ABSTRACT
Research shows that the result of excessive stress is that organisations experience higher levels of sick leave, staff turnover and lower levels of motivation, morale and productivity, with the consequences that organisations are less profitable, efficient and effective. Some people will complain that having too much work to do in their organisation is causing them stress, whilst others will say that the excessive workloads are stress. Each human activity, and each individual person, will have a unique curve, with the optimum level of stress situated at a different level. The art of self-management, or the management of staff in an organisation, is to manage the level of stress so that performance of the chosen task is at an optimum level. Much of the research on organisational stress has been done using the "Environment-Person-Fit" model. This model hypothesises that excessive stress is caused if a person does not fit their environment, or the environment does not fit the person.
