Knowledge@Wharton - Under Pressure : managing stress and engagement on the job

PERHAPS IT STARTS with the loss of one key person who is not replaced. The team members who remain need to pick up their former colleagues responsibilities, adding them to an already full set of commitments. Each person begins to feel more and more stressed. One person complains to another, and dissatisfaction begins to grow. Before you know it, more people leave or begin to withdraw from the organization, and productivity suffers.

While the specific circumstances certainly vary, Knowledge@Wharton reports that this is not an exceptional case: In a 2014 study, 8 in 10 people reported being stressed out by work, and more than half reported being disengaged from their jobs. Another study indicated that more than three-quarters would leave their current workplace if the right opportunity came along.

This important collection of Knowledge@Whartons most popular reporting on the challenges employers face engaging employees examines the reason for the high levels of stress and disengagement, and explores what employers can do to reengage their workforce. Under Pressure: Managing Stress and Engagement on the Job reports on the ways that employers are managing these concerns, from offering perks, to changing the feel of the workplace, to helping employees to gain more work-life balance.

My own research, which is covered in this collection, reveals that emotions, both positive and negative, spread among your employees like viruses. People routinely catch each others feelings when working together in groups. That explains why declining employee loyalty and dissatisfaction can spread so quickly. This phenomenon is known as emotional contagion, and it has long been recognized in the psychological literature as a type of interpersonal influence. But therein also we also find one of the solutions: Positive emotions are just as catching. Fostering a culture of companionate love, where employees showing affection, caring and compassion toward each other can go a long way toward creating a more positive and productive working environment.

Armed with an awareness of emotional contagion, you have the potential to create more productive teams, departments, and corporate cultures. When you choose to acknowledge the problem in your organization and really care about the people who work within it, it is possible to create change within your organization. Picking up this ebook is a key first step.

Under Pressure is filled with insights from leading researchers as well as those of the companies that are on the frontlines of engaging employees. Under Pressure provides key takeaways that you can take back to your organization to reengage your workforce. It is a must-read for any leader who seeks a better working environment for themselves and their team.

Sigal Barsade
April 2015