Organisational Stress Infection

The most common reaction of organisations is to blame the victim, defining stress as an individual or personal problem that workers bring from home to work. The real answer to this is to analyse the structure of job requirements and social relationships at work. It is important to realise that when work denies people an opportunity to utilise their creativity, intelligence, and decision making ability, it causes stress.

This article explores the symptoms of stress, provides some tools and checklists that can be used to pinpoint stress infection, and points out the root from where stress originates.

How can you tell whether your organisation has a stress infection?

An organisation with a high level of absenteeism, rapid staff turnover, a worsening safety record, poor quality control, deteriorating industrial or customer relations is suffering from a bad case of organisational stress infection.

The causes of burnout and organisational stress are numerous and reasonably well documented. Some people burn out because they are not adept at handling stress, some people burn out because their job is stressful due to unclear job descriptions, and others burn out because of poor working conditions or lack of communication. There are many ways the work environment can cause burnout. However, quite often burnout is the result of the persons own ability to cope with stress. This explains why two people, working under the same conditions, will disagree about how stressful their jobs are.

The roots of organisational stress

The stressors that employees face often stem from both the organisational system and personal factors.

The organisational system composes of:

• physical features,
  
• organisational structure and policies,
  
• work task factors,
  
• work climate.

Personal factors encompass characteristics of individual employees, such as their:

• job position and level of experience,
  
• socio-demographic background,
  
• personal resources such as self esteem,
  
• personal coping responses to stress and
  
• their expectations and preference about the workplace.

Stress always relates to an imbalance between demands made on an individual, which is generally from external sources, and the capabilities of an individual to meet these demands. Research has discovered that exposure to stressful working conditions can have a direct influence on employee safety and health. But individual and other situational factors can intervene to strengthen or weaken this influence. Examples of individual and situational factors that can help to reduce the effects of stressful working conditions include the following:

• Balance between work and personal life
  
• A relaxed and positive outlook
  
• A support network of friends, family and co-workers

ORGANISATIONAL STRESS INFECTION DIAGNOSTIC TOOL

Work Characteristic	Job Conditions (High likelihood conditions)	Comments
Task demand and the design of tasks. This includes the set up of the job, the working conditions, the physical movement involved etc.	Infrequent rest breaks Hectic and routine tasks and have little inherent meaning Provide little sense of control Lack of control over work environment Poor work environment Lack of resources	*
Workload and work pace	Work overload Work underload High level of pacing Time pressure and deadlines	*
Working time	Inflexible working schedule Unpredictable hours Long work hours Shiftwork/Night working	*
Organisational function, culture and management style	Poor communication in the organisation Ambiguity over job expectations Lack of work/life balance policy	*
Participation	Low participation in decision making	*
Career development and job status	Career stagnation, lack of opportunity for growth Poor status work Work of low social value Poor pay Job insecurity or redundancy	*
Role in organisation	Role ambiguity, not clear on role Role conflict Responsibility for others or continual contact with other people	*
Job content	Poorly defined work High uncertainty Lack of variety Fragmented work The tasks do not utilise workers' skills Meaningless work Physical constraint	*
Interpersonal relationships at work	Social or physical isolation Lack of social support from other staff Conflict with other staff Poor relationships with supervisors and managers	*
Home-work interface	Conflicting demands of work and home Low social or practical support from home	*

Symptoms of organisational stress

There are a number of symptoms which show that an individual is experiencing burnout and emotional stress.

1. Ineffective working.
   During burnout, the person's energy turns into exhaustion, their involvement turns into cynicism, and their efficiency turns into ineffectiveness. They begin to care less and less about their job, may fail to meet deadlines, do a bad job of things, making lots of mistakes etc. When such trends appear, stress raises its ugly head.
   
   
2. Increased Health Problems.
   As the burnout worsens, you can notice stress related symptoms increasing. These include moodiness, lots of ups and downs, quick to get irritated or frustrated, short tempered, headaches, muscle tension, and fatigue. These symptoms can lead to stress related disorders such as high blood pressure, migraine headaches, and gastrointestinal problems. The person may also appear anxious, depressed, and have trouble sleeping.
   
   
3. Poor interpersonal relations.
   A stressed employee alienates colleagues, causes disputes, refuses to follow instructions and becomes irritable and unmanageable. There is a constant conflict and friction between the team members.
   
   
4. Poor time keeping and non attendance time
   When employees report late at work or are absent for frequent and longer intervals, they exhibit overt signs of stress.
   
   
5. High labour turnover
   A high rate of labour turnover indicates that employees are frustrated and feel discontentment in their job. This hints at the existence of stress in the organisation. Stress in one of the major reasons which leads an employee to quit the organisation.

Noticing early warning signs

Watch for the first signs of stress infection, including fatigue, lack of enthusiasm, and feeling of cynicism at work. People suffering from burnout tend to withdraw from their jobs and become cynical about what they do. They feel ineffective, powerless, and chronically exhausted. Use the following Stress Infection Early Warning Signs tool to assist in pinpointing stress infections.

At the individual level the following physical, behavioural, mental and emotional signs may be apparent:

• Irritability, impulsive behaviour, difficulty making decisions, sudden increase in smoking or alcohol use etc
  
• Excessive worrying, feeling of worthlessness, brooding, forgetfulness, easily startled etc
  
• Muscle pain, tension, headaches, indigestion, tics, insomnia, high blood pressure etc

At the organisational level the following signs may be associated with stress:

• High levels of absenteeism
  
• High staff turnover
  
• Work accidents (including minor accidents) and disabilities
  
• Low productivity levels
  
• Poor quality production
  
• Difficult interpersonal relationships in the workplace

Stress Infection Early Warning Signs Tool

Individual Level
Are any of the following symptoms of stress evidenced in your employees?

Infection symptom	Where evidenced	Remedial action
Frequent aches or pains (headaches, backache, stomach problems, heartburn etc)	*	*
Frequent fatigue or feeling run down	*	*
Chronic or major illness	*	*
Chronic or major illness	*	*
Accident prone	*	*
Lack of enthusiasm	*	*
Cynicism	*	*
Inability to concentrate	*	*
Quick to get irritated or frustrated	*	*
Withdrawal from job	*	*
Ineffective	*	*
Powerless	*	*
Short tempered	*	*
Moodiness, lots of ups and downs	*	*
Brooding, frequent hurt feelings	*	*
Forgetfulness	*	*
Always rushed	*	*
Communication conflicts with co-workers	*	*
Impulsive behaviour	*	*
Difficulty making decision	*	*

Organisational Level
Are any of the following in evidence within your organisation?

Infection symptom	Where evidenced	Remedial action
High levels of absenteeism	*	*
High staff turnover	*	*
Work accidents (including minor accidents) and disabilities	*	*
Low productivity levels	*	*
Poor quality production	*	*
Difficult interpersonal relationships in the workplace.	*	*
A constant conflict and friction between the team members.	*	*

What can you do?

First, it is important to recognise that organisational stress is a major problem in today's society and your organisation could also be affected by it. Occupational Health and Safety laws specify the obligation of employers to provide a safe and healthy work place for their staff.

As a first priority you must evaluate the condition of your organisation to discover the extent to which occupational stress may be present. This may be accomplished through observation, employee questionnaires and surveys or through a formal feedback system. Opinions, input and suggestions from employees should be regarded as highly valuable. It is vital that employee's levels of occupational stress is monitored on a regular basis.

By using existing structures of OH&S practices to address the issue of organisational stress, you can begin to adopt creative strategies to improve working conditions.

STRESS STRATEGIES TEMPLATE
Complete the following, together with start dates. When completed, fill in the Completed Date column. Keep note of any Actions that may need to be taken:

Strategies	Actions	Start Date	Completed Date	Action
Identify the problem	Investigate incidents which might be related to stress.	*	*	*
	Review health, absenteeism, and other available records	*	*	*
	Review changes in work-practices and procedures for potential as stressors.	*	*	*
	Identify work practices that result in stress in your workplace.	*	*	*
	Employee perceptions of job conditions, stress, health and satisfaction.	*	*	*
	Document activities and events related to potential stressful situations.	*	*	*
Raise general awareness about job stress prevention	Train managers and employees how to recognise stressful situations and workers suffering from stress.	*	*	*
	Develop stress related materials for dissemination to employees and new hires during orientation sessions. Publish articles on stress management and stress prevention in employee's newsletter.	*	*	*
	Provide training programs for staff on job stress and stress management.	*	*	*
	Conduct on and off the job relaxation and physical conditioning programs.	*	*	*
Refer stressed employees for help	Provide 1-on-1 stress management coaching to improve the ability of the individual employee to cope with difficult work situations.	*	*	*
	Provide 'Stress Management Counselling and Therapy' for employees who display stress symptoms	*	*	*

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