Work life is becoming more demanding and unpredictable, which is why more people are dealing with stress, with 53% of Australian employees feeling under pressure a significant amount of the time. Businesses need to place systems to help employees cope and manage stress. Managers should be aiming to create an environment from being stressful to challenging and rewarding. Stress is defined as an “adaptive response to a situation that is perceived as challenging or threatening to a person’s wellbeing” (McShane, Olekalns and Travaglione, 2013), it is a condition that effects humans both physiologically and psychologically. The effects and the causes of stress can vary greatly from person to person; along with how they handle the pressures amounted …show more content…
Stress is in the eyes of the beholder, as some people are equipped with qualities enabling them to recognize situations as less threatening and others not. As McCauley explains the coping mechanisms of each individual is “influences by their personalities, beliefs, experiences and expectations” (McCauley, 2005) which clearly differentiate hugely between people. A way of explaining individuals’ responses to stress is fight or flight. Stress is a difficult feeling to express and to test; the General Adaptation Syndrome created by Hans Selye explains the experience of stress by categorizing it in three stages: alarm, reaction, resistance and exhaustion; although an old theory it is very relevant to stress in the workplace at present. It is difficult to see stress in people, “stress will affect individuals differently, so some may become more disinterested…others may appear overwhelmed, anxious….”(Fairbairn, 2011) but it is vital for organizations to have some sort of system in place to be able to understand each individual. Changes such as increase in sick days, decline in work performance, concentration, fatigue and simply changes in their attitude and behavior are some signs of stress, which should be …show more content…
Stress is a reaction to changes and adjustments in ones environment; they may be physical, mental or emotional responses. Geoff Colvin in his article on reducing stress lists the main workplace stressors in order; Workload, people issues, juggling work/personal life then lack of job security. Stress can end up being the costliest of all work related illnesses, Safe Work Australia found that mental stress is costing Australian companies more than $10 billion annually due to decrease in productivity and increased absenteeism. There have been many studies over the years on the effects stress has on health both mentally and physically. Stress can be linked to all sorts of illnesses and diseases such as heart disease, strokes, immune disorders, disabilities of the nervous system, cancer, depression, anxiety and many more. Stress leads to job dissatisfaction, lack of motivation, decreased job performance, changes in behavior that in turn increases absenteeism. Sarah Carmichael in her article for Harvard Business Review suggests that the more we work the more we drink. This raises the importance of work life balance, Carmichael found that “people who work long hours may in general have a lifestyle which involves poor self-care” including factors such as their diet, alcohol consumption and
Currie, D (2010). Introduction to Human Resource Management. 2nd ed. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel Development. 293
Stress has been linked to hypertension, heart attacks, diabetes, asthma, chronic pain, allegeries, headaches, skin disorders, cancer, immune system weakness and decrease blood count (Cummings et al, 2005). It has also been linked to an increase risk of alcoholism and drug use. High levels of stress can lead to higher absenteeism, larger staff turnover and low productivity. The symptoms are evident in the quantitative data, with an
Stress can be caused by many different things within an organisation but the main causes of stress can be broken down into “six management standards” Anon (2009) how to tackle work related stress http://www.hse.gov.uk/ I used these areas to construct the chart below and discussed stress at a team meeting and asked my team to complete a Circle of influence around areas over which they felt they had no control Appendix 1 we also discussed what we / I could do to manage the six main causes of stress
At the psychological level, stressful and poor working conditions can cause continuing feelings of humiliation, insecurity and worthlessness. Not having a secure understanding of the future can cause large amounts of anxiety and futility that roots high levels of fatigue from day-to-day life, therefore making everyday coping difficult. Individuals who experience high levels of prolonged stress often attempt to relieve these pressures by adopting unhealthy coping behaviours; for example, the excessive use of alcohol, smoking, and
There are numerous challenges that organizations are faced with in order for them to survive and grow. These challenges are mainly faced by people who are tasked with making decisions on a daily basis within the organizations because a majority of the challenges are human based. The employees working in an organization are likely to suffer from occupational stress depending on their work. Occupational stress comes along when an employee is faced with demands within the workplace, and they are not able to complete or carry out these demands. The failure to complete the demands placed upon them would cause the employee mental and physical strain as their body would have a physiological reaction. According to research there are various factors that contribute to stress in the workplace. These factors include isolation, extensive working hours, negative workloads, unhealthy working environments, harassment, bullying by management, and lack of motivation or advancement opportunities. The factors mentioned are not exhaustive as there might be other causes to occupational stress depending on the individual or employees.
Many believe that stress is a simple problem, however it is often misunderstood and more complex than they believe (p. 181, Griffin & Moorhead, 2014). Stress is the physiological and psychological response to excessive and usually unpleasant stimulation as well as threatening events in the environment (p. 284, Schultz and Schultz, 2010). Stress appears in silent and subtle ways but this negative response affects millions of employees in all levels of all types of jobs (p. 284, Schultz and Schultz, 2010). If identified
Studies have suggested work stress levels peak at age 50-55 years (Work Stress Peaks During Middle Age, 2015). Stress is usually handled by one of two ways – effective coping which leads to healthy lifestyle choices and stress response which usually leads to negative health factors (Depp & Jeste, 2010) like smoking, sleeping less, drinking more alcohol and developing poor nutrition habits. Stress is also found to enable developing of illnesses like Alzheimer’s, cancer, heart disease and diabetes (Alzheimer's Society, 2015).
A person experiences stress when they perceive that the demands of their work are greater than their ability to cope. Coping means balancing the demands and pressures placed on you (i.e. the job requirements) with your skills and knowledge (i.e. your capabilities). For example, if you give a member of your team a tight deadline on a project they feel they have neither the skills nor ability to do well, they may begin to feel undue pressure which could result in work related stress.
The United States’ eminent “competitive spirit” is a major characteristic that differentiates the U.S. workforce from other countries. This competitiveness is a key component in American society as it pushes workers to not only produce more but to increase his/her standard of living (Nixon). While competitiveness can lead to a flourishing society, oftentimes this competitiveness burdens workers, raising the amount of stress on a person. A study conducted by Harvard School of Public Health reported that out of 2,505 respondents, 53% felt a “great deal of stress in the past month” was a result of work affirming the correlation between stress and work (“The Burden of Stress in America”). As job markets are drastically becoming more competitive,
I would like to conclude on a few points that we have discussed. The term stress was coined by Dr. Hans Selye from the University of Montreal and the basic definition of stress is the body’s response to any demand placed on it, pleasant or unpleasant (Cunningham, 2000). Some major causes of stress are “high physical, mental and or emotional demands, lack of variety, short work cycles, fragmented or meaningless work, underutilization and high uncertainty of work” (NOHSC, 2000, P. 29). There are also psychological stressors that affect workplace but that I will save that for another
Work related stress has been emerging as one of the main causes of adverse symptoms of mental health in today’s industrial societies. The direct result of excessive pressures and/or demands placed on individuals at work, work-related stress has caused some people to develop symptoms of depression, anxiety, and other adverse mental health effects. While it might be possible that other co-factors contribute to the development of anxiety and depression in some population groups, evidence suggests that pressure from works is more likely to trigger adverse reactions in some people. In fact, positive correlations have been established between symptoms of work stress and mental health problems. That is, it is not uncommon to witness loss of
Stress is a common issue that faces every human being in different times. Stress can be caused by many factors, but one of the main reasons is work which is called occupational stress or work-related stress. Job stress does not only affect the employees’ performance within an organization, but also it affects their general health. Stress has become a challenge for employers now because high level stress results in low productivity, increased absenteeism and other problems like alcoholism, drug abuse and hypertension (Ahmad, Mohamed. 2017). It became a major problem for employers especially in developing countries where they don’t realize the importance of work-life balance and the impact of stress on the productivity level and the job
Stress is a major element in the life of an employee even manager and executives experience stress many times in their working activities.
Some people have higher levels of stress because they might have a very stressful job. Police officers, fire fighters, soldiers in a war zone, health care providers, long distance truck drivers, and yes, even educators (think of a classroom full of students where you are responsible for making sure that they are learning the skills they need to succeed) have very stressful jobs.
Stress today can be described as "that which disturbs a person's mental and physical well-being" (Morrison 1). Common symptoms of stress include chronic fatigue, changes in appetite, drug and/or alcohol abuse, difficulty sleeping, body aches, and changes in emotions (Cooper 1-2). And although stress is something that is inevitable, it can be controlled. Just about everything we do today creates stress, both good and bad. In the face paced and technological world we live in, stress management is key to survival as well as sanity.