Sunday, February 08, 2009

Are you suffering from Job Stress?


Take this questionnaire below and know

A) Work Pressure

I have to work very hard.
Yes/No.
I don't get enough time to complete my work.
Yes/No.
I am always asked to do too much work.
Yes/No.

B) Command

I can be creative in my work.
Yes/No.
Most of my work is repetitive in nature.
Yes/No.
I can learn new things at my job.
Yes/No.
I have a lot of say about what happens at work.
Yes/No.
I am free to decide how I need to complete my work.
Yes/No.

C) Support

I work with people who take a personal interest
in me.
Yes/No.
My peers are always helpful to me.
Yes/No.
My supervisor is helpful to me.
Yes/No.

How to Calculate Score

Calculate separately for each of the above three factors and give yourself a 1 for every Yes.

Work Pressure (0-Low,1-2 High)
Command (0-1 Low,2-Moderate, 3-4 High, 5-Very High)
Support (0-Low, 1 moderate, 2-3 High)

Does your score shows that you work pressure is high and you have low command over your work with low support at your workplace?

If so, beware your are suffering from Job Stress. Various research studies have shown that high demands with low support & low control at workplace leads to Job stress.

What Job stress can do to you?

It contributes to low productivity & drops motivation levels drastically. Job stress easily gets into your personal life which leads to compound stress ( or even chronic stress).

Where Job stress leads too?
  • A stressed employee is more likely to concentrate less on work & a mistake of life can even cost you a job.
  • Employee is less likely to take part in organizational processes/practices & will contribute less (or even nothing)
  • Workplace will become more unfriendly with low( or No) social support.
  • It will lead to groupism ( or team fragments) that will be unhealthy for organization.
  • It will lead to occupational illness, absenteeism and high health care costs.

Where does Job stress stems from?
  • Physical Factors: Employees are affected by the physical entities present around them at the workplace. These can be cleanliness, ventilation, lights, quality of desktops( laptops), noise, temperature, ergonomic factors, health & safety risks, to name a few.
  • Mismanagement: This is the most important factor. When managers don't manage well- they are disorganized, too authoritarian, or even pit workers against one another then the end result is stressed employees. It includes unclear/ conflicting job demands/roles, multiple supervisors
  • Economic factors: Employee fear of possible job loss, loss/reduction in benefits, downsizing.
  • Organizational factors: The includes the growth of employee(career ladder), pace & variety in the tasks available, trainings available, policies, benfeits/pay etc.
  • Discrimination: If an employee feels that all not treated equally than it can contribute to stress levels.
  • Interpersonal relationships: This includes distant/ uncommunicative supervisors, office politics, competition, conflicts among employees, bullying, harassment, problems caused by excessive time away from the family.
How to deal with job stress?
I have taken this topic in detail here.

Hope you liked reading my views. Kindly provide your thoughts/views & I assure that I will contact you ASAP.

4 comments:

  1. Hey Ravi..the article above was really very helpful and you almost briefed everything that was exactly required in today's stressful workplace.There is always a ray of hope left in any situation.Your article is just that.

    and also the questionaire ws gud too..just to add something ..i wud say pls xplain how we relate to the resultant points .
    Thanks :)

    TeaPea

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey TeaPea,

    Thanks for your encouraging comments. I am always happy to help and it is very nice that you liked my article.
    You are right there is always a ray of hope. We just need to be more positive and enjoy every moment of life.

    For your question above:
    Please give yourself 1 point for every Yes in each part and then conclude based on the matrix for each part as:

    Work Pressure is (High/Low).
    Command is (High/Moderate/Low).
    Support(High/Low).

    I hope I have given satisfactory explanation for your query. Have a great time here and as always keep your feedback coming in. I love to hear from You.

    Regards,
    RP

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous11:56 PM

    thanks for visiting my random world :)
    yours is great too.. keep inspiring!!

    blessings,
    Traice

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks Tracie, you are welcome :)

    Regards,
    RP

    ReplyDelete