How does stress arise, what are the consequences and how is it remedied? - Chapter 9

This chapter describes the nature of stress and the consequences of stress for people and organizations. In addition, the causes of stress and the steps that can be taken to deal with stress effectively are discussed.

What is the nature of stress?

Stress is experiencing possibilities (something that has the potential to be useful to a person) or threats (something that has the potential to damage the person) that are important to a person. Stress arises when the person feels that he/she can not deal effectively with the possibilities or threats. Stress has three aspects: possibilities/threats, importance and uncertainty. Stress is about the perception of these three aspects.

Stress is something very personal. Individual differences such as personality, talents and perceptions play a major role in determining the way employees respond to stress, to what extent they experience stress and how they think about possible sources of stress within an organization. Personality traits that are very susceptible to stress are: neuroticism, being introverted, low self-esteem and people who are not open to new experiences, and also people with a type A personality. In addition, ability can be a stress factor. People then experience stress because they think they can not do certain tasks. A lack of experience can also play a role in stress.

People react differently to stress, therefore, the consequences of stress are different for everyone. Stress can have physical consequences, psychological consequences and behavioral consequences.

In the case of physical complaints as a result of short term stress, one may think of abdominal pain, headache, poor sleep, sweaty hands, dizziness, etc. In the longer term, stress can lead to high blood pressure or heart attacks. But these are only examples because everyone responds differently physically to stress.

Psychological effects of stress can be negative feelings, moods and emotions. Examples include being moody, anxious, worried, angry, bitter or hostile. Other psychological consequences are negative attitudes. Examples include: a negative view of different aspects of their job and organization, feeling undervalued or lack of control. A final psychological consequence of stress is a burnout. Burnout is psychological, emotional, or physical exhaustion. Burnout is a special psychological consequence of stress that arises when an employee experiences work stress day in day out for a longer period of time.

The consequences of stress that affect behavior are probably the most interesting for managers. It is important to make a distinction between stress and the level of performance. When there is more positive stress, the employee will be less bored and more motivated to perform at a high level. If this stress becomes too much, it can turn into negative stress and the employee will perform worse. The employee is then, as it were, paralyzed by the intense stress. The point when stress is too intense to continue to perform well is different for every individual. Behavior due to intense stress can be poor performance, contracted mutual relationships, employee turnover or absenteeism.

What causes stress?

What causes stress? Five potential stressors, or potential sources of stress, are discussed. Sources of stress can be: personal life, work related stressors, group and organization related stressors, the balance between work and life or and an uncertain environment.

The five potential stressors provide the three consequences of stress (physical, psychological and behavioral) through the personal experience of stress (perceptions, personality, skills and previous experiences).

1. Personal stressors. The home situation is very important for the employee, both during and outside of work. Major life events can cause a lot of stress, both positive and negative. Examples of positive life events are having a child or getting married. Examples of negative life events are the death of a family member, a divorce or a serious illness. Minor life events may include things like a speed penalty, going on holiday, fights, etc. The level of stress is determined by the stressors' intensity, how important these are for the person and the amount of stressful events that take place in a certain time frame.

2. Work-related stressors. There are many different work-related stressors. This can create a role conflict for stress. A role conflict occurs when certain requirements that a person must meet are in conflict with other requirements imposed on the same person. Role ambiguity often causes stress, especially among newer employees. Role ambiguity occurs when it is not clear to the employee what is expected of him/her or how they should do their work. Overload is when you as an employee have too many tasks you need to do. Of course there is also underload, this is the case if the employee has too little work, they may get bored. Promotions and other challenging assignments also cause stress because the employee then asks themself questions like "Can I do this?" and "Will it come to an end?". The last work related source of stress is the economic security and guarantee of work. Questions such as "Will I be fired?", "Will I get a salary increase?" and "Will the organization make or will not cut down?" also cause a lot of stress.

3. Group and organization-related stressors. Stress can also arise in the work group of the organization. Miscommunication, quarrels, and personal feuds are all sources of negative stress for employees. Due to the increasing globalization increases in cross-cultural teams with employees from different countries are emerging. Conflicts and misunderstandings due to cultural differences can sometimes be sources of stress (culture shock). Other sources of stress are uncomfortable working conditions (such as noise pollution, extreme temperatures, poorly developed supplies and machines), unsafe or hazardous work (e.g. working with chemicals or dangerous machines) or changes within a company.

4. Stressors that are the consequences of the balance between work and private life. Stress can arise if the obligations of the work conflict with the obligations at home. For example, it can sometimes be difficult to make long hours at work when there are children. The working generation of today is also called the sandwich generation because they often have to take care of children and their parents. Stress also develops when it is expected that you play a role that is in conflict with your own principles.

5. Uncertain environment. People can experience stress from uncertainties and crises from the wider environment in which organizations operate. For example, the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 on the United States were a shock to everyone. Global instability and wars, outbreaks of deadly diseases, scandals involving top managers, and air pollution are all examples of what may cause uncertainty within an environment. This stress comes from powerlessness.

How do people and organizations deal with stress?

How people experience stress, positive or negative, depends on the way people cope with it. There are two basic ways to deal with stress: problem-oriented coping and emotion-focused coping.

Problem-oriented coping refers to the steps people take to deal directly with the source of the stress.

A strategy for dealing with overload, for example, is time management, a series of techniques that help people realize what tasks need to be completed within the given timeframe. A list of the tasks is first made, then priorities are set by arranging the tasks in order of importance and finally an estimate has to be made of the time required to carry out the tasks and follow the schedule. The pressure to complete many tasks in a short time ensures that many employees multitask. However, this is not always more efficient, certainly not for complex tasks. When two tasks have to be accomplished that rely on the same areas of work, less work can be done. For example, setting up a mail and at the same time having a conversation; both use your knowledge of language.

Get help from a mentor; because you get help and advice from someone, you experience less stress. The mentor is often another employee who has a lot of experience.

Another strategy is role negotiation, a process in which the employees actively try to change their role, so that there is less often an overload, underload, role ambiguity or role conflicts. For example, an employee can say "no".

The second way of dealing with stress, the emotion-focused coping style, refers to the steps people take to better deal with their stressful feelings and emotions and to keep them under control. This can be done in different ways: physical exercise, meditation, social support, and clinical help. Less functional ways to reduce stress is to use drugs or alcohol or each too much food. These create extra problems.

Organizations have the same coping strategies as individuals but these two coping strategies are filled in differently.

Problem-oriented coping strategy

The first is the problem-oriented coping strategy, only it consists of other methods:

• Job redesigning and rotating; jobs are designed differently, for example, reducing travel, and people rotate jobs within the company.

• Reducing uncertainty; by letting employees decide on certain matters and improving communication within the organization, you reduce uncertainty and with it, the stress level.

• Job security; it must be clear where one stands in the organization. Will they or will they not be fired? For employees with children it can be stressful to find good, safe and cheap childcare. The organization can set up a daycare of the children ('company day care').

• Flexible work schedules and job sharing; these have been created so that people can combine their work well with their responsibility at home.

• Telecommuting; there is the possibility for employees to work at home. This does not necessarily mean that the person always works at home, but the possibility is there and that gives a lot of flexibility and autonomy.

Emotion-oriented strategy

The second strategy for organizations is the emotion-oriented strategy. Organizations can help employees deal effectively with stressful feelings and emotions by, for example:

• Offering sports facilities before and after work or during lunch breaks.

• Organizational support; the extent to which an organization is committed to the welfare of its members, tries to help with problems and treats them fairly.

• Employee assistance programs; these tools help the worker through therapy and other professional help to help the employee with their problems such as alcohol use and family problems. What is important here is the confidentiality of care providers, so that employees do not have to worry about their job.

• Time off; it may be a few days, a longer period such as a week or a sabbatical (at least a few months off).