What Is Work Stress?

Work-related stress is the response people may have presented with the work demands and pressure that are not matched to their knowledge and abilities and which challenge capabilities to cope with its demand and pressure. There is often confusion btween or challenge and stress and sometimes used to excuse bad management practice. Pressure at work place is unavoidable due to demands of contemporary work environment. Pressure perceived as acceptable by an individual may even keep workers alert,motivated able to work and learn depending on the available resource and personal character. Stress occur in a wide range of work circumstance but is often made worse when employees feel they have little support from superiors and colleagues and where they have little support from superior and colleagues and where they have little control over work or how they can cope with its demand and pressure.

What causes work stress?

Poor work organization that is, the way we design jobs and the way we manage them , can cause work stress. Excessive or otherwise unmanageable demands. Poor management. Unsatisfactory working conditions. Research finding show that most stressful type of work is that values excessive demands and pressures that are not matched to workers knowledge and abilities, where there is little opportunity to exercise any choice or control, and where there is little support from others. The more the demands and pressure of work are matched to the knowledge and abilities of workers, the less likely they are experience work stress.

Causes of stress:
There may be numerous conditions in which people may feel stressors. Conditions that tend to cause stress are called stressors. Although even a single stressor may cause major stress, like death of near ones, usually stressors combine to press an individual in a variety of way until stress develops. The various stressors can be grouped into four categories: Individual, Group, Organizational and extra organizational.

Individual Stressors:
There are many stressors at the level of individual which may be generated in the context of organizational life or his person life. There are several such events which may work as stressors. These are life and career changes, personality type, and role characteristics.

Life and Career Changes: stress is produced by several changes in

life and career. Research studies show that in general, every transition or change produces stress. Any change in life of an individual puts him in disequilibrium state of affairs and he is required to bring a new equilibrium. In this process, he experience stress. Like life changes, there may be changes in career, in the form of promotion, demotion, transfer, separation. With each change, some kind of stress is experienced.

Personality Type: Personality characteristics such authoritarianism,

rigidity, masculinity, feminists, extroversion, supportiveness, spontaneity, emotionality, tolerance for ambiguity, locus of control anxiety and need for achievements are particularly relevant to individual stress. They are the who: Work long hours under constant deadline pressure and conditions for overload. Often takes work home at night or weekends and are unable to relax. Tend to become frustrated by the work situation.

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Role Characteristics: There may be role stress because of role

conflict or role ambiguity.

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Role Overload: Is a condition of stress under which an

individual is given more responsibility which requires him to work more than he is able to do in the time available.

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Role Conflict: Is another major cause of stress, usually

found in white collar jobs. It is a condition under which others have different perceptions or expectations of an individual role, the individual stats experiencing role conflict because it becomes difficult for him to accept, one set of demands without rejecting others.

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Role ambiguity: Is a situation under which an individual

doesnt have sufficient information about what he is expected to do and how the activity is to be oerformed.

Improper and inadequately defined roles lead to role ambiguity.

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Role stagnation stress: Occurs with the growth in age.

When an individual who has been performing a role for quite long time is given a new role he feels somewhat insecure. This is called role stagnation stress.

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Role inadequacy stress: Is felt when the resources

required by an individual to perform the role effectively and efficiently are not made available like funds, facilities, skilled personnel and so on.

VI.

Role isolation stress: Develops when an individual feels

that certain roles are closer to him whereas certain others are at a much greater distance.

Group Stressors: Group interaction affects human

behavior. Therefore, there may be some factors in group processes which act as stressor. Following are the major group stressors. Lack of group cohesiveness: Group cohesiveness is important for the satisfaction of individuals in group interaction. When they are denied the opportunity for this cohesiveness, it becomes very stressing for them as they get negative reaction from group members. Lack of social support: When individuals get social support from members of group, they are able to satisfy their social needs and they are better off. When this social support does not come, it becomes stressing for them. Conflict: Any conflict arising out of group interaction may become stressing for the group individuals, be it interpersonal conflict among the group members or inter group conflict.

Organizational Stressors: Organizational is

composed of individual and groups and therefore individual and group stressors may also exist in organizational context. Macro level dimensions of organizational functioning may work as stressors. The major organizational stressors are as follows: I. Organization structure: Organization structure provides formal relationship among individuals in an organization. Any defect in

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organization structure like lack of opportunity for advancement, high degree of specialization, excessive interdependence of various departments, line and staff conflicts work as stressors as relationships among individuals and groups do not work effectively. Organizational policies: Organization policies guidelines for action. Unfavorable and unambiguous policies may affect the functioning of the individuals adversely and they may experience stress. Thus, unfair and arbitrary performance evaluation, unrealistic job description, frequent relocation of activities, rotating work shifts, ambiguous procedures, inflexible rules, inequality of incentives etc, work as stressors. Organizational processes: Organizational processes also affect individual behavior at work. Faulty organizational processes like poor communication, poor and inadequate feedback of work performance, ambiguous and conflicting roles, unfair control systems, inadequate information flow cause stress for people in organization. Physical Conditions: Organizational physical conditions work affects performance. Thus, poor physical conditions like crowding and lack of privacy, excessive noise, excessive heat or cold, pressure of toxic chemicals and radiation, air pollution, safety hazards, poor lighting etc, produce stress on people.

Extra Organizational Stressors: Since an

organization interacts continuously with its environment, events happening outside the organization also work as stressors. Thus, social and technical changes, economic and financial

conditions, social class conflicts, community conditions etc work as stressors. When there is heavy work and time is short, it creates stress. At times the stressful conditions are created by superiors. Interpersonal rivalry and conflict is major cause for stress. People working on heavy machines and in polluted environment suffer more stress. It has been observed that people at higher levels of management suffer more stress than managers at middle and lower levels. The feeling of anxiety develops when individuals sense that there is some kind of problem likely to emerge, but the source of problem cannot be identified. FRUSTRATION: Is another major cause of stress. When an employee is repeatedly inferred or hindered that prevents him from achieving a desired goal, results in frustration. If an individual is asked to complete an assignment after office hours and he is frustrated by repeatedly hindrances, he gets irritated, develops uneasiness or headaches or develops some other reactions. These reactions to frustration are termed as defense mechanisms because he is trying to defect himself from the psychological effect of the blocked goal. There are various kinds of defense mechanisms. Aggression is the most common reaction. Besides it also includes apathy, with drawl, physical disorders, substitute objectives, negativism, and fantasy act.

Stress and job performance:

Stress and job performance go together. It can be helpful or harmful depending upon the level of it. Increase in stress enhances job performance as it encourages the workers to meet the job requirements and face the challenges. When stress reaches a saturation point it exhibits day performance capability of an individual. If stress continues for a longer period the employees behavior undergoes change. He is unable to take decisions, develops erratic behavior and unable to cope with the situation. This leads to burnout conditions and job performance become zero.

Working Environment:
The way in which your working environment is arranged can be a major cause of stress. An obvious case is where the people and recourses you need are immediately at hand. This obtrudes people from achieving the work goals and causes stress. The layout of your working environment may or may not be something you can control. If it is, try to arrange things so that people have easy access to the people and the recourses they need.

Stress and Physical Work Environment:

In the additional to the task demands of the job as a source of stress, it is important to consider the stress associated with the physical nature of environment at work. This includes the distress caused by noise and vibration, extremes of temperature, lighting and hygiene factors.

Exposure to Damages and Hazards:

Various occupational groups are exposed to physical dangers at work. Workers may be exposed to various physical changers at work. These include a variety of customers service and clerical workers, who by virtue of their job have to face and deal with aggressive and sometimes violent clients, customers.

Burn Out:
It is a condition of severe stage of stress under which the person gets mentally, emotionally and physically exhausted .it can happen to any employee working at any level in the organization .people with burnout tent to have symptoms like depression, low self image and loss of productivity. The common symptoms of burnout include: 1. Pressimism, irritability, and suspicion. 2. self-criticism 3. Anger at those making the demands 4. Fatigue 5. Feeling of urgency

Burn Out Life Cycle:

Burn out is something that doesnt happen overnight. It takes place over a period. There are various stages in this period that ultimately leads to burnout. Hence, a person should identify the stage in which he/she is at present and take preventive measures.

The First Stage Is The Honeymoon Stage:

During this stage, the employees are new to the job or project and they feel that their job is wonderful. They will be delighted with their job, co-workers and organization. They will have a lot of energy and enthusiasm and believe that their job will satisfy all their needs.

Strategies for Coping with Stress:

Prioritize work Delegate work Laughter Exercise Relaxation Diet Sleep

Prioritize Work:
Multitasking is the buzzword these days. One way to minimize stress while multitasking is to plan, prioritize and perform. Prioritizing involves ranking activities based on their importance and performing these activities in that order. Prioritizing activities each day is the simplest way to tackle stress.

Delegate Work:
Some individuals prefer doing all the work themselves, this adds to their stress. They should learn to delegate routine work to others.

Relaxation:
The best strategy to reduce stress is to relax. It is very important for a person to schedule sometime for relaxation. Relaxation techniques vary from person to person. One person may unwind by listening to music; another may prefer a long solitary walk. Relaxation time will disconnect the person from all his/her worries, tensions. The psychological benefits of relaxation
include:

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A decrease in blood pressure. Slower respiration and heart rate. Reduces muscle tension. Lower cholesterol in the blood.

Sleep:
Is a weapon. During sleep a person prepares himself/herself to face another day. Stress makes a person sleepless or very sleepy. On an average everyone needs at least 7-8 hours of sleep every day. Some may need more sleep and some less. After good night sleep a person feels fresh.

Laughter:
A day without laughter is a day wasted for life. Laughter is the best outlet for stress buster. A person with a sense of humor is less likely to be under stress.

Holistic Therapies:
Holistic therapies allow body to heal naturally. These therapies have no side effects and are reliable. Some popular therapies are: o o o o Massage therapy Aromatherapy Reflexology Nutrition therapy

Massage:
Is the oldest technique used for reducing stress. Parts of the body that are easily affected by stress are focused upon. These parts include the forehead, neck, upper arms and shoulders. Massage encourages blood circulation, easy breathing and quick relaxation of the muscles.

Aromatherapy:
It is the use of essential oils in treatment process. These oils are derived from plants and flowers. They are popular for improving emotional and physical health.