International Journal of Human Resource Management and Research (IJHRMR) ISSN(P): 2249-6874; ISSN(E): 2249-7986 Vol. 5, Issue 3, Jun 2015, 25-32 © TJPRC Pvt. Ltd.
WORKPLACE STRESS AND STRESS MANAGEMENT AMONG EMPLOYEES WORKING IN PRIVATE ORGANISATIONS OF NORTH GUJARAT MANISHA A. PATEL Assistant Professor, Golden Jubilee Institute of Business Administration, Sidhpur, Gujarat, India
ABSTRACT Corporate world is becoming very competitive. Stress at workplace can be a real problem to the organization as well as for its employees. It may be create health related issues among employees. These issues slowly start convert in frustration which may be further result in lack of interest in work at workplace and poor job performance. So it is becoming key consideration for any organization to encounter the stress among employees at workplace and implementation of stress management activities. This descriptive research study is the small step in the direction to determine the workplace stress among 100 employees working in different private organization of North Gujarat. This study found some major stressors which causes stress among employees at workplace. They are over burden of workload, unfavorable working conditions, and lack of proper reward system. When employees work under this type of stress, they meet with different problems like headache, blood pressure, anger, anxiety, frustration, lack of concentration, forgetfulness, etc. Employees were trying for stress buster activities at workplace sometimes only while very few employees found who always involved themselves in stress buster activities. There were employees who never trying for that and ignore stress. There was no statistical relationship found between age, gender, salary earned and types of stress experience. Management of the organizations should try to provide a healthy environment in which employee can perform their job without any stress.HR department should involved employees in professional stress management activities.
KEYWORDS: Stress, Workplace, Employees, Health, Job Performance, Stress Management Activities INTRODUCTION Modern life is full of hassles, deadlines, frustrations and demands. Small amount of stress is good as it motivate people to perform under pressure and do their best. But when it crosses the limit, the mind and body both have to pay for that. They start reacting by giving different signs and symptoms of stress. Anything that poses a challenge or a threat to our well-being is a stress. Stress is a normal physical response to events that make people feel threatened or upset their balance in some way. Stress can hit anyone at any level of the business. Workplace related stress is widespread and is not confined to particular sectors, jobs or industries. Work related stress is: "The adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them at work." Workplace related stress develops because employees are unable to cope with the demands being placed on them. This workplace stress can be a significant cause of illness and is known to be linked with high levels of sickness absence, staff turnover and other issues such as more errors.
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Manisha A. Patel
Causes of Workplace Stress A stressor is a chemical or biological agent, environmental condition, external stimulus or an event that causes stress to an organism. Workplace stress is the response people may have when presented with work demands and pressures that are not matched to their knowledge and abilities and which challenge their ability to cope. Stress occurs in a wide range of work circumstances but is often made worse when employees feel they have little support from supervisors and colleagues, as well as little control over work processes. There are some common stressors at workplace which causes stress among employees like; •
Heavy workload, long work hours, infrequent breaks, routine tasks, not enough time to complete a job.
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Little participation in making decisions, little control over the finished product, poor communication, lack of family-friendly policies, little recognition for good job performance.
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Poor social environment and lack of support from co-workers or supervisors; prejudice or discrimination because of race, religion, gender or age.
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Conflicting or uncertain job expectations, too much responsibility, too many bosses.
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Job insecurity; lack of opportunity for growth, advancement or promotion.
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Unpleasant or dangerous physical conditions such as crowding, noise, air pollution, ergonomic issues and fear of exposure to toxic chemicals.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY •
To determine the causes and effects of workplace stress experienced by employees.
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To determine the workplace stress management strategies used by employees.
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To determine relationship between demographics characteristics and workplace stress.
Hypotheses H01: There is no statistically significant relationship between age of employees and the effect of workplace stress experienced. H02: There is no statistically significant relationship between gender of employees and the effect of workplace stress experienced. H03: There is no statistically significant relationship between designation of employees and the effect of workplace stress experienced. H04: There is no statistically significant relationship between salaries earned and the effect of workplace stress experienced.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Research Design The descriptive survey design was conducted to carry out the study in 23 different private organizations in North
Impact Factor (JCC): 5.2129
NAAS Rating: 3.25
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Workplace Stress and Stress Management among Employees Working in Private Organizations of North Gujarat
Gujarat which includes companies, factories, consultancy firms, colleges, banks. 130 questionnaires were distributed to respondents and 109 questionnaires received complete in all aspects. 100 questioners used to analyze the data. Research was carried out from January, 2015 to April, 2015 Target Population Employees working in different private organizations at Mehsana, Patan and Banaskantha districts of North Gujarat. Sample size is 100 and Sampling Method is Simple Random Sampling Data Collection Instruments Secondary data were gathered by books, news articles, internet, magazines and related research papers. Primary data were collected directly from employees with help of structure and close ended questionnaire. Percentage analysis and Chi-Square [X²] test analysis with help of SPSS and Microsoft Excel.
RESULT INTEREPRETATION Table 1 is representing social demographics data of respondents like age, gender, job designation and salary of the employees. We can see that employees are from all age groups. 30% of them are between 31 to 40 years and also 29% are between 41to 50 years of age. Generally these age groups have more responsibilities at work and in family both. 21% are between 21 to 30 years, while 20% of the respondents are between the age group of 51 to 60 years. Purposefully more focus was given to female employees for study, as women are more likely than men to experience stress. So here 58% respondents are female while 42% are male. Table 1: Social Demographic Data of Employees Demographic Data Age
Gender
Designation
Monthly Salary
Variable 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 Male Female Head of the Department Manager Supervisor Executive College Teacher Accountant Clerk 0.05 for Physical, Emotional and Psychological type of stress. Null hypothesis accepted. So it means no particular age group has experienced any particular stress. It suggests that different types of workplace stress arise at any age. Table 5: Relationship between Some Socio Demographics Data and Stress Experienced Pearson Chi Square Test [X²] X² P value Age Remark X² P value Gender Remark X² Designation P value Remark X² P value Salary Remark Source: Primary Data Variable
Type of Stress Experienced Physical Emotional Psychological 0.93 0.44 0.98 > 0.05 > 0.05 > 0.05 No Relation No Relation No Relation 0.51 0.28 0.18 > 0.05 > 0.05 > 0.05 No Relation No Relation No Relation 0.27 0.02 0.34 > 0.05 < 0.05 > 0.05 No Relation Relation No Relation 0.96 0.93 0.61 > 0.05 > 0.05 > 0.05 No Relation No Relation No Relation
H02: There is no statistically significant relationship between gender of employees and the effect of workplace stress experienced. As shown in Table 5, we can see P > 0.05 for Physical, Emotional and Psychological type of stress. Null hypothesis accepted. It means stress experienced by employees at workplace is free from gender. Generally it believed that women are experienced more stress than men. But here result is very clear that female and male both experience Physical, Emotional and Psychological type of stress. H03: There is no statistically significant relationship between designation of employees and the effect of workplace stress experienced. As shown in Table 5, P > 0.05 for Physical and Psychological stress so here null hypothesis accepted for only these two types of stress. But for Emotional stress, P < 0.05, so null hypothesis is rejected. It reveals that emotional types of stress like anger, anxiety, and frustration may be depend on employees’ position in organization.
Impact Factor (JCC): 5.2129
NAAS Rating: 3.25
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Workplace Stress and Stress Management among Employees Working in Private Organizations of North Gujarat
H04: There is no statistically significant relationship between salaries earned and the effect of workplace stress experienced. As shown in Table 5, we can see P > 0.05 for Physical, Emotional and Psychological type of stress. Null hypothesis accepted. It means stress experienced by employees not depended on salary earned by them. It suggests high earning is not solution of workplace stress. Stress arises from different factors.
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS Stress is slow poison which affects people in different and many ways. Workplace stress arises from different factors and it caucuses various Physical, emotional and psychological problems. It they are not faced carefully then they will cause serious health problem, poor work performance and conflicts in professional and social life. This study found some major stressors which causes stress among employees at workplace. They are over burden of workload, unfavorable working conditions, and lack of proper reward system. When employees work under this type of stress, they meet with different problems like headache, blood pressure, anger, anxiety, frustration, lack of concentration, forgetfulness, etc. Workplace stress can be managed by different strategies like meditation, exercise, relaxation and positive use of break time. This study found very few employees are using these stress buster activities. It is suggested that top level management with HR manager should need to implement on job professional sessions for employees to reduce stress. Further, No relationship found between age, gender, designation and salary of employees with types of stress experienced. Means stress becoming common at workplaces. The research is a small step in understanding workplace stress among employees of private organization at Mehsana, Patan and Banaskantha districts of North Gujarat. Therefore the results of this study cannot be generalized. However, this study provides an opportunity for the researchers to use larger sample size and arrive at generalization. It also provides opportunity for employees and employers to build stress management strategies.
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