The 4 As: Response strategy to stressors that negatively influence employees’ positive work behaviour

Abstract

Workplace stressors are understood to be the result of a misfit between employees and their teams, supervisors, job or the organisation. However, in speaking to C-level executives in large companies in Africa, GIBS found that stressors from the wider environment outside the company are also an important factor that may negatively influence employees’ positive work behaviour. Some of the identified stressors include challenges in the macro-economic environment and responsibilities over family and intrapersonal issues that result from a collectivist cultural orientation. Considering all these stressors, the question is: how do managers employ strategies to minimise the negative influence of environmental stressors on employees’ positive work behaviour? Managers use four response strategies to deal with employees’ stressors that originate in the wider environment. The 4 As of the strategy include awareness of issues in the environment, assessment of the costs and benefits of addressing stressors, allocation of resources to minimise the stress, and adaptation of the strategies according to the changing environmental factors. Implementing these strategies can help managers understand and minimise employees’ stress.