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Most discussions of stress at work focus on how strains in the workplace might be worsening due to some societal effects, or how it can drive some unexpected employee behavior. There’s ample advice on tackling and lessening the impacts of stress in the workplace. But a new report published in the journal of the American Psychological Association concludes that some kinds of stress can be useful on the job. Next time someone stresses out in your office, it might be helpful to recall this slightly contrarian perspective.
The research from Portland State University highlights two different types of stresses: “challenge stresses,” which can represent “favorable” social exchanges between employees and the organization, and “hindrance” stresses — the kind we usually associate with the word stress, and which represent “unfavorable” exchanges.
The interesting stress effect here is, of course, the challenging one. Here a stressful interaction can actually cause someone to experience “emotional uplifts,” science news site Phys.org notes.
The situation is nuanced because a stressful moment isn’t by nature a happy experience, and contrasts, for example, to a work event that’s clearly positive, like earning a long hoped-for promotion. What’s actually happening is that after a stressor an employee feels more positive emotions than negative ones.
You can certainly imagine situations at work that fit this description: for example, think of the time you were chosen to lead a particularly difficult project even though you may have felt you lacked confidence. As the project progressed you probably encountered numerous stressful triggers, but as it ended and you realized you’d succeeded, you felt relieved and probably proud and satisfied.
On the flip side are hindrance stresses, which you’ve most certainly experienced. An example could be an employer making a decision from on high, with little or no consultation, and rolling out a brand new AI tool without providing clear guidelines or proper training. That might be followed by a demand that employees use it to deliver improved results or higher efficiency despite a lack of guidance. The frustrations of a situation like this outweigh any wins, such as the satisfaction of teaching yourself to use the new tool, and overall may actually reduce worker motivation.
So far, this sounds like long-winded university research that just supports established common sense.
But the key point of the study is its findings on how workers’ motivations play into their reactions to stressful workplace changes, Phys.org notes. Workers who have a mindset that sees work as an opportunity to grow themselves and maybe advance up the ladder reacted more positively to challenge stressors, the psychologists found. Employees who tend to be more conservative and happier when their work routines do not change, or present unexpected challenges, are more likely to react badly when they experience a hindrance stress.
And this is where there’s a clear conclusion that might be very helpful for your own workforce.
Not all stressful moments are the same, and not all workers react to similar stresses in the same way — each brings their own mindset.
If you seek a harmonious workforce that gets motivation from stressful situations to drive themselves forward, the authors suggest tricks like deliberately framing a tricky project as an opportunity for growth, and maybe even a way to earn advancement. This may help your workers feel more positively when they encounter unavoidable frustrations. You can also diminish the chance of “hindrance” situations by good communication, making it very clear which workers have which responsibilities, and by dumping bureaucracy that could get in the way.
Essentially this is an interesting spin on earlier research that links employee happiness and boosted productivity. Happier workers are more engaged, and one sure fire way to keep workers happy is to help them tackle stresses in a productive way — perhaps by promising meaningful perks, or by simple, strong and clear leadership.
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Kit Eaton
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