【媒库文

Workplace Anxiety Isn't Always a Bad Thing

职场焦虑未必是坏事

New research on anxiety in the workplace has uncovered some intriguing findings: in some instances it can help boost employee performance.

“There are a lot of theories and models of anxiety that exist， but this is the first model situated in the workplace focusing on employees，” says co-author Julie McCarthy from the Department of Management at U of T Scarborough and the Rotman School of Management.

McCarthy， along with her former grad student and lead author Bonnie Hayden Cheng， now an assistant professor at Hong Kong Polytechnic University，looked at both the triggers of workplace anxiety and also its relationship to employee performance.

“If you have too much anxiety， and you're completely consumed by it， then it's going to derail your performance，” says McCarthy， who is an expert on organizational behaviour.

“On the other hand， moderate levels of anxiety can facilitate and drive performance.”

If employees are constantly distracted or thinking about things that are causing them anxiety， it will prevent them from completing tasks at work and that can eventually lead to exhaustion and burnout， says Cheng.

But in certain situations anxiety can boost performance by helping employees focus and self-regulate their behaviour. She compares it to athletes who are trained to harness anxiety in order to remain motivated and stay on task. Likewise， if employees engage in something called self-regulatory processing，that is monitoring their progress on a task and focusing their efforts toward performing that task， it can help boost their performance.

“After all， if we have no anxiety and we just don't care about performance， then we are not going to be motivated to do the job，” says Cheng.

She says that work-anxious employees who are motivated are more likely to harness anxiety in order to help them focus on their tasks. Those who are emotionally intelligent， can recognize their feelings of anxiety and use it to regulate their performance， as well as those who are experienced and skilled at their job， are also less likely to have anxiety affect their performance.

The model of workplace anxiety Cheng and McCarthy developed is broken into two categories.

One covers dispositional aspects， that is those that align with individual character traits. If someone already experiences high levels of general anxiety for example， their experiences with workplace anxiety will be different from those who don't.

The other covers situational aspects， those that arise in specific job tasks. Some employees may be more affected by job appraisals， public speaking or other tasks that can distract them and lead to poor performance.

The study， which is published in the Journal of Applied Psychology， also outlines many of the triggers for workplace anxiety. The most prominent include jobs that require constant expression or suppression of emotion - think “service with a smile” - as well as jobs with constant looming deadlines or frequent organizational change.

Office politics and control over work are other important factors. Employee characteristics including age， gender and job tenure can also affect the experience of workplace anxiety.

“Managing anxiety can be done by recognizing and addressing triggers of workplace anxiety， but also being aware of how to leverage it in order to drive performance，” says Cheng.

She says there are many strategies organizations can use to help employees. Some of these include training to help boost self-confidence， offering tools and resources to perform tasks at work， and equipping employees with strategies to recognize， use， and manage feelings of anxiety through emotional intelligence development.

有关职场焦虑的新研究揭示出一些有意思的东西：有些时候它有助于提升雇员的工作表现。

论文的作者之一、多伦多大学士嘉堡校区罗特曼管理学院管理系的朱莉·麦卡锡说：“关于焦虑的理论和模型很多，但这是第一个以职场为背景、以员工为研究对象的模型。”

麦卡锡与她以前指导的研究生、论文的第一作者陈浩然一起对职场焦虑的诱因以及它与员工工作表现的关系展开了研究。陈浩然现为香港理工大学助理教授。

麦卡锡说：“如果焦虑情绪过重，完全不能自拔，工作就会大失水准。”麦卡锡是组织行为学领域的专家。

“另一方面，适度的焦虑可以激发干劲，提升工作表现。”

陈浩然说，如果员工总是心神不宁，总是一门心思地想那些让他们焦虑的事情，那就会妨碍他们完成工作任务，最后可能会导致身心俱疲、虚脱掏空。

但是，在有些情况下，焦虑有助于员工提高专注度、调整自我，从而提升他们的工作表现。她把这比作运动员培养驾驭焦虑的能力来保持积极性、专注完成任务。同样，如果员工进行所谓的自我调整，即密切关注任务进度、全身心投入手头工作，那会有助于他们提升工作表现。

陈浩然说：“毕竟，如果完全没有焦虑，完全不在乎自己的表现，那就会失去工作的积极性。”

她说，工作中有焦虑但动力十足的员工有更大概率驾驭焦虑来帮助自己专注于手头工作。情商高的员工能够体认自己的焦虑并利用焦虑来调节自己的表现，这类人以及经验丰富、工作得心应手的人让焦虑情绪影响到自己工作表现的概率也比较低。

陈浩然和麦卡锡建立的职场焦虑模型分为两个类别。

一类涉及性格方面，即与个人性格特质相一致的焦虑。例如，如果有人本就存在严重的泛性焦虑，这些人对职场焦虑的感受肯定不同于没有泛性焦虑的人。

另一类涉及情境方面，即在完成特定任务时产生的焦虑。有些员工更容易受到业务考核、当众发言等影响，这些事会让他们分心，导致表现不佳。

这篇论文刊登在《应用心理学杂志》，文中还罗列了造成职场焦虑的许多诱因。最突出的诱因包括需要喋喋不休和压抑情绪的工作——想一想“微笑服务”吧，另外还有总受期限压迫和组织架构频繁变动的工作。

职场争斗和工作自主度也是重要诱因。员工的年龄、性别和工作年限等个人情况也会影响职场焦虑体验。

陈浩然说：“管理焦虑情绪的办法可以是识别并消除职场焦虑的诱因，但同时要明白怎样利用焦虑来提升工作表现。”