Types of job stress pdf

However, the role of individual factors is not ignored. According to the NIOSH view, exposure to stressful working conditions called job stressors can have a direct influence on worker safety and health. But as shown below, individual and other situational factors can intervene to strengthen or weaken this influence. Examples of individual and situational factors that can help to reduce the effects of stressful working conditions include the following:.

The Design of Tasks. Example: David works to the point of exhaustion. Theresa is tied to the computer, allowing little room for flexibility, self-initiative, or rest. Management Style. Lack of participation by workers in decision- making, poor communication in the organization, lack of family-friendly policies. Interpersonal Relationships. Poor social environment and lack of support or help from coworkers and supervisors. Work Roles. Career Concerns. Job insecurity and lack of opportunity for growth, advancement, or promotion; rapid changes for which workers are unprepared.

Environmental Conditions. Unpleasant or dangerous physical conditions such as crowding, noise, air pollution, or ergonomic problems. Stress sets off an alarm in the brain, which responds by preparing the body for defensive action. The nervous system is aroused and hormones are released to sharpen the senses, quicken the pulse, deepen respiration, and tense the muscles. This response sometimes called the fight or flight response is important because it helps us defend against threatening situations.

The response is preprogrammed biologically. Everyone responds in much the same way, regardless of whether the stressful situation is at work or home. Short-lived or infrequent episodes of stress pose little risk. But when stressful situations go unresolved, the body is kept in a constant state of activation, which increases the rate of wear and tear to biological systems. Ultimately, fatigue or damage results, and the ability of the body to repair and defend itself can become seriously compromised.

As a result, the risk of injury or disease escalates. In the past 20 years, many studies have looked at the relationship between job stress and a variety of ailments.

Mood and sleep disturbances, upset stomach and headache, and disturbed relationships with family and friends are examples of stress-related problems that are quick to develop and are commonly seen in these studies. These early signs of job stress are usually easy to recognize. But the effects of job stress on chronic diseases are more difficult to see because chronic diseases take a long time to develop and can be influenced by many factors other than stress.

Nonetheless, evidence is rapidly accumulating to suggest that stress plays an important role in several types of chronic health problems-especially cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal disorders, and psychological disorders.

Cardiovascular Disease Many studies suggest that psychologically demanding jobs that allow employees little control over the work process increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Musculoskeletal Disorders On the basis of research by NIOSH and many other organizations, it is widely believed that job stress increases the risk for development of back and upper- extremity musculoskeletal disorders. Psychological Disorders Several studies suggest that differences in rates of mental health problems such as depression and burnout for various occupations are due partly to differences in job stress levels.

Economic and lifestyle differences between occupations may also contribute to some of these problems. Workplace Injury Although more study is needed, there is a growing concern that stressful working conditions interfere with safe work practices and set the stage for injuries at work. Suicide, Cancer, Ulcers, and Impaired Immune Function Some studies suggest a relationship between stressful working conditions and these health problems.

However, more research is needed before firm conclusions can be drawn. But research findings challenge this belief. Studies show that stressful working conditions are actually associated with increased absenteeism, tardiness, and intentions by workers to quit their jobs-all of which have a negative effect on the bottom line. Recent studies of so-called healthy organizations suggest that policies benefiting worker health also benefit the bottom line.

A healthy organization is defined as one that has low rates of illness, injury, and disability in its workforce and is also competitive in the marketplace. NIOSH research has identified organizational characteristics associated with both healthy, low-stress work and high levels of productivity. Examples of these characteristics include the following:.

Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company conducted several studies on the effects of stress prevention programs in hospital settings. Program activities included 1 employee and management education on job stress, 2 changes in hospital policies and procedures to reduce organizational sources of stress, and 3 establishment of employee assistance programs. In contrast, there was no reduction in claims in a matched group of 22 hospitals that did not implement stress prevention activities.

According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, workers who must take time off work because of stress, anxiety, or a related disorder will be off the job for about 20 days. The examples of Theresa and David illustrate two different approaches for dealing with stress at work. Stress Management. Nearly one-half of large companies in the United States provide some type of stress management training for their workforces. Stress management programs teach workers about the nature and sources of stress, the effects of stress on health, and personal skills to reduce stress-for example, time management or relaxation exercises.

EAPs provide individual counseling for employees with both work and personal problems. Stress management training may rapidly reduce stress symptoms such as anxiety and sleep disturbances; it also has the advantage of being inexpensive and easy to implement.

However, stress management programs have two major disadvantages:. Organizational Change. This approach is the most direct way to reduce stress at work.

It involves the identification of stressful aspects of work e. The advantage of this approach is that it deals directly with the root causes of stress at work.

However, managers are sometimes uncomfortable with this approach because it can involve changes in work routines or production schedules, or changes in the organizational structure.

As a general rule, actions to reduce job stress should give top priority to organizational change to improve working conditions. But even the most conscientious efforts to improve working conditions are unlikely to eliminate stress completely for all workers.

For this reason, a combination of organizational change and stress management is often the most useful approach for preventing stress at work.

Program design and appropriate solutions will be influenced by several factors-the size and complexity of the organization, available resources, and especially the unique types of stress problems faced by the organization. Theresa, on the other hand, is bothered by difficult interactions with the public and an inflexible work schedule. Although it is not possible to give a universal prescription for preventing stress at work, it is possible to offer guidelines on the process of stress prevention in organizations.

In all situations, the process for stress prevention programs involves three distinct steps: problem identification, intervention, and evaluation.

These steps are outlined beginning on page For this process to succeed, organizations need to be adequately prepared. At a minimum, preparation for a stress prevention program should include the following:. Bringing workers or workers and managers together in a committee or problem-solving group may be an especially useful approach for developing a stress prevention program. However, when forming such working groups, care must be taken to be sure that they are in compliance with current labor laws.

Employers should seek legal assistance if they are unsure of their responsibilities or obligations under the National Labor Relations Act. Low morale, health and job complaints, and employee turnover often provide the first signs of job stress. But sometimes there are no clues, especially if employees are fearful of losing their jobs. Lack of obvious or widespread signs is not a good reason to dismiss concerns about job stress or minimize the importance of a prevention program.

Step 1 — Identify the Problem. The best method to explore the scope and source of a suspected stress problem in an organization depends partly on the size of the organization and the available resources.

Group discussions among managers, labor representatives, and employees can provide rich sources of information. Such discussions may be all that is needed to track down and remedy stress problems in a small company. In a larger organization, such discussions can be used to help design formal surveys for gathering input about stressful job conditions from large numbers of employees.

Regardless of the method used to collect data, information should be obtained about employee perceptions of their job conditions and perceived levels of.

The list of job conditions that may lead to stress page 9 and the warning signs and effects of stress page 11 provide good starting points for deciding what information to collect. Regardless of the method used to collect data, information should be obtained about employee perceptions of their job conditions and perceived levels of stress, health, and satisfaction. Objective measures such as absenteeism, illness and turnover rates, or performance problems can also be examined to gauge the presence and scope of job stress.

However, these measures are only rough indicators of job stress-at best. Data from discussions, surveys, and other sources should be summarized and analyzed to answer questions about the location of a stress problem and job conditions that may be responsible-for example, are problems present throughout the organization or confined to single departments or specific jobs?

Survey design, data analysis, and other aspects of a stress prevention program may require the help of experts from a local university or consulting firm. However, overall authority for the prevention program should remain in the organization. Step 2 — Design and Implement Interventions.

Once the sources of stress at work have been identified and the scope of the problem is understood, the stage is set for design and implementation of an intervention strategy. In small organizations, the informal discussions that helped identify stress problems may also produce fruitful ideas for prevention. In large organizations, a more formal process may be needed.

Frequently, a team is asked to develop recommendations based on analysis of data from Step 1 and consultation with outside experts. Certain problems, such as a hostile work environment, may be pervasive in the organization and require company-wide interventions. Other problems such as excessive workload may exist only in some departments and thus require more narrow solutions such as redesign of the way a job is performed.

Still other problems may be specific to certain employees and resistant to any kind of organizational change, calling instead for stress management or employee assistance interventions. Some interventions might be implemented rapidly e. Step 3 — Evaluate the Interventions. Evaluation is an essential step in the intervention process. Evaluation is necessary to determine whether the intervention is producing desired effects and whether changes in direction are needed.

Short-term evaluations might be done quarterly to provide an early indication of program effectiveness or possible need for redirection. Many interventions produce initial effects that do not persist. Long-term evaluations are often conducted annually and are necessary to determine whether interventions produce lasting effects. Evaluations should focus on the same types of information collected during the problem identification phase of the intervention, including information from employees about working conditions, levels of perceived stress, health problems, and satisfaction.

Employee perceptions are usually the most sensitive measure of stressful working conditions and often provide the first indication of intervention effectiveness. Adding objective measures such as absenteeism and health care costs may also be useful. However, the effects of job stress interventions on such measures tend to be less clear-cut and can take a long time to appear. The job stress prevention process does not end with evaluation. Rather, job stress prevention should be seen as a continuous process that uses evaluation data to refine or redirect the intervention strategy.

The following pages provide examples of actions some organizations have taken to help prevent stress in their workplaces. Example 1 — A Small Service Organization.

A department head in a small public service organization sensed an escalating level of tension and deteriorating morale among her staff. Job dissatisfaction and health symptoms such as headaches also seemed to be on the rise. Suspecting that stress was a developing problem in the department, she decided to hold a series of all-hands meetings with employees in the different work units of the department to explore this concern further.

Acute stress can happen to anyone and everyone at some point in their lives. Facing a new and exciting challenge can be thrilling, but still, the feelings associated with acute stress deserve our attention. Be sure to get plenty of rest, eat well, and exercise, for example. Keep an eye on the stressful situation and look forward to getting over the hump. Being able to see the light at the end of the tunnel should help you get through this busy time a little easier. Exhaustion and burnout.

When you are exhausted, physically, emotionally, or intellectually, the symptoms can have a really huge impact on you and your work. Also known as burnout , this type of work-based stress deserves immediate attention. First of all, in order to take care of yourself immediately, you could try getting away and taking a break for a little while. Time off will allow you to begin to heal and regroup. In a recent article in Fast Company , Robert Maurer argues that for some workers, usually managers, stress is more like fear in disguise.

He goes on to explain that the symptoms we associate with stress — some of which he identifies as muscle tension, change in appetite, trouble sleeping, etc. Every animal has a built-in fear response: the deer runs, the bird flies, the mouse burrows, and the lion charges.