Infosys Employee Stress Level Report

This report investigates the stress levels experienced by employees at Infosys, an IT company. It identifies the problem of increased stress, explores its causes such as workload and long hours, and examines the impacts on both employees and the organization. The report analyzes the problem using the transactional model of stress and the effort-reward imbalance model. It also discusses negative implications and provides recommendations for managing stress, such as clarifying job roles, providing control over work, and promoting communication and physical exercise. The conclusion highlights that stress leads to health issues and reduced organizational revenue.

People and organizations

ABSTRACT
Project was about the stress level faced by the employees working in the Infosys
organizations. A IT sector company which is a highly diversified company and has many
diversions to be completed by the employees. That leads to various impacts on the employees
such as increase in stress level. Under this report firstly, the problem is being identified that are
affecting the workplace environment. Problem examined was the increased stress level in the
Infosys a IT based company. After that causes of the problem has been explained such as
workloads, long hours, time pressure, deadlines of the project etc which creates or increases
stress level among the employees of Infosys. Further the impacts of stress on Infosys and its
employees has bee explained below. After that the problem of stress has been explained by
theories and concept of transnational model and effort-reward imbalance model of stress. Along
with this negative implications and remedies has been explained. After completing this report
arrived to the conclusion such as stress leads to various health issues to the employees which
leads in reducing the level of revenue of organization.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
a. Setting the context....................................................................................................................4
b. Identification of main workplace problem...............................................................................4
c. Outlining the structure of report...............................................................................................4
PROBLEM ......................................................................................................................................4
a. What the problem is ................................................................................................................4
b. Causes of the problem..............................................................................................................5
b. Implication of problem for the Infosys and its employees......................................................6
4. ANALYSIS .................................................................................................................................7
a. Explanation of theories and concepts ......................................................................................7
Transactional model of stress.................................................................................................7
b. Analyzing the problem by using theories and concepts ..........................................................8
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS............................................................................9
references.......................................................................................................................................11
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2. INTRODUCTION
a. Setting the context
Infosys Technology Ltd, is a Indian Multinational Corporation which provides
information technology, business consulting, outsourcing as well as software engineering. Its
headquarter is located in Electronics City, Bangalore, Karnataka. It is second largest IT sector
company in India. 193,383 number of employees are working for Infosys (About Us, 2016).
Employees working for software professions are more suffering from Stress issues because of
the working targets, work loads, night shifts etc.
b. Identification of main workplace problem
Employees working in Infosys suffers from huge stress levels because as these days IT
industries in India has got a large rise due to favourable government policies and globalization in
Indian economy (Day, 2014). India has been listed among the fastest growing IT markets in
Asia- Pacific region. This has lead to continuous mental and physical stress to its workers which
further resulting in increased health issues. Increase of stress level among employees of Infosys
is leading towards various health issues such as tension headache etc. Also with the advent of
privatization and globalization the chances of loosing jobs has increased. This further results in
depression and alcoholism etc. IT industries are one of the fastest growing industries in India for
the past few years. Employees of IT and ITES faces comparatively higher level of stress as
compare to other employees working with another industries (Hatch and Cunliffe, 2013).
c. Outlining the structure of report
This report includes wide description on issues faced by the employees of IT company in
India (Infosys). This report includes the problem, cause and implications and also various
theories and concepts related to workplace problem is analysed and explained. With the help of
analyzed theories and concepts various negative implications and remedies are considered in the
report. Lastly, the report provides recommendations for the work based problem of stress at
Infosys.
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3. PROBLEM
a. What the problem is
The problem is the higher level stress on the employees working under Infosys. Stress is
a trouble that is faced by humans. It can have negative as well as positive impacts on humans.
Positive stress is known as eustress which is required at certain level for employee to work
accordingly (Chiesa and Serretti, 2009). Whereas, negative stress is known as distress which
distract humans from its work.
b. Causes of the problem
It has been find that people working in Infosys has a increase chances of health issues
because of mental and physical stress. Diseases are either sustained, induced or exacerbated by
stress. Various factors causing stress at workplaces are long hours, time pressures, work
overload, lack of break, complex task poor physical work conditions etc that leads to increase in
stress level in employees (Fjorback, 2011). Stress is also caused by unclear work and conflict
boundaries and roles. It is also caused by under promotion, job insecurity, lack of training,
unpaid overtime etc.
 Work overload - It is one of the major causes of stress, as the people working in Infosys
has excessively high workloads with unrealistic deadlines which make them
overwhelmed and under pressure.
 Long Hours- Workers have to work for long hours to met the unrealistic deadlines which
creates lots of pressure on employee. In order to complete its work on time employee of
Infosys doesn't take breaks which leads to mental and physical pressure (Martín and
García, 2010).
 Time pressure- As the projects are to be accomplished before deadlines. It creates lot of
time pressure on employees of Infosys which leads to mental stress on workers.
 Difficult task- It creates lot of stress on employee as it has to complete task within the
deadline (Veenhoven, 2013). Sometimes the project to be completed are difficult and
complex that takes too much time to complete. For that employees has no choice other
than doing overtime.
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 Lack of breaks- In order to complete the task within the deadline employees of Infosys
skip their breaks. Working for long without any break is also a major cause of stress.
 Poor Physical working conditions- Employees in Infosys is not satisfied with the
working environment of the organization. This may include lack of interpersonal support
which leads to isolation (Levine and Scotch, 2013). Also include inappropriate
surroundings such as cold, noise, inadequate lightning malfunctioning equipment,
uncomfortable seating etc. If the employee is not comfortable with the working
environment then it wont be able to work properly.
 Unclear work- An employee also gets stressed when it doesn't know or is unclear about
the work . This may happen because of lack of training, experience etc.
 Inappropriate managers- Another main reason of stress among employees of Infosys
can be its managers. That is critical, demanding, unsupported, bullying nature of manager
impacts employees both mentally as well as physically (Driskell and Salas, 2013).
 Personal life issues – Some employees are not able to make distance between personal
and professional life issue (Beehr, 2014). Sometimes because of personal issues
employees are not able top concentrate over their professional issues which creates lot of
pressure and leads to stress.
 Poor Social support- It is a human nature every human being needs some support. A
lack of poor working relations as well as lack of interpersonal support may lead to mental
stress (Ursin, 2012). If the working environment of Infosys is not friendly or employee
feels outsider then its insecurity will not lead it to work accordingly.
 Unclear or poor management- Under this employees feel that they have no sense of
direction or the management is over managed. This type of management make employees
feel that they are undervalued. And even it may affect the self esteem of the employees
working in Infosys (Cramer, 2012).
b. Implication of problem for the Infosys and its employees
 Impact of stress on Employees – Impact of stress on employees can be seen by the
occurring changes in its behaviour. Various impacts can be seen in its nature such as gets
irritated, start doing arguments. starts eating junk food and smokes heavily. Frequent
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absenteeism, late arrival are all indicators of stress. It may not mix up with the
department and feel isolated. It may also include counter productive work behaviour of
employees that is disrespecting its colleagues, extreme anger towards the manager of
company (How Does Employee Stress Affect the Organization, 2016). It may also
disregard various terms and conditions of the organization which is required to be
followed by each employee of the firm.
 Impact of Stress on Infosys- There can be various impacts such as lack of customer
service, unplaced orders, uncompleted projects to the organization (Everly Jr and Lating,
2012). Noticeable declines can be seen in net revenue to Infosys because of adverse
implications of employee's stress.
4. ANALYSIS
a. Explanation of theories and concepts
Transactional model of stress
This model is considered to be a framework with the help of which the process of coping
with stressful events can be evaluated. According to it, stressful experiences are considered to be
emerging from transactions between person and environment. The impact of external stressor
determine these transactions. Stressor is defined as the demands that are made by the internal as
well as the external environments (Cagliano, 2011). These demands create an imbalance due to
which physical and psychological well being of employees are effected. A person’s appraisal of
the stressor mediates this stressful experience. Along with that, it also depends on the social and
cultural resources which are available with a person. This model comprises of two concepts,
primary and secondary appraisals. Primary appraisal is the judgment that a person makes about
the significance of a stressor or a threatening event. This determines his reaction to the stressful
events.
Secondary appraisal is the assessment of the coping resources and options available with
a person. This appraisal is concerned with the steps that can be taken by a person about the
situation which is stressful. Therefore, the aim of the coping efforts is to manage the problem.
There are different types of coping efforts. These include, meaning based copping, dispositional
coping styles, information seeking etc. meaning based coping includes positive emotions which
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are responsible for sustaining the coping process. Dispositional coping styles involve those
generalized ways of behavior which have impact on the emotional or functional reaction of a
person to a stressor (Alterman, 2013).
Effort-reward imbalance model (ERI)
As per this model work related benefits are depended upon reciprocal relationship
between rewards and efforts in work. It represents the job obligations and demand which is
imposed on the employees such as work overload and time pressure. Reward distributed by the
employer consist the basic priorities of employees. That is self esteem, money, carrier
opportunities or job securities. This model claims that the work defined as a low reward and high
efforts which represents a relation deficit between low profit and high cost. That leads to
negative emotions in exposed employee (Beehr, 2014).
Working hard without receiving appreciation can be a example of stressful imbalance.
Some other assumptions related to ERI model concerns respective differences in occurrence of
effort-reward imbalance. It has been further assumed that employees are being defined on the
basis of motivational patterns. Of excessive job related commitments as well as high need
approval which leads to more stain reactions towards the effort-reward imbalance. Presence of
intra-personal stability of over commitment can be considered as a risk factor, even in the
absence of effort-reward imbalance. The ERI model put the strongest health as well as well being
effects. That takes place at the time when personal conditions and work acts simultaneously
(Cagliano, 2011).
b. Analyzing the problem by using theories and concepts
Transactional model of stress
As per this model of stress, primary and secondary appraisals are the main reasons behind
stress experienced by employees of Infosys. Primary appraisals indicate the goals of the
employees which are at stake. When the employees feel that their core values are threatened,
they experience stress (Veenhoven, 2013). Secondary appraisal deals with the evaluation of the
extent to which the stressor can be controlled. It is also concerned with the coping resources of a
person. When the employees perceive an event as stressful, it leads to enhanced stress. As per the
primary appraisal, the judgement of the employees about the situation or an event is responsible
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for the stress caused due to it. Therefore, when the employees make judgement that there is
workload that cannot be handled, they experience stress due to it. However, it they perceive the
work as enjoyable and manageable, then it would not lead to stress (Driskell and Salas, 2013).
There is another aspect which determines the stress experienced by the employees at
Infosys. This is the secondary appraisal. If the employees at Infosys do not make adequate
coping efforts, they may experience greater stress. Meaning based coping suggests that positive
emotions regarding a problem helps the employees to deal with stress (Hatch and Cunliffe,
2013). Therefore, they are not negatively impacted by stress. Similarly, health behaviours and
emotional well-being also impact the stress experienced by a person. Optimistic attitude of
employees demonstrate their coping efforts towards stress. The employees who keep a
generalized positive expectancies for outcomes are able to manage stress in a better manner.
Effort reward imbalance model
This model states that when there is an imbalance between the efforts put by employees
and rewards received, it leads to stress (Chiesa and Serretti, 2009). This can be applied to the
work based problem of stress among employees at Infosys. Employees make efforts at work so
that the goals of organization could be met. In return, they expect an adequate reward as a part of
a socially negotiated process. However, if the employees are not getting adequate rewards in
return for the efforts they put in the work, then it leads to development of strain. In this respect,
there are some employees who have a tendency to make large efforts towards a particular task as
compared to others. In this way, their contribution towards the organizational work is more than
others. This creates a sense of extra demand which can impair the balance ultimately leading to
stress (Ursin, 2012).
5. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This report includes the study of stress problem faced by the employees of Infosys. It
concludes a brief description about the problems that is what is stress. Further discussed about
causes of stress such as workloads, unfriendly working environment, under or over management,
night shifts, deadlines etc. After that focused on the implications or impact of stress on Infosys
and its employees (Levine and Scotch, 2013). That is it leads to absenteeism, alcoholism,
imbalance in personal as well as professional life etc. whereas it also reduces the turnover of the
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Infosys. The report analyzed theories and concepts such as transnational model and effort-reward
imbalance model of stress in relation to workplace problems.
The following are recommendations for managing stress level at Infosys: Clarify- Managers of Infosys should make sure that each employees is clear about its job
description and directions to be followed. Control- Infosys managers should make sure that employees are given control to his/her
work flow that will help in handling the workplace stress. Communicate- Infosys Managers should make sure that its employees are comfortable in
communicating the positive as well as negative situations so to handle the stress level of
employees. Condition- Physical exercise is somewhat an essential recommendation that should be
followed by both employer as well as employee of the Infosys. Various researches
showed that exercise reduce the level of stress (Veenhoven, 2013). Hence it is required to
be done for a particular place an time. Exercise not only reduces the stress level but also
makes a person fit.
 Counsel- Every employee of Infosys is required to be counseled regarding the
recommendations to reduce the stress level. This is required to be done because if every
employee of Infosys will realize the impact of stress on it then it will effect both
organization and its employees badly (Martín and García, 2010).
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Online
About Us. 2016. [Online]. Available through: <https://www.infosys.com/about/> [Accessed on
25th March 2016].
How Does Employee Stress Affect the Organization. 2016. [Online]. Available through:
<http://smallbusiness.chron.com/employee-stress-affect-organization-64257.html>
[Accessed on 25th March 2016].
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