Stress at Work and Satisfaction

There appears little doubt that one of the majorover the demand of their resources.
adverse influences on job satisfaction, work- Relationship problems - difficulties with a boss,
performance, absenteeism, turnover andsubordinates or colleges.
productivity, is the incidence of stress at work.- Career uncertainty - doubtful future career
Stress is a source of tension and frustration thatprospects affect the whole of a person's work
may arise through a number of interrelatedThere are a number of techniques by which
influences on behavior, including the individual,individuals may bring stress under control. For
group, organizational and environmental factors. Inexample, changing your viewpoint; putting your
a recent survey into attitudes to work, when aproblems into perspective; learning to laugh at life;
random sample of 1,000 workers was asked tonot worrying and working on stress reduction; not
specify the biggest problem at work, the secondtalking yourself down; and not attempting to slow
most common response (after poor pay - 18%)your life down.
was stress at 17%. This would seem to supportIn addition, companies have initiated internal
the contention that stress is a problem of theprograms to reduce the fatigue or stress from
nineties.working on a specific position for a long period of
The causes of stress are complex. Stress is alsotime. In fact, job rotation is the most basic form
a very personal experience, as is the response ofof individual job design. It involves moving a
each individual to it and their beliefs about howperson from one job or task to another. It
best to cope with the causes and the effects ofattempts to add some variety and to help
stressful situations. Although considered as havingremove boredom, at leads in the short term.
a negative impact, a certain amount of stressHowever, if the tasks involved are all very similar
may be seen as positive and even as a goodand routine, then once the person is familiar with
thing, which helps and promotes a high level ofthe new task the work may quickly prove boring
performance. Keeping the balance is theagain.
challenging task of management.Job rotation may lead to the acquisition of
The five situations that are most commonlyadditional skills but does not necessarily develop
considered as stressful are the following:their levels. Strictly, job rotation is not really job
- Responsibility for the work of others - conflictingdesign, because neither the nature of the task
objectives of groups and organizations, groupsnor the method of working is restructured.
and individuals, self and superiors.However, it may help a person identify more with
- Innovative functions - conflicting priorities andthe completed product or service. It can also be
different psychological demands between theused as a form of training and it can reduce
routine and administrative aspects of the job andstress that is associated with managing the
the creative side.increased responsibilities of a specific role in a
- Integrative or boundary functions - the stressfulcompany.
role of the coordinator, due to the lack of control