Managing Workplace Stress Caused by Self-Defeating Behaviors

Background Information

One of the crucial elements toward the realization of organizational success and profitability is creating a suitable working environment in which all employees can thrive as they carry out their respective responsibilities. Employees' contributions toward the achievement of established business goals and objectives are largely influenced by the nature of the working environment and working conditions. However, employees' behaviors also play a crucial role in determining their productivity in the workplace. Self-defeating behaviors in the workplace contribute to stress, which in turn affects employees' input to work processes and the overall profitability of an organization. This paper examines the management of stress brought by self-defeating behaviors in the workplace. The evaluation includes recommendations of suitable solutions based on organizational theory concepts and the concepts of organizational behavior.

The organization examined in this paper has several divisions and departments, each mandated with various responsibilities and tasks toward the achievement of established business goals and objectives. Each department is led by a departmental head who ensures that the division's workforce carries out its respective roles in line with departmental goals and objectives. The departmental heads work in collaboration with the organization's top management to create a suitable working environment where employees can thrive as they contribute to various work processes and activities. The organization recognizes that the nature and status of the working environment has a direct link to the profitability and success of the firm in its respective industry and market.

As part of creating a suitable working environment for the workforce, departmental heads allocate duties to every employee based on his or her knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as job position. This helps ensure that employees understand their roles and what is expected of them, which helps reduce conflicts within the organization. Understanding the roles and expectations of every employee also helps keep them accountable for their work. When making decisions on the allocation of duties, departmental heads ensure that the right person for each job is chosen. In this regard, management takes time to learn the strengths of every employee before deciding how to allocate job duties effectively. Additionally, the organization's management and departmental heads clearly articulate the significance of teamwork in accomplishing the mission of the organization. While each employee is held accountable for his or her respective job duties, management encourages teamwork because of its significance in the achievement of organizational objectives. Teamwork helps create synergy through which every member of the workforce plays his or her role in a manner that contributes to overall organizational success.

Statement of the Problem

While the organization works toward creating a suitable working environment for all employees, several issues affect the workplace. One of these issues is time management: most employees appear to have difficulties managing their time. Departmental heads must constantly remind and urge employees to manage their time well, given its significance in their ability to carry out their respective duties. Employees seemingly take more time than required to accomplish their tasks, which is an indicator of poor time management. Additionally, employees exhibit self-defeating behaviors that in turn affect their productivity in the workplace. These self-defeating behaviors are evident in poor time management, low levels of motivation and morale, and relative disinterest in certain job responsibilities and tasks. Employees struggle with decision-making and do not prefer being subjected to supervision or monitoring when performing their duties.

As a result of these self-defeating behaviors, employees in the organization also face the problem of stress. The insistence on time management by departmental heads seemingly contributes to stress among employees because of the pressures and demands to perform well. Employees appear to feel that the demands for better time management create unnecessary burdens, which in turn contribute to stress. In light of these factors, the central problem in the organization is the management of stress brought by self-defeating behavior.

Literature Review

The issue of stress brought by self-defeating behavior has received considerable attention and has been the subject of numerous studies. Thau, Aquino, and Poortvliet (2007) define self-defeating behaviors as behaviors that hinder an individual from achieving his or her goals or satisfying his or her interests or desires. These researchers state that employees are sometimes engaged in activities that are self-defeating when conducting their duties in the workplace. Renn, Allen, and Huning (2013) concur by stating that self-defeating behavior is a concept referring to activities that undermine an individual's achievement of self-interests and goals. Alshawashreh, Alrabee, and Sammour (2013), on the other hand, define self-defeating behavior as the notion that individuals deliberately carry out activities that cause failure and eventually harm them. These researchers argue that there is a positive link between self-defeating behavior and self-handicapping strategy (Alshawashreh, Alrabee, and Sammour, 2013). Therefore, self-defeating behaviors are deliberate actions by individuals geared toward causing failure or misfortune.

In the working environment, employees sometimes engage in costly work behaviors that not only undermine their productivity but also interfere with their ability to achieve personal goals or meet their interests (Thau, Aquino, and Poortvliet, 2007; Renn, Allen, and Huning, 2013). These studies suggest that self-defeating behaviors in the workplace are detrimental to overall organizational productivity because of their negative effects on employees' contributions to work processes. According to Alshawashreh, Alrabee, and Sammour (2013), employees' engagement in self-defeating behaviors causes misfortune and harm by affecting their ability to make meaningful contributions to an organization.

Thau, Aquino, and Poortvliet (2007) state that self-defeating behaviors can result in low self-esteem, depression, and sadness. Additionally, these behaviors are positively linked to thwarted belonging because they affect an employee's ability to develop closer relationships with co-workers. Renn, Allen, and Huning (2013) similarly argue that self-defeating behaviors cause thwarted belonging among employees by promoting social exclusion—the perception or experience of being excluded from desired relationship partners.

Self-defeating behaviors contribute to stress because of their impact on self-esteem and interpersonal relationships in the workplace (Thau, Aquino, and Poortvliet, 2007; Renn, Allen, and Huning, 2013; Alshawashreh, Alrabee, and Sammour, 2013). Poor self-esteem and poor social interactions resulting from self-defeating behaviors generate stress. These behaviors also contribute to stress by increasing vulnerability to emotional distress, anxiety, and depression. Employees exhibiting self-defeating behaviors are seemingly unable to develop self-regulation because of the stress they experience (Alshawashreh, Alrabee, and Sammour, 2013).

Conclusion and Justification

The changes to the organization's leadership structure and organizational culture represent the most suitable solution to address the problems of stress and self-defeating behaviors among employees because they address both the organizational and individual factors. According to Michie (2002), workplace stress is brought about by organizational factors, which implies that organizational-level interventions are most appropriate for stress prevention and management. As demonstrated in the analysis of the organization's situation, the individual factors affecting employees are themselves driven by organizational factors. Employees in this organization exhibit low self-esteem, morale, and motivation—which contribute to self-defeating behaviors—because of poor management techniques and an unsuitable organizational culture. Therefore, addressing management techniques and organizational culture would essentially resolve these individual factors and ultimately solve the problem of stress and self-defeating behavior. This solution is also appropriate because it will promote organizational cohesiveness, through which employees feel a sense of belonging and ownership (Weitz and Vardi, 2007).

In conclusion, the organization is currently facing the problem of stress brought by self-defeating behavior. As shown in this analysis, this problem is attributable to individual and organizational factors that contribute to low self-esteem, morale, and motivation among employees. The review of existing literature demonstrates that effective management of stress and self-defeating behaviors in the workplace requires organizational-level, interpersonal-level, and individual-level interventions. Based on the current situation in this organization, the most probable solutions are changing the leadership structure and organizational culture and establishing employee assistance and wellness programs. However, the most suitable solution to address the organization's problem of stress and self-defeating behavior among employees is changing its leadership structure and organizational culture.

References

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