Pat Lawson is a hardworking and experienced sales person who has consistently contributed to the success of the printing company for fifteen years. The discouragement in his face and his intention to quit the company is an indication of a serious problem among the company sales staff. Due to an increased number of customers, salespersons now have to put extra effort in handling the growing number of clients. Moreover, customers have become increasingly demanding, a sign of their increased loyalty. The problem is peculiar with Pat because other members of staff have noticed that he is stressed up. Pat seems to find coping difficult because of the emerging challenge of increased customer demands and changes in work procedure (Thakor & Joshi, 2005).
The first step in solving this problem is to establish the cause of Pat's stress at work. Analysis of how the increased number of customers and the new technology and procedures could negatively affect Mr. Lawson is urgent. Suppose Pat is stressed because he is not conversant with the new technologies or methods, the problem is systemic and can be handled by offering training incentives and reducing the number of customers of which he is in charge (Trimm, 2011).
Stress at work may not necessarily arise from the workplace. Situations at home also affect the performance of an employee in the workplace. Conversely, the above case does not apply to Lawson because he even intends to quit. Pat’s problem must be as a result of the new developments at the workplace especially those related to customers (Dollard et al., 2003). A review of the work policies and procedures concerning his complaints is the first step in the solution process.
References
Dollard, M. F., Dormann, C., Boyd, C. M., Winefield, H. R., & Winefield, A. H. (2003). Unique aspects of stress in human service work. Australian Psychologist, 38(2), 84-91.
Thakor, M. V., & Joshi, A. W. (2005). Motivating salesperson customer orientation: insights from the job characteristics model. Journal of Business Research, 58(5), 584-592.
Timm, P. R. (2011). Customer service: Career success through customer loyalty. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Prentice Hall.
