Employee Performance is Suffering Due to Prolonged Stress in the Workplace

Friday, November 09, 2012

The results of an employee workplace StressPulse survey conducted and reported by the ComPsych Corp., on October 29, 2012 found:

     • Stress Levels - 63% Have high levels of stress

     • Work Priorities - 59% See basic responsibilities most important

     • Causes of Stress - 39% Cite workload

     • Impact Upon Productivity - 41% Lose 15 – 30 min/day

     • Impact Upon Attendance - 55% Miss 1 to 2 days/year

     • Impact Upon Effectiveness - 46% Come to work 1 to 4 days/year too stressed to be effective

     • Common Reasons for Absences - 46% Cite stress and personal relationship issues

     • Coping Strategies - 53% Take frequent “stress breaks”

The StressPulse survey was conducted from Sept. 3 to Oct. 1, 2012, receiving responses from 1,880 employees nationwide.

It is important to note that results from this survey are based on “employee” responses. And it is also important to note similar surveys have been conducted by ComPsych in the past decade, 2011, 2010, … ect. I will not attempt to test and verify the survey’s longitudinal reliability and validity or its construction design based on employee responses. I will leave it to the reader to judge the survey’s veracity.

Workplace stress, like the Perfect Storm, is a combination of several experiences coming together over time which in turn magnifies each event beyond its normal parameters. While we may think of stress as a psychological response, it has its foundation in our fight-or-flight reaction of early humans to threats. Continual elevation of  stress levels result in increased heart rate, elevation of blood pressure, and a boosting of energy supplies. Over time, repeated and prolonged exposure to stressful situations has the potential do real damage to our psychological and physiological systems.

While a certain degree of stress may focus an employee’s attention on meeting a looming deadline, prolonged work-related stress may act to undermine an employee’s overall performance. Such that an employer’s best workers may become their least productive. Employees faced with increased workload, staff reductions, low or nonexistent pay increases, cut-backs in benefits, little or no promotional opportunities, and a constant demand to do more with less frequently will result in employee burn out.

Employers have attempted to deal with workplace stress and its productivity impact for many years. Organizations have added Employee Assistance Programs, redesigned workstations to reduce ergonomic factors, introduced health and safety programs, rolled out wellness plans, management training programs, onsite fitness centers, and work-life balance programs. Global organizations have come recognize the importance of managing workplace stress to the extent that Buck Consultants and Wolf Kirsten International Health Consulting presented support of the grow in stress at the WorldatWork 2010 Total Rewards Conference and Exhibition in Dallas. The published results are downloadable at: Stress in the Workplace, 2010 WorldatWork Conference Survey.

Organizations may not be able to eliminate all stress from an employee’s workplace. Competitive and economic pressures will continue to drive business decisions as organizations struggle to react to market forces. The workplace is but one of several sources of stress and as such employers have limited abilities to address stress outside the employment setting. However, both employers and employees have a great deal to lose if stress goes unmanaged in financial, competitive, and economic terms.