Understanding Work Stress: Causes, Impact & Solutions

When it comes to your job, there are a number of factors that can cause stress. If you are stressed out, you are not as productive when it comes to performing your job duties and task. Stress can cause you to become sick, which leads to time off. A company can incur rising medical costs as a result of stress because it leads to doctor visits, time off, medication and sometimes surgery.

Job Demands

• Your job can place unreasonable demands on you. If the workload makes you feel overwhelmed or overloaded, then you can experience stress.

Morale

• A negative environment can create stress. The people you associate with can cause stress if they are constantly complaining about management, the company, other workers and the policy and procedures of the organization.

Micromanagement

• Micromanagement can cause stress. If you work in an environment where you don't have much authority or control, you can become stressed out. Some employees have management looking over their shoulders monitoring and scrutinizing their every step.

Lack of Support

• If you don't feel management is helping you to grow and develop within your position, you can feel stress. Whenever there is no support, encouragement or motivation from management, people get stressed out.

Changes

• Change can create stress. When ever there is a change in policy or procedures, people get stressed because they don't know what to expect. A change in top management can create stress if you don't know what the new management is going to do or expect of employees.

Motivation

• Lack of meaningful work can contribute to stress. If you feel like your job is a dead end, that can create stress. People like to know that their jobs provide a sense of worth and that they are contributing to the overall company goals in a meaningful way.