Stress In Workplace

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Stress can be both positive and negative in an organisational setting, the latter posing serious risks for the individuals as well as the organisation. Although, positive stress, so called ‘eustress’, can have the potential for individuals to perform better and increase effectiveness in the workplace. Organisational researchers have come to understand the effects of mismanaged stress in the workplace and the question remains to wether ‘eustress’ actually do have a positive impact on effectiveness in the workplace or if ‘eustress’ is just the first stage and the starting point of ‘distress’. The question remains to if organisations can rightfully generate and facilitate ‘eustress’ in order to increase productivity in organisational environments.…show more content…
Nathan Gordon stated that managers could build a happy, healthy and productive team by generating positive forms of stress amongst the employees. Dimity Borgoyne agreed with the previous and stated that there is a framework by Douglas (1996) that outlines the four key areas, which could assist supervisors and managers to foster ‘eustress’. These four concepts are: matching the right employee with the right task, ensuring that authority equals responsibility, clarifying the task at hand beforehand and lastly, to establish periodic reviews and evaluations. By using frameworks to limit the effects of stress but still generating enough to increase productivity can be justified. Dimity Borgoyne also mentioned the importance of communication in the workplace, which Nathan Gordon also agreed with. Simmons (2000, p. 6) mentions the importance of reward in the process of ‘eustress’, which is vital in order to maintain ‘eustress’ as a positive. Without the incentives and rewards after enduring stress, the stress can easily become ‘distress’. Therefore, it is important to note that feedback and reward is important when managing and facilitating ‘eustress’ (Simmons 2000, p. 6). Managers and supervisors could use this as an additional safeguarding method in order to maintain ‘healthy’ stress in a…show more content…
419) argues that ‘eustress’ is necessary and even indispensible for imposing the correct functions in humans. Eustress stimulates action, reactivity and gives energy and force and also has a positive impact on the process of mutual communication, in which the communication is more effective when persons are capable of managing stress and emotions. It can be argued that ‘eustress’ causes, to some extent, individuals to carry out functions better if they are endured in some stress (Stromska-Cylwik 2014, p.420). Dimity Borgoyne and Nathan Gordon agreed that communication is the most important factor and that ‘eustress’ can and should be used if communication is effective in the workplace. By using appropriate methods of communicating and evaluating and monitoring the reactions of people in a workplace, ‘eustress’ could be facilitated and used as a part of the productivity

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