Abstract
Orientation: Secretaries play an essential role in any work organisation, but their contributions and support in the daily management activities are not always recognised.Research purpose: There is little research on occupational stress among secretaries. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate work-related stressors in the secretarial profession and their association with psychosomatic complaints.Motivations for study: Considering the lack of research on secretaries, it was the objective of this study to investigate occupational stressors in the secretarial profession and their association with psycho-physiological wellbeing.Research design, approach and method: Sixty-four secretaries at the University of Botswana participated in the study (response rate: 43.8%). Data were gathered through a self-administered questionnaire. Correlational analyses were performed using Spearman’s rho.Main findings: Seventeen potential stressors were identified, referring to lack of job clarity, performing work outside one’s job description, reduced competencies, supervisors who perform secretarial work, sharing resources such as an office or a telephone, lack of recognition and limited opportunities for promotion. Most stressors correlated significantly with one or more psychosomatic complaints.Practical/managerial implications: Additional research would be necessary to compare various work contexts and organisation-specific work environments and to investigate their relevance to occupational stress and health among secretaries.Contribution/value-add: The results of the study could be of use for human resource managers, as well as for supervisors of secretaries, in order to minimise potential stressors that could negatively affect the health of secretaries.
Highlights
Work-related stress was once thought of as occurring only in those who work in senior positions; it is acknowledged that occupational stress can be experienced by employees at every level (Williams, 2003)
While secretaries may have been included in some studies that investigated occupational stress among ‘support staff’ (e.g. Jacobs, Tytherleigh, Webb & Cooper, 2007), not much literature focuses on the secretarial profession
The study aimed to explore occupational stressors in the secretarial profession and to investigate whether these stressors were associated with psycho-physiological wellbeing
Summary
Work-related stress was once thought of as occurring only in those who work in senior positions; it is acknowledged that occupational stress can be experienced by employees at every level (Williams, 2003). Stress is much more common in employees at lower levels of workplace hierarchies (Williams, 2003), where they have less control over their work situation. The few studies that investigated secretaries identified lack of control, increasing demands, lack of recognition and interpersonal frustration caused by colleagues and supervisors as typical stressors for secretaries (Herrting, Nilsson, Theorell & Larsson, 2003; Michailidis & Asimenos, 2001; Peeters et al, 1995; Snow et al, 2003). Various studies have identified occupational stress as a predictor of the burnout syndrome (e.g. Dickinson & Wright, 2008; Malach-Pines, 2005; Peltzer et al, 2003; Van Dierendonck, Garssen & Visser, 2005)
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