I. Introduction

Stress is one of the leading causes of low productivity of employees, and management practices need to be improved. Firms that pay attention to the well being of their employees report improved productivity and fewer costs of employing new employees. Stress, if not managed, may lead to depression, and a firm may end up losing productive employees. Also, the cost of recruiting new employees adds to the already costly production process, yet companies are always attempting to cut on the cost of production. Insurance companies may also be caught up where stress leads to higher than expected claims from clients hence a need to collaborate with the various firms to come up with strategies that may help to manage stress among employees. Moreover, stress has adverse impacts on the production of employees since it lowers motivation and slows down the rate of production.

Stressed workers are less motivated and end up slowing down the production process, hence a disadvantage to the employers. Employees require that their employers look into their challenges to address their stress and motivate them to work more (Huff, Jessica, and Ablah, 368). Besides, employees will not add extra effort for a firm that does not promise to help them when they face challenges. Some of the challenges may emanate from work-related factors, while other employees may be stressed by external issues such as family matters. A firm should, therefore, investigate to come up with a clear explanation of the cause of stress to the employees before developing a plan to address them. Moreover, firms should come up with a set of strategies to address the increasing cases of stress among employees.

The development of this report aims at assessing the cause of stress among employees and the strategies that have been set and ones that need to be set to manage the situation.

Section II describes the impacts of stress in the workplace and the general production process.
Section III outlines the causes of stress among employees.
Section IV discusses the existing strategies to address stress among employees.
Section V makes recommendations on the changes that are needed to reduce the cases of stress among employees.

II. Impacts of Stress in the Workplace and the General Production Process

Stress occurs when an individual responds to the real or perceived challenge, and the response differs depending on the individuals. Individuals are said to be strong if they can respond positively and adjust effectively to overcome the challenges (Holton, Kim, Barry and Chaney, 300). However, some challenges are difficult, and even the strong give in and can only be helped by stronger people. Also, individuals may be said to be weak if they cannot overcome the least of the challenges. Generally, overcoming challenges takes individual or combined efforts, and firms should support their employees when challenges occur. Usually, stress has negative impacts both to the firm and the employees.

The employees are negatively affected by stress if they do not overcome the challenges effectively. First, stress has negative health impacts and could lead to a series of diseases. Eventually, the stressed employee may be forced to spend money and other resources in the management of such conditions. Conditions such as hypertension are associated with stress and are expensive to manage. Also, a stressed person will not perform most of their duties and will be a burden to their workmates or will neglect their family duties. Moreover, stress is costly to employers if employees quit employment, or the firm is forced to provide for the medical costs of the employees.

Stress is responsible for the high costs of production. First, employees may choose to quit employment if they cannot manage their stress. When employees quit employment, firms are forced to recruit new employees, which is costly in the long-run. Also, some firms are forced by regulations to cover medical expenses when employees suffer from stress due to work-related factors. The compensation costs are high, and firms find themselves struggling to maintain the high cost of stress management.

III. Causes of Stress among Employees

Stress occurs in different forms among employees. One of the most common causes of stress is family-related issues where the employees face challenges balancing their family issues and work demands. For example, an employee who is the sole breadwinner of their family might be facing financial challenges that may reflect the workplace. The fact that the cause of stress is not related to the workplace does not mean that the employer should overlook the interests of the employee. Besides, the productivity of the employee is significantly affected, and the employer should pay attention to it. Additionally, pressure in the workplace may lead to employees’ stress.

Employees may be stress by unnecessary pressure in the workplace as well as poor working conditions. Lack of motivation for employees may lead employees into stress under the notion that the firm does not appreciate their efforts. Also, poor management may subject employees to unnecessary pressure in a bid to achieve firms’ goals without considering other factors that could be responsible for low production. When the cause of stress among employees is found to be work-related, the firm should take full responsibility and come up with better policies to address the issue.

IV. Existing Strategies to Address Stress among Employees

Employees and employers are used to believing that high pressure in the workplace is normal if a firm is willing to remain productive. However, research has shown that instead of keeping production high, pressure lowers the rate of production. Vices such as absenteeism and a high desire to quit jobs increase when stress levels go up. Several firms have been developing strategies to address the issue of stress among employees. Moreover, the strategies to deal with employees’ stress have been based on the attempts to address the source of stress, the impacts of stress, and attempts to eliminate stressors.

Employers have always come up with strategies to address employee stress. Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) have played a significant role in addressing work-related stress. The programs have shown an improvement in the ability of employees to deal with stressful activities. Also, firms have come up with activities that improve the interaction between employees to allow employees to share their experiences in a bid to help each other. Furthermore, firms have been investing in organizational cultures that pay attention to individual worker development. Besides, most organizational cultures have been customized to remain consistent with the organizational systems. Moreover, employers have decided to employ specialists who can help employees who are stressed.

Stress management is one of the common specializations that people choose to follow in their careers. Therefore, firms have a variety of individuals to employ in a bid to address the stress management challenge (Amoroso, Maritta, and Liira, 510). Generally, stress consultants are seen as a less expensive method of managing stress among employees compared to the costs incurred due to long term impacts of stress. Consultants provide information on the firms concerning effective methods of addressing stress.

V. Recommendations

The issue of employees’ stress needs a combination of efforts to deal with the issue and save firm from the impacts of stress. Several recommendations are as a result of this made to help in the address of such challenges. First, firms should ensure that the workload should be developed to stay in line with the capabilities of the employees. Employees should be allowed to practice according to their capabilities, and management should not put unnecessary pressure on employees in a bid to achieve unrealistic goals. Also, firms should ensure that the jobs provided by companies are designed to provide an avenue for workers to exceed without having to engage them in pressurized activities to save the firm. Moreover, the roles and responsibilities of workers should be defined before signing the contracts.

An employee should always know their roles and responsibilities before committing themselves to the terms of a contract. Also, the decision-making process of the firms should involve all the employees to make them feel valued. Besides, motivation may come from involvement in decision-making since employees feel a sense of belonging in the firm’s structure. The implementation of the recommendations should generally consider the long-term sustainability of the firm and should be based on inclusivity.

Works Cited

Holton, M. Kim, Adam E. Barry, and J. Don Chaney. “Employee stress management: An examination of adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies on employee health.” Work 53.2 (2016): 299-305.

Huff, Jessica, and Elizabeth Ablah. “Stress and Presenteeism Among Kansas Hospital Employees: What Stress Reduction Interventions Might Hospitals Benefit From Offering to Employees?.” Journal of occupational and environmental medicine 58.11 (2016): e368-e369.

Kinnunen-Amoroso, Maritta, and Juha Liira. “Work-related stress management between workplace and occupational health care.” Work 54.3 (2016): 507-515.

Impacts of Stress in the Workplace and Management Practices