Stress is a rising concern in corporate world

Stress is a rising concern in corporate world. In fact, repeat increase in percentage of workers in global economies experiencing a rise in workplace stress. According to survey by Northwestern National Life One-fourth of employees consider their jobs as the number one stressor in their lives. Job life is the most important part of employee life but on other hand it is one of the key reason of stress. Job atmosphere contain with competitive nature that why people in the world are more center in achieving job related goals and ignoring the stressors which influencing their work and life. (Ahsan, Abdullah, Gun Fie, & Alam, 2009).Due to stress an organization can suffer serious crisis such as reduction in employee productivity, increase in employee turnover, inferior motivation levels and augment between employee conflicts. The main object of this article is establish a comparative analysis on employee characteristics versus working conditions and identifies the primary cause of job stress.

Most researchers have the same opinion on certain factor highly stressful in work environment for example organizational culture and function can be stressful due to poor communication, lack of support in problem resolving and higher management failure in defining organizational goals lead to stress. Under or over promotion, poor pay, nature of job causes stress regarding employee personal career development. If management fails to identify the employee roles in organization then role ambiguity and role conflict generate stress. Lack Interpersonal relationships at work, conflict in demands work to home and work overload also multiply the stress effect on employee (European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, 2002)

There is multiple Job condition that may lead to stress. Long working hours, infrequent rest break, hectic and routine tasks in shift works, lack in employee skill utilization little sense of control at work place these all work condition can be categorized in design of task which leads to stress. Management Style can causes stress for example lack of employee participation decision making, poor communication hierarchy in the organization, excessively tight controls by the managers creates negative stress among the employees. Depressed organization environment, lesser amount of support from coworkers and deficiency in providing help by supervisors reduces the interpersonal relationships and increase the chances of stress. Role overload with uncertain job expectations and too much work to home responsibility creates stress which leads to role conflict. Rapid changes in political, economic and technology extend stress and increase job insecurity and jamming the opportunity for employee growth.

Symptoms of physical stress are headaches or backaches, muscle tension, diarrhea or constipation, nausea, dizziness, Insomnia, Chest pain, rapid heartbeat, weight gain or loss, skin breakouts (hives, eczema), Loss of sex drive and frequent colds. (The Texas A&M University System, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the County Commissioners Courts of Texas Cooperating, 2009) Signs and symptoms of stress can also be caused by other psychological and medical problems. The prime focus of this article is to identify employee behavioral symptoms during stress and how they affect employee physiological wellbeing. Employee behavioral symptoms during stress can be define as increased absenteeism, tardiness, and intentions by workers to quit their jobs-all of which have a negative effect on organizational performance.

If the role in an organization is not clear or unclear boundaries of responsibility due to this situation interpersonal friction between the persons involved. Unfortunately, the conflict often categorizes as interpersonal conflict rather than role conflict, and resolution is then complicated and misdirected. (Fisher, c. 1977, Rev. 1985, 2000.)

Role conflict is a type of social conflict it is due to when an individual being require to perform more than one role and these role are highly incompatible from each others. In individual case a person responsibility is being torn between multiple roles with in organization or groups or outside the organization. When an employee has to carry out multiple management roles with in one department it can case conflict between supervisor and co-worker roles.

In journal role conflict occur due to overlapping of responsibility and obligations to different group. With an organization point of view role conflict can be define, when individual employee have to perform numerous conflicting responsibilities. Role conflict can also be build up within organization boundaries, when employees require to generating more production and on other hand managers demands supervisor’s for more improve quality controls. Responsibility of results, without sufficient authority to achieve unrealistic objectives leads to role conflict.

Employee life can also suffer from work to family role conflict which reduces the organizational commitment. Increase competitive pressures on organizations for increase outcomes and requiring more time for workforce results in less time available for the employees to be with their families. Finding indicates that there was a major contribution of work-family role conflict

to organizational commitment. (Akintayo, 2010)

Work-family role conflict generates due to various reasons and these can be unique to each individual situation. Source for Work-family Role conflict can be time-related, strain-related or behavior-related and the outcome of role conflict can be in shape of both psychologically and behaviorally stress. Employee feels guilt about spending less time at home due to work overload at work place, lack in social communication with co-workers at work place or family members at home. Work family conflict affects unenthusiastically employee work and family life quality. It is difficult for employee to carry out responsibility in work domain at the cost of neglecting responsibility and time at family domain.

Employee inability to socialize due to work load, responsibility of results without sufficient authority and unrealistic objectives leads to stress with the outcome of role conflict effecting employee productivity.

Telecom industry in Pakistan has shown rapid growth and proven its importance in economic growth. Many foreign investments are being invested in Pakistan in telecom industry total of 1438.60 million US $ foreign direct investment in telecom sector in year 2007-08. GST/CED Collection from Telecom Sector is Rs. 44.53 billion in 2007-08. Telecom sector share in GDP is 2 % in 2005-06. (Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, 2009)

Reason why employee facing stress is due to nature of their job attending non-stop mobile calls, direct interaction with customers and achieving the target within limited time line make the employee stressful (Dollard, Dormann, Boyd, Winefield, & Winefield, 2003). Employees have to produce quality through resolving the customer problems so they can remain satisfied while increasing the quantity to reduce the cost by following preset standards. (Suri & Rizvi, 2008)

There is great rivalry among telecom companies’ in attempt to gain a larger market share. Due to the enormous competition among different companies, employees are obliged to increase productivity and provide better quality under unrealistic quality controls. This is the ideal situation where stress can easily generates and cause its negative effect on employee productivity. The nature of call center job also posse’s necessary ingredients which are identify by the scholars for role conflict.

This article provides the information how an employee effect by stress which cases role conflict.

Another objective is to identification of key factor which cases stress, role conflict and their relationship with employee productivity. Testing relationship among these factors and there outcome with the help of quantitative tools.

This research can provide benefits to company owners, CEO, managers and supervisors, how they can develop the stress free workplace culture. It can also be use as a guide line in prevention and control of the causes of job stress and role conflict. The outcome of this research can be low employee turnover, reduction in workplace conflict and increase in productivity. Organization can reduce the impact of stressors by minimize the role conflict and role ambiguity by developing such policies which gave employee more authority, so they can perform their work activities.

Stress affects the performance of employees for last three decades comprehensive work has been done in this regard. The source and outcome of stress are dissimilar in every individual case that why it’s hard to held responsibility of stress on few stressors. Rising development and expansion in markets and businesses establish the need for more research on stress, how work related stressor effect performance and predict the effect of workplace stressor. Researchers are keen to build up intervention designed which reduces the possible negative impact of stressor on job performance. (Gilboa, Fried, Shirom, & Cooper, 2008).

Study has point out the following familiar sources of job stress with in organizational environment which can affect employee wellbeing. Role ambiguity is the vague categorization of rite, duties, responsibility and limitation that describe employee’s job. Work relationships such as employee relationship with its coworkers and mangers. Employee communication gap with its coworkers can cause stress. Employee’s feels that they have proper training, resources, equipment and tools to perform their task. Career advancement refers to employee expectations and prospects to growth within organization. Lack of opportunity in growth increases the stress. Insecurity of losing job and uncertainty about the future also cultivate stress. Lack in decision making, authority and control at work sturdily correlate with stress. Work-home interface also cause the stress, when work responsibility spill over with employee home life. This can create complexity in employee relationship outside the work specially when employee experiencing lack of social support. Workload refers to when employees are unable to produce or fulfill the work requirement according to what is ask to them. When employees are expected to perform more with in limited time or resources allocate to them, in the result employee experience stress at workplace. Compensation and benefits gives employee the feeling of self-worth and their value to the organization. The nature and structure of job can cause stress job such as how much physical working is require, what would be the working conditions, how much challenging and experience would be drive from the job and type of tasks. (Coetzee & Villiers, 2010).

Work-related factors can be formulate due to work over load when job is requiring more output and attention in limited duration or underutilization of employee’s skills and they start feeling that their knowledge and experience is ignore and wasted. When employee starting to realize that his job is boring or tedious. (Green, et al., 1995). Job or role ambiguity creates stress when job requirement are not formally designed and worker are uncertain about their responsibilities and duties. (Beehr, 1985).

Role ambiguity negatively correlated with employee creativity but role conflict when mediate by self-efficacy show positive link with employee creativity. Future more self-efficacy and job satisfaction provide weak mediators link between role conflicts. Conversely lone job satisfaction provide weak mediator link between role ambiguity and creativity. (Tang & Chang, 2010)

Employee has to manage the numerous roles at the same time. Whenever time dedicated at work make difficult to fulfill his family roles requirements then work to family conflict generates and the outcome of this conflict is stress. (Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985)

Employee has to develop their professional skills in order to meet the changing requirement due to advancements in technology. In the absence of advance knowledge individual feels job insecurity. These technological advancements make the workplace more complicate and stressful. (Tse, 2010)

In service provider occupation lack in professional aspect (autonomy, client satisfaction and collegiality) and greater Bureaucratic Conditions (formalization and reutilization) leads to work overload and role conflict which is correlate with unmet expectation. Higher unmet expectation linked with higher job stress. Unmet expectations play important role in organizational-professional conflict because in bureaucratic structure organizations employees consider that their skills and abilities are being run over which harms employee expectations and case stress. (Lait & Wallace, 2002)

Individual with strong internal locus of control are less effect by work stress as compare the one with an external locus of control. Support from coworkers and supervisors are beneficial in reducing workload stressors. Work stress is positive correlated with depression and resource is negatively correlated with depression. Resource consider as a coworker and supervisor lend a hand in workload and strength the individual internal locus of control. Supervisor support narrowed down the prediction for role conflict. (Stanley, Muramatsu, Heller, Hughes, Johnson, & Valles, 2010)

In Meta analysis seven stressors have been identified (job performance: role ambiguity, role conflict, role overload, job insecurity, work-family conflict, environmental uncertainty, and situational constraints) and they show negative correlation with job performance. Investigation of moderator’s relationship is highly negative correlated with role overload with performance in managers as compare with subordinates. (Gilboa, Fried, Shirom, & Cooper, 2008) Autonomy at work reduce the role conflict and positive link with job satisfaction (R u y t e r, W e t z e l s, & F e i n b e r g, 2001). The consequences of stress within organization are increase turnover, absenteeism and employee low productivity.

Employee productivity is interlink with work environment .Employer should articulate work environment in such manner that the challenging task can be accomplish in a productive way. Encouraging work environment motivate employees and bad working conditions contribute to low productivity of employees. (Taiwo, 2010)