Introduction
This research study aims to identify the familiar sources of stress in a hectic work environment, whether commercial or public. The research will uncover management-applicable strategies for assisting workers who may experience tension in or outside the workplace. The report will examine the sources of work-related stress and its detrimental effects on employees’ physical and mental health. Furthermore, it will focus on personnel and serve as a roadmap for further research on the matter.
Literature Review
Background Information
An individual’s response to stress affects both them and their surroundings. People may experience stress due to the social milieu they are exposed to, particularly if they feel disrespected at work. Beery and Kaufer (2015) define stress as the body’s response to foreign or domestic environmental stimuli that disrupt the body’s natural condition. Depending on one’s viewpoint on the human condition, the term ‘stress’ may have several connotations and meanings. However, according to the definition of stress, it is a highly complex phenomenon that affects the whole person, not only the physical body but also a variety of other elements, some of which may not even be recognized by academics and researchers (Beery & Kaufer, 2015). Stress is a reaction to danger, to which an individual may respond positively or adversely.
Importance or Implications of Biological Psychology
Having identified that workplace stress is a threat to both the person and the institution’s performance, it is essential to recognize that it also poses substantial health workplace hazards. Stress is the leading cause of medical ailments, alcohol and drug misuse, and relationship issues, which affect millions of people in the workforce (Beery & Kaufer,2015). Poor working circumstances cause poor productivity; hence, these types of stressful settings may harm the employee (Beery & Kaufer, 2015). Work is necessary for someone to feel like a contributing member of society. It is crucial to recognize that tension will likely result when an employee’s creativity, decision-making, and intellect are not used at work.
Sources of Stress In The Workplace
Employee work relationships
This is the connection between coworkers in the workplace. The firm should focus on teamwork if it wants to give its workers a positive working environment. As a result of the opportunity to connect with workers, such activities have contributed to developing positive relationships among employees and management.
Role in the Organization
Uncertainty over who is responsible for what inside the organization may result in a conflict of roles (Haque & Omo, 2019). This creates a scenario in which the job description and duties are ambiguous. This conflict results from the management’s disregard for labor and duties (Starc, 2018). This ambiguity may stress the employee who does not seem to have a say in the firm’s day-to-day operations. It may also arise when an individual conflates job requirements with personal regulations.
Individual Career Development
This is the most stressful issue because while discussing a profession, several variables come into play, such as work stability, advancement chances, and excellent compensation (Pestoff, 2018). This is because it relies on the worker and how he then she will interpret the information concerning job instability.
Organizational Culture
Organizational changes may result in unfamiliar procedures for the employee. In addition, the constant technological innovation in the organizational structure may make it difficult for an employee to pass on knowledge, which may cause stress if the new method needs the employee to return to school to master it.
Balance of Work and Home Responsibilities
Home and work separation is a concern in our everyday lives. Consequently, this may be more difficult for persons working in stressful circumstances. It should also be noted that a person may bring work-related stress home with them and vice versa (Deshpande & Gupta, 2019). This mindset has the potential to destroy secure relationships if not appropriately addressed.
Stress Triggers in the WorkPlace Include
Work overload
This occurs when an organization expects more from a person than is necessary. This, coupled with inadequate compensation for the additional work, will undoubtedly annoy the employee. An overworked employee who lacks sufficient rest may get stressed and do subpar work (Von et al., 2018). This also applies to micromanagement; the employer should leave the employee room to complete the assignment.
Insecurity and Conflicts
This is a vital aspect of a safe working environment that provides employees with a feeling of serenity and security so they may do their job without fear of harm. It applies to internal and external threats (Von et al., 2018). The organization should have an appropriate framework for handling internal conflicts. These institutions should be able to provide impartial judgments when resolving organizational issues.
Special responsibility
These are additional responsibilities assigned by an employer. If they are not sufficiently compensated for their efforts, they will feel mistreated and overworked, producing a tense environment.
Organizational changes And Career threats
Existing positions may be promoted due to the formation of a new position. For a company to have a delighted staff, it must have regular job vacancies and guarantee that current competent workers are given a chance to apply; it will also, in turn, provide positions for new younger staff (Von et al., 2018). This also maintains organizational continuity. In light of the above, it is essential to concur that the human resources department is the most vital component of an organization’s structure. They are interested in hiring and interviewing candidates for the positions mentioned above.
It is thus reasonable to conclude that the human resources department is the most valuable asset in every firm. Human resource management presents several difficulties for the majority of firms. Work stress and job-related obligations harm employee morale, diminishing their coping abilities (Von et al., 2018). They face several obstacles, including absenteeism, worker turnover, and missed deadlines. This might result in reduced workplace excitement and thus decreased productivity.
Working Environment
If the company fails to provide a favorable working environment, then the performance of the workforce will decline. For an employer, many things may go wrong, such as workplaces with insufficient lighting, inadequate desk space, no air conditioning, and air and noise pollution. A few ecological stressors are listed above (Johnson et al., 2018). Initially, these stresses may appear negligible, and one may believe that he or she will become accustomed to them. However, they may accumulate over time and lead to poor employee performance. If a company wants to improve its performance, it should: Provide workers with breaks, organize better shifts, reduce working hours, and other enhancements, the company can (Johnson et al., 2018). However, this never occurs since employers never regard their workers and would instead raise prices and quantity than explore how to improve employee circumstances to enhance the quality of their services and goods.
Time pressure and task with deadlines are other examples of stress. Modern technology has enhanced the delivery of services and the processing of data. One will get a large quantity of data and be responsible for processing and providing it in the quickest period possible (Deshpande & Gupta, 2019). Even though they are an integral element of an organization’s day-to-day operations, jobs with time limits or deadlines will create stress and tension in the workplace. Work completed in a hurry may be poorly executed but may also make the one doing the job stressed, which may have a detrimental effect on the work (Deshpande & Gupta, 2019). Employees who are high achievers may be influenced by this, mainly if they have produced subpar work.
The adverse effects of time-related stress may have a disproportionately harmful effect on creative workers. It will affect emotional strain, disputes, and restlessness. The result will be confusion and haphazard work. In addition to anxiety and panic attacks, time-related stress makes it more difficult for employees to complete their duties. The quantity of work assigned to an employer might also be problematic (Deshpande & Gupta, 2019). There is no assurance that the employee will be left in a favorable and stress-free condition if they have a heavy task and a seemingly impossible deadline. High-risk occupations and working under such circumstances are hazardous for both the individual and the client. These occupations may include, among others, healthcare, executive management, transportation, and biohazard.
Response to Stress at Workplace
An employee’s response to workplace stress may be impacted in any of the following ways:
Emotional Response
This will affect one’s mental state; these are the many emotions and dispositions the individual will experience if they are underpaid and overworked. These characteristics include:
Anxiety: As a result of this stress response, increased anxiety and other anxiety-related symptoms, including chest pains, headaches, neck strains, nausea, anxious stomach, and dizziness, might occur.
Depression: This is a significant mental health issue with physical and mental effects. It will influence how one feels and how one goes about everyday life. There are several varieties of depression, and their manifestations vary from person to person. To mention a few, these include psychotic melancholy, affective disorders, and bipolar depression (Beery & Kaufer, 2015). These may be the most prevalent forms of depression.
Aggression: This is the emotion of rage. It is an adverse health consequence, as it will not only impact the employee but may also lead to strained relationships with coworkers. Persistent working difficulties mainly cause it.
Low self-esteem: This is the sensation of inferiority, and those who experience it risk criticizing themselves and failing to realize their full potential (Azim & Baig, 2019). This is a mental state since the workers are only thinking about themselves.
Inability to concentrate: This is to help retain concentration and concentrate on the work at hand. This might become hazardous if the person is handling harmful equipment or chemicals.
Physiologically Response
The physiological response is how stress will affect a worker’s physical health and well-being. They might include Hypertension, Respiratory issues, and gastrointestinal diseases, among others. An individual’s mental state causes the majority of these disorders.
Behavioral disorders
Behavioral disorders include the risks and alterations to which the worker will have been exposed. Injuries, poor performance, poor communication skills, and drug abuse and addiction will be among them (Von et al., 2018). These factors are essential to the employee’s development because they impact their stress response. The following things will impact the employee’s experience: Employee knowledge, comprehension of the circumstance, lack of social assistance, and individual variation in stress response.
Case Study
Uber is a firm located in the United States formed in 2009. It is a taxi firm that links riders and drivers through a smartphone-accessible software application. Drivers are their superiors and share their automobiles with more than one million active drivers worldwide (Sandi & Haller, 2015). Uber has extended its food delivery services to 24 countries. Since Uber drivers are freelance, the corporation is not liable for their actions. People are not insured for health, retirement, disability, unemployment, or workers’ compensation, but the corporation is. They provide several services, including Uber X, Uber XL, and Uber SUVs (Sandi & Haller, 2015). Uber dispatches teams to create market knowledge and recruit drivers before entering new territory.
In order to compete with other cab companies, they adjust their pricing on the kind of service one chooses, the time of day, and the distance traveled. Uber is aggressive when entering a new market and often begins operations without authorization (Saszik & Smith, 2018). Due to Uber’s reliance on software and that they only contact drivers when a customer requests a ride, this connection is not particularly well-established (Irshad et al., 2020). Many things might go awry for the driver, particularly in nations that have not entirely embraced Uber drivers. These dangers, notable insecurity, have been the fundamental reason not all nations have embraced this enterprise (Jaharuddin & Zainol, 2019). Since one’s employer is an app on a smartphone, it is up to them and the driver to decide whether or not to work, and they face a great deal of ambiguity.
This company does not provide a consistent working environment for drivers; consequently, it may be stressful if this is one’s only source of income. If the automobile is someone’s only mode of transportation, he exposes himself to several hazards, and if it is stolen, the firm is not accountable (Saszik & Smith, 2018). If a nation has many current Uber drivers, particularly in major cities, competition for passengers will be fierce, and if one is unfortunate, he or she may not get any (Sandi & Haller, 2015). There is also animosity among cab drivers and Uber drivers, which may be a source of stress in an unfavorable atmosphere.
Hypothesis Verification
The research aims to identify the sources of workplace stress and offer the most effective methods for preventing it, lowering the cost of sickness, absence, and depression. It must provide the most effective methods for managing and coping with workplace stress (Saszik & Smith, 2018). Its fundamental objective should be to offer different strategies for employees to control and manage stress and for employers to create a stress-free atmosphere where employees may perform at their best (Saszik & Smith, 2018). Having determined that stress is the leading cause of low employee productivity, the business must alter its day-to-day operations to create better working conditions for its workers.
Method
Utilizing a questionnaire is the most suitable research strategy for this topic. A questionnaire with short-answer questions will aid the company in identifying the key sources of stress and the primary stresses to offer a healthy workplace (Andrews et al., 2020). Queries may vary, but we will stick to stress-related questions for this article. Using this technology has benefits and drawbacks (Saszik & Smith, 2018). To mention a few benefits: It is practical, It is simple to quantify, anyone can do it, it is possible to employ a sample of the whole population, it is less expensive, and it may be used to evaluate current hypotheses (Saszik & Smith, 2018). The disadvantages include not conveying the recipient’s feelings and moods, is partially invalid; and there is no way to determine if the answer was honest.
Therefore, the aforementioned broad purpose is divided into the three particular questions listed below:
- What is stress?
- How does stress affect us?
- How can we best cope with stress in the workplace?
Validity
Companies need healthy and stable staff to be competitive, more reproductive, and fiscally viable. The organizations should consider establishing a counseling division. This should create a work environment that avoids stress and promotes timely and effective treatment (Holman, 2018). Firms should allocate suitable tasks to workers based on their field of study to increase productivity and quality. The company must offer a safe working environment since the inherent dangers may sometimes be deadly (Holman, 2018). This will increase their job capacities and decrease their disease and mental instability. There are more strategies to manage stress, with the organization playing a crucial role. They will be responsible for enhancing staff connections and developing programs for stress management (Holman, 2018). This research is crucial for any firm since it will assess the stress levels inside the organization and provide stress management techniques.
Ethical Criteria
The research objective was to determine the effects or repercussions of stress on employees’ work performance. The researcher anticipated that the study would be essential and would go a long way toward informing all firms, particularly those in the service industry, about the need to provide sufficient stress management for their personnel. The research would also contribute to the current body of knowledge (Johnson et al., 2018). Thus, the results would contribute to previously conducted research, allowing others in various nation regions to comprehend the issue (Breaugh & Alfes, 2018). It would include recommendations for mitigating the consequences of stress on productivity. Again, it was anticipated that it would be a source for more research relevant to stakeholders. Consequently, the management will base its judgments mainly on the information gathered from the surveys (Johnson et al., 2018). Despite being a short-term solution, it will play a crucial role in helping workers feel at ease inside the firm.
Summary and Conclusion
This article provides in-depth information about workplace stress and coping strategies. Stress is the most significant cause of mental tiredness and has been linked to suicides among young people. A healthy, productive employee should be the priority for every company, not a secondary one. The paper also illustrates the significant connection between stress in the job and its physical and emotional consequences (Azim & Baig, 2019). Sometimes, employees with demanding professions may not be able to leave their work at the office and may even carry it home. They are mentally exhausted and may not distinguish between work and home commitments. This will result in unfavorable relationships at home and work, and the repercussions might be severe (Azim & Baig, 2019). As a result of lowering the employee’s immune system, chronic weariness will result in sickness.
The most common reaction to stress in the working population is fatigue. Increasing performance may be accomplished through lowering employee tiredness, which can be accomplished by fostering long-lasting relationships in the workplace and praising an employee for excellent work (Jilke et al., 2018). Additionally, the firm may implement people-focused programs and clinics to improve working connections (Azim & Baig, 2019). Resolving stress-related difficulties is time-consuming, but if a business has a well-functioning staff, this should not be a concern. Regardless of how long it would take, the firm should hire or even absorb the most extraordinary counselors on the market to aid their personnel, particularly those in demanding vocations such as security, transport, and health.
Employers have a legal duty to provide a stress-free work environment for their workers. They should be at the forefront of ensuring that they have offered their staff safe and stress-free working conditions (Azim & Baig, 2019). On the other hand, workers should continue to communicate with their employers, with the organizational structure ensuring that information flows in both directions and choices are made appropriately (Azim & Baig, 2019). We should highlight that we only discuss work-related stress, although there are other types of stress. They will also affect the employee’s performance at work if they are not adequately addressed (Giao et al., 2020). Since the primary limitation of questionnaires is that they are intended to be concise and to the point, it may be necessary to do further research through other methods.
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