Abstract
“Job pressure” is the number one cause of stress according to The American Psychological Association. However, there has been no systematic transformation in business practice to intentionally establish stress-reducing psychosocial work environments and to stop the “churn and burn” of employment. Such stress is compounded and becomes a sort of combat stress for employees in high-risk, high-emotion professions. Healing Comes First is an analysis of the critical impact of work stress on the individual employee and organizational productivity. Using the Jobs Demand-Resource Model as a foundational framework, this chapter provides leaders a pathway forward from identifying symptoms of a “stressed out” work environment to enacting mitigating strategies to reduce work stress consequences. Furthermore, the chapter recommends the incorporation of trauma-sensitive practices and the creation of a positive psychosocial work environment to help mitigate the effects of work stress on productivity.
TopIntroduction
War Stories From the Classroom
What did he get himself into? He was 33 years old running a failing school that could not seem to hold on to students or teachers. He had been in education for 12 years at the time and had traveled the country observing some of the best schools this nation had to offer; but this was not one of them. It was Joe Clark’s “Lean on Me” the middle school edition, and now he was the leader hired to turn it around.
His passion for the work called him to an underperforming school in a high poverty district where the Department of Education felt the only remedy was a state takeover. However, day one on the job quickly revealed to him that his students had needs that the schools were never fully prepared to meet. Their trust in school leadership was gone after seeing their fifth principal in three years. More importantly, the teachers who once gave their blood, sweat, and tears for their students were simply spent. It became apparent that before any school turnaround could occur, healing for the staff would have to come first.
While this chapter introduces the struggles and missteps of a stressed-out school leader attempting to lead a stressed-out staff, it is important for every leader to find answers and draw motivation from their own leadership experiences and reflections. No story is more powerful and effective at improving practice than one’s own.
Many leaders find themselves facing myriad stress-inducing staffing issues from poor retention to lackluster job performance. They may be worried about meeting the increasing needs of a high-risk population and keeping the team motivated. Some wrestle with trying to overcome company setbacks and finding the right messaging that supports organizational transparency without sending staff running for every available exit. Even more frequently, leaders may simply find themselves in a constant cycle of catch-up where one step forward consistently results in two steps backwards. Whichever scenario most appropriately resembles the organization’s current state, the answer for leadership is the same; prioritize healing.
The research is clear that work stress is a risk factor for mental and physical health problems of employees (Steptoe & Kivimäki, 2013), contributes considerably to sickness absence (Henderson, Glozier, & Holland Elliott. 2005), and impedes the efficiency and productivity of daily business (Schonfeld & Chang, 2017). Though tackling work stress seems a massive undertaking and understandably causes trepidation, a leader’s stress-mitigating strategies can be a massive undertaking, but attempts at organizational and individual healing can be the solution. The aim of this chapter is to help leaders, supervisors, and managers recognize employee stress and mitigate its effects through the implementation of stress-reducing practices.
Background
There is an extensive body of research on poverty’s aggressive impact on the student experience in K-12 schooling (Olszewski-Kubilius & Corwith, 2018). Often missing from the conversation is the emotional and physical wear and tear on the teachers who are the front-line workers serving these high-needs communities. K-12 teachers face an array of stressors, yet are provided with few resources with which to alleviate them (Olszewski-Kubilius & Corwith, 2018). Surveys indicate that K-12 teachers report experiencing a moderate to high level of stress, and ample evidence documents the causes and consequences of stress in teaching (Montgomery and Rupp 2005). Surprisingly, despite the professional stressors bearing upon teachers and the distress levels they report, empirical research addressing potential solutions to teachers’ work-related stress and burnout is sparse (Poulin et al. 2008).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Stress: The harmful physical and emotional responses that can happen when there is an imbalance between job demands and job resources in which the employee has more demands than resources.
Job Resources: The physical, psychological, social, or organizational aspects of the job that help individuals achieve work goals; reduce job demands as well as the associated physiological and psychological cost; stimulate personal growth, learning, and development.
Employee Well-Being: The state of employees’ mental and physical health, resulting from dynamics inside and outside of an organization.
Job Demands: Aspects of the job that include the costs to an individual completing the tasks necessary to do their job.
Educators: A person who provides education or instruction like a teacher.
Burnout: A state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by extreme and sustained stress. It occurs when employees feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to meet the constant demands of their job.
Resilience: The individual capacity to thrive in demanding situations.