Stress is an unpleasant psychological process that occurs in response to environmental pressures. Although stress is typically discussed in a negative context, it also has a positive purpose. Some professionals see the pressures of heavy workloads and deadlines as positive challenges that enhance the quality of their work. However, when the situation is negative, stress is harmful and may hinder your progress by elevating your blood pressure uncomfortably and creating an erratic heart rhythm as you struggle to speak and think logically.

Researchers have argued that challenge stressors—or stressors associated with workload—operate quite differently from hindrance stressors—or stressors that keep you from reaching your goals. Challenge stressors lead to more motivation, engagement, and performance. Hindrance stressors, on the other hand, appear to have more of a negative effect on employee engagement, job satisfaction, and performance. More typically, stress is associated with demands and resources. Demands are responsibilities, pressures, obligations, and uncertainties that individuals face in the workplace.

Resources are factors within an individual’s control that he or she can use to resolve the demands. Stress preferences change in cycles. You’ve experienced this when you sometimes just feel like relaxing and recovering, while at other times you welcome more stimulation and challenge. Much like organizations are in a constant state of change and flux, we respond to stress processes by continually adapting to both internal and external sources, and our stability is constantly redefined.

Just as environmental uncertainty influences the design of an organization’s structure, it also influences stress levels among employees in that organization. Uncertainty is the biggest reason people have trouble coping with organizational changes.