Stages of Work Stress - Topic 9

STAGES OF WORK STRESS.
1. The Honey Moon Stage.
It is characterized by euphoria, excitement, enthusiasm, challenge, motivation and pride to

a new job. There arises dysfunctional processes that deplete the energy reserves in coping
and adapting to the new environment.
2. Full Throttle Stage
Feelings of loss, fatigue and confusion arise because of rapid depletion of energy
reserves. Other symptoms include dissatisfaction and sleep disturbances.
3. Chronic Stage
Fuel/energy shortage leads to more pronounced physiological symptoms.

It is characterized by chronic exhaustion, physical illness, and depression (which may
empower the person).
4. Crisis Stage.
The person enters into a crisis.

Escapist attitude, chronic backache, feeling oppressed, headaches, high blood pressure,
peptic ulcers, overeating, overdrinking or smoking and insomnia characterize it.
5. Hitting the wall.
No person can continue under strain for too long because energy resources are
not infinite.
This results into burnout syndrome.
Due to constant stress coupled with physical and mental effects, one may reach the end of
one’s career.
NB: Conditions of extreme hypo stress may result in rust out stress syndrome.
Managing Stress
At Work (i)
Job redesigning
- Job
rotation.
- Job enlargement.
- Job enrichment – participative management.
(ii) Work environment redesigning - Multi-skilling.

- Hot desking/hotelling.
- Teleworking.
- Job sharing.
- Flexible hours.
(iii) Share rewards
(iv) Justice
(v) Enhance teamwork
(vi) Career development
(vii) Evaluate work roles and establish goals
(viii) Pursue human needs and job-related satisfiers.
Role stress and stress management

Handy(1976) differentiates between beneficial stress, calling it role stress, and
harmful stress, which he calls role strain.
Potential areas for role stress leading to strain are:
Expectations- lack of clarity about scope and responsibilities of job or lack of
clarity of objectives of a role Role conflict-
• Between different departments
• Between the organization and the outside world
• Contradictory instructions from supervisors
• Interrole conflict- two sets of competing pressures
• Personal values versus organizational values
• Professional values versus organizational values
Role ambiguity / inadequate information - Uncertainty about

- evaluation,
- Promotion
- prospect,
- extent of power,
- Poor communication, and
- others expectations Role load –

- Overload or
- underload
The Effects of the above are:

Low job satisfaction and motivation
Aggression
Depression
Decline in self confidence and self esteem
A sense of futility
Mental and physical health problems
An intention to leave the job
Causes of work/job stress
Pressure to perform
Fear of redundancy/ job insecurity
Recession
Change/ pace of change
Personal/ home life
Increased job load
Excessive hours
Maintaining quality
On stress management, Warr,(1987) identified job features that are considered as

being responsible for reducing employee stress:
Utilisation of skills and ability to make decisions about work
Balanced work demands
Work variability, challenge and adequate training
Environmental clarity- organizational information and feedback
Fair and adequate pay
Working conditions that are pleasant, safe and secure
Interpersonal support
Sense of making a contribution to the society
NB:
- identification and recognition of stress within the workplace helps to address
effective interventions.
- Implementing stress audits using a range of techniques like questionnaires and

focus groups can help to assess the stress levels experienced in an organization, and
this can be used to influence and change workplace practices.
- Whatever are the causes of workplace stress, whether organizational culture,
changing psychological contracts, role ambiguity or the way job is organized, for
many there still remains a stigma attached to this area of work.
- Many, struggle on without seeking any help until what started as a healthy stress,
the desire to get up in the morning and achieve satisfaction in work life, begin to
manifest itself in serious mental and physical problems. It is at this point that the
workplace counselor is likely to be involved.
- It is also essential for counselors to recognize the culture and dynamics of the
organization with which they work in order to be aware of its potential impact on
their ability to perform their role.
Professional counselors who can stimulate personal growth in others; offer help in
addressing many situations that cause emotional stress, including, but not limited to:
Anxiety, depression, and other mental and emotional problems and disorders
Family and relationship issues
Substance abuse and other addictions
Sexual abuse and domestic violence
Absenteeism
Career change and job stress
Social and emotional difficulties related to disability and illness
Adopting to life transitions
The death of a loved one
Appropriate referrals after assessment.
.
An effective support programme offers employers a range of benefits, including:
improved customer care and relationships with clients and suppliers, with a direct
economic benefit for employers;
reduced costs associated with illness and absenteeism, not only through workdays lost,
but also the costs of sick pay, sickness cover, overtime and new recruitment;
lower staff turnover, as people are happier in their work and less likely to look for a new
job; people feel more motivated and committed to their work, and produce a
higher quality of
work;
people work harder and perform better – increasing their earning power; people
feel that they are part of a team and the decision-making process, so accept
change
more readily; workplace relationships – with managers and within teams
– are much improved; compliance with their legal duties and reduced
risk of litigation.
Counseling in organizations aims at providing opportunities for individuals to work

towards living and working in a more satisfying and resourceful way. At a macro level
counseling is helping organization help itself. Counseling is cost effective, in terms of
covering costs and savings in employee absence among others. Counseling services can
be provided internally or externally.
Internal/ in house services, where staff employed by the organization offers the
services, are a valuable asset in that they have the knowledge of the organizational rules
and methods of operation, and provide internal advisory and consultancy services to the
organisaton. It helps to know the ground rules and also offers access to key people who
can give help, but on the other hand, one can become part of the system, and affected
by the environment to such an extent it would be easy to collude with it. This would
then affect the counseling process
External counselors can offer fresh perspectives to an organization, Employee

Assistance Programme (EAP), but can encounter the challenge of gaining acceptance
by the employees, organization, understanding its culture, rules and hidden agendas.
Problems/ major concerns of employees are keeping and losing their job, unsatisfactory
work relations, felt injustices, unsatisfactory relationships with authority and job
development. Others within the organization are overwork, underwork, technical
abilities, job design
External problems outside organization are bereaverment, poor accommodation, ill
health, financial difficulties. Others are personality problems which may have stemmed
out from childhood like lack of confidence, dislike of authority figures, attitude to
work.
You should note that counseling is only one way of helping people. Education, advice
giving, and practical assistance all have their value, and counseling skills can be of
value in a number of workplace situations where employees will not necessarly present
“formal” counseling interviews
Nelson- jones (1993) suggests several main types of interviews which could be seen as
having a counseling component in the workplace.
Developmental: career counseling
Problem-focused: stress, bereavement
Mediation; harassment, equal opportunities
Decision making: redundancy or early retirement
Crisis interview: after armed robbery, abusive attacks, trauma
Supportive: Mobilising the individual ability to move forward
The power of being listened to at the right moment in time , acknowledging the
employees situation is all what is necessary to mobilize their internal resources and
nothing more will be required, and this should not be underestimated.
When working with organizations, a balance needs to be struck between the following
three factors:
The work task of the client and/or organization.
The process of the counseling
The environment

Stages of Work Stress - Topic 9

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Stages of Work Stress - Topic 9

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Stages of Work Stress - Topic 9

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

STAGES OF WORK STRESS.

1. The Honey Moon Stage.

It is characterized by euphoria, excitement, enthusiasm, challenge, motivation and pride to

2. Full Throttle Stage

Fuel/energy shortage leads to more pronounced physiological symptoms.

The person enters into a crisis.

5. Hitting the wall.

- Job enrichment – participative management.

(ii) Work environment redesigning - Multi-skilling.

(iii) Share rewards

(v) Enhance teamwork

(vi) Career development

(vii) Evaluate work roles and establish goals

(viii) Pursue human needs and job-related satisfiers.

Role stress and stress management

• Between the organization and the outside world

• Contradictory instructions from supervisors

• Interrole conflict- two sets of competing pressures

• Personal values versus organizational values

• Professional values versus organizational values

Role ambiguity / inadequate information - Uncertainty about

- Poor communication, and

- others expectations Role load –

The Effects of the above are:

On stress management, Warr,(1987) identified job features that are considered as

- Implementing stress audits using a range of techniques like questionnaires and

Counseling in organizations aims at providing opportunities for individuals to work

External counselors can offer fresh perspectives to an organization, Employee

You might also like