid well despite handling much work. This is a source of stress because they are not able to meet their needs and wants. Therefore the personal wellbeing of the employees is not met due to limited resources. The employees are not satisfied with the pay they get as we can see it from in complains. Furthermore, another source of stress among the employees of Swan Care is lack of trust to the top management. The employees do not trust the top management of Swan Care especially in the recruitment. The top management recruits new employees without informing the current employees of the organization (Bailey & Fernando 2012). This is a threat to the employees because they feel that their jobs are not safe. This has caused stress and poor wellbeing of the employees of the organization. There are different health ideologies which are associated with stress of employees in Swan Care. Stress affects individuals both physically and psychologically. When stress is more often at workplace, it leads to health problems. Some of the health issues which are associated with stress include diseases like headaches, ulcers, diabetes and liver diseases. The psychological effects of stress include family problems disorders of anxiety and sleeping problems (Robone et al 2008). It also leads to low self esteem and depression. When the employees are always about their work they develop disorders which are associated with too much thinking and this affects the health of individuals (Farrell & Geist-Martin, 2005). Through stress an organization is greatly influenced because of the health issues concerned with stress. The organization suffers great costs and poor productivity as the absenteeism rates go higher. When the absenteeism rate is high it implies that few employees are overworked so as to cover the work for the sick employees (Andersen & Davidson 1997). This lowers the quality of services offered to the elderly people. Also the organization will spend a lot of financial resources to treat the employees who become sick as a result of stress. These are the direct impacts of stress at work place and therefore they pose a great challenge to the management. In addition, the company will have to pay compensation for the employees who suffer diseases because of the stress they get from their work places. Moreover, stress among the employees in work places also affects the organization in general. When the employees are stressed, there will be high rates of absenteeism because the employees will be seeking medication as a result of the diseases they contacted due to stress at their work place. This will lower the services offered to elderly people at Swan Care (Keyes & Haidt 2003). There will also be high rates of strikes because the employees are justified to find their justice even if it means through striking. This will be a major blow to the organizations as a whole as the offering of caring services to the elderly people. Through these effects of stress at Swan Care, the employees’ wellbeing will not be achieved because the physical, psychological and emotional welfare of the employees will not be experienced by the employees hence the employees are stressed all the time. Ways of managing stress There are various ways through which Swan Care can manage stress among its employees and the management. First, the organization should employ more people so that the existing employees are not be exploited. This will reduce the stress among employees and promote personal wellbeing (Davis 2000). The employees will work in shifts so that they are not overworked at their workplace thus promote happiness among the employees which boosts the wellbeing of the employees. The carers should also give their opinions in the recruitment process. The management should ensure that they involve the employees in the recruitment process. They should not employ new people in the organization without notifying the employees (Davis 2000). This will motivate the employees because they will feel that their positions are secure and are not threatened. This will promote happiness among the employees hence promote self wellbeing. The employees should not work for many days. This means that they should work in shifts which will ensure that the employees do not develop monotony at work. They will have time to refresh themselves thus enjoy their work (Davis 2000). They will be able to be satisfied with their jobs hence promote happiness and avoid stress and promote personal wellbeing of the employees. They should not work for 6 days hence should work in shifts. There should be better funding to the organization so that the organization will have adequate funds to pay better wages to the employees. Better wages will motivate the employees because they will meet their basic needs hence they will be happy (Robone et al 2008). Good remuneration promotes job satisfaction thus the employees will not be stressed because of not meeting their needs. Conclusion Stress is the state of being threatened in conducting normal tasks. Through stress management, the employees will improve their performance at work places and promote personal wellbeing. The factors that promote stress at Swan Care organization include shortage of employees leading to overworking of the existing employees, heavy workloads assigned to employees, ineffective remuneration, change in the management without involving the employees thus the employees feel that their jobs are not secure and the recruitment of the employees by the management without involving the employees. In addition, there are no opportunities for learning and development for employees, there is poor scheduling where there are unplanned events and finally lack of trust to the top management. Ways in which stress can be managed is through improving payment to the employees, employing more carers so that the employees will work in shifts, there should be better funding to the organization and they should involve the employees in the recruitment process. References Andersen, R & Davidson, P 1997, Ethnicity, aging and oral health outcomes: A conceptual framework, Adv Dent Res, Vol. 11, No. 2, p. 203-212. Bagoien, T. E. Halvari, H & Nlsheim, H 2010, Self-determined motivation in physical Education and its links to motivation for leisure-time physical activity, physical activity, and well-being in general, Perceptual and Motor Skills, Vol. 111, No. 2, pp. 407-432. Bailey, A & Fernando, I 2012, Routine and project-based leisure, happiness, and Meaning in life, Journal of Leisure Research, Vol. 44, No. 2, pp. 139-154. BEch, P., Olsen, L.R. 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Swan Care 2013, Stress Buster, retrieved on September 10, 2013 at http://www.abc.net.au/tv/stressbuster/episodes/ep3.html Robone, S. Jones, A. M & Rice, N 2008, "Contractual Conditions, Working Conditions, Health and Well-Being in the British Household Panel Survey," Health, Econometrics and Data Group, Department of Economics, University of York. Read More