Incest 0000i-xiv FM 1 - William L. White

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t h e i n c e st u o u s wo r k p lac e
inclined to self-medicate to manage stress. Imagine how many times, in
such a situation, you might say to a co-worker, “We’ve had a hell of a
day! Let me buy you a drink before we go home.” In contrast, the organization
could diminish the strength of your self-medication pattern
through values that inhibit psychoactive drug consumption and through
mechanisms that provide healthier alternatives for managing stress.
The systems perspective dictates that we address not only characteristics
in the individual and in the work environment that increase vulnerability
to burnout, but also the special chemistry in the reciprocal
relationship between the individual and the organization. The systems
perspective demands that we look at what might be called the collective
vulnerability of organizational members.
Collective vulnerability implies that the manager must ask the following
questions. Are there shared characteristics of employees within a
work unit or the whole organization that have special implications related
to their vulnerability for professional distress? Might these shared
characteristics suggest particular types of strategies to address professional
distress? If we were to identify the stress management style of
each member of the organization and then look at this data collectively,
what style would dominate? What early-warning signs would best indicate
a disturbance in the multiple relationships between these individuals
and the organization?
3.3 The Microsystem
The microsystem is the smallest unit of organization in the work environment.
It is the department, division, bureau, section, service, unit,
or team. The microsystem is that unit of organization or group of people
each individual interacts with most intensely in the performance of his
or her role.
Several characteristics of the microsystem shape the organization’s relationship
with the individual worker and influence both the level of
professional distress in the work unit and permissions and prohibitions
on how such distress should be managed by the individual. These characteristics
include the physical environment of the unit; the goals, objectives,
and tasks of the unit; group sentiment (the emotional content in
co-worker relationships); definitions of power, authority, and control
(decision making and accountability); structure of the organization;
group norms on how, when, and to whom one can communicate; the relationships
between the unit and other components of the organization;