We all know days like that. Work on site is delayed by bad weather, an important employee is off sick, while the next client on the construction site is already starting to apply pressure - and the next deadlines are in fact already on the schedule. Such situations usually mean one thing: stress.
Stress - what exactly is it?
We use the term «stress» for very different situations in our lives: from leisure-time stress when our plans do not work out, through stress in interpersonal relationships, to events we are nervous about and that «stress us out». What these situations have in common is that we experience them as burdensome - our resources are not sufficient for the demands placed on us. In the work environment too we have what are known as resources and stressors, which ideally should be in a healthy balance with each other. Work-related stressors are burdens we experience at our workplace. These can be unfavourable working conditions such as high intensity, time pressure or frequent interruptions, but also indirect aspects such as job insecurity. Work-related resources, by contrast, are features of the working environment that make it easier to cope with the burdens. Such motivating working conditions can operate on a social level, for example when your own work is valued and superiors behave supportively. They can also relate to content, for example when sufficient scope for action is granted and the work is holistic and not very monotonous. So the more burdens and the fewer resources available in the workplace, the higher the risk that stress will arise at work.
Are there fields of work where things are particularly stressful?
As we have just seen, stress-inducing working conditions such as time pressure, high work intensity or job insecurity are not only a risk for managers in top positions - quite the opposite. In the construction industry in particular, psychological burdens are high and stress-inducing circumstances are strongly chained together: competition is fierce, time is short and the various trades are highly dependent on one another. If a mistake happens, it intensifies the already high deadline pressure and leads to delays for the whole project, since the following trades cannot carry on working. Constant lack of time, a heavy workload and ongoing interaction with clients, internal employees and employees of other trades are working conditions that certainly promote stress.
Is stress a problem, then?
As with most other things in life, it depends on the intensity with which we experience stress. Occasional stress is hardly avoidable in working life and can moreover be something very positive: we may experience situations as challenging and, having come through them successfully, feel a sense of pride and self-confidence. However, if our body is permanently put into a heightened state of activation by stress and we experience challenging situations not as primarily interesting but as threatening, that can have negative consequences in the long run. Such a burdensome situation over a longer period, which demands too much of our body and means that we regularly override our own needs, can lead to us eventually feeling emotionally exhausted, empty and burnt out - the classic symptoms of burnout.
What is burnout and how do I recognise it?
As the name suggests, with burnout we have the feeling of being exhausted and without energy. This goes hand in hand with lasting tiredness, reduced desire to work and a distancing from work, while at the same time we cannot switch off after the working day. Because of the perceived lack of energy we often distance ourselves from friends and family, no longer pursue our hobbies and, conversely, no longer feel valued by those around us. Physical complaints such as a tightness in the chest, breathing problems or nausea can also be symptoms. Burnout does not develop overnight but is a gradual process. For this reason it is important to keep an eye on burdens, to recognise overload early and, if necessary, to seek support from professional contacts.
An underestimated problem: stress and burnout in the construction industry
by Elena Höppner Content MarketingPublished on 5/19/2022
*«Burnout? That's a managers' illness - or simply imagination.»* We have probably come across this opinion more than once. Unlike physical illnesses, with mental suffering it is not so easy to deliver a crystal-clear finding by X-ray or laboratory test. The fact that it is so hard to grasp unfortunately still means that too little attention is paid to it - and that can have unfavourable consequences.
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