Comprehensive Notes on Organizational Stress & Strain

Prevalence and Context of Workplace Stress

• Federal NIOSH reviews: \approx 40\% of U.S. workers label their jobs “very” or “extremely” stressful.
• Managers: 21\% more likely than the average worker to describe work as stressful.
• High-change/uncertainty settings (e.g., JPMorgan Chase) raise stress levels further.

Job-Stress Rankings (Krantz & Lee, 2015)

• Stress score sums points across 10 categories (deadlines, public contact, competitiveness, physical demands, environment, hazards, own life risk, others’ life risk, public encounters, employment change).
• Least-stressful examples:
  • Tenured university professor (score 5.03)
  • Audiologist (6.33)
  • Medical records technician (7.48)
  • Librarian (10.61)
  • Software engineer (12.13)
  • Acc’tant ranked 84 (score 14.09)
• Most-stressful examples:
  • Elementary school teacher (rank 143; 27.37)
  • Air-traffic controller (rank 150; 28.58)
  • Surgeon (rank 154; 28.90)
  • Police officer (rank 183; 43.24)
  • Fire-fighter (rank 191; 50.81)
  • Enlisted military personnel (most stressful; 59.12–74.83)

Core Definitions

• Stress: psychological response to demands with stakes that tax/exceed one’s resources.
• Stressors: demands that trigger stress.
• Strains: negative consequences when resources are exceeded.

Transactional Theory of Stress (Lazarus & Folkman)

• Primary appraisal: “Is this demand stressful?” → classify as benign, hindrance, or challenge.
• Secondary appraisal: “How can I cope?” → choose behavioural/cognitive & problem-/emotion-focused strategies.

Stressors → (Primary appraisal) → Stress? → (Secondary appraisal) → Coping → Strain/Outcomes

• Two broad stressor classes: Hindrance (block goals, evoke anxiety/anger) vs. Challenge (opportunity for growth, evoke pride/enthusiasm).

Typology of Stressors

Work Hindrance Stressors

• Role conflict: incompatible demands (call-centre: speed vs. thoroughness).
• Role ambiguity: unclear expectations, outcomes, methods (new hires; vague syllabus).
• Role overload: too many roles/time \implies can’t perform all (80-hr weeks in banking/law; even 160 hrs wouldn’t suffice).
• Daily hassles: minor repetitive obstacles (paperwork, equipment malfunctions, rude customers; execs spend \approx 0.5–1 day/wk on useless communication).

Work Challenge Stressors

• Time pressure: not enough time → stressful yet motivating (architect overseeing multiple skyscraper projects).
• Work complexity: tasks exceed current KSAs (marketing mgr sent to fix overseas plant).
• Work responsibility: scope & impact on others’ welfare (air-traffic controllers responsible for >10^5 lives/day).

Non-work Hindrance Stressors

• Work–family conflict (W→F, F→W): role spill-over; cyclical amplification; higher for highly embedded employees.
• Negative life events: death, divorce, jail term, illness (see Table 5-2 hierarchy).
• Financial uncertainty: job loss risk, variable pay, recessions → insomnia, lower sleep quality.

Non-work Challenge Stressors

• Family-time demands: social events, travel, home projects.
• Personal-development: school, lessons, volunteering, civic engagement.
• Positive life events: marriage, birth/adoption, graduation.

Global/Expatriate Stressors

• Hindrance: disrupted personal life (missed family events, diet changes).
• Challenge: frequent int’l travel (learning opportunity).
• Mixed: cultural adaptation (decision styles, social norms).

Coping Categories (Latack & Havlovic)

• Behavioural coping = overt actions; e.g., work faster, leave early, terminate expatriate assignment.
• Cognitive coping = mental strategies; e.g., plan efficiency, reinterpret hassles, view surface acting as growth.

Choosing a Strategy

• Perceived effectiveness + self-efficacy for method.
• Demand priority (urgency/importance).
• Perceived control: controllable \Rightarrow problem-focused; uncontrollable \Rightarrow emotion-focused.
• Hindrance demands → lower control → emotion-focused more likely.

Strains: The Consequences of Stress

Physiological Strains

• Immune suppression → more colds.
• Cardiovascular: elevated BP, heart rate, 6\times heart-attack risk after high-pressure deadlines.
• Musculoskeletal: tension headaches, back pain.
• Gastrointestinal: stomachaches, diarrhea.

Psychological Strains

• Depression, anxiety, hostility, reduced creativity, burnout.
• Burnout mitigation: detachment & high-quality sleep.

Behavioral Strains

• Bruxism, aggression, smoking, alcohol, overeating, compulsive gum chewing.

Individual Moderators

• Type-A Behavior Pattern (TABP)
  • Traits: urgency, impatience, competitiveness, hostility.
  • Effects: more stressors (seek challenge/conflict), heightened appraisal, elevated coronary risk.
• Recovery
  • Energy replenishment away from work.
  • Relaxing leisure > household chores/prep-for-work.
  • Sleep quantity/quality ↓ anxiety/depression, ↑ motivation & performance.
• Social Support
  • Instrumental: tangible help (take workload).
  • Emotional: empathy, understanding.
  • Acts as buffer: stressor→strain link weaker when support high.

Stress → Performance & Commitment

Hindrance Stressors (Fig 5-4)

• Weak negative correlation with Job Performance (r\approx -0.10).
• Strong negative correlation with Org Commitment (r\approx -0.50).

Challenge Stressors (Fig 5-5)

• Weak positive with Performance; moderate positive with Commitment.
• Danger: long-term presenteeism → prolonged illness + productivity loss > absenteeism.

Organizational Stress Management

1. Stress Audit (Assessment)

• Examine organisational change, nature of work stressors, and relationship quality/politics.

2. Reducing Stressors

• Policy limits: enforce lunch breaks; end-of-day workflow completion (Xonex Relocation).
• Job sharing (used by 19\% of firms; even VP roles at Fleet Bank).
• Employee sabbaticals: \approx 11\% paid, \approx 33\% unpaid (AmEx, PwC up to 6 mo).
• Discretionary vacation pilots.

3. Providing Resources

• Training Interventions: 20-hr stress-management curriculum → ↑ coping resources, ↓ strain after 7 mo.
• Supportive Practices (SHRM survey % adoption):
  • Flextime 56\%.
  • Telecommuting (part-time) 37\%.
  • Compressed workweeks \approx 33\%.
• Benefits: better work-life balance, productivity, innovation; mere availability boosts attitudes.
• Caveat: misuse perceptions (e.g., Yahoo! ban; promotion bias).

4. Reducing Strains

• Relaxation techniques: progressive muscle relaxation, meditation, breathing, mental aerobics (repeat word/phrase 10{-}20 min 1–2 ×/day).
• Biofeedback (BlueCross TN): heart-rhythm training → ↓ exhaustion/anxiety.
• Cognitive-behavioral (CBT)
  • Self-talk: rational & optimistic statements.
  • Skill building: prioritisation, time mgmt, communication, support seeking.
  • “Resilience” training at Freescale Semiconductor.
• Health & Wellness Programs
  • EAPs (alcohol, addictions) in \approx 75\% of firms.
  • On-site gyms, fitness subsidies, smoking cessation, nutrition programs.
  • Exercise initiatives: Humana free city bikes; Grant Thornton marathon clubs.
  • ROI example: L.L.Bean wellness ↓ health costs by \$400/employee within 1 yr.

Economic Rationale

• 60–90\% of doctor visits have stress-related causes.
• Health-care spend for highly stressed employees \approx 50\% higher.
• Workers’ comp claims up 800\% in high-stress sites (copy-machine distributor example).

Recap: Why Some Employees Are More Stressed

• Mix of encountered stressors (hindrance/challenge; work/non-work).
• Appraisal & coping processes.
• Resulting physiological, psychological, behavioral strains.
• Moderators: TABP, recovery quality, social support level.
• Integrated view explains variation from “thriving under pressure” to “frazzled from minor demands.”