STRESS AND PROBLEM-SOLVING BEHAVIOURS AMONG BLUE COLLAR WORKERS : IMPLICATIONS FOR OCCUPATIONAL SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE

Abstract

The pressures of everyday living takes a toll on the modern workforce, particularly for those most vulnerable, the blue-collar workers. Employee work performance problems are bound to occur in any one organisation. It is the constructive management of the various stressors underlying impaired work performance that contributes towards personal and organisational effectiveness. This exploratory study will focus on sources of blue-collar stress, methods of coping, and its effectiveness among troubled workers, and the role played by supervisors in dealing with the stress of those under their charge. The findings, based on a qualitative methodology, found that the most 'bothersome' stressors experienced by workers arise out of the work experience and that coping methods employed by worker participants were largely perceived to be ineffective. In addition, current supervisory approaches to 'helping' subordinates are at best, limited to the short term resolution of worker's problems and do not result in increased capacity to cope with future problems. At its worst, supervisory intervention may exacerbate the stress experienced by subordinates.