Stress Resilience: A Joint Accountability
Authors: Ferris Patricia , Colleton Michelle 
Published: April 2008

In 2005, Occupational Health personnel noted the number of employees accessing for ergonomic illness had increased. An occupational health consultant and the medical doctor subsequently reviewed medical files and interviewed those employees treated for ergonomic illness in the past year. Consistent with the research in ergonomic illnesses, they found that work stress (high demands and low control) contributed to the development of ergonomic illnesses. In consultation with the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provider and human resources, occupational health collaborated in the development of a comprehensive initiative to reduce personal and organizational stressors. The long-term goal of the project was to reduce ergonomic illness. A large Business Unit (BU) implemented the project in April 2006 and 178 employees from 15 teams participated in a two-stage process. Team members first completed a measure of personal and job stress then attended a half-day workshop that reviewed the stress response and various methods of controlling personal stress. The workshop facilitator compiled the individual scores into team scores reflecting the portion of employees that fell within four levels of stress scores: caution, strain, balance, and optimal. Employees then attended a second session that reviewed their team scores and specific team job stressors. Teams discussed their stressors and developed action plans to address these. Over one-third of those participating in the project identified significant distress in work in three areas measured: work changes, work pressures, and work resources. Analysis of workplace stressors identified three priority actions: a) ensure a reasonable level of job demand through increased staffing and job analyses; b) manage change in a planned and rational manner; and c) improve job resources through the in-sourcing of IT and accounting and the provision of adequate software and physical settings. Finally, analyses suggested consideration of increasing compensation packages and benchmarking exceptional leaders for the purpose of selection and promotion. One year after completion of the project ergonomic illness incidence has decreased from 17 to 3 in the same employee population and EAP access for job related issues has decreased from 6 to 1 at a time when other BU access has greatly increased.

Extensive research in the past century has implicated stress in over half of human morbidity and mortality (Quick, 1998). Job stress is a common problem in industrialized countries creating financial and health burdens to organizations and employees alike. A 2006 article in the "Montreal Gazette" summarized the costs of stress to Canadian businesses. For example, about 20 per cent of the payroll of a typical company goes toward dealing with stress-related problems such as absenteeism, employee turnover, disability leaves, counseling, medicine, and accidents. Work-life conflict costs Canadian business $4.5 billion to $10 billion a year. Stress, depression and addiction are a $33-billion-a-year drain on Canada's economy. Stress is a key factor in the onset of mental illness, now the leading cause of worker disability (about one-third of disability insurance claims in Canada relate to mental-health problems).

The general stress literature conceptualizes stress as a process encompassing the physiological response to emergencies and to environmental and interpersonal demands placed on an individual (Quick). Although there is no absolutely agreed upon definition of stress, stress is most frequently defined as an individual, psycho-physiological, and subjective state, characterized by the combination of high arousal and displeasure (Cannon, 1929; Kristensen, Kornitzer, & Alfredson, 1998: cited in Kompier, 2002). Strain results from stress that is too intense, too frequent, or too prolonged. Depression, vital exhaustion, anxiety, psychological distress, and sleeping difficulties are frequently noted reactions to prolonged stress (Rosengren et al., 2004). The most distal outcome of stress is negative health outcomes such as CHD and diabetes (Hurrell, Nelson & Simmons, 1998).

The concept of job stress is often confused with the concept of challenge. However, challenge and stress are different processes. Under conditions of challenge, individuals feel energized both psychologically and physically. The body does not release stress hormones and individuals are motivated to learn and master new skills. When individuals feel challenged they are relaxed and feel satisfied. Thus, challenge is an important ingredient for healthy and productive work. Stress is associated with negative perceptions, negative emotions, and destructive psychological and physical processes and typically results in a deterioration of performance on a task.