Abstract

Organisations nowadays are striving for success and are in competition with other organisations in the same industry. For this to happen, organisations have to obtain and utilise its resources effectively. The main objective of this study is to assess the effect of occupational stress on employee performance. To realize this objective, a well-structured questionnaire was drafted and a sample of One hundred and nine (109) employees of Njieforbi Buea was taken and the questionnaire was distributed of which 80 were returned.

The analytical technique used cut across many other statistical tools and include descriptive statistical tools like frequencies and percentages which was used to analyze the field results and also the researcher did use Z-test was used to determine the relationship between occupational stress on employee performance and actress (Workload and Pressure) on employee performance.

It was found out that occupational stress and eustress (workload and pressure) all have a positive effect on employee performance. Then the researcher suggested that the management of Njieforbi should continue putting in place measures to keep stress below the eustress level so that it will not be a negative effect on their performance. The researcher then concluded that we cannot generalized results that we obtained from this cross-section hence the result is not accurate.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the study

Stress is a universal element experienced by employees around the globe. Stress has become a major problem particularly in developing nations where the employer does not realize the impact of stress on employee performance ultimately resulting in critical managerial dilemmas (Sheba & Shaki, 2010). Stress is a universal experience in the life of each and every employee even executives and managers.

Moreover Occupational Stress may cause a loss of talent and an increase in training cost, due to high turnover (Cartwright and Boyes, 2000). While stress is inevitable to constitute a real threat to the quality of life to the employees (Dyck, 2001) not to mention its link to an increased risk of morbidity and mortality (Siegrist, 1998).

It is estimated that about 100milion workdays is lost due to stress and 50% to 75% of diseases are related to stress (Bashir, 2007). Stress leads to a high rate of absence and loss of employment, the ratio of stress affected in organization are increasing an alarming rate which affects employee performance and goal achievement(Treven,2002).

High level of stress come at a high cost to organisation as growing stress level greatly affects employee performance as well as the bottom line. There is considerable evidence that the incidence of stress at the workplace is sizable on the increase. Studies have shown that a good number of employees experience some type of stress at the workplace and the annual cost related to absenteeism, lower productivity, rising health insurance costs, and other medical expenses.

It is against this background that management of stress is a requirement and must be embraced by the management. Stress has various effects on the individual as well as on the organisation. Clearly not only do the individuals suffer but the organisation may also be affected by absenteeism, work-related accidents, turnover, and impaired decision making.

Stress is a major cause of employee absenteeism and turnover. Certainly, such factors severely limit the potentials success of an organisation (Steers, 1981). A stressed employee can affect the safety of other workers or the public (Paul, 2002).

Stress has damaging psychological and physiological effects on employees and their contribution to organisation effectiveness. It can also cause heart disease and prevent employees from concentrating on making decisions (Bodzinski & Scherer, 1989). Stress represents a very significant cost to organisations. Many modern organisations spend a great deal of money treating stress-related employee problems through Medical Programmes.

Occupational stress, Selye (1956) first introduced the term stress to describe physical psychological responses to serve conditions or influences. He used the word stress which is an engineering term, to describe the responses to force that when it implemented to bodies, causes deformation.

Stress has been defined in many different ways by the researcher Osman & Ismail, (2010), elaborated that stress is that state of mind of an individual in which he faces confusion and faces conflicts between demand responsibilities or opportunities and desired work outcomes of these and feels that these important and necessary outcomes are not clear and productive.

Ricardo et al (2007) found stress as a condition in which an individual is not able to meet the conflicting demands of the jobs due to the inability in using the provided capabilities and resources for the particular task and job and these inabilities come from the force which pressurizes the individual to complete the job. Similarly, stress occurred when people have to do their tasks for which they require a higher level of control and authorities to perform the jobs in an effective manner and according to the standard but they lack those authorities Urmer Azeem et al, (2010).

Employee performance is an activity in which an individual is able to accomplish the task assigned to him or her successfully, subject to the normal constraints of reasonable utilisation of available resources. Byars and Rule (1976). Employee performance is the quantity and quality of the achievement that an individual or group contributes to the organisation (Schermerhorn, Hunt & Osborn, 2000).

Occupational stress has been of great concern to employees and other stakeholders of organizations. Occupational stress researchers agree that stress is a serious problem in many organizations (Cooper and Cartwright, 1994; Varca, 1999; Ornelas and Klein-er 2003). The cost of occupational stress is very high in many organizations in recent times. For instance, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) reports that inefficiencies arising from occupational may cost up to 10 percent of a country‘s GNP (Midgley, 1996).

Occupational stress is defined as the perception of a discrepancy between environmental demands (stressors) and individual capacities to fill these demands (Topper, 2007; Vermut and Steensma, 2005; Ornels and Kleiner, 2003; Varca, 1999). Christo and Pienaar (2006) for example, argued that the causes of occupational stress include perceived loss of job, and security, sitting for long periods of time or heavy lifting, lack of safety, the complexity of repetitiveness, and lack of autonomy in the job.

In addition, occupational stress is caused by a lack of resources and equipment; work schedules (such as working late or overtime and organizational climate are considered as contributors to employees’ stress. Therefore, this research will try to find out the effects of occupational stress on job performance and interventions that can be applied by Management and employees to manage stress effectively at NJEIFORBI Molyko Buea. To acquire a deeper understanding of the variable (occupational stress) we will first consider the broader topic of stress in general and then zero in on the variable within the context of NJEIFORBI Molyko Buea.

According to Matthews G. (2001), stress can be experienced from four basic sources. The Environment can bombard you with intense and competing demands to adjust. Examples of environmental stressors include weather, noise, crowding, pollution, traffic, unsafe environment, and substandard housing, and crime.

Social Stressors we can experience multiple stressors arising from the demands of the different social roles we occupy, such as a parent, spouse, caregiver, and employee. Some examples of social stressors include deadlines, financial problems, job interviews, presentations, disagreements, presentations, disagreements demand for your time and attention loss of a loved one, divorce, and co-parenting.

Additionally, not all situations that are labeled stressful are negative. The birth of a child, being promoted at work, or moving to a new home may not be perceived as threatening.  However, we may feel that situations are stressful because we don‘t feel fully prepared to deal with them. Stress is a normal part of life. In small quantities, stress is good; it can motivate you and help you become more productive.

However, too much stress or a strong response to stress can be harmful. How we perceive a stress-provoking event and how we react to it determines its impact on our health. We may be motivated and invigorated by the events in our lives, or we may see some as stressful‖ and respond in a manner that may have a negative effect on our physical, mental, and social well-being. If we always respond in a negative way, our health and happiness may suffer.

By understanding ourselves and our reaction to stress-provoking situations, we can learn to handle stress more effectively. In the most accurate meaning, stress management is not about learning how to avoid or escape the pressures and turbulence of modern living; it is about learning to appreciate how the body reacts to these pressures, and about learning how to develop skills that enhance the body‘s adjustment.  To learn stress management is to learn about the mind-body connection and to the degree to which we can control our health in a positive sense.

1.2 Statement of the problem

Stress has a significant negative effect on employees‟ physical, emotional, and behavioural as well as economic implications to organizations, and the nation as a whole. Stressed workers are prone to diseases like hypertension, cardiovascular disease, depression, etc. with their associated huge medical bills. Also, the employee is more likely to be unhealthy, poorly motivated, less productive and less safe at work” (ILO, 2016).

According to IFEBP, the estimated costs to businesses are $200 to $300 billion a year in lost productivity due to illness, $602 per year in absenteeism, and $150 billion a year in loss of productivity due to Presenters. Occupational stress may cause a loss of talent and an increase in training cost, due to high turnover (Velnampy, 2013).

According to the World Health Organisation, (WHO, 2016) occupational stress has cost nations huge sums of money. For example, it cost United Kingdom €571 million, Sweden, €2.7 billion, the United States $200 – $350 billion and, Japan $232 billion in 2011 (Nixon, Mazzola, Bauer, Krueger, & Spector, 2011; Crompton, 2011) in terms of loss of a working hour and sick leave. Again, Roberts et al. (2012) suggest workplace absences. The annual cost of occupational stress and its effects in the US is estimated to be over $60 Billion to employers and $250–300 Billion to the economy (Roberts et al., 2012).

Occupational stress is inevitable, and if not managed well, it leads to an increased risk of depression, intentions to quit, turnover, low productivity, and death (Addison, & Yankyera, 2015). The current difficult environments in which some employees carry out their work need the organisation to look into their practices.

Being a worker in an organisation that you work for long hours, heavy work assignments, and difficult and conflicting work demands can be very stressful to the employee which will end up reducing performance. Occupational Stress is considered rising and has become a challenge for the employer and because a high level of stress results in low productivity, absenteeism, and connection to other employee problems like alcoholism, drugs abuse, hypertension, and a host of cardiovascular problems ( Menze, 2005). We can see that stress is really a problem and need to be looked into by every organisation. We can end this by asking the following research questions

1.3 Research question

1. How does workload affect employee performance?
2. To what extend does pressure affects employee performance?

1.4 Objectives of the study

1.4.1 Main objectives

The main objective of this study is to find out the effect of occupational stress on the performance of employees.

1.4.2 Specific objectives of the study

1. To study the effect of workload on the performance of employees
2. To access the effect of pressure on the performance of employees

1.5 Hypothesis of the research study

 H1 workload has a negative effect on the performance of an employee.

H2 Pressure has a negative effect on the performance of an employee.

 

Further Readings

STRESS AND STRESS MANAGEMENT AMONG FEMALE TEACHERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS