“Eustress” – Much Needed

“Stress” in Organizations
Presented By:

(Dr. Sriram Rajagopalan , Dr. Shameem S & Abhishek Paul)

 Agenda
Introduction

Literature Review / Research Gaps

Conceptual Framework

Conclusion

Implications, Future Directions and Limitations

 Introduction
• In today’s organizational life, it is hard for employees to keep their
motivation and work-life balance in place.

• Organizational stress impacts all, however, these stresses could be

positive or negative. The aim of our paper is to study the positive stress
called Eustress.

• Individuals experience technostress (negative stress) when they are

unable to adapt or deal effectively with information technologies.

• Eustress (positive stress) happens when the gap between what you have
and what you want is mildly pushed, but not overwhelmed.

• This study will enable the employers/ managers of different companies to

look forward to the positive stress in the workplace and motivate their
employees accordingly.
 Literature Review
Technostress: Some Insights
• Technostress is basically a result of an individual who finds it very difficult to cope up
with Information and Communication technology in a healthy way.
• Techno stress leads to various problems with organizational commitment, turnover
intentions is affected. This also leads to work exhaustion.
• Techno stress also results in techno-overload which happens due to excessive work load.
This study also describes a model called the person environment fit model which
describes the equilibrium relationship between people and environment.
• Whenever the relationship overshoots equilibrium it leads to strain. The resulting gap
between the characteristics of human being and the external environment. This results in
job demands which are not met ultimately leading to strain.
 Literature Review
Antecedents of Technostress

1. Individual differences like age, gender, education, computer confidence are

responsible for techno-stress creators.
2. Techno-stress creators negatively affect job satisfaction whereas technology
inhibitors positively affect job satisfaction, organizational commitment and
continuous commitment.
3. Techno-overload, techno-insecurity, techno invasion, techno –uncertainty, techno-
complexity are techno-stress creators.
4. Technical support provision, literacy facilitation, involvement facilitation, job
satisfaction, organizational commitment and continuous commitment are all techno-
stress inhibitors.
 Research Gaps -Eustress

1. There is a lot of research and literature on technostress – negative stress which

arises due to use of ICT devices in the workplace. This is the kind of stress which is
negative and has a detrimental affect on the employees overall productivity levels.
2. However, there is not much research being done on positive stress – Eustress
which is the right amount of stress which is needed for an employee to perform at
his/her peak levels at the workplace.
3. Organizations must allocate work for an employee in such a way that he/ she is
subjected to the right amount of positive stress which motivates the employee to
add more value to the organization.
4. This will result in increase in productivity levels, lower attrition rates and improve
the mental health of the employees who are the forerunners in the organization.
 Conceptual Framework
• Eustress occurs when the stressor is appraised as positive and the individual is able to employ
coping strategies in order to prevent the emergence of distress.
• Quick et al. (1997) defined eustress as the positive and constructive stress response essential to
growth, development and mastery.
• Eustressed employees are said to be more engaged at work, which means that they experience a
great amount of meaningfulness, manageability, hope and positive affect towards their job
demands (Simmons and Nelson, 2011).
 Conclusion

• IT personnel work in a framework and the features of the workplace impact the
perceptions of the employee of the organization. IT staff are more faithful to their job
than to their company, and this is shown by a greater concern for workplace
characteristics.
• Work exhaustion was not a major turnover factor for the organization studied.
• IT management requires to foster employee confidence by projecting skills and concerns
and setting out policies and processes that generate a workplace that is honest.
• Managers should ensure that there is a range of skills in IT employment. IT employees
like employment that felt meaningful and gave feedback. Management can reduce IT
turnover by employing the workplace factors.
 Implications & Future Directions
• Telework is a means of transforming traditional methods of working, primarily
through its ability to disconnect from the physical limitations imposed by offices and
factories where staff are physically present in the workplace and where co-location
of executives and colleagues exerts a disciplinary power on the behavior of workers.
• The level of formalization was introduced with the idea of telework that seemed to
reinforce the traditional control features of standard employment practice
• It has been demonstrated that the implementation of just-in-time techniques
reduces individual autonomy, for example lean production practice Is associated
with reduced job autonomy perceptions, which in turn is associated with reduced
organizational commitment, self-efficacy and depression.
• Employees working in autonomous working groups have higher job satisfaction and
higher work role complexity.
• Employees when allowed to participate in decision-making, are more engaged, feel
less strained and put more efforts as a team.