OCCUPATIONAL STRESS AND WORK ATTITUDES 2
Scenario
In January 2019, a large graphic design company launched in a middle-class town with a
population of 30,000. When the robin-cutting ceremony of the company arrived, over a thousand
people attended as many of the individuals of the town were hired within the company. For over
a year, the company was really successful and attracted a lot of clients. In March 2020, the
company made the decision to go fully remote due to the Coronavirus 19 epidemic. In the
following afters, the company’s supervisors noticed a decline in the quality of the team’s project,
hindering their reputation. After they presented the information to the team, a few of the team
members made them aware that the team is not doing well working from home due to the stress
of having to work around family and they are less motivated in their home. Since the team is not
able to work in the office yet due to the current epidemic, the supervisors are aware that they
need a course of action moving forward to reduce the stress within the job and increase
motivation.
Relevant Research
In a research study by Delive and Wikstrom (2009), they sought to find the most effective
ways to manage workplace stress within healthcare organizations. They interviewed 39
supervisors from a diverse collection of hospitals. 17 of the supervisors who worked were
considered first-line managers and 22 were second-line managers. After an analysis of the data
collected, they found for an organization to reduce workplace stress among employees, the
organization needs to develop strategies to better support the supervisors. In addition to
developing strategies, they found increased levels of stress when ethical dilemmas were present.
Ethical dilemmas are when the individual's values differ from the organization's values. In a
research study by Keating et al. (2023) that relates more to the situation, they sought to
determine how virtual work environments affect work behavior. Their research consists of the
analysis of various research studies with the identification of 198 different theories. At the
OCCUPATIONAL STRESS AND WORK ATTITUDES 3
conclusion of the study, they confirmed their hypothesis that an individual’s work behavior is
impacted when working virtually. They additionally found various ways the supervisors can
limit the negative behavior which include increasing accountability, implementing policies for
work-life balance, and encouraging coworkers to keep each other accountable.
In continuation of the situation above, since the individuals are stressed about working
around their family, the supervisors should construct an effective work-life balance policy. The
policy will include but is not limited to, the ability to spread out the 9 hours of required work a
day throughout the day and the ability to work on the weekend. In addition to the policy, the
supervisors should check in on each team member at least once a week to see how they are
personally doing and how the project is going.
Intervention Specifics
Based on the results found that were relevant to the example, the intervention is an
effective course of action to reduce stress and increase motivation within the workplace. The
flexible 9-hour workday would allow the team members to step away from their work if their
family needs their attention without having to worry about work and increase motivation due to
the decrease in distractions. The weekly check-in by the supervisors would allow the team
members to know that they are still cared for even though they are not working in person.
Individuals are likely to put extra effort towards a responsibility if they know that they are
supported by their leaders (Delive & Wikstrom, 2009). If a company was approached with the
same situation in which the team members had to work from home, it is advised that they
establish the expectations and guidelines before the move is executed to prevent any confusion
and decrease in quality.
OCCUPATIONAL STRESS AND WORK ATTITUDES 4
References
Dellve, L., & Wikström, E. (2009). Managing complex workplace stress in health care
organizations: Leaders’ perceived legitimacy conflicts. Journal of Nursing Management,
17(8), 931–941. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2834.2009.00996.x
Keating, D. J., Cullen-Lester, K. L., & Meuser, J. D. (2023). Virtual work conditions impact
negative work behaviors via ambiguity, anonymity, and (un)accountability: An
integrative review. Journal of Applied Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0001126
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