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Managing Organizational Change & Stress
Term Paper ID:27449
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Examines the phenomenon of workplace stress, especially that caused by organizational change, & how it can be managed. Considers causes & manifestations of stress, & details several appropriate managerial responses.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Examines the phenomenon of workplace stress, especially that caused by organizational change, & how it can be managed. Considers causes & manifestations of stress, & details several appropriate managerial responses.
Paper Introduction:
Abstract
The focus in the following pages is on workplace stress, particularly that created by organizational change, and how that can be managed appropriately. Stress is defined and causes are discussed, particularly within the context of change and the work environment. Common negative symptoms of stress are noted as well as the implications for individual productivity and for the organization as a whole. Finally, methods for effectively dealing with stress individually and in organizations are presented. For the organization, the qualities or attributes that the should be utilized to manage stress during the ongoing process of change are examined; some points of focus include leadership, personal compacts, communication, positive feedback, allowing emotional expression, and individualized programs.
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Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology,69, 89-1 6. (1997). According to them, there are several types ofactivities in which role stress occurs in purchasing, but they sharecertain characteristics, including insufficient responsibility given to theinvolved individuals. While these are not likely to eliminatestress from the workplace, and from situations of radical change, they arebetter ways of managing the situations, and the people, involved. (1995). And Samu, S. All of these leadership tasks are designed to help the organizationmaintain its connection to both poles of the creative tension of thesituation of adaptive change. Clark also noted that employee assistanceprograms are more and more common, and that these provide employees with aplace to express their feelings about both work and personal issues thatare stressful for them. Taking work home: A study ofdaily fluctuations in work stressors, effects on moods and impacts onmarital partners. There are a number of ways to managechange more thoughtfully, and successfully. Strategies and relaxation techniques; b. George, J.M. When people are objectified, and believe that theyare not valued, they become sad, depressed, angry, and unhappy in theworkplace. It is here, for example, that trust and loyalty issues cometo the forefront. Heifetz and Laurie (1997) noted that organizations mustlearn how to deal with adaptive challenges. He noted that this is still notcommon in corporations, and that communication seems to be particularly badin relationship to downsizing. The mood, according to George and Jones (1997) comes to havepervasive effects on cognitive processes and behaviors long after theevents that created it. Industry Week, 244(18), 29. Organizations are seeking tochange their structures, the way they do business, their ability to respondto the global market, their commitment to quality, and their corporateculture, among other things. Moreinformation, while potentially alarming, gives employees some sense ofcontrol. Individualized programs. (1995) provide a long listof recommendations designed to help organizations create stress managementprograms. Human Relations, 5 , 4, 393-411. Job stress also manifests itself in the individual's personal life,including the home life and marital relationship. In particular, the psychological and social dimensions need to beaddressed, since these contain more implicit elements regarding therelationship. Another major source of stress in the workplace is the denial ofhumanity in the workplace - treating people like robots, objects, orresources to be used. However, if those dimensions areacknowledged, and the compacts themselves change in an appropriate way,then it is possible to manage change, and the stress resulting from it,more successfully. When these compacts are violated,from the employee's perspective, this creates considerable job stress. Thus, leaders must change their behaviors in order to teachemployees how to be adaptive, and must learn how to help employees, and theorganization, to regulate the distress resulting from adaptive change. These include: a. One of his recommendations is that employees beencouraged to express their humanity, particularly through the expressionof feeling. (1996). In many instances, workers are madeaccountable for achieving certain ends, but not given the necessary powerand responsibility to enable them to do this effectively. Experiencing work: Values,attitudes, and moods. Why do employees resist change? (1995). Clark, C.S. Finally, methods foreffectively dealing with stress individually and in organizations arepresented. As one example of this, Budd (1995) attributed much of the workplaceviolence that currently occurs to workplace stress, often triggered bydownsizing and other forms of corporate restructuring and change. There was also quite a bit of daily fluctuation, which seemsto contradict the contention of George and Jones (1997) that workplacemoods are often sustained and bear little relationship to current events.Managing Stress in Organizations Although there are a number of specific programs for managing stressin both business and personal life, the focus in this section is onqualities, or characteristics within the organization itself that helps tomanage stress throughout the organization, particularly in times of change. Strebel, P. In other words, they try to keep things secret, ratherthan sharing their intentions and future plans with employees. According to Howard Stein (Don'tstifle emotions, 1995), one of the major problems in the workplace is thesuppression of emotional expressions. They recommend three fundamental tasks for the leader seeking toregulate distress in the face of adaptive change in the workplace. As aconsequence, workers themselves cease to feel loyalty to the corporation.This leads to an increased sense of meaninglessness, however, anothersource of personal and professional stress. Heifetz, R.A. Certainly there is thepowerlessness that makes one vulnerable to being downsized. Coping with mutiny: workplace stress demands aresponsive management. In other words, theleader not only establishes vision, he or she must be able to protect thegroup while it is reorienting to a new organizational culture. In other words, they must beable to respond, to adapt to change, relatively rapidly and creatively.This requires an organization, and individuals within organizations, whoare also able to behave adaptively. Allowing emotional expression. Downsizing, or layoffs, places agreat deal of stress both on the people fired and the people who remain.It can violate both formal compacts and psychological compacts that peoplehave with the organization. Particularly in times of high stress andrapid change, however, employees need to know that they are performing welland that they are appreciated. If the employee feels that the organization devalues orignores the psychological dimension of the personal compact, that employeemay feel free to deny responsibility for return loyalty to theorganization. USA Today,124(26 4), 8-1 . And Fletcher, B.C. Management needs to identify elements of the formal,psychological, and social compacts that currently exist between theorganization and employees first. Help in reducing or eliminating job-specific stressors; c. In addition, corporations tend to control information, rather thancommunicate it. As aconsequence, stress increases, rather than being released in a healthy,productive manner. This isclearly a problem. These compacts contain both explicitand implicit obligations and commitments, and are expressed in formal,psychological, and social dimensions. Change that is imposed unilaterallyfrom the top down is likely to disrupt one or more of the dimensions of theemployee compact with the organization. (1995) reported on one form of this in their study ofrole stress in purchasing. For example, men's poor moods could be the cause of theirrating events during the day negatively, rather than the events of the daycausing the poor moods. Thus, they lack control over the outcomes of theiractivities and are powerless to ensure that they achieve the objectivesthat they are being held accountable for.Manifestations of Stress There are several common manifestations of stress at both the personaland business level. One of the characteristics of the business organization in the 199 shas been, and will continue to be, change. (1995).Stress and stress management. Jones, F. Crampton, S.M., Hodge, J.W., Mishra, J.M., and Price, S. Job stress. Health service occupations are among the fastest-growing, butagain, are high risk for psychological disorders (Crampton et al., 1995). (1995). Don't stifle emotions in the workplace. Stress is defined and causes are discussed, particularlywithin the context of change and the work environment. Personal compacts. There must be attention to, and maintenanceof, what remains productive and essential, while challenging thosestructures and processes which must change for the organization as a wholeto be healthy. A major focus of this effort is on leadership and howleaders work with their employees to help them adapt to change on anongoing basis. For the organization, the qualities or attributes that theshould be utilized to manage stress during the ongoing process of changeare examined; some points of focus include leadership, personal compacts,communication, positive feedback, allowing emotional expression, andindividualized programs.Introduction The concept of stress is a relatively new one historically. Then, if change is desired, that changeneeds to be negotiated with employees. Common negativesymptoms of stress are noted as well as the implications for individualproductivity and for the organization as a whole. Downsizing is the attempt by corporations to reduce theirworkforce to a level at which the corporation is more profitable, whilestill able to maintain its productivity. References Budd, J. Yet, mood isnot the only aspect of the workplace experience, as George and Jonesindicated. Nine out of 1 new jobs will be in the service sector, which hasincreased risk of psychological disorders; b. Indeed, stress is ubiquitousand there is both positive and negative stress. Positive feedback. In many instances, managers assume that employees know thatthey are doing a good job without hearing about it, or only hearing aboutit during evaluation meetings. Both Budd (1995) and Stein (Don't stifle emotions,1995) indicate that this is a source of some of the workplace violence thatis endemic today, as well as such things as worker lawsuits and workercompensation filings. (1997). Thestress response was clarified and defined only during the 195 s, by HansSelye. Crampton et al. With downsizing and objectification, workers feel that they aredisposable in the workplace and that corporations have no loyalty to them.The relationship is clearly not valued, nor the individual employee. In the workplace, acertain level of stress is necessary to call forth employee effort, but toomuch stress, and too much negative stress, in particular, undercutperformance and productivity (Crampton, et al., 1995). They also recommend the development of individualized programs foremployees which include: a. Budd (1995) contended that timely, candid information actuallycreated a higher psychological threshold for accepting and processingchange. The authors also noted that there were spillover effects from home towork as well, and that the relationship between work stressors, homestressors, and marital communication was a complex one leading to aconstant interplay of forces and emotions. Since then, there has been a great deal of material written aboutthe causes of stress, the problems resulting from too much stress on thesystem, and ways to reduce, or manage, stress.Causes of Stress Stress is not completely undesirable. Six of every 1 new jobs will be filled with women, subject tomultiple role demands; c. Leadership. The authors did indicate, however, that the diarymethod that was chosen for their study did allow for an alternativeexplanation. SAM Advanced Management Journal, 6 (3), 1 -18. Finally, there are various degrees of powerlessness that areassociated with stress in the workplace. The work of leadership.Harvard Business Review, January/February, 124-133. HarvardBusiness Review, May-June, 86-93. NIOSH identified some of the major sources of job stress that theyanticipate will predominant during the next ten years. Abstract The focus in the following pages is on workplace stress, particularlythat created by organizational change, and how that can be managedappropriately. And Laurie, D.L. They include recommendations to identify major stressors in theworkplace and at home, to develop goals for the program, to assistemployees in identifying their stress tolerance levels and symptoms ofexcessive stress, and to improve communication with employees.Additionally, they note that stress management programs should beimplemented in stages, so that employees will not be overwhelmed and theprogram serve as another source of anxiety and stress. According to Strebel (1996), organizations need tolook at change from the employee's perspective in order to manage itsuccessfully. Thus, these issues have to be renegotiated so that trust andloyalty can be maintained. George and Jones (1997) defined a model which combined the dimensionsof values, attitudes, and moods to more clearly understand individual workperformance and how that is impacted by changes in any of the dimensions.They defined workplace mood as an ongoing state, characterized by eitherpositive or negative affect, which represents how people experience theirgeneral state of being. Essentially, stress is theresponse of the body to demands that are made upon it. It isthe foundation for understanding one's place in the company. Clark (1995) also supported this recommendation, noting specificallythat employers can help their workers deal with such issues as downsizingby acknowledging that it is stressful and by recognizing the day-to-dayeffects of the changes on staff. (1995). Communication. This mood state essentially becomes part of the contemporary corporateculture. Computers and robots will increasingly impact the workplace,leading to job displacement and lower-paying jobs; and, d. The negative affect, or distressed state, may bepervasive, ongoing, and long-lasting, with little direct connection to theevents that triggered it. Exercise and diet recommendations; and, d. Among the recommendations areclear and open communication, the renegotiation of personal compacts,encouraging employees to express their humanity, and their emotions,increasing employee participation and power, and giving more positive,ongoing feedback to all employees. Activity-specific rolestress in purchasing. The specific emotions, or qualities, can combine to create aworkplace mood that has an impact on such things as job performance,absenteeism, and turnover. In addition, they noted that there wassome cross-correlation between men's negative evening moods and women'spoor evening moods. He notedthat restructurings can lead to increasing feelings of resentment amongsurvivors (and among those laid-off), which change into anger, then intohostility, which can be expressed in workplace violence or other forms.Although Budd did not focus on it, that resentment, along with a sense ofpowerlessness, can also change into depression, leading to worker apathyand decreased productivity and creativity. Budd (1995) also recommended an increase inpositive feedback to employees, including those who are survivors ofdownsizing. CQ Researcher, 5(29), 683-699. In any event, stress in eitherenvironment had its impact on feelings, and behavior, in the otherenvironment. However, upper-level management tends toexperience employees as resistant to change, preferring to maintain thestatus quo. These include irritability, problems sleeping,decreased productivity, difficulty in relationships, depression, violence,nervousness, emotional lability, increased accidents, and hostility, amongothers. Theimportant thing to remember is that many of the aspects of these personalcompacts are implicit, rather than explicit, which creates difficulties,and that organizations often try to change those compacts unilaterallyduring their change efforts. Attitude and personal values are also important aspects of thisand management can work with attitude in particular in managing the stressof change. This creates resentment and stress. However, they tend to support the conclusion thatthe negative events led to the poor evening moods. One of the major sources of workplace stress during the 199 s isdownsizing. It is what people are socialized in and acculturated to. Michaels et al. (1996). Michaels, R.E., Kumar, A. International Journal of Purchasing and materialsManagement, 31(1), 11-19. In other words, lay-offs can lead to fear,anger, and distress which are transformed into ongoing workplace moodswhich affect all employee activities and the general environment of theworkplace. This is not typical of either individuals or organizations, however.Both want to maintain the status quo, with rapid change being a source ofstress. Paul Strebel (1996) indicated that employees resist change because itupsets the balance that they have established. He noted that workers experiencemany emotions, particularly during times of rapid change, but that they arediscouraged, or denied, the opportunity to express these emotions. Second, they indicate that the leader needs to be responsible forestablishing direction, providing protection, orienting staff, managingconflict, and shaping the new norms of the group. Access to employee assistance programs.Conclusion Much of the current work stress seems to be the result of thoughtlessmanagement practices which treat people as objects or resources in anegative, rather than positive way. Jones and Fletcher(1996) noted, for example, that men's evening moods were primarilydetermined by work stressors (although women's were more frequentlydetermined by domestic stressors). First,they assert that the leader needs to create a holding environment foremployees, some place in which employees can feel safe and talk about someof their issues and problems. However, there is also the lack of sufficient power tocarry out one's responsibilities. And Jones, G.R. For example, he noted that employees areoften terminated in disrespectful ways, which not only stresses them, butcreates stress in survivors who expect that they too will be treated justas badly in their turn. As they put it, leadership must be able to recognize the pain ofchange, while also holding the tension that enables the organization tocontinue to change and grow. This balance, according tohim, is dependent upon personal compacts that have been established betweenthe organization and the employee. One of the things that Budd emphasized in hisdiscussion of job stress in the changing workplace was open and responsivecommunication on the part of managers. Finally, Heifetz and Laurie (1997) note that the leader must above allbe able to maintain presence and poise, even in the face of considerablepressure.
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