What Causes Stress at Work?
There are a hundred immediate possible causes for job-related stress. Employees and managers alike are often given unrealistic deadlines to make impossible goals. Competitive fast-paced business environment can be fun. But when the intermediate goals don’t serve valid business ends- improving sales, optimizing work flow, enhancing communication- they are generally resented.
To make matters worse, unreasonable boss or uncooperative co-worker in large or small company may usually create stress at work. They are the people in charge who are disrespectful and poorly qualified to lead others. They are generally more interested in flattering their manager than improving productivity and getting the job done.
Those two factors-misdirected goals and unfair managers-explain the response that most people give when asked if they experience work-related stress and why.
The single most-often cited reason for stress in the workplace boils down to that-demands, but without resources to meet them. When an individual is placed in the irresolvable conflict between “I must” and “I can’t”, stress is the inevitable result.
Many individuals have well-developed problem solving skills. Women in the workplace who are also mothers know very well how to manage time, multi-task demands at work and at home. Men, too, have enough experience in prioritizing resource expenditures, responding to complaints and deciding when to push and when to compromise
