Types of Stressors in Organizations When we mention the word stress, people will often conjure up negative impressions. However, stress can be beneficial to work outcomes because it makes employees work harder. Stress becomes a problem when it exceeds an optimal level, because it then causes poor work performance and often results in burnout. However, if stress falls below an optimal level, it also often results in poor performance and a "rust-out" or burn-out effect. Different people in an organization will respond to stress in a variety of ways. Furthermore, what stresses out one employee may energize another employee, so understanding stress and how it impacts a wide range of employees is important for anyone working in a management position. In the rest of this section, we examine some individual stressors and some organizational stressors that can affect employees in the workplace