Sources of stress
Organizational Sources
- The extent and ratio of stress that people experience in job place are influenced by the following
factors;
- It is work-related stress that include long hours, heavy workload, job
insecurity and conflicts with co-workers or bosses. These are the stress that
people get or experience in her/his job place and are influenced by the
following factors;
a. Nature of job
- The nature of job itself can determine the type and degree of stress that can be induced. Some
jobs lead to more stress-related responses than other.
- When people are exposed to risk factors at work, they may have stress
responses. This can encompass emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and/or
physiological dangers, as well as psychosocial and/or physical hazards.
b. Role Ambiguity
- Role ambiguity is a perplexing scenario caused by an unclear job
description in which duties and boundaries are not clearly
specified. It is a situation in which an individual does not fully
comprehend what his or her work entails. Conflicts, low
productivity, and disengagement are all caused by role
ambiguity.
- For example
- Clark is the Senior Manager of a meat packing facility. He oversees
more than 300 workers that perform their duties in different assembly
lines. Recently, he had an issue with a group of workers that were
confused about their role in the process. The team was originally
conceived to seal the boxes where the meat is transported.
- Nevertheless, at the end of the daily work schedule, they are assigned
to clean the meat packing machine, which is an equipment handled by a
different team.
- These group of employees didn’t understood why they had to clean a
machine that they didn’t used. To avoid this confusion, as it seems the
ambiguity has been causing conflict between workers, he explained that
this activity was assigned to them since the very beginning and they
were informed about it when they were hired.
- He kindly clarified that it was essential for them to do so or else it will be
considered an unfulfilled duty. After this meeting, the workers started
performing the cleaning task with no other argument about it.
-
c. Role Conflict l
- Role conflict occurs when two or more persons have different
and sometimes opposing expectations of a given individual. Role
conflict occur when contradictory demands are at the same time
placed before an employee
Example of role conflict is work/family conflict, or the conflict one feels when
pulled between familial and professional obligations. Take, for example, a mother
who is also a doctor. She likely has to work long hours at the hospital and may
even be on call several nights a week, taking her away from her children. Many
individuals who find themselves in this position describe feeling conflicted and
distressed about their situation. In other words, they experience role conflict The
woman is torn between the part of her personality that values being a mother
and the part that identifies as being a doctor.
d. Responsibilities assigned to employees
An employee might be burdened by any form of obligation.
Holding someone accountable for anything that goes wrong
may cause stress, and it can be amplified if the boss has little
influence over his employees.
e. Lack of Participation
Employees build better morale, perform more
effectively, and feel they have influence over the
work environment when they are permitted to
participate in the organization's decision-making
process, which reduces the level of role conflict
and role ambiguity, which are stressors.
f. Interpersonal Relations
The degree of relationships that employees have
at work determines an organization's efficiency,
performance, and effectiveness. Peace results
from peaceful, amicable, and pleasant
relationships. There is stress, tension, and anxiety
when interpersonal relationships are weak. In such
a conflict environment, superior-subordinate
relationships continue to worsen.
- Interpersonal stressors are stressful incidents that
occur between two or more people and include
quarrels, disagreements, unpleasant attitudes or
conduct, an uncomfortable environment during a
conversation or activity, and anxiety about hurting
others' feelings.
