Stress and Burnout in Organizations

Introduction The term stress was predominantly applicable in the ancient centuries to imply hardship, difficulty, strain as well as affliction. In the growing centuries, the term has been used interchangeably.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Stress and Burnout in Organizations specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, the core meaning has always remained poignant in all its definitions. Stress may refer to a state of psychological and physical discomfort of an individual, which is derivative of the interaction of external and biological factors (Antoniou Cooper, 2005). The increased global organizational competiveness has immensely impacted on the expectations from employees. For instance, extra working hours and high performance out puts expected from workers has led to organizational stress. Stress within organizations and other workplaces may be categorized according to an individual’s skills or competencies. In addition, the job demands also include potential determinants of the level of stress within organizations. Notably, stress might emanate from environmental factors within the workplace, exhaustive work arrangements and workloads, improper work conditions, role conflicts and communication breakdown. According to Antoniou Cooper, (2005), Burnout is â€Å"a disorder associated with emotional exhaustion and minimized individual achievement that transpires amongst persons who perform extensive jobs.† It also refers to a gradual loss of focus, motivation and objectivity encountered by individuals within some professions due to their job conditions.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It is an exhaustion and weariness that potentially minimizes an employee’s effectiveness and competencies. Generally, this situation is presently notable within organizations. This paper discusses the organizations’ and workers’ challenges related to stress and burnout. Problems of Stress and Burnout on Employees Stress and burnout on employees have had significant negative influences on both the employee’s professional as well as personal lives. Due to burnout, workers have experienced diverse health and psychological complications. Apathy, minimized body energy and irritability include some of such complications. Apart from these, the workers have ended up committing costly errors on duty; they have demonstrated a tendency of unrealistic complaints and have become tardy. Absenteeism is a predominant practice amongst the victims of stress and burnouts. Additionally, some workers have developed complicated illnesses and suffered decreased motivation for their career development and work out put. Increased substance abuse is a critical negative trend that has been observed amongst the stressed workers (Zellars, Perrewe Hochwarter, 2000). Stress and burnouts have resulted to unhealthy withdrawals amongst the affected employees. As a result, they have become ineffective in their duties. Most of the affected workers have also transferred their occupational stress to their families. Due to this, they have suffered broken marriages and families, which is more detrimental.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Stress and Burnout in Organizations specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More As a result of severe stress and burnout, a considerable number of employees have committed suicide. Such incidences have been recorded either at home or in the job places. The ability of the stressed employee to affect or infect other fellow workers is eminent. This is because during the interactions of work processes, an inflicted worker remains vulnerable to normal issues and is more likely to inflict or transfer the stress to others (Antoniou Cooper, 2005). This might cause severe conflicts and breakdown of social networks amongst the employees. Thus, it is vital to note that stress and burnout bear severe impacts on the personal, social as well as professional lives of workers. Problems of Stress and Burnout to the Organization The consequences of stress and burnouts on an organization can be intensive. The increased global competiveness has led to the emergence of challenging work output and competency demands on every employee. Due to stress and burnout, organizations are more likely to experience frequent conflicts amongst employees. Broken communication and feedback mechanisms are likely to emanate. This might lead to a remarkable impairment of the service delivery systems. Organizations are potentially set to lose their revenues and become inefficient when served by stressed workers (Bakker Schaufeli, 2000). In addition, due to stress and burnout, organizations are more likely to incur considerable revenue expenses on th e programs set by the human resource to manage the victims.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Stress and burnout cause low self-esteem and motivation amongst the workers. As a result, they lose the sense of innovation. This condition renders an organization redundant and lowers its general competitiveness with other firms due to lack of novelty. Stress and burnout also have the potential to make an organization encounter elevated turnover, absenteeism as well as increased motives for employees to quit (Antoniou Cooper, 2005). Thus, organizations are more likely to lose their valuable human resource and incur minimized productivity rates. Indeed, it is obvious that stress and burnout have potential negative impacts on the general performance of the organization. Conclusion Stress and burnout have remarkably negative impacts on both the workers as well as the general organization. Some of the factors that may be attributed to stress and burnout include Globality, increased organizational demands and competiveness. Otherwise, it should be noted that the components, agents and consequences of these conditions within organizations remain intricate in nature. For effective and efficient performance, organizations must set up critical monitoring systems for stress and burnout amongst their employees. Consequently, an effective management programme is vital for the organizations to minimize the notable negative impacts of stress and burnout. References Antoniou, A.-S. G., Cooper, C. L. (2005). Research companion to organizational health psychology. Cheltenham, [Angleterre: E. Elgar. Bakker, A., Schaufeli, W.B. (2000). Burnout contagion processes among teachers. Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 30: 2289-2308. Zellars, K.L., Perrewe, P. L., Hochwarter, W. A. (2000). Burnout in health care: The role of the five factors of personality. Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 30: 1570-1598. This research paper on Stress and Burnout in Organizations was written and submitted by user Amaya Zamora to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.