Stress in the Workplace

11 Key excerpts on "Stress in the Workplace"

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  eBook - ePub

  Make That Grade Organisational Behaviour

  • Michele Kehoe(Author)
  • 2013(Publication Date)
  • Gill Books

    (Publisher)

  6 Stress in the Workplace Objectives This chapter will help you to: Define stress. Describe the General Adaptation Syndrome. Identify the difference between eustress and distress. Characterise Type A and B personality profiles. Examine the causes of life and organisational stressors. Understand the consequences of stress to the individual and the organisation. Recommend individual and organisational coping strategies. 6.1 Stress defined Stress is complex and the experience of it is very individual due to its many causes and consequences. Stress is a reality of life in general and therefore part of the experience of work. The most important aspect of stress is managing it effectively. The benefits for organisations in creating a work environment that helps employees manage the demands of life within and without the workplace include healthier employees, reduced absenteeism, increased productivity and an enhanced reputation. According to Moorhead and Griffin (2012), stress can be defined as ‘ a person’s adaptive response to a stimulus that places excessive psychological or physical demands on that person ’. The source of stress must be perceived by the person to be excessive. Wagner and Hollenbeck (2010) assert that stress is ‘ an unpleasant emotional state ’. Arroba and James (1991) state that stress is ‘ a person’s response to an inappropriate level of pressure. It is a response to pressure, not the pressure itself. ’ This description of stress highlights the fact that stress is caused by pressure from many different sources, such as peer pressure, financial pressure or exam pressure. It is when an individual believes that the pressure they are under is too much for them to handle that stress is experienced. When placed under a lot of pressure, some people experience no stress and others only need a small amount of pressure to suffer the side effects of stress

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  eBook - ePub

  De-Stress at Work

  Understanding and Combatting Chronic Stress

  • Simon L. Dolan(Author)
  • 2023(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)
• Work context includes career development, status and pay (job insecurity, lack of promotion opportunities, under- or over-promotion, work of low social value, piece rate payment schemes, unclear or unfair performance evaluation systems, being over- or under-skilled for a job); the worker’s role in the organization (unclear role, conflicting roles); interpersonal relationships (inadequate, inconsiderate or unsupportive supervision, poor relationships with colleagues, bullying/harassment and violence, isolated or solitary work, etc.); organizational culture (poor communication, poor leadership, lack of behavioural rule, lack of clarity about organizational objectives, structures and strategies); and work-life balance (conflicting demands of work and home, lack of support for domestic problems at work, lack of support for work problems at home, lack of organizational rules and policies to support work-life balance).

Chapter Summary and Postscript

“Job stress results when the requirements of the job do not match the capabilities, resources or needs of the worker” (NIOSH).12

Stress is one of the factors directly responsible for the most common and most lethal psychological and physical illnesses affecting mankind, hence the importance of its study within organizations.

There is often confusion between pressure or challenge and stress and sometimes it is used to excuse bad management practice. Pressure at the workplace is unavoidable due to the demands of the contemporary work environment. Pressure perceived as acceptable by an individual, may even keep workers alert, motivated, able to work and learn, depending on the available resources and personal characteristics. However, when that pressure becomes excessive or otherwise unmanageable it leads to stress. Stress can damage workers’ health and his or her business performance.

Stress results from a mismatch between the demands and pressures on the person, on the one hand, and their knowledge and abilities, on the other. It challenges their ability to cope with work. This includes not only situations where the pressures of work exceed the worker’s ability to cope but also where the worker’s knowledge and abilities are not sufficiently utilized and that is a problem for them. A healthy job is likely to be one where the pressures on employees are appropriate in relation to their abilities and resources, to the amount of control they have over their work, and to the support they receive from people who matter to them. As health is not merely the absence of disease or infirmity but a positive state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, a healthy working environment is one in which there is not only an absence of harmful conditions but an abundance of health promoting ones. These may include continuous assessment of risks to health, the provision of appropriate information and training on health issues and the availability of health promoting organizational support practices and structures. A healthy work environment is one in which staff have made health and health promotion a priority and part of their working lives.