1. What are the primary reasons why many employees are experiencing high levels of stress at work nowadays? Identify and describe these reasons.
2. Why do many of the survivors of layoffs experience stress? Conventional wisdom would suggest that these employees should be happy that they didn’t get laid off. Explain your answer.
3. What are companies doing to decrease the stress levels of their employees? To what degree do you think that these steps will help them retain valued employees?
Nowadays, it seems more and more employees are increasingly stressed at work. As discussed earlier in the chapter, high levels of intense stress can have serious consequences for individuals and their organizations. There are many possible explanations for this increase in employee stress, including a stubborn recession, intense global competition, persistently high unemployment and demanding performance work cultures. Compounding the problem is that many employees are struggling with personal and financial issues at home. When a spouse or partner loses a job or is forced to accept fewer hours or less pay by his employer, the reduction in family income is stressful. Many employees still have to pay their mortgages, subsidize living and healthcare expenses for elderly parents, pay for their children’s education, have their automobiles repaired, and so forth. Even though these personal issues occur outside of work, they still affect the employee as these stressors can spill over into the employee’s work domain. Another source of stress for employees is related to layoffs. During the most recent recession, several companies and organizations have let go of tens of thousands of employees. Although layoffs are exceptionally hard on the “victims” who are let go, there is also evidence that the “survivors” of layoffs (i.e., those employees who stay with the organization and do not get laid off) experience high levels of stress regarding all of the changes and fear over the future of their own jobs. Some layoff survivors feel guilt over seeing the firing of their coworkers and friends. Also, these surviving employees often have to absorb the work of their co-workers who are no longer with the organization. And, many survivors wonder if (and when) they’ll be “next.” Research suggests that some of these survivors may ultimately experience lower levels of commitment to and trust in their organizations, a drop in motivation and satisfaction levels, and possibly reduced work performance. Also, some survivors of layoffs may quietly initiate job searches with other organizations. Research suggests that after a layoff occurs, the percent of employees who voluntarily leave the organization can increase by 31 percent. Also, employees who engage in job searches (while in their current jobs) will be more distracted and less focused on their actual jobs. This lack of focus has serious implications for the overall effectiveness of their organizations. High-performance work cultures can also take a toll on employees’ stress levels and mental health. Within a period of about six months, three engineers who worked for the Renault plant outside of Paris, France, committed suicide. It was alleged that prior to their deaths, each of them complained about the “unreasonable workloads, high-pressure management tactics, exhaustion, and humiliating criticism in front of colleagues during performance reviews.” Performance reviews have been the source of stress for employees at other companies, as well. General Electric has stopped calling its lower performers “bottom 10s” (as in bottom 10 percent in performance rankings) and instead has begun referring to them as “less effectives.” At Goldman Sachs Group, managers were fond of setting unobtainable “stretch goals” in the past. Recently, these managers were counseled to set both achievable and stretch goals with employees. This way, employees can feel a sense of accomplishment while simultaneously being pushed to do more than they thought possible. What are organizations doing to combat stress among their employees? Many encourage their people to use employee assistance programs (EAPs) or wellness programs. Within the past year or so, there has been an increase in employee requests for financial planning, debt counseling, and legal assistance. Also, many employees are taking advantage of phone and inperson counseling services; a common request is for family and relationship counseling. In addition, experts recommend that organizations modify their cultures so as to decrease the prevalence and harmful effects of stress. For example, managers should encourage employees to share their concerns with teammates or trusted co-workers, ask for help and not keep problems inside, minimize blame when good ideas don’t pan out, and create a listening environment where minor issues are identified before they morph into major issues. To help decrease employees’ stress levels, some firms are offering their current employees additional perquisites and benefits as a way to keep them from jumping ship. For example, USAA, the financial services company based in San Antonio, Texas, helps relieve employees’ stress by offering concierge service (i.e., someone who runs chores for employees while they’re at work). Similarly, General Mills provides its employees with “personalized services” at its headquarters’ location to relieve employees of having to do a lot of chores on the weekend. The company hopes that instead, employees will rest and spend time with family. Discovery Communications of Silver Spring, Maryland, recently opened a subsidized childcare center for employees’ children. Yum! Brands (which owns KFC and Taco Bell) will follow suit and open a new childcare center at its corporate office in Irvine, California. Intel is offering its employees’ children educational scholarships in the amount of $4,000. The company hopes this and other generous benefits will help keep good employees through these stressful times. Are these prerequisites and extra benefits enough to significantly lower employees’ stress levels during these challenging economic times? Probably not, but they might just signal to surviving employees that their organizations care about them; and this in itself is a positive result that may help boost employee retention and morale.