Employee Stress and How Stress Relates to Retention

Nancy Dowdle HRD 880 Dr. S. Bronack Various Sectors April 27,2009

Employee Stress and Organization Retention

Employee stress is a fairly well-studied subject, as is

employee retention techniques However, the effects of employee stress on retention is not understood well and mandates more research.

Articles from the journal Research and Practice in Human Resource Management
The articles I used for my research all came

from the Research and Practice in Human Resource Management journal, a peerreviewed human resources journal I found articles that related to employee stress, employee retention, and organizational changes These articles best served the purpose of gathering what information I could on employee stress and retention

Bias and Limitation of Articles

Some of the articles I found analyze very specific

industries such as nursing or software development, so those results may not translate well across other industries Other articles analyzed sectors in countries other than the United States, so those results may not translate well to domestic organizations The journal articles focus on stress, organizational change, and employee turnover. None directly address my hypotheses regarding stress and employee retention

Information Gathered from Journal Articles

An employees reaction to stress can be a

determining factor in retention and satisfaction Employee stress can cost companies money due to unproductive employees, employee illness, and turnover Employees who are not stressed exhibit positive organizational behaviors such as voluntarily helping co-workers, training, and devoting more time to special projects outside of typical work hours

Information Gathered from Journal Articles

There are several indicators that an

employee may be looking to leave a company such as increased tardiness and absences from work These behaviors may or may not be related to stress, as it is not well studied Factors other than stress can cause an employee to leave a company. These factors include age, tenure, education level, and ability to perform

Information Gathered from Journal Articles

Downsizing and outsourcing became very

popular in the 90s and were seen as great ways to cut costs and remain competitive in the global market However, downsizing and outsourcing can have very negative effects on the workforce Employees that are left behind after downsizing tend to be less productive, more worried about the safety of their jobs, and more resistant to change.

Information Gathered from Journal Artciles

Organizational change can cause stress for

employees Changes in an organization should be carefully and deliberately planned Changes should also be communicated to employees very thoroughly before the changes take place as well as during the changes to ensure employees are comfortable

Hypotheses Developed from Articles

There is a negative

relationship between employee stress and employee retention in an organization. There is a positive relationship between employee stress and organizational change There is a negative relationship between employee stress and actions of human resources and/or management in an organization

Anticipated Findings from Proposed Research

I would expect after performing a study to test these

hypotheses that you would find that the higher the levels of stress are in an organization, the lower the retention rate would be for employees I also posit that you would find that higher levels of stress occur when there is organizational change Finally, I would expect you to find that stress increases in employees when there is a lack of management and/or HR involvement in an organization

THE END

For questions contact: Nancy Dowdle nancy_dowdle@hotmail.com