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Anxiety and Stress at the Workplace

Stress in the workplace is running rampant in America. U. S. companies lose millions of dollars due to lost productivity, which is often directly linked to stress on the job. This stress leads to absenteeism, increased medical expenses for the companies, and poor morale among managers and employees. According to Michele Marchetti, of the magazine Potentials, and author of the article entitled, "High Anxiety," there are several approaches used by employers and managers when dealing with stressed out employees. One approach is to ignore the problem and hope it goes away, and the other approach is to deal with the problem head on.

First of all, the author illustrates the high levels of anxiety and stress found in the workplace through the use of data collected in various surveys and studies. Some of the facts and figures included are, "the NIOSH survey reports that more than 42 percent of employees surveyed felt their coworkers were overly stressed" (Marchetti 3). Also, "office stress is giving 30 percent of Americans sleeping problems, and driving 23 percent to consume alcohol excessively" (3). Further, "NIOSH's study shows that the number of employees who have called in sick in the past four years because of stress has tripled" (6). All of these figures indicate that stress is an important problem that must be dealt with in the workplace today.

In reading the article, and comparing and contrasting the methods used by various companies when it comes to dealing with stress and employees, it is obvious that the companies who ignore the problem and their employees often end up with larger problems. The people in positions of power in these companies do not seem to listen to the cries of their employees and if they do acknowledge their frustrations, it is often not in a caring manner. In the article, one interviewee explained that she often had to "sneak out of the office to spend time with her son" (2). Further, she said, "when I told my former employer that I needed to spend Halloween night with my son, he told me it wasn't his problem" (2). Karen Macedonio, owner of a fledgling business, confessed that she became very upset when she saw her employees taking a break to get a drink of water, and admitted to calling a sick employee at home to find out why she did not come to work. The employee's sister answered the phone and Macedonio asked, "When is she coming back?" (6) The sister replied, "She is never coming back. You've traumatized her and she'll never be the same" (6). In companies where people in positions of power do not take their employees' feelings into account or are not concerned about stress levels in the workplace, managers often intensify the stress and end up losing valuable employees. 

The article also illustrates companies who have managers and employers who take stress in the workplace very seriously. These managers are in stark contrast to those described above. They recognize that stress exists in all workplaces and take an active role in trying to reduce it. One manager describes, "My role became less like a motivator and more like a therapist"(3). He spends much of his "time in his office reassuring, relaxing, and comforting the 40 employees in his group" (3). Another manager makes sure that those who work for him understand what he "wants and needs from his employees" (5), thus eliminating any misunderstandings and allowing the employees to talk to him about any problems or concerns they may have with their work load. These managers show their employees that they are caring and concerned, thus lessening the amount of stress in the workplace.

The article, "High Anxiety," illustrates the stress and anxiety felt by those in the workplace. It gives examples of employers and managers who deal directly with the stress that affects their employees and those who do not. It also supplies the reader with data regarding stress in the workplace, which indicates that it is a large problem facing U.S. companies today. Those people in positions of power who work to improve the lives of their employees and decrease stress in the workplace are often more successful than those who do not.

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