Stress at Work: Do Managers Really Count the Costs?
| Pages | 18-32 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/01425459310024901 |
| Date | 01 January 1993 |
| Published date | 01 January 1993 |
| Author | Marie McHugh |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
Employee
Relations
15,1
18
Stress at Work: Do Managers
Really Count the Costs?
Marie McHugh
Department of Marketing and Business
Organization,
University of
Ulster
at Jordanstown, Northern Ireland
Introduction
As
a
new
century
beckons,
organizations and their
members are
being forced to
swim with a violent tide of
change.
While increased levels of competition, the
onslaught of technological developments and the adoption of
new value
systems
have
already transformed
the
functioning of many organizations, it would seem
that the
pace
of change
will
quicken
in
the
coming
years.
The legal
and physical
unification of Europe effected by the Single European Act and the opening of
the Channel Tunnel are both
likely
to create
additional
demands on
organizations
with regard
to
the creation of more flexible
structures,
revised
reporting,
information
and
control
systems,
a
view supported
by
Friberg[1].
Social
influences, meanwhile,
have rendered customers an increasingly sophisticated and powerful
group who
demand a diverse range of high quality products and services; satisfying such
demands has acted as another catalyst for
change.
Alongside these influences it
would seem likely that the more recent public concern for the environment will
also prompt companies
to
reassess their operations and journey along the road
of strategic change.
For
organizations
to
survive and grow in the
coming
years,
it
is
essential that
managers respond to the heterogeneous forces
which
impact
upon
their organizations.
It may be argued, however, that the whirlpool of forces jostling for prominence
will create a cumulative spiral of pressures for organization members and thus
pose a major challenge for management.
Consequently work-related stress should
become
an issue which increasingly
features on the agenda of efficient managers. The pressures associated with
competition and environmental
concerns,
allied
to uncertainty
which is
characteristic
of organization change, are potential sources of employee stress, the adverse
effects of
which
may act as impediments
to
company performance.
Such
pressures
and uncertainty may
be
brought about by increased research and development
demands,
production,
sales and profit
targets,
threats
of
job
loss,
skill
obsolescence,
changes in
job
holders'
responsibility and
authority,
shifts
in the balance
of power
and
general
upheaval.
The adverse effects of
stress
for
individuals and
organizations
resulting from such developments may be seen in poor job performance, high
levels of absenteeism, discontent among the workforce, high labour turnover
The author would like to thank the Editor and referees of
Employee Relations
for their helpful
comments on an earlier draft of
this
article.
Employee Relations,
Vol.
15
No 1,
1993,
pp 18-32. © MCB University
Press 0142-5455
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