STRESS MANAGEMENT IN THE WORKPLACE IDENTIFICATION AND COPING 1
Stress Management in the Workplace Identification and Coping Mechanisms
Unit 8 Discussion Board
Clarence Ryan
CM107
Kaplan University
STRESS MANAGEMENT IN THE WORKPLACE IDENTIFICATION AND COPING 2
Introduction
Workplace stress is to be expected. Stress itself is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact,
Hicks & Caroline (2007) point out that stress is a human response to various aspects in his/her
environment that comes naturally. They further imply that stress can sometimes act as a
motivator. However, high stress levels have the capacity to interfere with an individual’s
productivity. Besides, it can have a great impact on their physical and emotional health (Hicks &
Caroline, 2007). Excessive stress is also costly. This is owing to the fact that stress leads to low
productivity, encourages absenteeism, and leads to high turnover, disability pay-outs and an
increased worker compensation scheme. Moreover, stress can make a worker become resentful
toward his/her employer apart from distracting employee engagement (Cooper & Payne, 2008).
Therefore, it is important for employees to identify any signs of stress among their
colleagues and themselves early enough to prevent impacts on the organization’s performance
levels (Hicks & Caroline, 2007). This will help individuals recognize the underlying problem and
seek measures to cope with it. Ultimately, it will reduce the impact of stress on organizational
performance and productivity. This paper seeks to identify the sources and types of stress in the
workplace and how the signs and symptoms of stress can be recognized by individuals both in
themselves and others. Furthermore, the paper will discuss ways through which a stressed team
member can be approached to help them realize that their stress is negatively impacting their
work and the work environment. Finally, the paper will broadly discuss coping mechanisms that
can assist individuals deal with stress.
STRESS MANAGEMENT IN THE WORKPLACE IDENTIFICATION AND COPING 3
Sources and Types of Stress
As noted earlier, stress is a naturally occurring phenomenon. However, there are various
factors both within and outside the workplace setting that lead to excessive stress among
employees in an organization. First and foremost, there is the treadmill syndrome that Nolan
(2009) defines as workers having more work assigned than it is possible to complete in a normal
work day. This usually results in employees working their entire work shift without taking any
breaks. According to Cooper & Payne (2008), overworking is one of the major sources of stress.
The second source of stress among employees is career and job ambiguity. This occurs when
there are so many activities going on in the company with so little communication that it makes
them uncertain about company objectives and their particular role in achieving them.
