Psychosocial Work-Related Stress - Term Paper Example

Psychosocial Work-Related Stress: A Systematic Literature Review Name of Student Institution Introduction Increased competition, need for soaring profits, global economic recession and pressure to perform have necessitated organizational restructuring. Restructuring in an organization often involves job cuts, changes in terms of employment and other changes that affect the security of employees’ job tenures. These board room decisions have made job insecurity a major concern among employees in virtually every workplace. Employees often worry about the likelihood of losing their current job or the fact that their contract may not be renewed after its expiry. These worries are a significant cause of psychosocial work-related stress, a significant concern among occupational health practitioners. The mental and psychological health of employees is an important aspect of occupational health. The researcher carried out a systematic review of literature investigating the relationship between job insecurity and unstable jobs on the psychological health of an employee. The objective of this systematic literature review is to examine the effect of work-related stress on the employee’s ability to work effectively, willingness to observe safety standards at work and family life. The review seeks to answer a pre-determined set of questions including; How does work-related stress affect an employee’s ability to perform his/her tasks at work? How does work-related stress affect the employee’s willingness to adhere to safety standards and procedures at work? What are the effects of psychosocial work-related stress on the employee’s family life? The mental health of employees is a delicate and important issue in occupational health practice that has not been adequately covered by existing research. The systematic review of relevant journal articles addressing the problem will advance the body of knowledge on the effects of work-related stress on the employee. It will also highlight the need to pay closer attention to measures aimed at reducing or preventing these negative effects. Background of literature Job insecurity is expressed in various ways. Some writers have attempted to give distinctions between qualitative and quantitative job insecurity. Masia & Pienaar (2011) define quantitative insecurity as the perceived threats to the continuity of an existing job, while qualitative insecurity is expressed as referring to concerns over career progression and salary increments. This review is concerned with the effects of quantitative job insecurity on the mental health of the employee. It relates to the security of the present job or future decisions likely to affect it. According to Masia & Pienaar (2011), it includes existing or apparent doubts regarding the continuity of one’s present job and fears for the future. Employees across the globe are increasingly facing uncertainty about their jobs. Employees who feel threatened are mainly those whose organizations are undergoing reorganization, restructuring or policy changes. However, insecurity is not limited to this group alone. Many other employees are facing worries over the continuity of their employment even when they are in seemingly secure employment situations. When these employees hear that a certain company (not their own) is undergoing restructuring or downsizing, they worry about their own jobs. Uncertainty in employment contributes significantly to stress among employees. Past stress research has established a relationship between anticipation of an unpleasant event such as receiving a termination letter or notice and high stress levels among employees. various studies have also linked work related stress to low levels of satisfaction at work and in personal lives of employees, poor performance, negative impacts on employees’ health and wellbeing and tendencies to ignore safety procedures leading to accidents at the workplace. Many job stress studies have looked at job insecurity from the perspective of its effect on the productivity of the employee. There is little literature focusing on the tendency of the stressed employee to disregard safety at the workplace and thus endangering him/her and others as well. Few studies have also focused on the effect of work-related stress on the private life of the employee. Most studies generalize the effects of stress on female and male employees. Few have gone ahead to examine whether men and women are affected differently by work-related stress. There is, however, a body of literature that shows that job insecurity is perceived differently by various individuals, even when they are exposed to the same circumstances. This review will contribute to the body of literature that covers these aspects of psychosocial work-related stress that have been neglected by most researchers in the field. Methodology The systematic literature review was conducted to answer the following questions; How does work-related stress affect an employee’s ability to perform his/her tasks at work? How does work-related stress affect the employee’s willingness to adhere to safety standards and procedures at work? What are the effects of psychosocial work-related stress on the employee’s family life? In order to accomplish this task, the researcher conducted a literature search in various databases for relevant journal articles. The databases were searched for journal articles which had the following keywords that were the search words; “work-related stress”, “psychosocial job stress”, “stress and occupational safety”, “unstable jobs and stress”, “job insecurity and stress”, “job insecurity and employees’ psychology”. The initial search brought 1021 articles which contained the keywords in the search. Many of these articles did not contain the relevant information to answer the problem questions. To come up with a list of the articles that would be considered for the systematic review, the articles underwent a screening procedure which ensured that only the most relevant were reviewed. The criteria used to identify appropriate articles was; for an article to be reviewed, it had to be a study on the relationship between job insecurity and the mental health of employees, the sample used in the study had to be heterogeneous and must be employees of an organization that has undergone restructuring, the results of the study must show findings on the relationship between work stress as a result of job insecurity and an employee’s psychological wellbeing in regard to either; the personal life of the employee, safety at work or job performance, and the article must show both the long term and short term psychological effects of job insecurity on the employee. After screening all the search hits by applying the above criteria, the researcher came up with five articles which were appropriate for the systematic review. These articles met at least three of the five requirements of the criteria, and were each graded according to how well they fit within the required category. The articles were graded and given scores out of five. Due to the large number of articles which marched the criteria and the need to cut it down, articles which had a score of less than four in any category did not make it to the list of the articles reviewed. Articles which clearly brought out the relationship between job insecurity and the mental health of employees scored 5/5. Those which focused on it among other aspects of occupational health scored 4/5. Articles in which the issue was repeatedly mentioned without a clear focus, only mentioned here and there or did not contain any mention of it scored 3,2 and 1 respectively. This category of articles was not reviewed. Studies whose sample was heterogeneous in nature received a score of 5, and those whose sample was only heterogeneous to a small extent scored 4. Others scored 0 and were not included in the review. Only those articles which studied organizations that underwent restructuring met the criteria. The group of employees studied must have experienced restructuring and, therefore, experienced anxiety and fear over the security of their jobs. Studies whose participants those who did and those who did not experience a restructuring did not make it into the list. Articles whose resulted reported on the relationship between job insecurity and the mental health of the employees in regard to either; the personal life of the employee, safety at work or job performance made it to the list. So did articles which clearly brought out the long term and short term psychological effects of job insecurity on the employee. Figure 1 below shows the grading of the articles reviewed. Figure1. Grading of articles criteria Elovainio et al, (2010) Masia & Pienaar, (2011) Gaunt & Benjamin, (2007). Rocha, MaCarter, & Crowell, (2006). Schreurs et al, (2010) Relationship between job insecurity and mental health of employee 5 5 5 5 5 Heterogeneous sample 4 4 5 5 4 Participants experienced restructuring 5 4 4 4 4 Results report on either of the categories given 5 5 5 5 5 Long term and short term psychological effects of work-related stress 5 4 5 5 5 Appraisal of the review articles The articles looked at by the researcher had to have abstracts which were a useful and important guide in making the choices for the review. The abstracts were searched for information on the purpose of the study, the methods used in the study, samples and results produced after the study. Each of the abstracts was checked against the inclusion/exclusion criteria, until the researcher settled on five articles for the review. It was not necessary for each article to satisfy all the five selection criteria, but it had to score above 3 in at least three of them. Results The following were the results after the screening; All the articles that were selected for the review were studies which focused on the relationship between job insecurity and the mental health of employees. Elovainio et al, (2010) investigated whether shift work and job contracts that were insecure were in any way related to reduced psychological wellbeing of the employee. The symptoms investigated in this study were; reduced ability and involvement at work and psychological distress. Masia & Pienaar (2011) examined this relationship form the perspective of safety at work. The relationship between work-related stress from job insecurity and compliance with safety measures at work was looked at in this study. Other articles looked at the relationship in regard to gender differences (Gaunt & Benjamin, 2007), family relationships (Rocha, MaCarter, & Crowell, 2006) and self efficacy (Schreurs et al, 2010). The results of most studies reviewed established a relationship between job insecurity and deteriorating wellbeing of employees. Of the five articles reviewed, three (Elovainio et al, 2010, Masia & Pienaar, 2011, Schreurs, 2010) established a link between job insecurity, psychosocial work related stress and employees ability to work, their concern for personal safety at work and social relationships inside and outside work. The other two studies (Gaunt & Benjamin, 2007 and Rocha, MaCarter, & Crowell, 2006) established a relationship between work-related stress, job insecurity, gender differences and family relationships. Results from the sample articles showed that low job involvement and ability are directly attributable to job insecurity and shift work. It was also shown that job insecurity had a negative effect on an employee’s ability and willingness to observe safety compliance at work. Another finding was that men were more stressed by worries over the security of their jobs than women, and this was in many cases translated into their social and family relationships. Work-related stress was found to affect a significant number of employees in all the organizations studied, and this presents a huge concern for occupational health practitioners. These results show that the psychological effects of job insecurity are adverse, and a significant portion of the work force lies in danger of this calamity. Discussion Psychological health of employees is an area of occupational health that has attracted massive interest from researchers in the past. Job insecurity as a cause of work-related stress has become prominent in the recent past due to the economic changes taking place in the global economy. Many companies have had to restructure and imp0lement job cuts, in order to maintain profit margins and reduce operational costs. This literature review reveals a pattern of job-related stress among employees in most work places. When one’s job security is threatened by changes taking place in the organization or general economy, feelings of powerlessness and helplessness set in. The employee feels that he/she has little control over his/her job and this loss of control escalates to other aspects of life. One gets worried about his/her future financial security and that of his/her family. This stress affects the employee, employer and members of the employee’s family and social circles in various ways. Employers whose employees are undergoing stress as a result of job insecurity report a marked reduction in the employee’s productivity. This stems from a reduced capability to perform duties on the part of the employee. The employee is less satisfied at work and, therefore, puts in less effort. Job security has been strongly linked to sterling performances from employees, and this is also related to high levels of job satisfaction. Stressed employees not only exhibit low levels of involvement in their work, but also with their families. Some employees confess that they like to be left alone after they leave work, and often pull away from their families. These actions stem from feelings of insecurity and hopelessness at work. Industrial accidents are more likely to involve employees who are anxious or fearful about the security of their jobs. The findings of one of the articles (Masia & Pienaar, 2011) that the researcher reviewed show that such employees are less likely to observe safety procedures. These effects are present, even when an employee has been exposed to the distressing situation for a short time. The short term effects of job insecurity often go away with time or after short periods of treatment. What happens is that as employees spend more time on the job, they may begin to experience feelings of security. This may lead to the restoration of feelings of control and confidence. However, there are employees who are so insecure that their insecurity becomes chronic. When one is exposed to chronic insecurity over a long period of time, his/her psychological distress may become severe. One of the studies (Rocha, MaCarter, & Crowell, 2006) that have been featured in this review produced results indicating that job insecurity’s stress effect may be cumulative. It is not clearly known how stress accumulates over time as this process has not been adequately researched on, but there is evidence to show that the effects of prolonged exposure to job insecurity are more severe. Some employees are exposed to chronic insecurity even when their jobs are not personally threatened. The jobs of fellow employees or close associates may be under threat and as a result, they worry about their own. This may take place over a long period of time and this exposes them to stress over that whole period of time. These employees may actually never lose their jobs and they may have no reason to think that they may, but they still get stressed. The psychological effects of prolonged job insecurity have the most adverse effects on the employee’s work ability and social life. The results of this systematic review suggest that more research needs to be done on the psychological effects of job insecurity on the employee, in regard to; safety at work, gender differences and long term effects. The literature that was reviewed and all the articles that the researcher came across reveal gaps in the available literature on those aspects of occupational mental health. There is especially a huge gap that needs to be filled when it comes to long term effects of job insecurity. Limitations Despite all efforts to reduce and avoid limitations when conducting this review, it was still faced by various limitations, which the audience should have in mind when analysing its findings. Some of the studies reviewed were conducted when the organizations studied were undergoing uncertain times. This could have affected the perceptions that employees had of job insecurity and stress, and their responses could, in effect, be biased and misleading. In addition, the participants in the study on safety reported that they generally did not adhere to safety standards at work, even when they were not experiencing any insecurity fears over their jobs. This means that some of the responses given may have been about periods when the employee was not under any form of work related stress, or that associated with job insecurity or feelings of hopelessness. This, therefore, compromises the accuracy of some of the information presented, and this should be put into consideration when consuming this information. Self reported incidences of psychological distress may have distorted the true figures of rates of distress among employees. This is because some employees had not been professionally diagnosed with the condition, and since many could not positively report on whether they did/did not have psychological stress from job insecurity, the figures collected could be incorrect. The true figures or rates could indeed be significantly higher or lower. Conclusion There are many factors that cause stress among employees. The reasons why employees get stressed range from salaries, career progression disputes, harassment and job insecurity among an array of other reasons. While the unhealthy psychological status of employees is an issue of significant concern among occupational health practitioners, employers and other stakeholders, the existing research does not cover all aspects of the problem. Work-related stress stemming from job insecurity is an emerging occupational health concern. This is because of the adverse effects that changes in the global economy have had on many companies and organizations. As these companies undergo restructuring in order to remain competitive, their employees bear the blunt of these activities. Worries about the security of their jobs and financial future overwhelm them. There are several reasons which warrant intensive research into this area of occupational health. To begin with, it is an emerging health problem which is being accelerated by the happenings in today’s job market. In addition to this, little research has focused on it in depth. This means that there is a glaring knowledge gap in existence which needs to be filled. Research in this area will also assist to improve understanding on various aspects of employees’ psychological needs and come up with ways of eliminating or reducing the psychological effects of job insecurity. Doing this will improve employees’ health, increase their productivity and commitment to work. References Elovainio, M., Kuusio, H., Aalto, A., Sinervo, T. & Heponiemi, T. (2010). Insecurity and Examining the role of work stress, job insecurity, satisfaction and commitment as antecedents. SA Journal of industrial Psychology, 37(1), 219-229. Family, 10(3), 341-355 Gaunt, R. & Benjamin, O. (2007). Job Insecurity, Stress and Gender. Community, Work and Health: The Buffering Potential of Job Control and Job Self-Efficacy. Work and Stress, 24(1), 56-72. Masia, U., & Pienaar, J. (2011). Unraveling safety compliance in the mining industry: Psychological Well-Being of Workers. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 33(3), 28. Rocha, C., MaCarter, A. & Crowell, J. (2006). The Effects of Prolonged Job Insecurity on The Schreurs, B., Emmerik, H., Notelaers, G. & Witt, H. (2010). Job Insecurity and Employee Shiftwork as Characteristics of Negative Work Environment: Psychosocial and Behavioural Mediators. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 66(5), 1080–1091. Read More