Employees’ Perceptions of the Management of Workplace Stress

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore how employees perceive their organization's efforts to address the management of stress in their workplaces and to examine differences based on demographic variables of organizational location and size. A convenience sample of 85 people at an international disability management conference completed a Management of Stress in the Workplace Questionnaire. Results of this survey indicated that employees were not positive about their organizations efforts to manage stress in either prevention or rehabilitation activities. Employees from smaller organizations rated their workplace environments more positively than larger organizations. A perceived high incidence of stress in an organization was negatively related to perceptions about the work environment. Lower perceived levels of stress-related compensation claims were associated with higher ratings of prevention and higher workplace environment ratings. Effective disability management programs need to address a range of individual, organizational and system factors that cause and exacerbate stress injuries. In addition to the provision of a range of prevention and rehabilitation services, it is important that organizations look at ways to improve workplace culture and, by association, job satisfaction and workplace morale.