Employee Well-Being vs Stress
There exists a voluminous amount of literature dedicated to the causes of organisational stress and its effects.
Some of this literature uses the terms ‘stress’ and ‘well-being’ synonymously, inferring that the two terms describe the same state. To avoid confusion, it is important to note briefly the difference between them.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) considers stress as ‘the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressure or other types of demand placed on them at work’ (1). This definition describes a specific psychological state which comes about as a direct consequence of something else and therefore does not share agreement with the broader meaning associated with employee well-being.
Work-related stress can therefore be seen as a dimension of employee well-being. It should be viewed as a threat to someone’s well-being rather than its equal. Our research shows that work-related stress and employee well-being aren’t the same; instead, stress stemming from the workplace is but one dimension of the wider well-being construct.
(1) Available at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/stress/furtheradvice/whatisstress.htm. Accessed September/28, 2009.
