Work Stress

We hear a great deal about stress in our day-to-day lives, but what is it?

"Stress can be defined as forces from the outside world impinging on the individual or  the result produced when a structure, system or organism is acted upon by forces that disrupt equilibrium or produce strain".

In simpler terms, stress is the result of any emotional, physical, social, economic, or other factor that requires a response or change. It is generally believed that some stress is okay - sometimes referred to as ‘challenge’ or ‘positive stress’ - but when stress occurs in amounts that you cannot handle, both mental and physical changes may occur.

‘Workplace stress’ then can be considered as the harmful physical and emotional responses that can occur when there is a conflict between job demands on the employee and the amount of control an employee has over meeting these demands. In general, the combination of high demands in a job and a low amount of control over the situation can lead to stress. Stress in the workplace can have many origins or come from one single event. It can impact on both employees and employers alike. As stated by the Canadian Mental Health Association:

"Fear of job redundancy, layoffs due to an uncertain economy and increased demands for overtime due to staff cutbacks act as negative stressors. Employees who start to feel the 'pressure to perform' can get caught in a downward spiral of increasing effort to meet rising expectations with no increase in job satisfaction. The relentless requirement to work at optimum performance takes its toll in job dissatisfaction, employee turnover, reduced efficiency, illness and even death. Absenteeism, illness, alcoholism, 'petty internal politics', bad or snap decisions, indifference and apathy and lack of motivation or creativity are all by-products of an over stressed workplace".

In the workplace, stress can be the result of any numbers situations: