Stress in the Workplace: Causes, Effects and How We Cope

STRESS IN THE WORKPLACE

STRESS IN THE WORKPLACE: CAUSES, EFFECTS AND HOW WE COPE

Introduction

In a world of constant technological and industrial advancement on a daily basis it seems, one would expect that our lives should be easier than say 30, 40, or 50 years ago. Internet access, computer and other advancements have certainly made our lives easier in some ways, but one thing that hasn't happened is a decrease in stress. It seems the more we have the more we want, and the more we do not achieve what we want, the more stressed we become, in our personal and professional lives. Employers have always been faced with the challenge of finding the perfect employees, just as individuals are searching for the perfect place of employment. Part of this is not only the potential candidate's personality, and how they will handle a particular job and its responsibilities; but part of the challenge is provide incentives and benefits that will entice the perfect employees. Stress can be a major factor in any job situation and not only is it an issue of how an individual handles stress, but also how an employer combats stress in the workplace through different protocols or benefits provided to the employees. The focus of this paper will be stress in our workplace environments.

Causes

There are many causes of stresses (or stressors) in the workplace, no matter what trade, industry or profession one considers. The stressors however will be specific to the job. There can be stress related to job responsibilities and the pressure to be in charge or responsible for certain major decisions or tasks. There can be stress in a position that involves life and death, and dangers to health. Stress is also related to how much control a person has over their task. It may be there is little control over the task but also little responsibility which should mean lower stress. However, if that person is in a position of great responsibility with no control over the task or the result, it can be very stressful for that person as their job may hinge on the positive result in that task. For example, a sports coach for a professional team has no control over the team winning, but ultimately is expected to take responsibility whether the team wins or loses. This obviously can be stressful.

There can be stress if an individual is not particularly fond of their job, or has dissatisfaction with management of the organization itself or the person/people in charge. It stands to reason that if an employee is happy with their job and responsibilities, and happy with their treatment by their employer, that employee will be more committed to the organization and likely will experience less stress than the next person who is unhappy with their job and employer.

Another stressor may also be the personal relationships that exist between co-workers in the work environment. Personalities differ and although in a perfect world we would like to see all members of the work team get along, that may not be realistic. Personality conflicts, gender, and race differences can contribute to the challenges with colleagues simply getting along. On the extreme end of that, there can be different kinds of harassment between employees that also makes a work environment stressful.

There are certainly other stressors, but also important to understand is that every individual has a different capacity for handling these stressors. Some people are simply more in control of their emotions than others. Some tend to be "worriers" while others are not so much. Some individuals may thrive on the pressure and responsibility of a stressful situation.

Whatever the stressor is, the individual's capacity to deal with the stressor and how they behave will certainly have an effect on their performance at their workplace.

History of Stress Management

Stress has been around for very long time, but due to the poor level of awareness in the past decades it was simply seen as a form of illness. With the level of awareness created today, it has become easier for people to recognize when they are stressed, the stressors and how to manage and cope with it. This could not be said to be the case in the past regarding stress, stressors and coping mechanisms.

The term "stress" came to stay in the 60s, before then it was previously referred to as "nerves" or "Tensions". At this time stress was seen as a way of letting ones emotions out. According to this claim, people began to express their anxieties, pressures and frustrations (Managers Magazines: 1991, 31). Deductively, it could be said that open expression is a way, people in the 60s used to manage or cope with stress.

In the 70s, stress was seen as a disorder, at this point professionals came up with characteristics and symptoms for stress identification. They also began rating jobs and activities in terms of the level of stress it had on individuals. In this era "sales managers" were ranked 34th among the 125 most stressful occupations (Managers Magazines: 1991, 31). Despite this effort, the number of people suffering from stress increased. In recent research done by CarreerCast.com researchers, it was found that commercial airline pilots had the most stressful jobs, followed by public relations executives.

It was not until the 80s that awareness on stress grew. In an effort to manage stress, there was a great deal of time spent on learning how to cope or live with it. Also at this point people became aware that stress to a certain extent is actually good. Physical activity and exercise took a new twist, because people now realized the role of exercise in the likelihood of stress. It was not only limited to exercise alone, stress management books, tools, consultants and counselors became a part of life, as each method assisted and gave advice on how to cope and deal with stress. Individuals became more self aware in terms of stress they were feeling and finding ways to cope.

During the 90s, there were very limited stress management options. People saw stress as part of their jobs and also they were afraid of becoming "victims of corporate cutbacks" so they did not have the nerve to complain about it to their employers. According to a study, experts claim that employers have also contributed to the increased level of stress employees face and the stress management programs put in place is poor. "I've never seen workers as stressed as they are and I've never seen companies so uncaring," said