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Stress and Communication As Quality Indicators of A Andrejić M. et al. Stress and Communication as Quality Indicators of a Working Environment in Logistics Companies: A Case Study in the Logistics Sector in Serbia UDC: 658.5:159.944(497.11) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7708/ijtte.2020.10(3).05 STRESS AND COMMUNICATION AS QUALITY INDICATORS OF A WORKING ENVIRONMENT IN LOGISTICS COMPANIES: A CASE STUDY IN THE LOGISTICS SECTOR IN SERBIA Milan Andrejić1, Vukašin Pajić2, Milorad Kilibarda3 1,2,3 University of Belgrade, Faculty of Transport and Traffic Engineering, Vojvode Stepe 305, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia Received 15 April 2020; accepted 12 June 2020 Abstract: Recently, more attention has been paid to the quality of the working environment, both in literature and in practice. The main reason for this is the increased fluctuation of workers, where the inadequate quality of the working environment is one of the motives for changing the job. Stress and communication are the two basic indicators of the quality of the working environment. For this reason, the aim of this paper is to determine the impact of stress and communication on the quality of the working environment in the logistics sector of Serbia. The impact of company size, primary business activity and employee position on stress sources, stress management and frequency of communication problems was examined. The research hypotheses were defined, which were tested on the basis of data obtained from a web survey that included 101 respondents from different industrial sectors in the Serbian market. Keywords: stress, communication, working environment, logistics. 1. Introduction satisfactory level. This is primarily due to the stressful and dynamic work in the logistics In recent years, more and more attention sector. The results of the research (Kilibarda has been paid to the health, safety and et al., 2019) show that one of the motives for working conditions of employees. One changing jobs in the logistics sector of Serbia of the main reasons for this is the raise of is a hard and stressful job. The fact that more awareness of companies and understanding attention is being paid today to the quality the importance of caring for their employees. of the working environment is proven by One of the indicators which shows that other researches (Hee et al., 2019; Ismail et attention is paid to the health and safety of the al., 2015; Jacobs et al., 2015; Ližbetinova, workers is reflected in the implementation 2015; Sadlowska-Wrzesinska and Moscicka- of one of the standards dealing with this Teske, 2016). issue, such as OHSAS 18001 and ISO 45001. Another reason for the increased attention When it comes to stress, two types of is the lack of workers and the significant stress need to be distinguished, acute and fluctuation of workers who change jobs if the chronic. The effects of acute stress are quality of the working environment is not at a reflected in problems such as headache, sleep 1 Corresponding author: [email protected] 309 International Journal for Traffic and Transport Engineering, 2020, 10(3): 309 - 322 disturbance, short temper and problems understand the importance of good and open with concentration. On the other hand, communication and to dedicate themselves chronic (long-term) stress results in anxiety, to developing their employees’ soft skills increased blood pressure, impaired immunity and organizing communication training. and insomnia. In addition to this division, Apart from internal, external communication there is another that divides stress into is also significant, which most often positive (eustress), which is short-termed, occurs between company representatives motivating, and helps being more efficient and their suppliers/clients. This form of and successful; and negative (distress) that communication can have a significant causes anxiety, impedes efficiency and impact on the reputation of the company effectiveness, and can cause mental and and certainly depends on the communication physical problems. For this reason, the skills of the individual representing the aim of this paper is to analyze the sources company. Open communication in logistics of negative stress and its impact on the can be crucial to the quality of the provided quality of the working environment. Then service and to the efficiency of the company. it comes to the sources of stress, then they For this reason, as in the case of stress in can be divided into internal (depending on this paper, this indicator was considered the person) and external (depending on the in assessing the quality of the working environment). The research (Sadlowska- environment. Wrzesinska and Moscicka-Teske, 2016) shows that the exposure of employees to The paper is organized as follows. After the the stress in the transport sector caused: introduction, a problem description as well as • They used sick leave often and longer review of the literature is presented, which is remained absent from work; the basis for the development of hypotheses. • Have poorer health compared to people A description of the methodology is of similar age and the same gender; presented in chapter three. Collected data • Were less committed to work; and the results of hypothesis testing are then • Were willing to change their job; presented in the next chapter. At the very • Satisfaction level was significantly end of the paper, concluding remarks and lower; directions for future research are outlined. • Ability to work was rated worse. 2. Problem Description and Hypothesis In addition to stress, communication is Development an important indicator of the quality of the working environment. This primarily Workplace stress is a significant problem for refers to internal communication, i.e. both employees and companies. Employee communication within one company. stress can create negative effects on both Namely, numerous researches show that if health and work efficiency. In addition, work this type of communication is bad, it directly stress also increases workforce fluctuation, affects the satisfaction of the employees and lack of motivation and burnout (Ismail et therefore their performance. In addition al., 2015). On the other hand, it directly to the effect on employees, impaired affects the company itself. Communication communication affects the company itself. is one of the key areas of management that For this reason, it is crucial for companies to can significantly affect the effectiveness 310 Andrejić M. et al. Stress and Communication as Quality Indicators of a Working Environment in Logistics Companies: A Case Study in the Logistics Sector in Serbia of an organization (Jacobs et al., 2015). (1976) divided the main causes of stress For this reason, internal communication into the following groups: intrinsic to job, represents the basis for the success of a role in organization, career development, company, where it is of great importance relationships at work and organizational that companies understand the importance structure and climate, table 1. Intrinsic to of communication with employees and to job stress sources are related to the working observe communication as a key success conditions that are specific to each job. factor (Jacobs et al., 2015). These causes are mainly associated with stress resulting from work overload, time One of the main sources of stress in pressures and lack of employee autonomy. companies is communication, most often Work overload can be defined as too much internal, and for this reason, the aim of this work to do or having work that is perceived paper is to determine the impact of stress as too difficult (Cooper and Marshall, 1976). and communication on the quality of the On the other hand, the problem of work working environment in logistics companies. overload can also arise due to insufficient In the following part of the paper, a problem knowledge of the employee. Another source description, as well as a literature review of stress within this group is one of the most dealing with this topic, is provided. In prevalent in practice today, and it is related addition, the hypotheses were defined and to time pressure. Time pressure can be then tested. defined as a perception of insufficient time to complete a task and an awareness of the 2.1. Stress and Sources of Stress potential negative consequences of missing a deadline (Thomas et al., 2011). Due to the Workplace stress can be defined as a change high volume of work that every employee in an employee’s physical and/or mental encounters on a daily basis, this source of state due to an appraised challenge or stress is inevitable and it is up to companies threat to one’s relationship with his or her to better organize their work or organize employer (Colligan and Higgins, 2006). additional training for employees to learn The problems that can be caused by stress how to cope with stress. The last source of can be observed from two aspects, that of stress from this group is related to the lack of the user and the company. The first one is employee autonomy, i.e. the lack of decision- the employee aspect where stress affects making possibilities, which is particularly health, quality of life, work, confidence and pronounced in larger companies. personal development. On the other hand, problems that can be reflected in the increase The second group of stress sources is related in employee turnover, decrease in quality of to the role in organization, where the most work, a decrease in job satisfaction and poor common causes are role conflict, external communication, can create a bad working conflicts and responsibility for others. environment. Stress can negatively affect Role conflict as stress occurs in a situation both the mental and physical condition of where conflicting goals arise between the employee. For this reason, it is necessary different positions and/or sectors within to identify the causes of stress and then act the company.
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