Stress at work

1. Introduction

Recent research (Jeanne Segal et al. 2012) suggested that in this difficult economy, many are finding it harder than ever to cope with stress in the workplace. Regardless of occupation, seniority, or salary level, instead of feeling ready and relaxed, people are more and more exhausted and out of control. While some stress is a normal part of the workplace, excessive stress can interfere with productivity and reduce physical and emotional health.

Stress may emerge from many different sources, from home, from the unreasonable amount of work an employee receives, from their boss or colleagues, it can even come from random factors such as the weather. A sad fact is, stress is inevitable. It appears in whatever activity one takes and it has specific effects on the quality of their work, especially when the task given to the person is repetitive or beyond their professional, physical or mental ability. Even though the impacts of stress vary from person to person, studies have shown that stress can be sorted by different causes and there are a number of ways to deal with each type or group.

In hopes of helping readers get better understanding of stress and how to cope with stress effectively, this paper will focus on a few aspects related to stress at work and some methods to help minimize stress.

2. Nature of stress

It is of little doubt that the incidence of stress at work is one of the major unfavorable influences on job satisfaction, work performance and productivity. It is the source of hostility and disappointment, and can originate through a number of interconnected influences on behavior, such as the individual, group, organizational and environmental factors.

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