Stress is a psychological effect that can affect any individual at some point in their lives regardless of their job capacity. Stress is brought by several factors ranging from survival, environmental, fatigue and overwork. People under stress cannot think critically and often unable to concentrate, leading to many sick leaves. One of the driving factors towards workplace stress is the organizational change that requires its workers to change their culture and follow the new trends in the global housing market. The need to expand and create a name for the company has led to Parkway Nursing Care facing many complaints from its employees. The impact of the massive expansion changes has created occupational stress to its workers.
From a different point of view, one can argue that the organization is not concerned about the wellness of its workers. The workers have complained about how the transition from one shift to the other should be executed, but the management has not formulated a plan to sort that. The stress from the vast expansion has led to an increased number of injuries and reported many cases of caregivers’ absenteeism. The company does not consult with its employees on such matters. Consultations help boost the quality of care given while motivating the employees towards achieving the set goal of the organization (Gelfand et al., 2017). This hospital has not considered this information, which is why it is being associated with so many problems arising from its workers.
The organization should be worried about the direction it is taking since with many infrastructures while not taking into account the employee concerns can damage the firm’s reputation. Listening and attending to worker demands is the first step towards a successful company. Employees are the backbone of every health facility, and if they cannot perform their duties with a clear state of mind, then proper patient care is not guaranteed, which can lead to the company’s downfall.
Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is an organizational improvement approach that focuses on the organization’s strengths and uses them as an advantage to create a change in the system. This method is aimed at concentrating on what is working and leaving what is not working. It investigates the firms’ weaknesses and problems and creates interventions to clear the source of weakness. AI emphasizes the importance of the role language and questions play in the formulation of change.
The most common form of resistance experienced by organizations is expanding while not taking care of the existing ones. Employee questions are meant to create a change but, in this scenario, worker grievances are not addressed, and this is one of the main reasons there is much pressure on the staff. Some of the resistance that might arise from Parkway health facility is the refusal of additional employees and other medical branches of the facility. The current workers are not getting the needed privileges so other additional amenities will worsen the situation. Another resistance would be increased working hours as the current ones are doing more harm than good to the workers. The firm should be more focused on upholding its fundamental values and principles rather than diffusing its culture (McShane and Glinow, 2017). To attain this, the employees might resist helping the organization achieve their mission and uphold their value due to how they are treated. It is the work of human resources to establish and take care of employee stress and create strategic plans on ways they can use to reduce the levels of stress among the employees.
For the board of directors to reenergize the staff, they need to create a perfect leadership strategy that does not see the workers as any other regular employees but takes them as professionals. One of the most critical strategies they should employ is appreciating the workforce and showing them that they are valued. Enabling this recognition ensures the workers remain engaged and committed to the course (Azzolini, 2018). In addition, attending to employee concerns would improve the perfmance of their duties, and there would be less absenteeism brought by stress. When a worker has a complaint and is listened to and is considered, one is motivated to work harder to achieve the organization’s goal. Taking care of the patient situation as advised by the practitioners would help reduce the number of nurse injuries in the company. Identifying and addressing their dissatisfaction can be the number one empowerment strategy to encourage workers to work harder.
Nurse supervisors and nursing home directors should demonstrate priority and time management to achieve the days’ target as planned. Some tasks are crucial than others, so leaders need to establish to their subordinates the skills they would use to weigh which duties are essential. An effective leader can supervise the team’s substantial workload in the most dynamic way without getting tired and stressed. Additionally, knowing how to handle problems when they arise is another strength a leader can portray to his secondary staff. With enough knowledge on how to deal with such matters, the employees will gain courage and trust in their administration. Proper communication is vital in every firm’s progress as when problems are handled as they arise, they will cause little or o harm. With appropriate communication skills, leaders can speak with impact and their rules are followed accordingly. Also, a leader is entitled to receive constructive criticism as it helps improve their decision-making skills.
Conflicts in all organizations are inevitable, which means that changes are happening and people’s opinions differ. A leader who can effectively showcase their conflict resolution techniques to other employees can become a role model. When the leader is confident in what they are doing, the workers appreciate the clarity and directions given. On some occasions, decisions made by b leaders do not necessarily bring the projected outcome, but they will learn from the mistake in the future.
There are several causes of job stress at Parkway health facility that need to be analyzed to better the employee outcome. One of the problems that need to be handled effectively is the employment of additional staff to manage the increasing number of patients. With so many patients and fewer practitioners taking care of them, there will be poor results due to fatigue and job stress. Overworking makes the employees exhausted and does not motivate them to perform their tasks efficiently, and consequently, they provide poor results (Ahmad, 2019). Low working standards are becoming hectic for the staff as workers take care of the patients when they fall out of their beds. With such vast structures and many patients flocking the hospital, they should look for ways to improve the quality of their infrastructure.
Listening to employee grievances and working on them is a vital step in the reduction of psychological strain. When workers raise a point, they do it because it is causing them more harm than good and should be analyzed before it becomes worse. Additional work staff to help the existing team take care of many patients can help relieve the strain and stress experienced from working long shifts. Giving the staff paid leaves can motivate them towards attaining the set goal of the organization. In most cases, employees work efficiently when they are promised a reward at the end of a specific period.
Stress among employees can only be reduced by adhering to their wants and fulfilling their demands. Selecting some representatives from the workers to meet with the stakeholders can enhance problem-solving and create unity within the organization. After the representatives have mentioned the problems, formulating plans to cater to the issues can help the workers strengthen their trust in their employers. Satisfying employees want to motivate them to work towards the set goal, which ensures the provision of quality patient care and the organization’s progress.
The survey that employees would use to gather data would include questions like,
- What are the challenges that employees experience while working at Parkway health facility?
- How is the transition from one shift to the next recorded to ease the next practitioner accessing the patients’ records?
- What are the various ways that can be used to improve patient care in the facility?
- What changes can be implemented o improve the quality of care given to the patients?
- What motivations are given to employees to entice them towards achieving the organizational set goal?
- What are the company’s weaknesses that can be analyzed to foster future growth in the company?
From the above survey, the organization will gather prescriptive analysis that will help its future endeavors. The survey will help the company avoid mistakes that may arise in the upcoming upgrade and extensions. This research is meant to gather qualitative data to support the organization’s future plan.
References
Ahmad, S., & Nawaz, A. (2019). Bi‐directional role of emotional intelligence in handling interpersonal relationships and occupational stress. Gomal University Journal of Research, 35(2), 42-53.
Azzolini, E., Ricciardi, W., & Gray, M. (2018). Healthcare organizational performance: Why changing the culture really matters. Annali Dell’Istituto Superiore di Sanita, 54(1), 6-8.
Gelfand, M. J., Aycan, Z., Erez, M., & Leung, K. (2017). Cross-cultural industrial organizational psychology and organizational behavior: A hundred-year journey. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(3), 514–529. Web.
McShane, S., & Glinow, M. A. V. (2017). Organizational behavior. McGraw-Hill Education. Web.