Stress at Work: Creating Healthy Organisations

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Major Causes of Stress in Workplace
Lack of Employee Satisfaction
Leadership of the Human Resource
Managers and Heads of Department
Directors Responsible for Health and Safety
Other Employees
Conclusion
Reference List

Introduction

Success in any organisation is subject to different factors and the management takes the core position in establishing competent and proficient performance. Internal and external factors directly or indirectly influence performance depending on the nature of the business that an organisation specialises in and the competition in the industry. However, corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been influencing the output of firms as most of them ignore its principles and requirements in favour of increasing their profits. CSR integrates the social obligations of an organisation to the surrounding community such as the creation of job opportunities, involving the community members in promotion and advertising campaigns, and consolidating all issues affecting the internal operations of the organisation with respect to the wellbeing of employees, subordinate staff, and shareholders.

This paper aims at investigating the major causes of stress in the workplace in relation to the role played by management and employees in different sectors that may cause stress. The elements that cause stress and how they can be managed will also be considered. Lastly, the paper will consider some recommendations that can help in the reduction of stress in the workplace.

Major Causes of Stress in Workplace

Stress is a feeling of distress and discomfort coming from disturbance or uncertainties. This psychological problem arises in situations where an individual is not comfortable with issues happening around him/her. Stress has a number of healthy and behavioural disadvantages, which include depression, change of attitude towards some common things that one participates in, and lack of pleasure. In a workplace situation, stress lowers the performance of employees as they fail to dedicate and commit their efforts to their roles and duties. Below are some of the causes of stress in the workplace coupled with how they can be managed. The roles played by various leaders in an organisation in an attempt to reduce workplace stress are also discussed.

Lack of Employee Satisfaction

Employee satisfaction is the most crucial aspect that contributes to the performance of businesses and non-profit organisations and institutions. Employee satisfaction is acquired through issues related to effective communication between the leaders and employees and motivation. An accomplishment in an organisation is obtained through the combination of different efforts from different individuals that are qualified for specified task to which the organisation is working towards achieving a positive return. The different departments in an organisation are established to aid the general managerial staff to monitor all sectors within the organisation and be in a position to evaluate and assess the contribution of each sector towards the attainment of the set mutual goals and objectives for the organisation. Additionally, departmental heads are obliged to give reports to the top management on some of the changes and amendments that they feel if implemented would improve the performance of their respective sectors and consequently the performance of the organisation as a unit. When every department plays its roles effectively, employees tend to be satisfied and this aspect helps in the management of stress within an organisation (Michie 2002).

Leadership of the Human Resource

Human resource department is one of the organisational divisions that focus on ensuring enabling working environment in an organisation. The management for HR has several responsibilities, which must be achieved for effectiveness and efficiency to be achieved in an organisation. These responsibilities cannot be met if the individuals hired for the managerial positions are not competent, qualified, skilled, knowledgeable, and experienced for their respective positions. Additionally, the management needs to consider team management where managers or directors from one sector share and combine ideas with their counterparts from other departments in the same organisation to improve their performance in their respective areas of specialisation and supervision. Different leaders are involved in the HR management and each of them has different duties, which he/she must meet in a bid to ensure that the common goals and objectives for the department are met within a specified period. These staff members include the managing director, the director responsible for health and safety, safety manager, heads of departments, contractors, and sub-contractors, and all employees. Therefore, it is important to understand the roles of each of the parties involved in the HR management in a bid to be in a position to comprehend the general roles of management for HR in an organisation (Michie 2002). Therefore, in situations where the HR is poorly managed, the needs of employees are not met and this aspect causes stress, which leads to poor performance in the organisation.

Managers and Heads of Department

Some managers and heads of departments fail in their responsibilities and they pass the blame to employees. With such blames, the affected employees develop the feeling of inability and unworthiness and this aspect leads to stress. Every departmental head and manager is directly responsible for his/her personal health and safety, and that of all workers and clients under his/her authority including those that are not directly affected by the organisation’s operations and activities. Specifically, the leaders are obliged to:

Understand and implement the organisation’s safety policies as stated in the company’s constitution, failure to which the top management is required to take the necessary measures. Failure of an individual to play his/her role may cost the entire organisation in terms of cost, materials, and labour especially where the health of an employee is directly affected due to ignorance of the manager or the head of a certain department.
Create strong teams in a bid to ensure that the set objectives are accomplished by ensuring that every person understands his/her roles at both individual and team level.
The head of department and managers should carryout frequent risk assessment exercises in a bid to ensure safety in the work place. Safe working environment is healthy to employees and useful to organisations because it reduces unnecessary expenditure and losses. For instance, if employees are injured in the line of duty the company loses work force, which plays a key role in ensuring improved productivity. On the other side, unsafe working environments may lead to break down of machines, and this aspect ultimately increases operational costs and losses in extreme cases (Woods & West 2014).
These leaders need to provide a detailed and printed instruction on the methodologies and techniques to be applied to every project by outlining all potential hazards and precautions. Moreover, it is their duty to assess, supervise, and ensure that the given guidelines are followed effectively (Arnold et al. 2010).
The head of department and the managers are responsible for ensuring that accidents and near-miss reporting methods are known and followed, and in case of an accident, these leaders are obliged to help in accident investigation where need be.
These leaders should ensure that workers and contractors are trained to undertake the prescribed tasks. In addition, the involved parties should have the necessary licenses and certificates of competence in their areas of specialisation. This aspect is important because some individuals may use wrong documents to secure a job or contract without the required experience or qualifications (Matthewman, Rose & Hetherington 2009).
Departmental heads and mangers are also responsible for ensuring that all procedures and protocols are displayed at the right positions to make sure that everyone sees them as a way of creating awareness on safety and statutory requirements.
The leaders should ensure that all new workers joining the company are notified of the working terms and conditions especially on the policies that directly affect their health, safety, and the environment within and outside the organisation. Therefore, the responsible leaders have to train the new employees in the procedures that they need to follow in a bid to ensure that their personal health and safety together with those of other workers are followed carefully. Additionally, they need to help the new employees in understanding their roles and personal responsibilities as outlined in the employment manual to avoid future collisions in the line of duty.
They are obliged to reprimanding employees who fail to perform their health and safety responsibilities.
Heads of departments and managers in the department need to set good examples for their junior workers with regard to health and safety matters.

Adherence to these responsibilities of the managers and leaders can greatly aid in the reduction of stress in the workplace.

Directors Responsible for Health and Safety

Health is important in the establishment of healthy and productive workforce in an organisation. Employees tend to be stressed in situations where their health is not taken as a priority. They feel as if their employers are simply in need of their services without minding their health and safety. In ensuring that health and safety are attained in an organisation, the directors responsible for health and safety must be committed and dedicated to their duties. This assertion implies that they need to be fully aware of their responsibilities and competent in specialisation as this is the only way they can help the heads of the department achieve the set goals and objectives. Below are some of the obligations of the director mandated to perform and control health and safety department in the management of stress among employees:

Make sure that the insinuations and responsibilities outlined in the company’s constitution are presented to the Board of Directors. This move helps them immensely as they are given guidelines, support, and maintenance techniques to ensure health and safety to all workers, clients, and the surrounding public that is attached to the company directly or indirectly.
It is the responsibility of the directors of health and safety to bring matters that are affecting the company related to health and safety to the executive committee or the Board of Directors at regular intervals to ensure that they are addressed for the benefit of the entire working parties.
Such departmental heads should ensure good communication amongst the employer, employees, and other parties directly affected by the activities of the organisation on matters related or associated to health and safety.
To ensure that employees and managers are aware of their duties and responsibilities with respect to health and safety, issues linked to cleanliness, inspection, audits, and any changes made in the policies affecting health and safety.
All employees should have acquired adequate training through workshops, seminars, and educational programs for health and safety. More importantly, they should ensure that the safety culture is established and encouraged in the organisation (Steptoe-Warren 2013).
The directors of health and safety need to set personal examples to the employees through dressing and following all safety regulations and procedures outlined in the worksheet.

Other Employees

For any achievement business, employees need to work with a common goal and objective, both for their areas of specialisation and the general organisation. This aspect implies that unity and teamwork are the best tools to overcome the challenges that might arise directly from one division in an organisation or to the entire firm (Schultz & Schultz 2014). The same understanding needs to be drawn and applied to health and safety branch of a business organisation, as teamwork is needed from employees for the company to be at a position of discharging its duties and obligation successfully. In general, the functionality and communication amongst employees can be considered as a source of stress if it is not effective. In ensuring that individual employees are not stressed due to issues that they can manage, the following are some of the recommendations that can help in the reduction of stress:

Employees are required to perform their duties safely following the operational procedures and methodologies suggested by their supervisors coupled with observing the regulations and codes of practice (Buchanan & Huczynski 2010).
In the case of abnormal or unsafe practices, employees should report to the supervisors for further instructions and guidelines instead of taking risks, which could cost their lives, resources, and work force.
Employees should obtain and use the correct equipment for a specified task to avoid accidents and damage. Therefore, all working tools should be handled with care, which includes proper storage.
Employees play a critical role in ensuring the overall safety in the work place by doing what is required of them out of the understanding that they are the first individuals to ensure the well-being of each other.
Employees should be aware that they are not allowed to perform any project unless under authorisation from their seniors and supervisors to avoid unexpected damages and accidents.
They should be involved in ensuring that the workplace is in order for the safety of everyone and the organisation at large. This move not only increases health and safety measures for employees and other workers, but also it reduces the maintenance cost that would have been incurred if the equipment were damaged.
They need to understand that it is their responsibility to follow the right procedures and protocols when responding to emergencies within and outside the organisation.
Lastly, they need to understand that they are not allowed to endanger fellow employees by their actions; for instance, when an electrician in working on the power system while the main switch is off, then another employee switches it on without the notice of the technician. This act is life threatening, even though one may do it for comical intentions.

Conclusion

Stress in the workplace is common in most organisations where key players fail in understanding their roles and duties. Stress is directly connected to health, and thus health and safety should be the core concern of the management of any organisation as healthy employees are more productive and competent than their ill counterparts. In a bid to achieve this goal, the management should ensure that all functioning departments are aware of their roles and duties in the health and safety division. Failure by one party may lead to a domino effect where the entire organisation is put at risk. Thus, the management should consider the following recommendations to reduce and manage stress in the workplace:

Commitment and leadership accountability
Policies and objectives
Organisation and resources
Contractor and supplier management
Risk management
Business processes
Performance monitoring and improvement
Audits and reviews

Therefore, the management should ensure that all employees, directors, managers, and other parties involved in the health and safety forums understand the model and they strive to implement it. The implementation of all the recommendations suggested will lead to the reduction and management of stress in the workplace. If employees are stressed, their output is affected negatively, which leads to poor performance. In addition, stress in the workplace can lead to high employee turnover, which affects operations and profitability. Therefore, given that organisations exist to make profits, the management should ensure that employees are stress-free for optimal performance, which translates to improved performance, hence increased profitability.

Reference List

Arnold, J, Randall, R, Patterson, F, Silvester, J, Robertson, I, Cooper, C,…Hartog, D 2010, Work Psychology Prentice Hall, New York.

Buchanan, D & Huczynski, A 2010, Organisational Behaviour, Pearson Education, New York.

Matthewman, L, Rose, A & Hetherington, A 2009, Work Psychology, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Michie, S 2002, ‘Causes and management of stress at work’, Occupational and Environmental Health, vol. 59, no. 1, pp. 67-72.

Schultz, D & Schultz, S 2014, Psychology and Work Today, Pearson, New York.

Steptoe-Warren, G 2013, Occupational Psychology: An Applied Approach, Pearson Education, New York.

Woods, S & West, M 2014, The Psychology of Work and Organisations, Routledge, London.

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