Stress and Productivity - Research Paper Example

? Stress and Productivity Debate of relationship between stress and work performance or productivity is going for some amount of time now. Work related stress is a serious situation that can reduce efficiency of an employee as well as whole organization employee is working for. It is defined as “global epidemic” by United Nations International Labor Organization. It is commonly known factor that stress from any source whether at work place or personal can cause considerable damage to the physical health of a person. This can affect all the activities of the person (Allen, 2002). American Psychological Association (APA) conducted a survey an alarming figure is provided by this survey; results indicate that three out of four Americans are affected by work related stress. American people as individuals post a great focus on the career and work. Advancement of telecommunication technologies are also aiding to the stress faced by the people; as companies are always in contact with their employees through e-mails, cell-phones, so instead of working 8 to 10 hours a day; a person is working 24 hours (Ahmad, 2012). According to analysis this situation is not only posting problems for the workers as well as it is alarming for the companies also. There is estimated that work stress or employees having such stress are costing $300 billion to the companies. U.S.A is not only victim of this situation. It is amazing to know that most of developing countries are also facing same problems. Increased amount of stress can also lead to other behavior disorders like smoking, alcohol and energy-diets. It is a known fact that all these things taken to balance stress at work aid to the physical and mental disorder. There are many sources of stress identified by the mental disease experts all over the world. Working with dangerous equipment; working over time; pressure built due to people at work are the major sources of the stress identified. Another reason of stress is conflict between job and home life. One cannot understand what should be its priority at the start of the day. Sometimes problems at home can aid to problems faced at workplace and similarly problems of work place will also aid to the family problems a person is having. This factor is mostly seen married employees as compared to single ones. Family and job both need quality time. To establish a balance between them is of great concern for the people working. If this balance is disturbed due to any reason then whole of the life is disturbed and it causes a great stress for the person affecting almost every aspect of life (Ruyter, Wetzels & Feinberg, 2001). Organizational productivity and job satisfaction are the ultimate goals of organization and employees respectively. This productivity is reduced greatly if one is not satisfied with his job then it can dent whole structure of organization. The productivity in other words can face a major decline in such a situation. When one is satisfied with his or her job then this satisfaction acts as moral boaster for the employee and it can increase personal productivity to a larger extent ultimately whole organization have a stable structure (Bruzzese,2013). The physical effects a person can have due to stress are devastating such as heart attack; stroke; continuous stress can also aid reducing body’s immune to diseases. Panic attacks, acute depression and anxiety are major mental disorders resulted by continuous stress. Another factor that has increased stress in workers is automation of industries (Pierce, 1988). Due to automation and continuous development in this field managers of organization are always looking for advanced automation techniques to cut down expenses on the accounts due to employees and extra labor. This situation posts a continuous stress on the employees of lower scale as there is always a threat of them being replaced by a machine. This work related stress reduces their efficiency and makes the situation more difficult for them (Tennant, 2001). This situation is faced by all the organizations and employees present all over the world. World health Organization (WHO) is also doing its efforts to reduce work stress and productivity at global scale. WHO works with multinational and national organizations all over the world trying to devise rules which on implication reduce stress conditions; generally this type of organization focus on the workers or employees that are working at lower grade rather than the people who are working in managing post. In fact sometimes people having higher positions are known as reason for such stress. It is not true; as main focus of the managing or administrative body of the organization is to increase productivity of the organization especially managers of private sector organizations. To increase productivity it is maximum try of the administrations to reduce work stress that there employees are facing. Major solution proposed by the mental experts all over the world to the situation include; an employee friendly environment, good communications between employees as a team and with managing body of the organization. On personal basis situation can be improved by planning of each day separately; it would be good if this planning is done at the start of the day. Making a balance between family and job is also of a great concern; a proper planning on daily bases makes it easier for the people to exercise a balance between job and family. Taking appropriate breaks between works is also a good solution to the stress related problem faced by person. Also healthier and complete diet can stop disorders mentally and physically (Karasek, 1992). On managerial level whole structure of organization should be developed in such a way that it should help an employee rather than firing if that specific employee is facing stress related problems of any kind. There is a way devised in public sector organizations to report work related problems such as work overload and reports shown by independence of workers to develop unions; but such an arrangement is not available in most of the industries. Rost, Smith, & Dickinson, 2004). By proper planning and managing structures; personal and organizational stress can be countered effectively; it will increase the productivity of organization to a much extent as a happy person can deliver happiness to other rather than a sad person. References: Allen, D. (2002). Getting things done: The art of stress-free productivity. Penguin. com. Ahmad, M. S. (2012). The Impact of Stress on Employee Productivity, Performance and Turn over: an important managerial issue | Muhammad Shakil Ahmad - Academia.edu. Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/309089/The_Impact_of_Stress_on_Employee_Productivity_Performance_and_Turn_over_an_important_managerial_issue De Ruyter, K., Wetzels, M., & Feinberg, R. (2001). Role stress in call centers: its effects on employee performance and satisfaction. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 15(2), 23-35. Karasek, R. A. (1992). Healthy work: stress, productivity, and the reconstruction of working life. Basic books. Tennant, C. (2001). Work-related stress and depressive disorders. Journal of psychosomatic research, 51(5), 697-704. Pierce, C. M. (1988). Stress in the workplace. Rost, K., Smith, J. L., & Dickinson, M. (2004). The effect of improving primary care depression management on employee absenteeism and productivity a randomized trial. Medical Care, 42(12), 1202. Read More