Organizational stress affects the performance of leadership, management, and staff within an organization. Ongori and Agolla (2008) defined organizational stress as a belief of a misalignment between work-related requests and the ability to produce desired results. Although there is a common belief that stress affects individuals negatively, the onset of stress is subjective (Mirela & Madalina-Adriana, 2011). This discussion will address the impact of organizational stress, attempt to identify whether organizational stress is positive or negative, and provide strategies to reduce and prevent organizational stress.
The Impact of Organizational Stress
Organizational stress can be identified as eustress, good stress, or distress, bad stress (LePine et al., 2005; Mirela & Madalina-Adriana, 2011). Good stress is described as a helpful motivation that can provide individuals with individual energy to focus on the difficult task they believe is achievable (Mirela & Madalina-Adriana, 2011). While bad stress is described as an occurrence that affects an individual’s health and well-being (Mirela & Madalina-Adriana, 2011). Some argue that organizational stress can be both positive and negative.
Positive effects of organizational stress include staff empowerment, increased motivation, and personal development (LePine et al., 2005). A positive organizational stress that I experienced was in developing a health and wellness program while working at Costco. In this case, I was tasked with developing a health and wellness program for over 300 employees.
Senior management gave me full responsibility for designing and communicating the program goals. The experience was a positive stress because I viewed the task as a challenge that could be managed with additional effort on my end.
Stressful events can be justified as positive stress when the affected individual connects the experience with positive outcomes (LePine et al., 2005). Although developing the health and wellness program caused stress because it was the first time I had that amount of responsibility, the support from all of the leaders within the organization made developing the program less stressful as I acquired the confidence to develop and sustain new programs.
The negative effects of stress can be classified as acute stress and chronic stress (Mirela & Madalina-Adriana, 2011). Acute stress is a stress that affects individuals within a short time period, while chronic stress is a type of stress that can harm an individual due to the lasting impact of the stress (Mirela & Madalina-Adriana, 2011).
Distress is negative stress because it can lead to a loss of motivation, reduced employee morale, and decreased productivity (LePine et al., 2005). Stressors and strains are two terms associated with stress, where strains are the outcomes of the stressors (LePine et al., 2005).
Although organizational stress may be deemed positive, while individuals believe that the end result of the situation may benefit the organization, prolonged organizational stress, either eustress or distress, will damage employee morale and organizational productivity (LePine, 205).
For several years, the hospital I worked for has been constantly reviewed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) due to failed surveys and patient complaints. The first few times CMS arrived to survey, some areas of the organization experienced eustress because the prospects of passing a survey were positive. After several attempts to satisfy requirements, the organization began to feel the strain from the stressors.
In addition to following CMS recommendations, the organization utilized multiple outside consulting firms to help pass the CMS review. By the end of the CMS review period, the organization was left in a state of distress.
Stress Management
Leaders are responsible for assessing employee stress levels to mitigate employee burnout and dissatisfaction (Mirela & Madalina-Adriana, 2011).
To assess organizational stress, leaders can host open forums, hire outside consultants to launch organizational stress surveys, and schedule one-on-one meetings with staff to identify organizational stress (LePine et al., 2005).
Town hall meetings allow leadership to capture information that would otherwise be stored within groups. In addition, a benefit in assessing stress in this fashion is that individuals have the chance to express their concerns to the individuals who have the authority to make changes.
Organizational stress management strategies include identifying potential stressors, communicating with employees, and implementing measures to counteract the effects of stress (LePine et al., 2005).
Identifying potential stressors is necessary to create a working environment that is conducive to productivity and positive motivation. Communicating with employees provides an opportunity to understand how employees feel about their work and how to better support them. Implementing measures to counteract the effects of stress includes providing employee training and development opportunities, creating a flexible work schedule, and providing access to mental health resources.
Organizational stress is a multifaceted issue that can be both positive and negative.
The key to mitigating the negative effects of stress is to identify potential stressors, communicate with employees, and implement measures to counteract the effects of stress. By utilizing these strategies, leaders can reduce employee burnout and dissatisfaction and create a working environment that is conducive to productivity and positive motivation.
References
LePine, J. A., LePine, M. A., & Jackson, C. L. (2005). Challenge and hindrance stress: Relationships with exhaustion, motivation to learn, and learning performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(4), 879–887. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.90.4.879
Mirela, C., & Madalina-Adriana, M. (2011). Organizational Stress – Review of Literature. Journal of Defense Resources Management, 2(2), 125–129. https://search.proquest.com/docview/918383937?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=true
Ongori, H., & Agolla, J. E. (2008). An Empirical Review of the Concept of Organizational Stress. Journal of Business and Public Affairs, 2(1), 1–12. https://www.omicsonline.org/an-empirical-review-of-the-concept-of-organizational-stress-2151-6200.1000107.pdf
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