Occup~tltional Stress Al1ld Its Management
Authors: Rowney J.I. A. , Cahoon A.R. 
Published: March 2010

Introduction

The stress of living is increasing and unfortunately we are meeting the expectations of Toffler's age of Future Shock (1970). Stress is a disease of change. According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, two thirds of office visits to family doctors are prompted by stress-related symptoms. Industry is increasingly recognizing the consequences of stress symptoms in absenteeism, company medical expenses and lost productivity. The U.S. estimates $50 billion to $75 billion lost per year, more than $150 far every worker. The case is at least as serious, if not more so, in Canada; for example absenteeism in Canada shows 12.3 days "lost" versus 9.1 in the U.S. (1977). That cost the Canadian economy $7.7 billion. Albrecht (1979) postulates that for an organization with sixty million dollars of sales and two thousand employees, annual costs of stress could be as high as $1000 per employee or $2 million.

Accelerated and complex changes have occurred in technology, communication, transportation, economics and social values and these affect workers at every level The emerging body of literature, although still inconclusive, comes to two conclusions. Firstly, stress at work not only affects employee health and well-being, but, it has a direct impact on organizational effectiveness. Occupational and workplace factors have been found to be directly related to incidence of contemporary health breakdowns (Ganster, Mayes, Sime & Thorpe, 1982; Kasl, 1973) and coronary disease (Cooper & Marshall, 1976; Friedman & Rosenman, 1974).

Given the "relational" nature of stress (McGrath, 1976) managing organizational Stress is organizationally and individually, a unique challenge (Newman & Beehr, 1979). A number of situational factors may serve to intensify or to lessen the impact of life's various stressors. These factors, (not easily altered) include one's own personality, the nature of the organizations in which one works, and the over-all amount of personal and organizational support provided by one's environments. Further, one's orientation predisposes one to cer1ain types of stress; for example, individuals who need close direction in their work may find themselves experiencing stress from an ambiguous job role. Our orientations also influence the ways in which we are affected by stress; for example, competitive and achievement- oriented people (Type "A") are more likely to have heart attacks (Friedman & Rosenman,1974). If we are aware of our personality idiosyncrasies, we can choose to avoid extremely stressful situations. We must also recognize the reality that the organizations in which we work affect our stress levels. The number and timing of deadlines, the manner of facing crises, clients" and regulator's demands, need to be considered. In addition, employees working in an environment lacking in social support, may have more health and emotional problems than people working in more supportive settings.

The first step toward successful stress management is the ability to self-assess one's own stress level. Most individuals can, al least in hindsight, recognize reactions to a severe stressor but often are unaware of the more insidious and cumulative effects. Thus the starting point is an understanding of the stress reaction itself.