Holiday Stress Adds Tension to the Workplace

The holidays and stress go hand in hand, but when one employee's seasonal tension affects the workplace, everyone suffers.

Battling long lines at the mall, entertaining and attending one too many parties can make even the most mild-mannered colleague turn into Scrooge. The cause of the person's anger may not be fellow coworkers, but everyone in the office feels the wrath of the holiday stress.

"People usually won't get in fistfights, they just get nasty," said Paul Spector, psychology professor at the University of South Florida. "It can have a negative effect on the work environment, and when the aggression is constant it can take its toll."

Spector advises supervisors to be on the lookout for this kind of nastiness around the holidays, or any time of the year. If an employee's behavior becomes disruptive, immediate action must be taken, he said.