Protecting Productivity: Cause and Effect of Workplace Stress

Stress is not a good sign for employee and for the organization as it results in poor performance, lower productivity, poor morale and many more. Especially in the housekeeping department employees tend to worry a lot because of the time the customer’s check - out and another customer check –in, they got limited time to do the cleaning process and they feel the work more demanding. Сause and effect of stress is the topic of the essay as it is important knowledge for the employer to make sure that their employees are stress-free and have no such pressure on them related to their work.

Analysis of Stress Cause and Effect - Essay

One of the main causes of stress at the workplace is work-life balance. Work-life balance is important for an employee. Sometimes it happened at the workplace that there are high responsibilities associated with certain projects and employee start feeling uneasy not being able to meet the deadlines. Thus, they feel pressurized by their employer by not giving their best performance and somewhere it starts affecting them morally and physically leading to lack of sleep, headache and also long hours of work- inflexible hours of work which is not encouraging for an employee to work in such atmosphere. Employees’ in the housekeeping department do feel the same when they are under pressure if the demands of their job such as long hours of work or responsibilities are greater than they can handle. All the issues of stress cause and effect that are reviewed in the essay start showing up in personal life of employees and affecting in their relationship leading to low productivity level and increase absences.

Ultimately there is a disbalance between professional and personal life and they are unable to handle it which can lead to a nervous breakdown. Thus the employer must ensure that the working atmosphere is lively, healthy and harmonious for its employees. It is very important to have a good working condition as this promote a higher productivity level for the organization and the employees will feel more motivated to work harder and give their best performance. If the employer fails to ensure a proper work - life balance for its employees, this will affect the organizational productivity level.

Thus, it is important that employer create a trade-off of work-life balance for its employee by giving them half day off or giving them the flexibility of work schedule that gives them the right to choose their work shift hour, for example: 06:00 to 15:00, 07:00 to 16:00, 08:00 to 17:00, 11:00 to 20:00 or 15:00 to 23:00. Also, the employer can introduce a counseling process for its employee to avoid stress taking over their mental health. Through a third person, the employee can discuss and talk openly what’s bothering them in terms of a professional or personal level. Another way of preventing stress at the workplace is through Health & Safety Act. It’s an employer duty and responsibility to ensure that its employees are safe and secure, they have all the required training to do their work well and provide them with all the required equipment and to provide information about all the risks associated with the work, especially when dealing with hazardous chemicals for the maintenance process to prevent accident at the workplace.

What Can Cause Stress in the Workplace - Essay

Another reason for causing stress at the workplace is the poor relationship with colleagues and employer. Poor relationship at the workplace with colleagues and employer can be caused by various factors such as conflicts, bullying, and harassment or even gossiping. Conflict at the workplace is not appreciating as it changes the working atmosphere entirely and one may feel de-motivated and stress and not like coming to work. Sometimes it happened that through gossiping, conflicts arise between two employees and that will not be acceptable in the organization as they are here to work and not gossiping about their colleagues or do backbiting. Another issue might happen at the workplace is that employee start bullying or discrimination with their friends and they start feeling irritated by it.

Thus it is important for the employer to keep an eye on their employee and if ever conflicts arise they must try to solve it in a more diplomatic way without upsetting others and without dis-balanced the harmonious atmosphere at the workplace. Therefore, at the workplace reporting system and bullying & harassment policy must be introduced to handle these problems. If ever these reporting systems are already present in the organization, they must implement it and make it more severe. As employees feel intimated by these issues and start stressing over and it starts affecting their health and feels discouraged to come to work. Therefore, all these will not be tolerated at the workplace and if ever the policy has been breached by one of the employees, that person will be terminated immediately, no suspension or warning because such person is harming the productivity level and also the reputation of the organization. If they want to work here they must respect and treat everyone equally no discrimination or bullied their friends and abide by the rules and regulation of the organization.

Weak leadership and poor management at work is one more statement that can answer “what can cause stress in the workplace?” question for this essay. These factors can cause an employee to stress and discourage them from attending to work. When an employer does not have a good leadership style, the latter will always bring negativity at the workplace and leaving its employees to perform poorly and this causes stress at the workplace and unable to focus on their work. Therefore it is vital to have a good leadership style at the workplace. The employer must possess good qualities to be a good leader.

First of all the latter must foster a good working environment for its employees and promote teamwork. There must be a good communication flow between the employer and employee so that they can share and communicate all the important information. The latter must have the ability to solve conflicts if arisen between employees rather than aggravating the matter more. The latter must listen and respect others point of view and also welcome its employee’s ideas at the workplace and also involved them in the decision-making process. The employer must be supportive towards its employee, inspire and encourage them to work harder by boosting their knowledge and morale to achieve their goals on a professional and personal level that they have set for themselves and for the organization. If ever among the employee one has made mistake instead of correcting that person do not put the blame on someone else. If the employer is seeing that some of its employees need the training to upgrade their skills so that they can perform their work more effectively and efficiently, the latter will provide training and supervise them. Lastly, the employer must always think about the benefits of its employee’s and the organization first not for his own benefit.

One of the reasons causing stresses at the workplace is constant changes within the organization. Changes within an organization are very common and it can be positive and negative regarding how an employee is taking those changes whether personally or no. A change within an organization is obvious because they need to keep up-to-date with the trends and also according to the demand of customers. However, some employees find it hard to accept changes within the organization as it is done for their own betterment but they do not want it. Thus, they start stressing over it and making it an issue. Due to this, they start performing poorly, having bad attitudes and they are being less productive in their work.

Therefore, within this “Cause and effect essay about stress' it's needed to mention that before making any changes within the organization the employer can adopt certain measures to inform the employees and make them aware before implementing the changes. For example in the hotel industry if they do not make certain changes, keeping up-to-date with the market trends and demand of customers they can lag behind in terms of quality of service being provided to their customers which can lead to customer complaint as they are not satisfied. Their competitors will have an advantage over their situation and they might lose their loyal and regular customers too. Another example; if an employee is finding it hard to accept changes in the organization may be in terms of machinery; they lack that skills and knowledge to perform the work, they are stressing how they will work over it, then the employer can provide all the required training to perform the work smoothly, effectively and efficiently.

Last reason for causing stress at the workplace is heavy work-loads. When an employee is working for long hours on a given project along with its teammates and unable to meet the deadline they start stressing over and also they start getting pressure from their supervisor or even top management . They are lagging behind maybe they do not have the required skills and did not get the required training to perform the work efficiently and they start feeling discouraged. Therefore, before assigning a task to an employee an employer has to make sure that the person has got all the required training and possessed all the skills and knowledge so that they feel prepared and confident and giving their best of the assigned work given to them.

Another reason for causing stress at the workplace is no career advancement and opportunities. Employees are working hard to achieve their goal however when that employee does not get appreciation from their employer they start feeling discouraged and start performing poorly with a bad attitude. Maybe they are expecting a promotion but someone else get it who do not even deserve it and they start feeling discouraged, stress and start making excuses for not coming to work. They are not satisfied how their employer is doing and they start looking for another job in another company, where they are sure will get promotion and appreciation from their supervisor, who will respect their hard work and efforts. Ultimately it’s the loss of the organisation because they are not valuing and respecting someone effort and hard work and someone who does not deserve to get promotion are getting it, so they are losing a valuable asset in the form of an employee by taking whatever that person has learned will give it to another organization, their knowledge, skills, training, and expertise, and ideas.  

The last one to discuss is the stress impact on health and it's cause and effect. To end up the essay we will take a brief look at one of the most common symptoms of workplace stress. The first one is headaches. Stress can cause tension in the muscles of the neck, shoulders, and head, leading to headaches that can range from mild to severe. Additionally, stress can lead to fatigue, which can cause employees to feel lethargic and drained. Over time, chronic stress can even lead to serious health problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and stroke. In terms of emotional effects, stress can lead to anxiety, depression, and feelings of burnout or overwhelm. Employees who are experiencing stress at work may feel anxious about meeting deadlines or performing well, leading to a constant sense of worry or unease. Similarly, the pressure to perform may lead to feelings of inadequacy, which can contribute to depression or burnout over time. Cognitive effects of stress can impair an employee's ability to perform at their best. Chronic stress can lead to memory and attention problems, making it harder for employees to remember important details or concentrate on tasks. Additionally, stress can affect decision-making abilities, leading to poorer choices that can have negative consequences for both employees and employers. Furthermore, stress can also lead to increased absenteeism, decreased job satisfaction, and higher turnover rates. Employees who are experiencing high levels of stress may feel like they need to take time off work to manage their symptoms, which can lead to decreased productivity and increased absenteeism. Similarly, employees who are unhappy with their work environment due to stress may choose to leave the company, leading to higher turnover rates.

Conclusion to “Cause and Effect of Stress” Essay

Stress or occupational stress at workplace is a universal problem that affects millions of employees every year and it is also one among the reasons that cause absenteeism at the workplace to increase, as employees are unable to handle the stress problem. Stress can be caused by various factors at the workplace, for example, the demand for work is higher and thus employee feel pressurized for not submitting it on the due date. To address workplace stress, employers can take several steps to support their employees. This can include offering stress management training, providing support for mental health, promoting work-life balance, and creating a positive work environment that values employee wellbeing. By addressing the sources of stress in the workplace, employers can help to reduce employee stress, improve productivity and engagement, and create a healthy and supportive work environment.