Managing the demands of work can be complex and spotting the impacts of this sometimes harder. For many of us, when determining if employees are overloaded or experiencing excessive demands we will look to the amount of hours an employee is working to stay on top of their workload. Or perhaps conversely, consider how much work isn’t being done within a standard work day or week.
This makes sense – and it’s important. Employees should not need to constantly work overtime to stay on top of the work allocated to them. Not only is this a health and safety issue, but it could become a fair work issue too, particularly if these work hours aren’t closely monitored and remunerated. When looking at the causes of psychological injury, work pressure is one of the most common mechanisms of injury, and so it is important to understand and manage it.
But is it possible for an employee to experience excessive pressure in their role whilst maintaining standard work hours? What might this look like? How would we monitor it?
Work pressure versus workload
Work pressure can’t always be simply understood as time pressure. In saying that, often what people feel they need to deal with pressure is more time, and this is where we may observe employees electing to work overtime. Work pressure involves the strain or tension experienced when undertaking current and/or anticipated work tasks. Workload is concerned with the extent to which our resources are utilised when carrying out work (so we can be underloaded as well as overloaded). Having a high workload will not necessarily always result in a feeling of pressure.
Often experiences of work pressure are related to the individual’s subjective experience, thoughts and feelings, associated with workloads and tasks. This can be difficult, because a manager might feel that an employee can reasonably manage a set of tasks within a particular timeframe, but the employee may see things differently. Or managers may not have the same values and beliefs regarding how work should be carried out, leading to tension for the employee.
What work pressure may look like
So, if work pressure isn’t quite as straightforward as dealing with high workloads or working overtime, where might this pressure come from? The feeling of tension or strain could be triggered by a range of situations, and may involve the employee feeling conflicted about what they are doing and/or how they are doing it. Examples include:
Feeling a sense of lack of control over work factors and outcomes, or forced to do things we don’t really want to do.
Feeling pressured to do more with less or cut corners to meet requirements, which is particularly stressful when the employee doesn’t feel right about this, the work approach conflicts with their beliefs and values, or it is believed lack of thoroughness increases risks of adverse outcomes.
Worrying that one isn’t doing enough to meet client/stakeholder needs, not being helpful enough, not getting the desired outcomes, not meeting expectations etc.
Having trouble coping with needing to deliver work below preferred standards, which may be more problematic for those with perfectionistic tendencies or high achievement orientation.
Being exposed to work situations where performance is on display whilst working to try and meet unrealistic deliverables or KPIs (management may not be worried and won’t expect the employee to deliver, but the employee may feel pressured by the perceptions of colleagues and not wanting to look incompetent or that they aren’t pulling their weight).
Negative thoughts and preoccupation with worry of having made errors and the consequences this could result in.
Needing to make decisions without having all the available information to inform that decision.
Having to adopt changes, such as new work processes or taking on new responsibilities, without feeling sufficient support, information and/or training has been made available to effect that change.
Constant awareness that work tasks are constant, and even relentless at times, and there is always something that needs to be done.
To answer my earlier questions – yes work pressure could arise despite an employee maintaining standard work hours. Part of the cause of the pressure may be the realisation that there are only so many hours in the workday and at some point you have to switch off anyway… But at times the pressure comes from the employee not feeling like they can carry out the work in the way they want to, or not having the luxury of time to take more care, double check work, or go the extra mile to deliver higher standards of service.
What should we do to address work pressure?
Whilst many believe that we work better under pressure, this assertion is not always supported by research. Working in highly pressured job roles and environments can lead to stress, which is generally unhelpful for cognitive performance, impairing critical thinking, judgment, decision-making, problem-solving, and emotion regulation. In fact, often when working with clients experiencing excessive pressure, they describe feeling frozen and unable to act.
The difficulty of managing mental health at work is that every employee is different – we all respond to demands and pressures in slightly different ways. There are no short cuts here. Work pressure is also fairly invisible… it’s not as easy to detect as some other psychosocial hazards and often relies on employees speaking up and raising concerns about how they feel at work.
Here are a few things that organisations might consider to mitigate risks of employees experiencing stress associated with work pressure:
In the first instance, it is important that leaders take time to get to know team members and understand their pressure points. Regularly checking in with employees through catch-ups and inviting them to raise issues impacting them at work is a good way to go about this, ensuring employees feel supported by their leaders.
Put systems in place to capture data about how much pressure employees are experiencing in their work – this could be done through brief surveys or apps designed to capture data about psychosocial hazards, one-on-one discussions or focus groups.
Monitor work loads and working hours – if employees are regularly working overtime, determine the causes and how much pressure they are feeling to perform and meet requirements.
Ensure employees are getting sufficient rest and recovery time throughout the work day, but also between work days – rest, sleep, and time to “switch off” are important.
Assess work capacity and ensure work is appropriately designed and allocated – yes there is an element of needing to consider the sheer amount of work one does, but also consider the cognitive and emotional demands of the work and factors that cause pressure.
Consult employees about the content and processes of their work – do they have the time, support, knowledge, training, and resources to carry out their tasks without feeling anxious or stressed about what they are doing?
Provide employees with sufficient control over their work, ability to make decisions, determine priorities, and freely act to optimise their own work outcomes.
Ensure performance measurement and monitoring practices are fair, equitable and appropriate - even if managers haven’t explicitly placed pressure on employees through expectations, it might be implied.
These are but a few examples. Every organisation is different. If you aren’t sure of the best way to identify and manage work pressures, perhaps because your organisation lacks the capacity or expertise to do so, focus on getting the right support to address this.
Need support?
We can assist you. If you aren’t sure if your business has the right practices in place, or you require specialised assistance to improve risk management frameworks, reach out for a free consultation to see how we might be able to assist.
References
Bhui, K., Dinos, S., Galant-Miecznikowska, M., de Jongh, B., Stansfeld, S. (2016). Perceptions of work stress causes and effective interventions in employees working in public, private and non-governmental organisations: a qualitative study. BJPsych Bulletin, 40, p. 318-325.
Carayon, P., & Ziglstra, F. (1999). Relationship between job control work pressure and strain: studies in the USA and in The Netherlands. Work & Stress, 13(1), p. 32-48.
Roe, R. A., & Zijlstra, F. R. H. (2000). Work pressure. Results of a conceptual and empirical analysis. In M. Vartiainen, F. Avallone, & N. Anderson (Eds.), Innovative theories, tools, and practices in work and organizational psychology (p. 29–45). Hogrefe & Huber Publishers.