Work and Well-being in the Workplace: A Vocus Group Analysis (PSY611)

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of work and well-being within the Vocus Group, a large telecommunications company. The study examines the impact of organizational changes, including significant workforce reductions and shifts in management, on employee stress, job satisfaction, and retention. Key sources of stress, such as increased workload, job insecurity, and management style, are identified and discussed. The report reviews relevant literature to propose solutions, including fostering positive relationships, supporting employee decision-making, and managing conflicts. It recommends specific leadership strategies, such as flexible working hours, open communication, and recognition of employee contributions, to mitigate stress and improve overall well-being. The report highlights the importance of addressing these issues to enhance employee engagement and productivity. The report concludes with actionable recommendations for leaders to manage stress within their teams and improve the overall work environment within Vocus Group.

PSY611 Work and Well-being

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
Overview................................................................................................................................3
Statement of issue and problem .............................................................................................3
Key components of solution...................................................................................................5
Critique...................................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Overview
Vocus group is a large telecommunication company having about 4000 employees along
with 4000 contractors. A company runs two call centre for 24 hours a day one call centre is for
retail sales and other is for technical support. The company had make changes in to organisation
structure a year ago as a part of the process a company has terminated about 1000 employees
which has causes a burden on other employees who are left in the organisation. Also the senior
manager of the organisation who has made changes left the organisation after three month which
has created more difficulty for an organisation to implement this strategies.
The new managers who came to an organisation made changes as per the views which
afterwards creates a problems for a company. The employees of an organisation not easily get
adjusted in the new environment which impacts their performance also(Kesavan and Gobi,
2018). As Vocus group the employees which has been left is now suffering from increased work
pressure which does not impact their performance but it also affects their mental and physical
health.
Statement of issue and problem
Sources of stress for employee
There are various sources of stress for the employees of Vocus Group that can affect the
employees satisfaction, performance and productivity. They are as follows:-
Workload:- This is one of the most obvious cause of stress at the workplace. As 1000
employees have been terminated from Vocus Group, the work pressure is now on the remaining
employees. The pressure from superiors that they want large amount of work completed in a
shorter span or can be said before deadline. High expectation and high workload imbalances the
performance and satisfaction of the employees and can even cause higher retention rate.
Job Insecurity:- This is one of the major factors for stress. Employees of Vocus Group
are insecure about their jobs as 1000 employees were terminated without any notice, so now the
remaining employees of the company have the fear of losing their jobs. Job insecurity cause
dissatisfaction among employees and they may possibly leave the organisation and join another.
If the employees are insecure about their jobs that will directly affect their performance and
productivity(Anthony and et.al., 2017).

Management Style:- Changes in management can be a factor for stress at the
organisation. There is mismanagement in Vocus Group as there is poor communication and
employees are not included in decision making process, in this way the workers don't feel
supportive, lack motivation and trust on their superiors. This can lead to dissatisfied employee
with low morale. This can even lead a way to conflicts and disputes in the organisation.
Minimal Support:- It is important for the employees to know that they totally supported
by the superiors. In Vocus Group, this can be issue for stress in employees as the management
doesn't support the decisions of the workers and this can lead to frustration in employees and can
lead to high employee turnover. It leads to arguments in between employee and organisation.
Work- Life Balance Issues:- This can be source of stress for the employees at Vocus
Group as they have facing excessive work pressure that will lead to work like imbalances as the
employees have to work overtime to finish the work that too without any extra pay. So this is
very disappointing for the employees. This type of stress can affect the individual emotionally
and physically(Duggirala and et.al., 2016).
Organisational Change:- Organisational change impact employees in a different
manner. The whole structure of Vocus Group would be changed after the termination of the
employees. Hierarchy of positions will be changed and it is not necessary that everyone feel
comfortable around everyone. Immediate termination has change the policy, procedure and
culture of Vocus Group.
No Feedbacks:- It is a possibility that the management doesn't provide with feedbacks to
the employees about their work. This will cause stress as employees have no idea how they
perform. Employees want to know that how they are performing or whether they are up-to the
standards or not. In Vocus Group employee are facing this issue and can be developed as stress
in them.
How stress impacting their engagement, satisfaction and retention
The absence of proper management within an organisation creates a high level of stress
among employees. Termination of employees has created a stressful work environment in a
workplace which has affected employees performance. An employees who are currently engaged
with an organisation feels emotionally and physically exhausted which results in low level of
employee engagement and results in increase in employees presentism in work place(Mishra and
Agarwal, 2016). The increase in work load results in stress among employees. As per the views

of various authors who have conducted study in this field holds the view that employee
engagement is highly effected by resources available to employees. Also if the job demands
failed to be achieved by employees than it affects it creates stress among employees. Similar
things are happening with the employees of Vocus group.
Job satisfaction generally means that how much people feel comfortable with their job or
positive with their job. Low job satisfaction causes the decrease in employee production and can
also leads to absenteeism. The high workload in an organisation due to lack of human resource
and heavy workload has causes an increase in stress level of employees. The mangers of a Vocus
group is also feeling stressed as it has become hard for them to manage the work with fewer
employees. Many of the employees has reported that they will left job within next 1 year which
clearly shows that employees are not satisfied with their job due to increase of work
burden(Hobfoll and Freedy, 2017).
Key components of solution
Literature review (solution)
According to Chen, Sparrow and Cooper, (2016) job satisfaction is directly linked to job
stress. The author stated that job stress is the main reason behind job dissatisfaction, employees
who are suffering from job stress are not able to focus on their work and this eventually affect
their performance. Job stress can be from various reasons like job insecurity, excessive workload
and due to this the employees are not able to balance their lives that causes stress. Due to all this
the employees are not able to focus on their work and cause mismanagement.
According to Dutton and Ragins, (2017) maintaining positive relationship at work will
reduce job stress. Positive relationship means providing employees a fair chance to speak about
their views in any decision making process will reduce stress. This will bring a sense of
satisfaction and motivation in the employees and can further reduce job stress. Positive
relationships will reduce conflicts in the organisation. This also bring fair chance for employees
to participate in decision making and problem solving in the company. This will create a balance
in the organisation.
As per Yousef, (2017) job satisfaction and organisational commitment in employees will
be developed when organisation supports them in their decision making. Attitude of employees
depend on the behaviour of their superiors. Employees will tend to be cooperative when their
employer are supportive and encourage them to take decisions and actions. Else low satisfaction

will generate and cause stress and dissatisfaction. The author stated that encouraging employees
to participate in every process in the organisation will improve the situation the mental stress.
As per Lu and et.al., (2016) views employee position impact the work engagement, job
satisfaction and turnover. Top managers tend to have high work engagement and comparatively
low turnover. And this can cause difference in between superiors and subordinates, and
eventually cause conflict amongst them and lead to stress. To reduce these issues management
has developed strategies like proving feedbacks to the employees so that they can know where
they are and where they have to reach to attain that position where they have maximum job
satisfaction.
According to Rahim, (2017) managing conflicts can be one of the solutions to reduce
stress at workplace. The author states that conflicts cause stress but also believes that conflicts
can lead to creativity, solutions to the different problems as when two people fight they come
up with different perspective, so their is a possibility that management can get answers to the
problems. The author even said that conflict can benefit the organisation in bringing innovation
and conflict can be healthy for the organisation sometimes.
As per Holman, Johnson and O'Connor, (2018) stress at workplace can be managed by
recognizing the employees hard work. Appreciate the employees for putting the extra efforts for
achieving the goal or completing the task. Recognition is an motivation factor that can help
employees to improve their performance & productivity. The author even said that recognition
can be in the form of monetary and non-monetary benefits. But the author found that even a
simple recognition meaning appreciation in public can boost the morale of employees.
Recommendation to leaders to manage stress of their teams
The leaders play an important role in managing stress at workplace. Leaders of Vocus
Group need to first analyse the problems or the causes that can lead to stress. After terminating
1000 employees without any reasons has cause more stress in the employees of Vocus Group
and now the work pressure is on the remaining employees. Leaders can help the employees in
managing the workload by allowing flexible hours. Allow the employees to work remotely that
means flexible timing for starting and ending the work, this will show that the management trust
the employees and they don't babysit them. Leaders should improve their planning techniques to
reduce the job insecurity among employees like making the employees sign a bond of a
particular time period so that employees can trust the management that they will not be

terminated like the rest of the employees. Leaders can ask management to make changes in their
policies like if the employees are ask to leave the company without any notice the company will
compensate for the same to the employees. Leaders should motivate the employees by involving
them in decision making process and ask them for solution to the real problems this will
encourage them and they will have a feeling of confidence amongst them. Leaders should
develop open communication in the employees. Let employees make plans and policies for the a
project they are working on, leaders can make changes if find appropriate, but this will boost the
morale of the employee and they will be confident. Maintaining a positive relationship between
employer and employee will also help employees in reducing stress at workplace. Leaders should
provide support to employees in decision making that will enhance the performance of
employees as they will be motivated to work. Management structure can be supportive that will
help in retaining employees and lowering retention ratio. Leaders of Vocus Group can help the
employees in balancing their work life and personal life by managing the work in the company.
Leaders should provide flexible working hours to the employees so that they can manage the
work even from home. Flexible hours like work from home facilities to the employees will also
help the employees and they will be committed and loyal to the organisation, if the company will
think about the employees relaxation and time same way they will also consider it. Some
strategies to reduce stress can be used by the leader when organisational pattern is changing like
every employee or a group of employee should under some supervisor or head that will guide
them and support them in any problem faced by the employees at Vocus Group. Recognition and
feedbacks can solve the problem of stress, proving feedbacks for good and bad work both will
help employees in knowing where they are right and where they can improve. This way
employees will get motivated and they will not thought of leaving the organisation and thus
retention ratio will be reduced.
Rationale for each strategy
Each strategy is opted as it justifies the case because when 1000 employees were
terminated from Vocus Group it created excessive work pressure on the existing employees. The
existing employees were overloaded with work pressure and their was no one to handle or guide
them(Britt and Jex, 2015). The 1000 employees who were asked to leave consist of managers
that has the ability to control all the employees at once and when they leave their was a
imbalance in the organisational structure. As the manager who remove those employees also left

the organisation after 3 months. The rest managers were not at all supportive that causes stress in
employees, as the workload was on them, they have to suffer from every problem and their was
no supervisor to guide them or help them. To manage this issue leaders should provide flexible
working hours to the employees like work from home facilities so that they can manage the
work. A manager should be appointed a group of employees who will be responsible for their
performance and the employees will be reporting to that manager. The second strategy was job
insecurity, as employees of Vocus Group have fear to losing their jobs after the incident to
termination of 1000 employees without nay reason and notice. The employees are afraid that
even they can be asked to leave and this causing mental stress and pressure in their minds that is
affecting their perform and productivity. Employees are not committed to the organisation as the
company is not supporting them in their hard times. Leaders can help management in solving this
issue by making changes in the policies like signing bond with employees for a time duration or
they can alter organisation policies like, if the company terminates employees without any prior
notice the organisation is bind to give compensation to employees this way the workers will feel
secure(Francioli and et.al.,2018).
Strategies which should not be used and why
No Feedback strategy should not be used by the organisation as Vocus Group is neither
taking feedbacks nor giving feedbacks. So when they are not taking the feedbacks the company
doesn't know about the issues faced by the employees, management of Vocus Group has no idea
about the situation prevailing in the organisation, so the management doesn't know about the
skills employees have who is capable of doing what and how much pressure the employees are
handling. So this strategy should not be used as the organisation is not taking any response from
the employees they will have no idea of their problems. As the organisation is not giving their
feedbacks employees don't know what is wrong from their side, where they are failing or lacking
behind. Employees have no idea are they going good or not as they are not receiving any
responses from their superiors also. So from both the sides this strategy will be of no use, and
should not be used(Fernandez and Rainey, 2017).
Critique
Cautions:- Stress can be reduced by simple decreasing the workload on employees
according to this case. Managing workload that is fixing their coming and going timings,
providing work from home facilities will help the employees in managing their. Vocus Group

should reduce the fear to loosing the jobs in the minds of employees by signing a document
stating that the employees will be provided with compensation if they are terminated
immediately. Leaders can do some activities to bring employer and employee on the same page
of fulfilling the common objective. Motivating employees by appreciating them that is giving
them feedback will help in reducing stress. Supporting employees during work pressure will also
help them in feeling supportive and satisfied.
Limitations:- There are some points where the stress can not be managed like the when
the organisations are not getting feedback about the problems faced by employees. So company
don't even know why employees performance is suffered. In this case company cannot do
anything and can not be solved by the managers.
CONCLUSION
From the above study it can be concluded that changes in the structure of Vocus Group
can cause stress issues in the employees their. There can be many sources of stress in the
company like too much work pressure on employees, job insecurity among employees, and with
that minimum support from the superior managers can make it more difficult for the employees
to handle that pressure and this can cause an imbalance in the professional & personal lives of
employees. The management style and organisational structure is also not supportive for the
employees, due to all this problems employees will might suffer job dissatisfaction and causing
high retention ratio. Stress can impact employee engagement, satisfaction as well as retention.
Stress management is important role that an leaders plays in the organisation. After critical
analysis of view point of different authors it can be said that conflict can cause stress and
dissatisfaction in employees, but from the point of view of some authors stress cause innovation
and increase productivity. Stress leads to creativity in employees that help them solve the
problems. Stress can be reduced by giving fair chance to the employees in decision making,
involving them in every decision organisation is taking. Positive relationship between employer
and employee will overcome the problem of stress as the employee are tend to talk to their
superiors for any guidance. To reduce stress leaders should sign bond with the employees that if
they are asked to leave the organisation without any prior notice, the employees will get
compensation. Feedbacks can be given by employer to reduce work stress.

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