Workplace stress has various effects both to the employee as well as to the organization. For the case of the employees, workplace stress can affect their health in various ways. These may include increasing their levels of cholesterol, regular headaches and even panic attacks. The organization can also be affected by incurring costs that could have been avoided if stress events were reduced. Some of the costs incurred include lost time, loss of skilled workers, and reduced quality in decision making. These factors can be reduced if the employees follow the strategies of stress reduction. Such strategies include building control, challenge, and commitment toward the reduction of stress in the workplace. Other strategies include the regular practice of yoga and mindfulness activities.
Stress in the Workplace
Introduction
In workplaces, stress usually occurs when a person is given much demand exceeding the available resources as rated by the involved individual. Stress can affect employees psychologically and also influence their general health and comfort. The contents of this paper define stress and stress management. It also discusses the types of stress likely to be found in the workplace and the employee health concerns of workplace stress. Lastly, it identifies the cost factors related to workplace stress and stress reduction programs.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
What is Stress?
The definition of the term stress may vary from one individual to another since a burden or strain leading to one’s anxiety may not be an issue to another person. Stress could be the pain, physical hardship, or torture experienced by a person. Other researchers define psychological stress as the surrounding demands which exceed an individual’s resources and their ability to handle them. To others, stress is caused by a mass of pressure and the scarce fit existing between what we want and what we are able to acquire (Aamodt, 2016).
For the case of the workplace, stress can be defined as the proneness of individuals to act and believe in a manner that makes them feel of no use when challenged with adversity (Aamodt , 2016). Lamber et al., (2003) further state that stress victims usually portray certain characteristics such as a decline in work efficiency and interest, negative attitude and behavior toward the workgroup, or even the entire profession. Other stress victims portray behaviors like blaming others for their own errors and regular absenteeism than the rest of the workers (Lamber et al., 2003).
What is Stress Management?
Stress management refers to the range of techniques used to control the stress levels of victims involved in order to improve their everyday functioning ( Lambert et al., 2003). In modern society, stress management is among the key aspects to proving a successful and happy society. Aamodt (2016) explains that life can often prove to be hard to manage due to the demands experienced. However, stress management offers a variety of techniques that can be employed in order to manage anxiety and sustain overall comfort. Such techniques include yoga, focus and awareness mindfulness. According to Lambert et al., (2003), building challenge, commitment, and control toward stress management can also help to reduce stress. Such techniques help in reducing new stress events and also reducing the chances of repeating a stress event.
Types of stress present in the workplace
Stress can either be physical or emotional. It should be noted that too much stress can be harmful to the worker’s health and job in general ( Lambert et al., 2003). Four types of stress are going to be discussed below;
Competence Perception Stress
This type of stress mostly affects workers who may be starting new jobs or positions, making them feel unprepared for the task. Individuals often feel like they may lack the skill, preparation, or knowledge to effectively handle the given role. For instance, when taking an unfamiliar project, lack of feedback may lead to the creation of anxiety (Aamodt , 2016).
Culture Alignment Stress
This type of stress normally occurs when a conflict exists between one’s personal values and the job’s expectations. Culture is part of every organization and some may require the workers to perform fast and responsive services. For this case, stress may occur when a worker personally prefers a slower pace but quality service nature of performing (Aamodt , 2016).
Workload Level Stress
This type of stress occurs when workers are given too much work yet have limited resources to complete the given tasks on time. Lambert et al. (2003) explains that this may lead to some workers working harder and faster but delivering low-quality services and products. Other workers may leave out certain things to be done in order to sustain the quality of the work.
Stress due to lack of Team Support
According to Aamodt (2016), this type of stress usually makes employees feel isolated. Normally, employees undergoing this type of stress tend to feel like they are not being part of the decision-making process in the office and that they cannot request for help from other employees. This is often caused by lack of or poor communication skills in the organization.
Employee Health Concerns of Workplace Stress
Most careers offer workshops on stress management in order to address the effects of stress on health and the general well-being of the employees (Lamber et al., 2003). This can happen in a variety of ways. In the first place, feeling glued in a workplace that is not cater for the workers’ well being increases the chances for contracting the coronary heart disease (CHD). This is the major cause of death in the U.S. with most employees feeling not meaningful while at the workplace (Aamodt, 2016). It has also been proven that when the brain realizes stress, the stress-reactive areas reacts and increases stress hormones, increasing its blood concentration. The effects of these hormones may vary from one individual to another. Some individuals may experience panic attacks while others may experience headaches.
Stress can also increase the levels of cholesterol either immediately or in the long term. This happens when the body increases its inflammatory process which directly increases lipid production. Stress influences one’s behavior which could, in turn, have an effect on one’s health. This is evident when chronic stress influences one’s decision about the knowledge of healthy behaviors such as proper diet or change of their negative practices (Aamodt, 2016).
Cost factors related to Workplace Stress
Workplace stress influences the work setting in a variety of ways. An analysis conducted by Dr. Daniel Dana devised a cost analysis criterion that was able to determine these cost factors and how they relate to the workplace (Lamber et al., 2003). The first factor is the lowered motivation on the job. The calculation is majorly done on the basis of productivity loss due to the stress hence affecting the job quality. In addition to that, the lost work time is another factor. It is calculated on the basis of personal leave, sick days, and time lost due to disciplinary activity that is done during stress. On the other hand, wasted time happens basically through loss of an administrator’s time which is usually dedicated to resolving stress (Aamodt, 2016).
Another factor is a reduced quality of decision making. Here, administrators should identify opportunities lost due to poor decisions as a result of stress and consider what they could have gained if a better decision was made. Skilled employees can also be lost as a result of unresolved stress. Restructuring is also a cost factor relating to workplace stress as the workflow may be redesigned hence being altered in an administration’s attempt to reduce the interaction rates among the employees (Lambert et al., 2003).
Stress Reduction Programs
Stress reduction can be achieved through a series of strategies that can be employed by individuals in order to avoid cases of stress or repetition of the same stress event.
Strategies for establishing commitment and managing stress
In order to build commitment an individual is required to rehearse and revise what to do in case the particular stress event happens again (Cotti, Haley, & Miller, 2017). Rather than retreating passively or completely avoiding the situation, through practice, one is able to actively engage the situation in case of the reoccurrence. Commitment can also be improved by expressing oneself directly to the people involved. For instance, one may ask for the clarification from other people in relation to the particular situation (Lambert et al., 2003).
Strategies for developing control and managing stress
According to Aamodt (O2016), one may look out for more information regarding the situation thus enabling one to gain control over the situation in case it arises. For instance, one may read an article about the particular stress event or consult a person who is well informed about the situation. One may also control stress by lightening the environment and making it bright. This can be achieved by bringing pictures, flowers, and plants to the office ( Lambert et al., 2003).
Strategies for developing challenge and managing stress
Challenge can be developed by looking for means to maintain the perspective on the specific situation. Aamodt (O2016) states that this can be achieved by identifying success even if it is not huge. Lambert et al. (2003) further add that individuals can also build challenge by broadening their range of concern and influence past their particular work situations.
Recommended workplace stress reduction programs
In addition to the listed stress reduction programs, the following programs are also recommended in order to reduce the stress experienced in the workplace;
Yoga programs
This is one of the most excellent ways of stress reduction which also help in practicing mindfulness. A study of the yoga practice has proved that yoga exercises reduces significantly work-related stress and enhances individual’s ability to react and adapt to stress. Other effects of yoga include improved quality of sleep and reduced behavior in substance abuse ((Perrewe, Meurs, & Rossi, 2016).
Focus & Awareness Mindfulness
Mindfulness practice that emphasizes on focus involves inward looking in order to observe what is going on in one’s mind (Archer, 2018). Individuals usually maintain a single focus based on one’s experience. This should be done while the individual is breathing and grounded. On the other hand, awareness mindfulness focuses on the external rather than the internal. Here, the mind is engaged from an external perspective. The thoughts and feelings are observed as a flow of consciousness and judgments are usually not attached.
Conclusion
In sum, stress can vary from one individual to another and the pressure that may be felt by one individual may not completely similar to another individual. Stress events in the workplace are a major concern not only to the health of the employees but also to the costs incurred to the organizations in such events. However, such incidences can be reduced through various activities such as developing challenge, control, and commitment to the reduction of stress. Other techniques include yoga practice and mindfulness practices.
References
Aamodt, M. G. (2016). Industrial: An Applied Approach . Boston, Mass: Cengage Learning.
Archer, R. (2018). How to beat workplace stress. New Scientist , 238 (3177), 16–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0262-4079 (18)30830-3
Cotti, C. D., Haley, M. R., & Miller, L. A. (2017). Assessing the impact of different workplace flexibilities on workplace stress in the presence of varying degrees of job control. Applied Economics Letters , 24 (3), 198–201. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2016.1176108
Lambert, V., Lambert C.E, J., & Yamase, H. (2003). Psychological hardiness, workplace stress and related stress reduction strategies. Nursing & Health Sciences, 5(2), 181-184.
Perrewe, P. L., Meurs, J. A., & Rossi, A. M. (2016). Stress and Quality of Working Life : Interpersonal and Occupation-based Stress . Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
