Is Your Workplace Stress-Free (The Guardian: 06/06/2017)

Everyone who has held a job has, at some point, felt the pressure of work-related stress. Any job can have stressful elements, even if you love what you do. In the short-term, you may experience pressure to meet a deadline or to fulfill a challenging obligation. But when work stress becomes chronic, it can be overwhelming and harmful to both physical and emotional health. Unfortunately, work related stress does not just disappear when you head home for the day. When stress persists, it can take it toll on your health and wellbeing.

In the short term, a stressful work environment can contribute to problems such as headache, stomachache, sleep disturbances, short temper and difficulty concentrating. Chronic stress can result in anxiety, insomnia, high blood pressure, and a weakened immune system.   It can also contribute to health conditions such as depressions, obesity and heart disease. Compounding the problem, people who experience excessive stress often deal with it in unhealthy ways such as overeating, eating unhealthy foods, smoking cigarettes or abusing drugs and alcohol.

A study conducted by Bhatti N. et al, found that 33% of stress was caused by factors outside of the workplace while 67% of stress was caused by internal, company factors. The internal factors included heavy or difficult workload, working long hours, leadership (or lack thereof), and work environment.

Although a certain amount of job stress is to be expected, stress in the workplace can be costly, because it affects not just individual wellbeing but also organizational performance.   There are many different factors that can trigger job stress and the triggers and how people react to them can be different for every individual.. Some examples of job stressors include:

Factors unique to the job

  • Workload – overload and under load
  • Pace / variety / meaningfulness of work
  • Autonomy (e.g. the ability to make your own decisions about our own job or about specific tasks)
  • Shiftwork / hours of work
  • Physical environment (noise, air quality, etc)
  • Isolation at the workplace (emotional or working alone)

Role in the Organization

  • Role Conflict (conflicting job demands, multiple supervisors/managers)
  • Role ambiguity (Lack of clarity of responsibilities, expectations, etc)
  • Level of responsibility

Career development

  • Under / over-promotion
  • Job security (fear of redundancy either from economy, or a lack of tasks or work to do)
  • Career development opportunities
  • Overall job satisfaction

Relationships at work (Interpersonal)

  • Supervisors
  • Coworkers
  • Subordinates
  • Threat of violence, harassment, etc (threats to personal safety)

Organizational structure / climate

  • Participation (or non-participation) in decision-making
  • Management style
  • Communication patterns

How organizations can reduce workplace stress

There is recognition that the cost of stress – either in the form of lower productivity or in extreme cases, the loss of employees is more costly.   There are a number of strategies to help minimize stress in the workplace, including (but not limited to):

  • Provide a safe and confortable physical working environment (e.g. noise, air quality, hazards,, quality of lighting, ergonomics)
  • Provide tasks that are reasonably demanding but not over-demanding
  • Give employees a variety of tasks to do
  • Let employees make their own decisions when possible
  • Provide opportunities for people to enhance their skills
  • Encourage social support in the workplace
  • Implement a meaningful employee recognition program
  • During recruitment, give the applicant as much information about the position as possible so that there is the best chance for a good fit with the person and the task
  • Clearly define employees’ roles and responsibilities
  • Ensure workloads are reasonable
  • Provide flexible work arrangements
  • Provide opportunities for leave of absence
  • Implement a workplace wellness program
  • Communicate organizational changes to staff and allow time for employees to adjust
  • Ensure after work activities are not mandatory
  • Provide intentional social opportunities in the workplace
  • Conduct thorough orientation and training so staff fell confident and set up for success

Companies have the ability to identify workplace stress and can make an effort to recue its impact through a wellness program. A quality program can lead to lower healthcare costs, reduced sick time, fewer employee compensation claims, and of course provide employees with an outlet for stress.

 

Reply back to bhakti@impactafya.com or call +255 754 694 643 with your feedback. We welcome your suggestions for corporate wellness tips you’d like to see covered in our future columns.

Bhakti Shah, MPH is the Founder and Managing Director of ImpactAfya Ltd, collaborating with Workplace Options and Mayo Clinic, USA to provide Corporate Wellness and EAP Solutions in East Africa. Bhakti is also the Advisor for the Africa Business Portal and the Past President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Tanzania.

 

Website: www.impactafya.com | Facebook, Instagram & Twitter: @impactafya

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