This final chapter consists of the conclusions of the study; secondly it offers the implications for the organization. Lastly this chapter reveals the suggestions for future research.
Conclusions
The main purpose of this study was to analyze the relation between work-related stress risk factors, stress and burnout, and wellbeing by comparing whether there were any significant differences between Japanese and French cashiers. Both countries have significant different cultures, therefore the study aimed at evaluating if cashiers face the same challenges everywhere in the world and whether or not work-related stress risk factors played an important part in their overall health.
The findings highlighted the fact that for both French and Japan, work related stress risk factors have a significant impact on stress and wellbeing. However French cashiers are more likely to feel stress from the demands put on them as well as from the relations with their colleagues. Japan on the other hand is a large collectivistic country, therefore Japanese cashiers, although they feel stress mostly from the demands that is expected of them do not necessarily feel it from the relations with their colleague. People help each other in order to achieve the greater good for the company.
The study found that stress and burnout did not have a significant impact on wellbeing for both countries. Other aspects come into account when it comes to wellbeing. An employee can be totally satisfied by his work life, and even though this employee might feel stress from his job, his wellbeing might not necessarily be impacted.
On the other hand if this same employee is having a miserable personal life made of self-doubt and loneliness, this employee is more likely to have a low wellbeing, and work could actually help him feel better.
The study did not support the mediation effect between work related stress risk factors, stress and burnout, and wellbeing. The risk factors of stress at work, although
impacting stress and burnout are not conditions sufficient enough to impact entirely an individual’s wellbeing. However they still have a negative impact.
In terms of comparison between France and Japan, and more precisely cashiers, the findings revealed several differences and similarities. Cashier is a very stressful job, and as a result both countries tested high for this variable. When looked more closely, we can observe that work seems to have a greater impact on Japanese cashiers who tend to think negatively about their jobs in the morning. The culture being different, cashiers in Japan tend to “頑張る” (sort of giving everything) through their jobs. French cashiers are feeling more physical pain than their Japanese peers. This could be explained by the tremendous amount of groceries French people tend to shop each time they go to the supermarket. Since people shop a lot of items, and mostly shop once a week, every item comes in bigger packs, therefore is heavier to carry. On the other hand Japanese people have fewer space in their homes, tinier fridges, and available supermarkets and convenience stores everywhere around them, so they tend to shop almost everyday, when they are not eating out. Cashiers have fewer items to scan. Moreover they have to do the job “cleanly” by placing items into the customers’ baskets whereas in France the customers has to keep up with the cashiers’ speed.
The biggest difference came about the length of work. Japanese cashiers revealed that they are pressured to work long hours. French cashiers on the other hand tested low on this. Cultures are very different; one is very attached to giving everything for the company (which was also verified by the connection to the organization’s values), in order to make the company great through a collectivistic effort of the employees, and the other one values personal time and self-development more. This is also transcribed in terms of tensions between colleagues, which is very low in Japan, because everyone comes together for a common goal, and on the other was more present in France.
Working less however does not seem to have a lesser impact on the levels of stress perceived by the employees. French and Japanese cashiers expressed similar levels of perceived stress even though the working time is almost double in Japan than it is in France.
Implications
The results from this thesis offer important information for the HR practitioners and managers retail industry across the globe. They can use this analysis as a tool to target specific stress and burnout perceived by their employees. The information contained in this thesis will serve as guidelines to improve employees’ stress and burnout.
Following are some implications:
Implications for the Managers
Work-Related Stress Risk Factors have a significant impact on employees stress and burnout. For both Japan and France, the demands perceived by employees was what caused the most stress for them. Companies in particular who notice a high turnover rank within their cashier ranks should try to evaluate whether or not they are asking too much from them. Almost all the employees replied that they were not able to take sufficient breaks, or could not take breaks whenever they wanted. Cashier is a very specific job that requires the employees to keep a constant and fast flow to ensure a smooth experience for the customers, therefore the demand for cashiers is higher than other jobs, however, HR professionals in the retail industry could try to find ways to allow more flexibility for their employees to be able to gain more autonomy in their jobs.
The main difference between France and Japan was in terms of relations between colleagues. HR professionals in France could try to create a better team environment between colleagues in order to create a positive emulation that could prevent potential tensions.
Stress tested high for both Japan and France. Special attention should be given on reducing stress for the employees. HR professionals should have targeted interviews with their employees to identify the real causes of their stress and decide to take actions accordingly. By being pressured to work long hours or having to work really fast employees are more inclined to feel stress. If the stress accumulates too much their productivity may decrease and their attitude might become negative. As a consequence the employer might start feeling discontent about its employees. Therefore predicting
situations. HR managers could engage in workshop with their employees on how to identify the sources of stress as well as how to reduce them.
Burnout tested high in both France and Japan. A long-term exposure to stressful situation could lead to employees’ burnout. Therefore taking actions once stress has been identified is crucial for HR managers. Once they start noticing the first sign of burnout on one of their employees they should take every action possible to help reduce it. This could be achieved by reducing the employee’s workload. Shifting the employee from a regular cash counter to a self-cash counter where they just need to control that everything is correct or even telling the employee to step down for a week or two in order to give that employee the chance to take a break, regroup and go back to work. Once burnout has been overtaking an employee, it is crucial that the company takes the time necessary to help this employee readapt to the work life after recovering. HR managers must be careful of demanding too much too soon when the employee comes back to work.
Wellbeing tested low in both France in Japan. Most cashiers do not necessarily see their job as fulfilling. Rather they work as a cashier more to pay the bills. This does not necessarily mean that they should be unhappy with their jobs. By being considerate with them, willing to lend an ear in case of problem and adjust their schedule to go pick up their kids for instance, an HR manager could very well contribute positively to his employees’ overall wellbeing. HR managers should put an extra emphasis on out of the job activities such as going hiking as a group or going bowling, having pizza nights with the employees and their families. The job will remain the same, but cashiers might develop a sense of attachment to their company who treats its employees the right way.
Even though they may not have many opportunities to challenge their skills or learn new ones, at least they will be happy to work in a company that care about them. The companies could also give incentives (movie tickets, trips, year-end bonus) that would create a sense of happiness to their employees.
Implications for Employees
Employees also have a role to play in their development, stress control and overall wellbeing. Cashiers, even though have few control over their job demands should try to express towards their managers whenever they start feeling unable to cope with the
accumulating stress. Communication is crucial when you have little control over your job. If the employees start feeling burnout, then they must let their managers know of the situation and go see a specialist to get everything under control before they eventually burnout to the point where recovery is going to take very long.
Employees, especially in France could try to foster relationships in a healthy way to improve the relations in the workplace. They could ask their managers for out of the job activities that could strengthen the bonds in and out the workplace.
To conclude, it is also the responsibility of the employees to take actions towards the reduction of their stress, the prevention of a potential burnout and the improvement of their wellbeing by being willing to ask for help when they feel help is needed.
Suggestions for Future Research
Firstly, since this study focuses only on two countries it is possible that the findings are dependent of this context. Therefore future researches could be made on other countries in order to evaluate the significant similarities or differences.
Secondly, this study compares two very different cultures. Future studies could evaluate the differences between similar countries (such as Spain, France and Italy, or Japan and Korea for instance) to highlight differences. That way, in case of major differences found, it would be easier to implement an action plan that works in a similar country due to the resemblance in culture.
Thirdly, this study evaluated only the relation of stress and burnout to work-related stress risk factors and wellbeing. Other factors could be taken into consideration for the wellbeing for instance. Based on the literature, salary plays a high part of wellbeing.
Finally, future researches could target employees recovering from burnout and going back to work. They could study how the returning employees are impacted by the work-related stress risk factors, as well as whether or not their HR managers decided to help them in the transition process to go back to work.
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APPENDIX 1 ENGLISH QUESTIONNAIRE
Hello, I am a student from National Taiwan Normal University. This questionnaire is made to further understand the impact of stress at work. Please spend about 10 minutes to answer the questions according to your own experiences and feelings. This is an anonymous questionnaire. The results are for researches and analysis only and will not be released to the public. Please feel at ease to answer the questions and thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Romain Hiernard
Graduate student in the Department of International Human Resources Development, National Taiwan Normal University
June 2016
Please answer the questions by ticking the appropriate case.
Demographics
Q1. What is your sex?
□ Male □ Female Q2. How old are you?
□ 18-25 □ 26-40 □ Above 40 Q3. What is your contract type?
□ Full-time □ Part-time □ Student
Q4. How long have you been working in your company for?
□ Less than 1 year □ 1-3 years □ 3-10 years □ Above 10 years
Stress
1 = I strongly disagree 2 = I disagree
3 = Neutral 4 = I agree
5 = I strongly agree
Q1. In the last month you felt nervous and/or stressed 1 2 3 4 5 Q2. In the last month you felt upset because of something that
happened unexpectedly 1 2 3 4 5
Q3. In the last month you felt confident about your ability to
Q3. In the last month you felt confident about your ability to