Workplace Stress: Analysis

Introduction:

Stress in workplaces and job satisfactions are growing concerns in the modern state of economy, where employees are increasingly facing conditions of overwork, job insecurities, low levels of job satisfaction as well as lack of independence. Stress in workplaces have shown that they possess detrimental effects on the wellbeing and health of employees in workplaces, not leaving out the workplace productivity that is negatively affected as well as reduced profits. Job stress that is also known as occupational stress is defined as the negative emotional states like frustration, anxiety, worry as well as depression attributed to work related factors. It is also the perception of a discrepancy between environmental demands or stressors and personal capacities to meet these demands researches Akhtar (2012). Therefore, it can be depicted as the inability to cope with the pressures in a job, since of a poor fit between a person’s abilities and the work needs and conditions. Job satisfaction on the other hand, refers to the person’s feeling of satisfaction on the job that acts as a motivation to work. It is not the self-satisfaction, happiness or even self-contentment, but the satisfaction on the job. In this research, the focus is on analysis and discussion on the qualitative research in the field of computing with consideration of ethical issues, and critically assess the choice of methodologies applied to a particular study scenario, by recognizing the needs for a professional, economic, social, environmental, moral, ethical and legal issues in gathering information on employee stress and job satisfaction.

Literature Review

According to unmistakable examinations by Ahmad et al. (2010), the possibility of stress has been envisioned and appeared with different characteristics. As indicated by from one of the scholastic definitions from the ancient pieces of writing, stress can be depicted as the non-specific response of the human body to any demand that is placed upon it. Following the writing in the close to narratives; the term of pressure has been reproduced as a term which could be utilized to depict a power that results in or, more than likely causing for the disfigurement and in the interim the reaction to the pressure presently could be portrayed as the strain alluding to the indication in a body. The idea of stress is constantly joined by a few thoughts, for example, execution, inspiration, and just as worker prosperity when alluding to an association.

In another scope by Anon (2012), occupation fulfillment speaks to a blend of good or negative sentiments that laborers have towards their work. In the interim, when a specialist utilized in a business association, carries with it the requirements, wants, and encounters which decide assumptions that he has excused. Occupation fulfillment speaks to the degree to which assumptions are and coordinate the genuine honors. Occupation fulfillment is firmly connected to that person's conduct in the work environment. Occupation fulfillment is a laborer's pride and accomplishment at work. It is for the most part seen to be straightforwardly connected to efficiency just as to individual prosperity. Occupation fulfillment suggests doing a work one appreciates, doing it well and being remunerated for one's endeavors. Occupation fulfillment further suggests excitement and joy with one's work. Occupation fulfillment is the key fixing that prompts acknowledgment, pay, advancement, and the accomplishment of different objectives that lead to a sensation of satisfaction. In the IT-based industry, which is a modern industry, Aziri (2011) identifies that job satisfaction doubles each time on average as researches have revealed. In a survey that was conducted on over two hundred IT professionals in the United Kingdom identified that over 80% of IT professionals are satisfied with their jobs, and it is a good number. But then, these numbers vary depending on the size of the company, where those working in small IT companies as the highest percentage of personnel satisfied with their jobs compared to those working in large companies that are less satisfied. But then, these numbers could be exacerbated by an economic recession, as those in large companies are likely to be asked to do more work as the organization implements workforce reductions.

As depicted in several studies identified by Charu (2013) on employee stress levels, it is obvious, clearly the businesses are keeping steady tracks in accordance with the ideal feelings of anxiety to help representative execution. In any case, it was additionally referenced that these sorts of inspiration and one's prosperity. The idea of stress would not generally go about as a negative factor to be qualified and completely occupied with the serious climate inside the overall association the measure of pressing factor or stress that would emerge at a time can also go about as a help.

Stress basically influences worker turnover Prasad, et al. (2020) research and outline that the pace of turnover fluctuates from organization to organization. The most elevated level of turnover regularly found in private areas than in open areas. The degrees of turnover likewise fluctuate from locale to area. The most noteworthy rates are discovered where the joblessness rate is lower and where it is simple for individuals to get elective work. At times employee turnover can promote a company positively, and this may happen when a helpless entertainer is supplanted by a more talented worker and when a resigned representative supplanted by a more youthful ones, that are common in Information Technology companies.

A research study by Dharmaraj (2014) argue that when employee turnover as well as lack of proper training and development that led to voluntary turnover, it positively influences the tress, and employees will depict low morale. The effect of job insecurity and economic needs to work on employee attitudes, identified via a research that was conducted by use of work effort as a measure of job attitudes identified that job insecurities coupled with high need to work, resulted in increased work effort following a layoff. High job insecurities specifically in IT based organizations coupled with low need to work lead in no adjustment in the level of work effort It seem to depict that when employees with low need to work with depict no adjustment in work effort, and when a company is downsizing its work force, there will be high stress levels in the organizations and vice versa.

Singh and Ashish Kumar Dubey (2011) in an IUP Journal of Organizational Behavior at Banaras Hindu University, directed an investigation on two hundred and ten supervisors from various private area associations to inspect the job of pressure (job pressure) and locus of control on occupation fulfillment. For estimation of job pressure, Occupational Stress Index (Srivastava and Singh, 1981) was utilized; for estimation of locus of control, Social Reaction Inventory was utilized; and for estimation of occupation fulfillment, S-D Employees' Inventory was utilized. The aftereffects of relationship demonstrated that job over-burden was altogether adversely associated to fulfillment with the executives and all-out fulfillment; job vagueness was essentially contrarily connected to fulfillment with the board, and job struggle was fundamentally contrarily corresponded to fulfillment with the board and absolute fulfillment. By and large pressure was essentially contrarily related to fulfillment with the board and absolute fulfillment. The aftereffects of stepwise various relapse examination indicated that absolute pressure contributed 7.4% fluctuation in clarifying fulfillment with the executives, and job struggle contributed 7.1% change in clarifying all out fulfillment.

In another study by Vadivu (2017) examined the relationship between occupational stress, job satisfaction, and intent to leave towards organizational commitment. A convenience sample group of a hundred and thirty employees of North-Port (Malaysia) were selected over 2272 of the total population in the year 2009. A self-administrated survey instrument was developed to measure and test the employee’s external environment occupational stress, job satisfaction, and intent to leave towards organizational commitment. Using SPSS 16.0 two statistical tests were employed to test study hypotheses. First, by measuring correlation a Pearson correlation coefficient analysis was used to identify the relationship between predictor and criterion variables. Likewise, multiple regressions were used to determine the effect of the external environment, occupational stress, and job satisfaction among related variables. The findings revealed that job satisfaction, occupational stress, and intent to leave do affect organizational commitment. At the same time, occupational stress gives the intent to leave.

Objectives of the Study

The purpose of the research study is to;

• Assess the levels of occupational stress among staff within a local software development company
• To assess the level of job satisfaction among the staff within a local software development company
• To study the methodologies best suited in the study of occupational stress and job satisfaction among staff personnel within the local software development company.
• To critically evaluate the choice of methodologies applied to a given local software development company recognizing the needs for professional, economic, social, environmental, moral, ethical, and legal issues.

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Methodologies

There exist various methods of studying occupational stress and job satisfaction among employees in a software development company. Some of the methodologies to employ are qualitative methods from a vantage point of a job stress and job satisfaction researches. Therefore, the easiest to employ include;

1. Survey

Survey research method is a less structured study methodology that is applied to obtain in-depth data concerning individuals’ underlying reasoning as well as motivations. The end results are to develop a deep comprehension of a topic, issues, or a problem from an individual perspective. This method uses open-ended questions, and the information collected must be content analyzed, a labor-intensive activity specifically with huge number of respondents according to Mazzola et al. (2011). Several number of raters that are indifferent to each other are basically required so as to establish reliability. So, there is a paper-and-pencil (SIR) developed for the purpose of qualitatively assess stressful events at work. Staff members are asked to remember incidences that made them feel Annoyed, anxious, frustrated or upset, or even aroused their feelings in other ways. The respondents will offer responses that are constrained only by the time frame, which typically differ between two days or two weeks as well as one month. Staff members are asked to describe the incident and specify exactly why it was an issue for them. Therefore, the number of studies is denoted as: n=9 covered in the review uses the paper-and-pencil (SIR) and many others will apply the same open-ended questionnaire methods format denoted as (n=12).

2. Daily Diary

This is another method that can be applied to study job stress and job satisfaction studies, although it is not common is the daily diary, where employees provide responses to qualitative survey questions at certain period of time of the day or when they experience a stressful event or a satisfying event during their routines. Dollard and de Jonge (2003) identify that the diary studies as a research method collects qualitative data by having the participants record entries concerning their daily lives in a log journal or diary concerning the activity or experience that is being researched. The diary researches are also depicted as experience sampling or ecological momentary assessment (EMA) methodology. The methods possess the advantage of asking individuals to describe their experiences that either satisfy or stresses them ‘in the moment’ mitigating memory decay, as well as allowing researcher to collect multiple incidents over time.

3. Interview

According to Kinman and Jones (2005), interview is a basic qualitative research method and takes place when the researcher asks new or more participants general, open-ended questions and record their answers. Interviews could be resourceful to follow-up with individual respondents after questionnaires., that is to further investigate their responses. In this research method, there is accumulation of detailed data from participants as well as react to the data that one is collecting. For example, the researcher could ask the participant to elaborate on a stressor description or even follow up with more probing questions neither of which is possible with a written survey. But since a follow-up question could possibly bias the interviewee’s responses towards a favored hypothesis, it is prudent to apply a research assistant who is blind to the study hypotheses and to employ a frame-worked or semi-frame-worked interviews where possible and appropriate.

Conclusion

Occupational stress is one of the most serious health issues in the modern world, and a popular topic for applied research in psychology, not leaving out in the broader scope of coal and medical sciences. Job satisfaction is regarded as a feeling or a state of mind and an attitude towards one’s job and varies from industry to another. Within the IT sector, which is a modern emergence in the globe, job satisfaction and occupational stress have a great influence in job performance. Job stress is conceived as pressure from the environment an as a strain within the person. Job satisfaction is the pleasurable emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job, an effective reaction to one’s job and an attitude towards one’s job. In this research proposal, the focus was on the qualitative methodologies applied in the study of occupational stress and job satisfaction within a local software development company. Methodologies such as survey, daily diary or ecological momentary assessment and interviews could offer in-depth information regarding job stress and job satisfaction within an IT-based company. This is because, these methodologies provide and develop a deep comprehension of a topic, issues, or a problem from an individual perspective, describe employees’ experiences that either satisfy or stresses and finally offer opportunities to further investigate employees’ responses thus accumulating of detailed data in understanding what causes and the effects of jo satisfaction and job stress within the local software development company.

Reference list:

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• VADIVU, MTS, 2017. A Study on Occupational Stress and Job Satisfaction among The Textile Managers In Tirupur. International Journal of Human Resource & Industrial Research , 4 (17), pp.38-50.