Employee Stress - Let's fight it out!

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Authors: Subhadra. K, Niharika Atchyutuni
Faculty Associate, Faculty Associate
ICMR (IBS Center for Management Research).

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Workplace Stress Contd...

Physical Stressors:
It has been found that poor working conditions at the workplace result in physical stress among employees. The physical stressors include - poor lighting, improper ventilation, high level of humidity, unsuitable temperatures at workplace etc. In addition to the physical comforts at the workplace, excessively long working hours, excessive work load, deadline pressures and stringent rules and regulations also exert the employees and have a very harmful impact on them.

Further, when employees are denied short-breaks during their work hours, they tend to feel more stressed up. One would be mistaken if he/she understands that physical stress at the wok place is limited to a manufacturing or a field job scenario. Computerization at the workplace has brought in many computer related health hazards to desk jobs. It has been observed that individuals working in the IT industry are more susceptible to ailments related to muscles, eyes etc.

Extensive usage of computer leads to various muscle related ailments in employees, especially those in the IT industry. It has been found that employees working continuously on a computer were exposed to musculoskeletal disorders. Musculoskeletal disorders are caused by overuse of muscles, tendons and nerves. While working on computers, we tend to overuse our fingers and wrist, which lead to these problems However, most of the employees do not know the real reason behind the inflammation and pain in the muscles related to the fingers and wrist. Further, improper chairs and incorrect height of tables might also lead to pain in the back and the neck of the employees. Employees working on computers are also prone to disorders related to eyes and vision.

Psychological Stressors:
Physical stressors impact an individual even psychologically. For instance, long working hours without the required breaks would make a person tired and demotivated and a sense of helplessness creeps in. This would lead to frustration and eventually, psychological stress. Psychological stressors include - unfriendly work environment, monotonous job, problems in the social/external environment, job insecurity, problems with colleagues or immediate superiors, lack of proper balance between work and home, external factors in the industry, unsuitable work culture in the organization etc.

It has been found that when employees feel they don't have any control on their job or work they are doing, a sense of helplessness seeps into their mindset, leading to depression. Further, when the relations among employees are strained, it also exerts negative influence on the employees' attitude and their job. One more important factor that puts employees under psychological strain is unrealistic deadlines. If the deadlines at work decided by superiors are unrealistic or beyond the employee's capabilities, it would put the employee under stress to perform, affecting his overall health.

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