By: Renee Lessard
Stress is
present in all of our lives. There are stressors from work and from nonwork. In
general, these stressors fall into two categories; hindrance and challenge. These
are part of the transactional theory of stress which explains how stressors are
perceived and appraised, as well as how
people respond to those perceptions and appraisals. These appraisals involve
the questions Is this Stressful? and How can I Cope? For this blog I will use
the text Organizational Behavior with
journal articles cited at the end of this post to discuss the causes of stress
in the workplace and suggested methods to prevent, defuse, and cope with
stress. This blog will focus mainly on workplace stress.
The difference between hindrance
stressors and challenge stressors lies in the source of the stress. Hindrance stressors
are based on conflicts within the roles of the organization. Challenge stressors
are based on the demands of the work within the organization. Albahussain gives
some examples of this in his article, some of these are lack of communication. This
involves an imbalance in the roles within the organization that lead to
conflicts among employees and conflicts between employees and management. Another
is adopting changes. From time to time organizations make mistakes with
promotions and rewards to employees that
may not deserve it or use it well. This creates role conflicts and role
overload for both the employees promoted and those not promoted.
Albahussain also gives some examples
of challenge stressors. Workload is a major source of stress for many employees
and managers. That, combined with time constraints, can lead to massive stress
for individuals in the organization. We have all experience the challenge of a
last minute assignment with an all too soon deadline. This type of stress does
not prevent us from doing a job but can cause an undue amount of stress related
to that job and can compromise the level of quality in our work.
There are a number of suggestions
for organizations regarding how to help employees cope with this stress. They all
start in the same place; identify the source and causes of the stress. Babcock
identifies a unique source of stress in her article, the recession. While this
entry focuses mainly on work stressors, it is important to note that elements
outside of work and outside of our control, such as the recession, are an
important element to identify. She points out that the addition of a recession
to the existing stressors for most workers added an element of the unknown. The
relatively predictable job market became unreliable and, at times, hostile.
Lynott explains in his article that
the causes of stress can be difficult to identify. Since we are all different,
we all respond differently to stressors. What affects one person may not affect
the other. This forces the organization to work to identify the stressors for
that particular employee or group. One example could be identifying the
different stressors within the clerical department in a company, such as ergonomical
problems, work overload, and role conflict and the stressors within the
shipping department such as physical stress, time constraints, and daily
hassles. The stressors within those groups can vary from person to person but
it is important for the organization to recognize that the stressors affecting
employees can vary from job to job.
The next step is to make efforts to relieve
those stressors for those employees. This can be just as particular as the
cause of the stressors themselves. Babcock suggests employee resources such as
Employee Assistance Programs. The programs are designed to provide employees
with the help they need in particular. The programs can provide everything from
counseling services to full psychological assistance. These programs are highly
underutilized according to Babcock and can be the difference between life and
death for high risk employees dealing with the intense stress of working during
a recession.
Another suggestion by Lynott is to
employ a “Toxic Handler”. This person is responsible for recognizing and resolving
employee stress. This person can be willing or unwilling and is often an individual
with an innate ability to empathize and problem-solve. This may not be an ideal
solution for many companies since this person will require a large amount of
support from the organization itself and is at risk of becoming burnt out
because of the constant shouldering of other people’s stress.
Whatever the causes of stress, the
fact remains that stress can cause a massive amount of problems for
individuals. These effects include psychological, physical, and physiological symptoms.
Many people experience headaches, back injury, fatigue, feelings of negativity,
apathy, and even gastrointestinal symptoms. Each person is affected uniquely
and each person’s symptoms are serious in their effects. Without intervention,
these symptoms can cause permanent damage to the physical body and the mental
well being of individuals. It is the responsibility of all organizations to
manage the stress of it’s employees.
References:
Albahussain, S. A. (2012). The role of training and development in controlling workplace stress.
Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge. 17.2. 99-107. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com.huaryu.kl.oakland.edu/docview/924143221?accountid=12924
Babcock, P. (2009). Workplace stress? Deal with it! HRMagazine. 54.5. 68-69,70,72 Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com.huaryu.kl.oakland.edu/docview/205054408?accountid=12924
Lynott, W. J. (2011). You can defuse workplace stress. Medical Economics. 88.7 Retrieved from
http://informahealthcare.com/jme
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