It is certainly a given that most people have jobs or careers that contribute to some level of stress in their life. It has been discovered, recently, that many people have a higher than normal amount of stress in their place of employment due to technology related issues. With technology booming many companies are jumping on the bandwagon and incorporating new and high tech programs to improve the quality and productivity of their business. Unfortunately many of these companies are implementing these new programs without giving the necessary tools their employees need to make the new programs work effectively. This has caused a great deal of stress in the workplace for all parties including upper level management, lower level management, employees and the IT department.
In a study conducted by Athabasca University in Alberta Canada concluded that "only 20% of respondents believed that IT has not increased the stress levels of employees and only 27% thought that their organization manages the introduction of change brought about by IT very well" (Robinson, Irving & Carr, 2001, p.45). These numbers are staggering simply because implementing new technologies in the workplace are usually intended to decrease the workload and stress of the employees, not increase it. The most apparent problem that employees have with new technology is that they feel their jobs could have been performed better the old way, which was usually manually.
The first issue that leads to employee stress usually stems from the very beginning of the change, the building of the program. Normally IT specialists are just that, specialists, and are very competent in performing their job duties, but everyone has a bad idea, or an idea that has not been carefully thought through, every once in awhile. It is a fact that these programs are not always thought out properly and are insufficient from the very beginning. Then when bad training, poor access to technical support and the inability to get errors fixed in a timely manner are factored in, it can be a recipe for disaster.
The increase of workplace stress has caused many negative consequences in organizations today. In an article written in 2003, a study by the UK's Health and Safety Executive estimates that "work related stress accounts for more than a third of all new incidents of ill health, and that in the UK nearly thirteen million working days were lost to stress, depression, and anxiety in 2004-5" (Teed, 2006, p.4).
There are many things that an organization can do to relieve stress on its' employees including adequate training of employees on new systems, programs to monitor and prevent IT issues, and employee stress relieving programs. The largest contributor to stress when new programs are implemented is lack of training for employees. Training would seem like an obvious step in the process, yet it is sometimes overlooked.
Inadequate training is not usually done intentionally by upper management, yet it is something that happens entirely too often. Employees feel comfortable when they feel they know their job duties well. When a new way of doing the job is introduced, employees will immediately go on the defensive because they now feel lost in a world they used to know so well. The resistance to change is only magnified when the employees are dealing with a new system that is not well suited for their job or one that has not been carefully thought out and tested.
Once the employee is able to adjust to the new system it is important for an organization to have systems set in place that can monitor the performance of the technology. These systems should be able to identify and fix a potential problem before the problem ever reaches the employee. If the employee begins to encounter these problems they will lose faith in the technology and become resistant once again. The IT department must also play a large role in the maintenance of the system. If a problem arises they must be on hand to fix problems in a timely manner.
Lastly, a great way to lower stress due to these new technology implementations, is giving the employees stress relieving programs. For example, a counselor could be available if an employee feels overwhelmed and ready to give up.
Another stress relieving option for employees can be employee meetings to discuss issues that they have with the new technology. The employees are the ones that are on the front line and the most valuable input will come from them. They will be using the system everyday and can weed out dislikes of the system and areas they would like to change. If the employee feels that his or her issues are heard and are being dealt with, it will reduce the amount of stress the employee has.
Technology advances are a growing trend in many organizations and, for the most part, they are beneficial to the organizations productivity and success. Stress comes along with these advances though, but if an organization is willing to put in the work to make the transition as comfortable and seamless as possible, it can lower the amount of stress for the employees affected.
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