Research Paper on Stress in the Workplace

This is a free example research paper on Stress in the Workplace by our research paper service:
Introduction
I am compiling this report, due to the low morale in the office. This low morale may be due to stress and could be affecting the company in terms of stress leading to a poor performance in employees. Stress is more commonly found in women and as this company employs sixty eight percent women; stress is a factor that needs to be made aware to the company. The basis of this report are from three articles related to stress, including women and stress, Health hazards – looking at stress, and monitor screens and work related stress. I believe that stress is directly affecting the company and this report will look at some ways to eliminate stress.

Findings
Stress in women
Research shows that women are more likely to be affected by stress than men. In fact four times as many women suffer from stress than men. This may be due to a number of reasons, for example due to a heavy work load, meeting deadlines and then out of work many women have a family to take care of, leaving little time for leisure. Stress does not only affect women though, men also get stress in the similar way.

Forms of stress
Stress can be categorised into three groups based on the severity of it. They are as follows:

Mild stress: This stress is a common form of stress and should not really be worried about. It is not harmful to ones health, and can also be beneficial as it can be a challenge for the employee, to reach the target on time with a slight pressure. This form of stress is very common in a company.

Acute stress: This is a more serious form of stress, and can in some cases affect ones health. This form of stress can be triggered by divorce, termination of employment, and bereavement as well as other reasons. The stress is build up from mild stress, and can leave an individual feeling as though demands and deadlines cannot be met.

Chronic stress: The most serious form of stress is chronic stress, as stress can build up to a point where an individual can no longer cope, seriously affecting their health and work. Examples of this kind of stress can be due to family problems, health problems or work related problems.

Over a period of time stress can affect people more seriously, in a non work related way. These forms of stress are psychologically and physiologically. Psychological problems may be feelings of guilt, resentfulness, loss of confidence and sense of perspective. Basically mental problems due to the build up of stress, people find it hard to cope with problems of work and home and this can in extreme cases lead to a nervous breakdown.

Whereas physiological problems are health problems such as high blood pressure, fatigue, digestive troubles, insomnia etc. One in four people in the UK die of heart disease, many of which were stress related cases. So companies need to do something to reduce stress in the office as they are often to blame for high levels of stress amongst employees.

Sitting in front a computer monitor all day can cause damaging effects to health. For example headaches, eye strain, epilepsy and an increased risk of miscarriage. A computer monitor is not entirely to blame for these health risks, it is a mixture of other factors due to an unhealthy environment. Poor lighting in an office can also lead to eye strain, chairs that do not provide enough back support can lead to back pains. Although some of these health hazards seem to be rather extreme, it is medically proven that a flickering screen can trigger an epileptic fit. Also working in unsatisfactory surrounds whilst pregnant, can lead to complications at birth.

Effects of stress on a company
Stress can affect a company badly, stress related illnesses account for four and five percent of absences among both men and women. The employee cannot work to their full potential when under stress, deadlines can be missed, absences rise leading to a bigger work load for the employee when they return to work. Companies can lose out in terms of profitability due to underperforming at work leading to problems within the company.

Conclusion
Companies can be blamed for high levels of stress within the office, this has been stated in this report. There are ways to lower the levels of stress in a company and they are as follows.

Employees with low job satisfaction often are poorly paid with few job promotion prospects. Company managers often fail to acknowledge their staff for their hard work which may lead to depression for the employee. If a employer recognises their employees work more and offer more promotion prospects, even an increase in an employees salary would help relieve stress in the office. Staff recognition is the key to every company, staff work better if their work is praised as they believe that they are a valued member of the company. Recognition may be verbal, where an employer simply praises their work verbally, or a promotion for the employee. Even staff events show that the manager cares about his staff, rather than the usual Christmas party more events out of work should be organised. If more recognition was shown to staff at Terra Firma then employee stress would be lowered and employees would perform better at work.

Redesigning jobs can also help, for example if employees take more breaks from the computer monitor to reduce headaches and eye strain, even performing other jobs away from the computer monitor every so often will minimise these health risks. Companies can also employ a stress councillor to help relieve stress from the employees, as this would not only benefit the employee health, but employees may perform better in their jobs, leading to better productivity and more profits for the company. If all or some of these suggestions were practised in Terra Firma then the company would certainly benefit, leading to a smooth running company, with fewer problems and low stress levels.