Impacts and Ramifications of Stress in the Workplace

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In the workplace, stress can have some strong physical and mental effects on employees. To best understand stress, it is first important to define it. Stress is defined as “a feeling of tension that occurs when a person perceives that a given situation is about to exceed one’s ability to cope and consequently could endanger one’s well being” (Hitt, Miller & Colella, 2011). Stress on the job is usually the result of people feeling inadequate and unable to perform the given duties of a position at a high level. This could be the result of not having the tools necessary to complete the work or having an outside need that is unable to be met while performing duties. Today, we’ll examine different types of stress and the effects that stress can have on individuals and the workplace. Stress can be narrowed down into two different types which are acute and chronic stress. Acute stress is the type associated with short term responses to stressors. For example, a corporate trainer may experience acute stress when he briefly loses control of a training classroom environment. Acute stress includes physical symptoms like excitement, sadness, worry, an energy boost, an increased metabolism, and a loss of one’s appetite (Hitt, Miller & Colella, 2011). Chronic stress relates to ongoing long-term stress. Employees that worked for companies during the recession that had to constantly deal with the threat of a layoff experienced chronic stress. Also, having a bad boss or being constantly micromanaged is considered chronic stress. Chronic stress is the more dangerous of the two as it creates an imbalance in the body’s energy supply called a stress response that is hard to restore (Hitt, Miller & Colella, 2011). This... ... middle of paper ... ...of workplace demands with a high level of control as well as implement a balanced effort and reward system. They also need to be aware of common stressors like work overload, role ambiguity, role conflict, occupation, working conditions, and resource inadequacy. Stress can lead to poor health, poor performance, absenteeism, and turnover. Works Cited Hill, M. A., Miller, C. C., & Colelle, A. (2011). Organizational Behavior. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons Inc. National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. (2011, November 03). Law enforcement officer fatalities preliminary 2011 numbers. Retrieved from http://www.nleomf.org/facts/officer-fatalities-data/ OSHA. (2002). Workplace violence. Retrieved from http://www.osha.gov/OshDoc/data_General_Facts/factsheet-workplace-violence.pdf Perman, C. (2012, January 4). America's most stressful jobs 2012. CNBC. Retrieved

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