Three out of every four American workers describe their work as stressful. According to the Holmes-Rahe Life Events Scale, which rates levels of stress, many of the most stressful events in life are related to the workplace. Some examples are firings, business readjustments and changes in financial status, altered responsibilities, a switch to a different line of work, trouble with the boss, changes in work hours or conditions, retirement and vacations. Workplace stress costs American employers an estimated $200 billion per year in lower productivity, absenteeism, staff turnover, workers' compensation, medical insurance and other stress-related expenses. However, stress may not always be a bad thing. It can stimulate creativity and productivity. The natural pattern of human behavior is to experience a stress-causing event or situation, react to it with increased tension and then return to a normal, relaxed state. The problem occurs when stress is so overwhelming or constant that this pattern is broken. This overwhelming feeling is usually caused by some lack of communication. Everyone has a breaking point and the fact that some people may be able to handle certain job types more than others does not excuse employers from having a duty to the health and welfare of their employees. An article that was written by Bill Wilkerson, CEO of Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health, conducted a survey to find the top ten workplace stressors. In a report submitted to the Industrial Accident Prevention Association, Wilkerson listed the following ten reasons for workplace stress and after each one is an brief explanation of how better communication could remedy the situation. "The treadmill ... ... middle of paper ... ...hedule a group discussion or even an off site meeting so that the employees feel that they are in a more comfortable environment. Humor has become one of the most popular tools for stress relief. Positive effects of laughter include reduced muscle tension, controlled anxiety, the ability to handle unexpected events, and simply the joy of humor. It is important for managers to allow employees to have fun. We spend the majority of our lives at work and we need to enjoy the experience. References: Braham, Barbara J. Calm Down: How to Manage Stress at Work. Glenview: Scott, Foresman & Co., 1990. "Stress - America's #1 Health Problem." http://www.stress.org/problem.htm. The American Institute of Stress - http://www.stress.org/ Job Stress Help - http://www.jobstresshelp.com/ Center for Anxiety and Stress Treatment - http://stressrelease.com/
Click here to unlock this and over one million essays
Show MoreSocial Interactions: To help reduce stress, provide opportunities for social interaction between the employees. One approach that I have used many times is to bring in pizza or sandwiches one Friday a month for lunch, this provided an opportunity for social interaction between employees from different departments and even management.
(AC 2)There are many causes of stress in the modern society due to the higher expectations and demands from different aspects of life. Work-related stress is one common cause of stress. People feel stressed out at their workplace for various reasons. For example, long working hours is one type of stressor because workers are overworked, which leads to...
Some effects that can result from stress in the work place are; poor job performance, low morale in the office, and insalubrious employees. Reciprocally, elevated stress levels in an organization are associated with increased turnover, absenteeism; sickness, and reduced productivity. At a personal level, work stressors are related to depression, anxiety, general mental distress symptoms, heart disease, ulcers, and chronic pain (Sauter, Hurrell, & Cooper, 1989).
Stress is stress involving work. Stress is defined in terms of its physical and physiological effects on a person, and can be a mental, physical or emotional strain. It can also be a tension or a situation or factor that can cause stress.[1] Occupational stress occurs when there is a discrepancy between the demands of the environment/workplace and an individual’s ability to carry out and complete these demands.[2] Often a stressor can lead the body to have a physiological reaction which can strain a person physically as well as mentally. One of the main causes of occupational stress is work overload. Occupational stress is a major hazard for many workers. Increased workloads, downsizing, overtime, hostile work environments, and shift work are
We spend much of daily lives working. In fact, Americans spend about eight-times as many hours working as they do eating and drinking (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2013). Approximately seven in ten Americans report that they experience symptoms of stress (Anderson, Belar, Breckler, Nordal, Ballard, Bufka, Bossolo & Bethune, 2013). Stress is elicited by a variety of psychological stimulus associated with our jobs, our residences, our social interactions, and the activities we engage in (p. 249, Franken, 2007). Many Americans live with the burden of an unsatisfying job as well as a stressful workplace. An online survey of 1,848 people in the United States, conducted by the American Psychological Association, found that 74 percent of people name work as their primary source of stress (p. 284, Schultz and Schultz, 2010). In the workplace, stress is reflected in lower productivity, reduced motivation as well as increased errors and accidents (p. 284, Schultz and Schultz, 2010). Excessive stress can lead to many adverse consequences. When people experience too much stress they can also suffer from psychological consequences such as depression and sleep disorders (p. 191, Griffin & Moorhead, 2014). Research shows that stress can even contribute to the development of major illnesses, such as heart disease, stroke, and obesity, as well as exacerbate existing illnesses (Anderson et al., 2013).
Occupational stress can be characterising as an individual’s physical and mental response to a stressor in the surrounding environment (Antai-Otong 2001). This stressor may happen either on the mental or emotional states or on the physical activities that an individual is doing. Stress has been described as 'any compel that puts a mental or physical element past its run of security, handling a strain inside the individual (Cooper & Eaker 1988). As stated by (Marisa 2008), some individuals utilize the term stress to allude to an awful manager or unpleasant circumstance that they were laid open to. Here and there, they will get unsafe in their work inside the organization as a result of the condition.
Workplace stress has become an increasingly serious issue due to its cost to organisational productivity and employee health and wellbeing. Over the years, the association between stress and counterproductive workplace behaviour (CWB) has become an increasingly popular topic of study among organizational researchers. CWB refers to behaviour by employees that harms an organization or its members (Spector & Fox, 2002). Spector and colleagues (e.g., Chen & Spector, 1992; Penney & Spector, 2005) have portrayed CWB as an emotion-based response to stressful organisational conditions.
People while at work are often under psychological pressure. In the "risk group" fall supervisors and managers, people who work with clients, secretaries, salesmen, teachers and indeed, almost any job - the source of stress. According to a 2007 nationwide poll by the American Psychological Association, “three-quarters of Americans list work as a significant source of stress, with over half of those surveyed indicating that their work productivity suffered due to stress” (2013). Why the cause of stress is usually related to our performance at work? Because we spend a third of our life time at work and there are different surprises awaiting for us.
The potential ramifications for the employer can be costly when employees succumb to internal and external stressors. To effectively combat job stress and develop a comprehensive stress management program, organizations must be cognizant of several areas that may be contributing factors to an employee’s stress level. Internally, organizations should review the employee’s workload and ensure that they have the necessary skills to complete the tasks they are expected to complete (Ornelas & Kleiner, 2003). They must also work to “motivate, challenge and take full advantage of the employee’s skills and abilities” (Ornelas & Kleiner, 2003). Employee’s job stress can also be decreased by allowing them take an active part in decisions, creating an atmosphere that facilitates a support network, and offering flexibility in their schedules that allows them to address responsibilities outside the workplace (Ornelas & Kleiner, 2003).
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.
Acknowledging that job-related stress causes multiple problems for those who directly and indirectly experience the effects of stress, it should be recognized that money and time could be saved if individuals and companies attempted to prevent stress from disabling parts of the work force.
You haven't been at work for more then twenty minutes and already your day is going down hill. Your phone is ringing off the hook. Papers piled on your desk , and now you have to attend a meeting. Day after day it is the same thing at your job and you have become highly stressed out. In my paper I am going to explain why job stress happens and ways that you can relieve it.
People are always at risk when it comes to stress because it is something they deal with on daily basis. Stress can be defined as a psychological or a physiological reaction that happens when an individual comes in contact with a stressful event. When people think of stress they tend to think that stress is only bad meanwhile there can be a good reactions when it comes to stress. People need a certain amount of stress to work well and have the energy and willpower to achieve goals that they have set up for themselves. If life was not stressful we would all be bored and we would not give our 100 percent when we worked. Bad stress can lead to complete shot down. Someone being exposed to stressful events on a regular basis can result to having mental health problems. There are many different ways to deal with stress such as hobbies and exercise. Some people are not well educated when it comes to stress disorders. This subject should be more elaborated because if untreated stress can lead into bigger or worst mental health problems. Having poor education on the subject can interfere with getting the proper kind of help someone would need. This research essay will be talking about all the different kind of bad stress that can be harmful to a person. This research essay will also talk about all the information a person would need in order to be educated on the subject. (Allard)
Stress In Workplace affects Your Health What is Stress? Stress is the destructive source which our bodies experience as we adjust to our constantly altering surroundings. It has both physical and emotional effects on us and may result in positive and negative feelings. Stress can positive and at the same time negative. Positive Stress can help induce action and it can bring responsiveness and new ideas. Negative Stress can cause disbelieve, rejection, anger, and depression. These effects in turn can cause health problems such as headaches, upset stomach, rashes, insomnia, ulcers, high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke. Stress is "not a bad thing, but a necessary thing," according to Parton. Like a stringed instrument, people need a certain amount of tension in order to perform. Too little stress and the instrument won't produce the right sound. Too much stress, and the string snaps. Companies need stress to drive production, however, stress can easily escalate, and left unchecked, can have a negative effect on a company's bottom line. There are so many things related to workplace stress but it’s very difficult to cater and discuss all of them, here later we bit take a glimpse of todays most common and fastest technology using in business but as an stress, yes non other than “Internet”. Workplace Stress Workplace stress may be defined as job stress can be defined as the harmful physical and emotional responses that occur when the requirements of the job do not match the capabilities, resources, or needs of the worker. Job stress can lead to poor health and even injury." [(United States National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, 1999] Or “The emotional, cognitive, behavioral and physiological reac...
During this course I learned many stress management techniques. One of the first stress management techniques I learned was creating a list of things to do in order of importance. Before using this technique I left things to do all at once. This technique helped me by equaling out my work load. Another technique for stress I learned was yoga. Yoga helps me by relaxing my entire body. This technique helps me forget about the things that cause my stress. I use this technique when I have something on my mind that is