Unit VI Es IOP
PSY 4680, Industrial Organizational Psychology 1
Course Learning Outcomes for Unit VI Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
6. Analyze how stressors impact employees and organizations. 6.1 Identify common stressors in the workplace. 6.2 Analyze stress-reducing techniques. 6.3 Examine diversity in the workplace.
Course/Unit Learning Outcomes
Learning Activity
6.1
Unit Lesson Chapter 10, pp. 386–430 Presentation: Chapter 10 PowerPoint Unit VI Essay
6.2
Unit Lesson Chapter 10, pp. 386–430 Presentation: Chapter 10 PowerPoint Unit VI Essay
6.3
Unit Lesson Chapter 11, pp. 431–460 Presentation: Chapter 11 PowerPoint Unit VI Essay
Required Unit Resources Chapter 10: Stress and Worker Well-Being, pp. 386–430 Chapter 11: Fairness, Justice, and Diversity in the Workplace, pp. 431–460 In order to access the following resources, click the links below. Please view the Chapter 10 PowerPoint Presentation (PDF version of the Chapter 10 PowerPoint Presentation). Please view the Chapter 11 PowerPoint Presentation (PDF version of the Chapter 11 PowerPoint Presentation).
Unit Lesson Imagine that you only slept for 3 hours last night. You are at work trying to complete a major project that is due tomorrow morning, and your manager just told you that you have to cover the work for one of your coworkers because they called in sick today. In addition, you have not eaten lunch yet, and it is already late in the afternoon. Does this sound stressful? In many organizations, this is becoming the norm versus being the anomaly.
UNIT VI STUDY GUIDE
Stress and Diversity in the Workplace
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As humans, we encounter daily stressors in our personal lives, and organizational stressors are becoming more common than ever before. In order to stay healthy mentally and physically, it is important to have effective stress-reducing techniques to handle the stressors we encounter on a daily basis. This unit introduces the importance of stress and diversity in the workplace. We start to consider the different components that factor into workplace stress as well as different stress-reducing techniques and the role of diversity within organizations. We explore these topics in-depth throughout this unit.
Common Stressors at Work People often discuss different aspects of stress, such as dealing with people in the workplace, completing a challenging task or project, or facing challenging work conditions. In discussing stress, people usually describe their level of relief when something is completed or explain the amount of pressure they felt throughout the task or event, but typically they do not identify the actual stressor that caused the experience. In order to understand the impact that stress has on us, we first need to understand what a stressor is. A stressor is a physical or psychological challenge that elicits a response from an individual (Conte & Landy, 2019, p. 389). For example, a physical stressor may include driving a vehicle in intense traffic in the snow or attempting to complete a list of chores in a certain amount of time. In the workplace setting, there are common physical stressors that every employee experiences from time to time. A common example of this includes noise pollution. When we think of noise pollution, we tend to think of loud noises in facilities, such as factories or sports stadiums. In reality, noise pollution can take place anywhere, and it does not even need to be loud in order to be stressful. Imagine that you are trying to study for an exam in the school library. Now imagine that two people are sitting at the same table as you, having a whispering conversation. They are not creating loud noise, but they are creating a noise that is noticeable and disruptive to you completing your task. Have you ever driven a vehicle with passengers present while listening to the radio? When it came time for you to locate your destination, did you turn down the volume to the radio? This is common practice with drivers because they need the noise to be at a low volume in order to focus on the task of finding their proper destination. In the workplace, noise pollution can become a common stressor that hinders the concentration of employees. When it distracts employees from completing their tasks, it causes a decrease in job performance, which hurts the organization overall. Have you ever walked into your work environment and realized that it was freezing cold? How did the temperature affect your job performance? Maybe the work environment was too hot during the summer, causing you to not want to work as hard. The room temperature is another common stressor in the workplace that can significantly influence job performance. The hotter the work environment, the less motivated employees become, and the colder the environment, the more difficult it is for employees to concentrate and think effectively. Have you ever worked in an environment where you did not always feel safe? Some workplace environments have different types of dangerous obstacles that employees must be aware of, such as fork trucks, metal objects, machinery, and chemicals. A work environment such as the dry cleaners would not necessarily be considered a dangerous place to work; however, when you consider the different types of chemicals used to clean clothing and what could happen if the wrong chemicals were mixed, you may begin to see how this type of environment could become very dangerous. In addition to common physical stressors in the workplace, there are also common psychological stressors to be aware of in organizations. Have you ever worked in a job where you did not get along with another employee? Have you ever worked for a boss who you did not like? These are examples of interpersonal conflict that can take place with coworkers, supervisors, and customers within an organizational setting. The image below shows a performance curve with several stress-related zones. Where are you currently with your job?
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Conflict can be a wide range of behaviors from getting into an intense argument to making subtle, yet disrespectful comments. When interpersonal conflict lingers for a long period, it causes stress on the individuals involved as well as other individuals who are around the conflict. Another type of psychological stress includes a lack of control in the workplace. Many people enjoy routine, as it helps them feel comfortable in the work setting. In some organizations, the work environment is unpredictable, which can create stress. Not knowing what will take place from day-to-day in the workplace can cause an undesired feeling of worrying. Have you ever had to cancel plans with friends and family because of your job? If so, you may have experienced role overload. This is where the employee is given too many tasks and responsibilities to fulfill, which causes the employee stress and sometimes forces the employee to stay at work later than normal. When this takes place on a continuous basis, the employee begins to feel overwhelmed and stressed, which can lead to burnout and turnover. It is evident that there are many common stressors in the workplace, whether they be physical, psychological, or both. It is important for individuals to understand that stress is going to take place at some point, so being familiar with stress-reducing techniques is important when encountering these stressful situations.
Stress-Reducing Techniques Imagine that you are at work, and your manager informs you that you have to stay late in order to complete a project that you are behind on. You also have other daily responsibilities that you must complete before you leave work, and your family is calling and asking when you will be home to eat dinner with them. In addition, imagine that you have a school assignment due tonight, and you have not started writing the paper yet. Does this sound stressful? How would you handle this situation without going crazy? It is important for individuals to have stress-reducing techniques that effectively help them reduce their stress level when they encounter difficult situations. One form of stress reduction is a strategy for primary prevention. This involves the individual changing or modifying stressors in their environment. As an example, an individual might find a new routine at work that allows them to complete their weekly tasks throughout the week, rather than trying to complete them all on Friday. This type of strategy is helpful in eliminating the stressor completely from the environment. Another form of stress reduction involves secondary prevention strategies. This type of strategy includes altering responses to particular stressors (Conte & Landy, 2019, p.
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415). Common examples of secondary prevention strategies include meditation, physical exercise,healthy diet, getting enough sleep, and skills training. A study conducted by Bauer et al. (2019) monitored the secondary prevention strategy of mindfulness in middle-school-aged children. The children completed an assessment for a baseline measure of their reported level of stress. The children then participated in mindfulness training and completed a second stress assessment at a later point in time. The results showed that the students noticed a significant decrease in stress after completing the mindfulness training and learning how to apply this stress reduction technique when encountering stress. Everyone encounters stress at some point in the workplace, so it is critical that individuals understand how to effectively use different forms of stress reduction techniques in order to avoid high-level stress and the consequences that come with that stress. When working in organizations with other individuals, diversity is a big advantage.
Diversity in the Workplace Imagine that you were placed into a team in the workplace, and you all had to work together to complete a project. Now imagine that everyone in this team had the same idea for completing the project. While this might sound like an easygoing team, it also sounds boring.
One of the biggest advantages to working in teams is that there is diversity in the workplace. Diversity allows for different perspectives, ideas, values, experiences, and abilities to be expressed. What if you were working with a team in the workplace, and your boss said that your team is responsible for completing a project that explains how quantum physics takes place? The image to the left illustrates how different puzzle pieces fit together to make a cohesive and diverse workplace environment. If you know nothing about quantum physics, and everyone else on your team is just like you, then your team is going to be stressed and overwhelmed. With a diverse team, you may have someone on the team who knows about quantum physics and can explain how this concept takes place. Diversity allows different ideas to be expressed and questioned, which is how we collectively learn new information, expand, and develop.
In any organization, there are common stressors that take place. These stressors can be physical, psychological, or both. It is critical that individuals know and understand different stress-reducing strategies that will help effectively decrease stress when it is encountered in the workplace. Diversity in the organization is a great way for organizations to express new ideas, expand knowledge, and develop new skills.
References Bauer, C. C., Caballero, C., Scherer, E., West, M., Mrazek, M., Phillips, D. T., Whitfield-Gabrieli, S., &
Gabrieli, J. D. (2019, August). Mindfulness training reduces stress and amygdala reactivity to fearful faces in middle-school children. Behavioral Neuroscience, 133(6), 569–585.
Conte, J. M., & Landy, F. J. (2019). Work in the 21st century: An introduction to industrial and organizational
psychology (6th ed.). Wiley.
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Suggested Unit Resources In order to access the following resource, click the link below. The article below discusses how middle-school children were able to participate in mindfulness training and reduce their level of stress over a period of time. Bauer, C. C., Caballero, C., Scherer, E., West, M., Mrazek, M., Phillips, D. T., Whitfield-Gabrieli, S., &
Gabrieli, J. D. (2019, August). Mindfulness training reduces stress and amygdala reactivity to fearful faces in middle-school children. Behavioral Neuroscience, 133(6), 569–585. https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc t=true&db=pdh&AN=2019-50083-001&site=ehost-live&scope=site