Dr. Jeff Whippo Discusses the Effects of Stress on Behavior in the Workplace Dr. Jeff Whippo is a well-educated leadership professional who feels that stress is a very interesting phenomenon in human beings, can be both positive and negative in its effect on behavior depending on the situation the person is in. He explains that the human’s biological response to stress involves many physiologic and chemical changes that increase heart rate, changes in adrenalin, increases in cortisol or blood sugar, and an increase in blood pressure. Whippo believes that all of these physiologic and chemical responses contribute not only to psychological changes in behavior, but also physical changes that are unhealthy short-term and long-term. He says that stress has also been shown to be one of the major contributors in heart disease, linked to immune system deficiencies and the growth rate of tumors. Dr. Jeff Whippo strongly believes that in the workplace, stress can cause some people to have reduced job performance and decreased organizational effectiveness. He indicates that his experiences show that performance seems to suffer when tasks that are already seen as difficult by the individual have to be
performed under stressful situations. Dr. Whippo further details that under these situations, there are many studies that have shown work related stress to cause an increase in drug and alcohol use in the workplace. He strongly believes that individuals that experience overwhelming stress in the workplace also tend to have increased absenteeism, intentions to quit, and actual turnover, all of which equate to anywhere from $70 to $150 billion in company losses annually. On the contrary, Jeffery Whippo explains that a little stress is not necessarily all bad when it comes to performance. He says that many studies have shown that in some, especially in athletes, performance levels can increase when stress management is effective. In these individuals, stressors such as pressure and demands do not negatively affect performance, but actually result in higher levels of performance due to the individual’s ability to facilitate a better stress response.