Health and Wellness

Basic Advice for Controlling Job Stress

There is a fine line between good, challenging jobs and potentially harmful and costly workplace stress. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), a federal research agency, defines job stress as “the harmful physical and emotional responses that occur when the requirements of a job do not match the capabilities, resources or needs of the worker.”

What can you do about workplace stress? NIOSH recommends a three-step process:

• Identify the problem: Use group discussions, surveys, employee suggestions and measures such as absenteeism, illness and turnover rates.
• Design and implement interventions: NIOSH said, “Certain problems, such as a hostile work environment, may be pervasive in the organization and require company-wide interventions. Other problems such as excessive workload may exist only in some departments and require more narrow solutions such as redesign of the way a job is performed. Still other problems may call for stress management or employee assistance interventions.”
• Evaluate the interventions: “Employee perceptions are usually the most sensitive measure of stressful working conditions and often provide the first indication of intervention effectiveness,” NIOSH said.

NIOSH said both organizational changes and stress management for employees might be required for long-term success. However, the agency recommended organizational changes receive top priority. Such changes can include:

• Ensuring workload is in line with workers’ capabilities and resources
• Designing stimulating, meaningful jobs
• Defining workers’ roles and responsibilities clearly
• Giving workers the opportunity to participate in decisions about their jobs
• Improving communications and human resources policies
• Providing opportunities for social interaction among workers
• Establishing work schedules that are compatible with demands and responsibilities outside the job.