Indian Journal of Commerce & Management Studies EISSN: 2229-5674 ISSN: 2249-0310

JOB STRESS AND ITS EFFECT ON EMPLOYEE

PERFORMANCE IN BANKING SECTOR

Dr. Tulsee Giri Goswami,

Asst. Prof Management
Central University of Rajasthan, India.

ABSTRACT

Workplace stress has been shown to have a detrimental effect on the health and wellbeing of
employees, as well as a negative impact on workplace productivity and profits. Some of the reasons of
occupational stress could be the inability to meet out the demands of the job, mismatch with job
profile, job insecurity, relationship with colleagues and other organizational structural factors. In
today’s rapid pace scenario employees undergo high level of occupational stress, grater frustration,
and have higher job expectations. There are measures that individuals and organizations can take to
alleviate the negative impact of stress, or to stop it from arising in the first place. However, employees
first need to learn to recognize the signs that indicate they are feeling stressed out, and employers
need to be aware of the effects that stress has on their employees’ health as well as on company
profits. This paper evaluates empirically the impact of occupational stress on employees’
performance in Banks. For present study, the sample was collected from Banks of major cities of
Rajasthan State. Relevant data were collected through structures questionnaire. The Z-test was used
to analyze the hypothesis. The result showed that occupational stress brings about subjective effects
such as fear, anger and anxiety among employees resulting in poor mental and psychological health.
Based on these findings, it was recommended that Banks should reduce psychological strain, job
insecurity, and clear role ambiguity, through job redesign. Other support activities such as
behavioural and psychological counselling and short term courses on time management and
workshop on stress management can be organized.

Keywords: Occupational/Job Stress, Employee Performance, Stress Management.

Introduction: affects the physical as well as mental health. Stress
has been defined in different ways over the years .It is
Stress is much in the news at present but it isn't a new
a condition in which any human is confronted with an
problem. Pressure is part and parcel of all work and
opportunity or demand related to what they desire and
helps to keep us motivated. But excessive pressure can
for which the outcome is perceived to be both
lead to stress which undermines performance, is costly
uncertain and important. There are number of studies
to employers and can make people ill. Now-a-days
and surveys have been conducted by the researchers
stress has become an integral part of jobs in every
throughout the world for suggesting improved
sector. Competition is growing day by day thus
techniques to manage stress. Some of the reasons of
increasing the levels of stress among employees. An
work stress may be: Interpersonal causes, role
employee spend almost one third of his life on work,
demand, task demand, structure of the organization,
and sometimes he has to face a lot of stress during
style of leadership, organizational work culture etc.
his/her job. The nature of the job has gone through
Interpersonal causes are due to interpersonal
extreme changes over the last decade and it is still
relationship at work place, when employees found
changing rapidly. Stress in a workplace has touched
unsupportive environment or any personal remark
almost all professions, starting from executive levels
from others at work place. Role demand includes role
to co-workers who are directly engaged in the
conflict, role ambiguity, role erosion and over
production. The result of the Job stress ultimately

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Indian Journal of Commerce & Management Studies EISSN: 2229-5674 ISSN: 2249-0310
expectation from role. Task demand are factors related organizational health (ILO 1986). Stressed workers
to employees’ job/work i.e. design of work, are also more likely to be unhealthy, poorly motivated,
interdependence of different task, working condition less productive and less safe at work. And their
and lay out for work. Organizational structure organizations are less likely to succeed in a
represented by hierarchical relationship of various competitive market. By some estimates work-related
levels, lack of cooperation among different levels lead stress costs the national economy a staggering amount
to work stress. Leadership style is the style managers in sick pay, lost productivity, health care and litigation
using to direct and guide subordinates and followers at costs (Palmer et al. 2004). Work-place stress has
work. If autocratic or strict managerial style used to received a great deal of attention in social
get the work done from people, leads to work stress. psychological research (Cooper, Dewe, and
Organizational Culture is the shared values and belief O'Driscoll, 2001). Significant research findings have
which governs employees of organization to documented that prolonged stress has negative effects
contribute for organizational performance, unhealthy on individual health (Mohren et al., 2003; Ursin and
work culture and climate causes for work stress. Eriksen, 2004) as well as on employees’ attitudes
Other causes may be excessive work pressure, to meet towards the organization (Cropanzano, Rupp, and
deadlines, to be creative, working overtime and on Byrne, 2003). Gershon (2000) concur that working
holidays, not being promoted, change of job, work under continuously stressful conditions leads to the
against will, harassment, etc. dissatisfaction and exhaustion of police officers. The
stressful conditions that law enforcement officers are
Review of Literature: exposed can affect both their work-related and their
physiological wellbeing. Martinussen et al. (2007)
Occupational stress is defined as the perception of a
found burnout to be one of the most important
discrepancy between environmental demands
outcomes of work-related stress because of its
(stressors) and individual capacities to fill these
exponential impact on professional relationships.
demands (Topper, 2007; Vermut and Steensma, 2005;
There is considerable evidence in the literature on
Ornels and Kleiner, 2003; Varca, 1999). Christo and
police stress that burnout influences police officers’
Pienaar (2006) for example, argued that the causes of
interactions with the public, and especially their
occupational stress include perceived loss of job, and
violence towards citizens (Kop et al., 1999); and that
security, sitting for long periods of time or heavy
burnout also influences work-family conflicts
lifting, lack of safety, complexity of repetitiveness and
(Mikkelsen and Burke, 2004). Recognizing the factors
lack of autonomy in the job. Ivancevich et al. (2008)
contributing to stress is highly relevant. The outcomes
defined job stress as the programmed response of the
of job stress exceeds productivity and quality of
individual towards a group of threats called stressors,
employees performance, its' psychological influence
according to Brown and Harvey (2006) it is the
inverts into a bad lifestyle habits like smoking, over
interaction between the individual and the
eating, drinking alcohol and lead to serious chronic
environment which as a result may affect his mental
diseases like hypertension and heart diseases
and physical conditions. It can be defined as the
(Owolabi1 et al., 2012). Employees’ constant
physical and mental deficit which was caused by a
exposure to stress, if not handled effectively, can be
perceived danger (Rue and Byars, 2007). Bashir and
destructive both for them in terms of the quality of
Ramay (2010) added that it is the situation caused as a
their work and their physical and mental state and for
result of several factors like lack of work information
the organization where they work (Maslach, 2003).
and feedback, continuous technological change, or
Role conflict according to Mansoor (2011) that is
when the individual is unable to cope with his job
caused by multiplicity of roles and the contradictory
requirements, or to satisfy his needs.
requirements and duties between these roles, Rao and
Jamshed et al.,(2011) suggested that “The workplace
Borkar (2012) believed that employees uncertainty of
is potentially an important source of stress for bankers
their abilities; if they had sufficient qualifications to
because of the amount of time they spent in their
fulfill job requirements, lack of knowledge and skills
respective banks.” And that stress often decreases
opposite to task demands will end in internal conflict
their performance. “Therefore occupation of human
and job stress. Physical environment and how much it
could be a major source of stress. When individuals
is convenience and fit employees' expectations.
face stress due to various conditions of their
5TBuchanan and Huczynski5T (2004) and Jaramillo
occupation and fail to cope with stress, it results into
et al. (2011) provide insights on the interpersonal
burnout.” Work stress is defined as the harmful
relations inside the organization, co-workers and
physical and emotional responses that occur when job
conflict inside work groups that can range from
requirements do not match the worker’s capabilities,
hidden behaviours and disagreement up to the
resources, and needs (National Institute of
physical harm. According to Wilton (2011) the job
Occupational Safety and Health 1999). It is
stress is synchronized with bad quality of life at work,
recognized world-wide as a major challenge to
individual mental and physical health, and

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Indian Journal of Commerce & Management Studies EISSN: 2229-5674 ISSN: 2249-0310
low degree of autonomy and control over individual Hypothesis of the Research Study:
jobs, their decisions and the work processes.
After understanding the theoretical framework and
review of existing literature, on the basis of
Work stress and Performance:
observations in selected organizations following
The most important apprehensions in the study of hypothesis were formulated for present study
work stress are the adverse impact on employees’ H0 Work stress does not affect the performance of
performance. Employees suffering with stress at work employees in terms of efficiency and productivity
place, try to withdraw themselves from stressors in
terms of high turnover and absenteeism from work. If Research Methodology:
leaving the job is not easily possible for employees,
Considers the research method, the logic behind the
they may create problems for the management i.e.
research method, sampling technique, research design,
inefficiency in performance, wastage of operational
data collection technique, analytical tool, means why
resources, creating obstacles for subordinates and so
the particular method is used by researcher or why the
on. This may result in worst situation for the
researcher is not using other method, so that the
organization. The factors associated with the poor
research result are capable of being evaluated by the
performance or negative result in employees’ physical
researchers.
and psychological wellbeing at work is also causes for
stress. Enduring stressful situation at work create a
Research Design:
negative impact not only on employees’ performance
but also hinders the overall performance at The present study is Descriptive in nature. The study
organizational level. It is very complex relationship will be based on primary data. The Universe of this
of work stress and performance and for that study is Banks (private/ public) from major cities of
organization need to take strategic decisions. Rajasthan state
According to few of the researches the productivity is
considered to be at the peak with moderate level of Sampling:
work stress, but as it goes beyond that certain level,
The basic idea of sampling is that by selecting some
the productivity starts decreasing with increasing rate.
of the elements in a population, researcher may draw a
It also has been found that the performance of
conclusion about the entire population. Population
employees remain poor at very low level of stress as
means the total collection of elements about which
well as at very high level of stress, because at low
researcher wishes to make some inference. The
level of stress employees may not be sufficiently
sample selected should be as representative of the total
energized and may not be whole-heartedly dedicated
population as possible in order to produce a miniature
to their job, resulting in low productivity. And at the
cross-section. The selection process is known as
peak of stress, employees want to get out of that
sampling technique and the survey so conducted for
stressful situation, result in no concentration on work.
selecting sample is known as sample survey. In
To analyse and understand the relationship of job
present research study the respondents were selected
stress and job performance, we can conclude that
on nonprobability basis with the help of Judgmental
when performance diminishes with stress, negative
Sampling Technique, elements for the sample will be
linear relationship is there. If increasing stress
on the basis of judgment of researcher. While
improving the job performance, a positive linear
choosing the sample the researcher focused naturally
relationship may found. If stress initially improves
on those elements which were readily available,
productivity, and then it diminishes when feelings of
nearby, easy to reach, willing to participate.
distress prevails on employee, then curvilinear or u-
shaped relationship is found. Work stress positively
Sample Size:
affects up to tolerable level and when it exceeds this
The number of respondents used in present study as
level, it creates a negative impact on employee
follow – Total 20 Banks selected (namely the
performance.
branches of SBBJ, SBI, HDFC, ICICI, PNB from
Jaipur, Ajmer, Bikaner, Jodhpur) the number of
Research Objective:
executives were 100 from all banks.
Present research study has following objectives-
The main objective of study was to analyse the impact Data Collection:
of occupational stress on employees’ performance at
Evidence are needed and gathered for verifying
work place.
hypothesis. Thus data is required by the researcher to
The secondary objectives were to determine the
give conclusions. Data is the fact presented to the
stressors at work, types of stress and impact work
researcher from the study’s environment. Primary data
stress on individuals.
provides a first-hand account of the situation. Primary
data is the only way of finding out opinions, personal

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Indian Journal of Commerce & Management Studies EISSN: 2229-5674 ISSN: 2249-0310
qualities, and attitudes. In present research study between 5 yrs to 10 yrs and only 15% executives
structured questionnaire was used by researcher for were of more than 10 yrs of experience in bank.
collecting primary data from bank executives. The
questionnaire included two main sections. Section (A) Table No 2: Stressors at work place
related to demographic variables and section (B) was Work/Job
SA % A % UD % D % SD %
related to the attitude of respondents towards stressors related factors
Nature of work 31 38.75 25 31.25 3 3.75 15 18.75 6 7.5
and impact of stress on their performance. Five point Lack of career
25 31.25 38 47.5 4 5 8 10 5 6.25
Likert scale was used for rating the responses of prospects
Workplace
section B. i.e. Strongly Agree (SA), Agree (A), politics
20 25 22 27.5 3 3.75 24 30 11 13.75

Undecided (UD), Disagree (D), and strongly Dis Inadequate

33 41.25 29 36.25 2 2.5 12 15 4 5
resources
Agree (SD). Insufficient
30 37.5 28 35 3 3.75 10 12.5 9 11.25
information
Poor working
36 45 32 40 2 2.5 10 12.5 00 00
Statistical Analysis: conditions
Role related
SA % A % UD % D % SD %
factors
Out of 100 questionnaires only 80 were used for Role ambiguity 25 31.25 22 27.5 5 6.25 20 25 8 10
research analysis because few questionnaires were Over expectations 30 37.5 25 31.25 2 2.5 18 22.5 5 6.25
incomplete and delayed in response. Various Role overload 33 41.25 25 31.25 6 7.5 10 12.5 6 7.5
descriptive statistics tools for analysis the results Personal factors SA % A % UD % D % SD %
of research were used like frequency count, and Interpersonal and
Intrapersonal 55 68.75 22 27.5 2 2.5 1 1.25 00 00
simple percentage used for ranking td to attitude conflicts
Ineffective
towards stress. To build the interference Z- test communication
48 60 28 35 1 1.25 3 3.75 00 00
was used.
Table No- 2 shows the response of sample
Table No 1: Demographic composition of sample population towards different stressors (work/job
population related factor, role related factors and personal
Particulars Frequency Percentage factors) at work place. Frequency and simple
Gender average of executive response towards work/job
Male 65 81.25 related factors shows that lack of proper and
Female 15 18.75 healthy working conditions leads work stress
Age range among bank executives followed by inadequate
Below 30 Yrs 15 18.75
resources, nature of work itself, insufficient
information and lack of career prospects at work
30 Yrs- 40 Yrs 55 68.75
place. It has been found in studies that if employees
40 Yrs- above 10 12.50
are not happy at work place causing such factors,
Nature of Job they can never get satisfied and motivated. And low
Manager 20 25 satisfaction and motivation at work leads to poor
Operation 32 40 performance and productivity.
Clearing 28 35 While analyzing role related factors, we found that
Tenure overloaded role leads to stress among employees
Upto 2 Yrs 8 10 followed by over expectations (personal
2 yrs-5 yrs 35 43.75 /subordinates /organizational) and role ambiguity.
5 yrs to 10 yrs 25 31.25 And in personal stressors we found that
interpersonal and intrapersonal conflicts are the
10 yrs and above 12 15
major reason of stress amongst employees. It can be
stated that if employees are overloaded and facing
The demographic composition of sample population over expectations (personal /subordinates
was as shown in table- 81.25% of the population /organizational), it becomes difficult for them to
was male respondents and only 18.75 was female maintain congenial relationship with subordinates
respondents. Executives falling between the age of and that leads conflicts and stress at work place.
upto 30 yrs were 18.75%, majority of the While analysing the effect of stress on the
population 68.75% was between the age range of 30 performance of bank executives we found that
yrs to 40 yrs and remaining 12.50% of the stress largely increases the level of fear, anger,
respondents were 40 yrs and above. On the basis of anxiety and nervousness. And simultaneously
nature of job 25% of the sample population was reduces the level of satisfaction and confidence
Managers, 40% was in operation and remaining among employees which causes behavioural
35% was in clearing section. 10% bank executives consequences and physiological consequences.
were having experience of upto 2 yrs only, 43.75%
were having between 2 yrs to 5 yrs, 31.25% were of

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Indian Journal of Commerce & Management Studies EISSN: 2229-5674 ISSN: 2249-0310
Table No 3: Impact of stressors
Impact of stress on respondents SA % A % UD % D % SD %
Low level of job satisfaction, low confidence 54 67.5 25 31.25 1 1.25 00 00 00 00
Cognitive effect
50 62.5 28 35 00 00 1 1.25 1 1.25
(poor concentration, poor decision making)
Subjective effect
62 77.5 15 18.75 1 1.25 1 1.25 1 1.25
(fear, anger, anxiety, nervousness)
Behavioural effect
(depression, hopelessness, low productivity, 48 60 28 35 1 1.25 2 2.5 1 1.25
absenteeism, turnover)
Physiological effect
(poor health, headache, high blood pressure, 44 55 34 42.5 1 1.25 1 1.25 00 00
heart disease)

Hypothesis testing:  Interpersonal and intrapersonal conflicts are also

Cod Frequenc (x-x -
f(x- the major reason of stress amongst employees.
x-x-
Response
e (x) y (f)
Fx
)2 x-)2  Employees who are overloaded and facing over
Strongly expectations
5 51.6 258 .50 .250 12.9
Agree (personal/subordinates/organizational) find
Agree 4 26 104 -.50 .250 6.50
Undecide
difficult to maintain congenial relationship with
3 .8 2.4 -1.50 2.25 1.80 subordinates and that leads conflicts and stress at
d
Disagree 2 1 2 -2.50 6.25 6.25 work place.
Strongly
1 .6 .6 -3.50
12.2
7.35  Stress largely increases the level of fear, anger,
Disagree 5
anxiety and nervousness. And simultaneously
∑fx= 34.8
∑f=80 reduces the level of satisfaction and confidence
367 0
among employees which causes behavioural
∑fx/∑f=367/80=4.50, x - =4.50 consequences and physiological consequences.
Standard deviation s = √ ∑fx(x-x-)2/∑f = √34.80/80=  It was proved at 95% level of confidence on the
0.435 basis of Z-test (Z=1.87) that occupational/work
Standard error of S = s/√n = 0.435/8.94= 0.048 stress affects the performance of employees in
µ = x-+ 1.96 s/√n terms of efficiency and productivity.
4.50+ 1.96 (0.048) = 4.50+.09 = 4.59
4.50- 1.96 (0.048) = 4.50-.09 = 4.41 Suggestions of the study:
At 95% confidence level, the population means fall On the basis of above findings, we can make few of
between the first range 4.59 and another range 4.41. the recommendations as follow-
The first boundary 4.59 is chosen as population  Proper and healthy working conditions to be
means. provided along with all required resources and
Z= x- - µ/S = 4.50-4.59/.048= 1.87 information. Task and duties to be assigned only
As we can see the calculated Z score of 1.87 falls on the basis of their competencies and interest.
outside range of +1.96 the first null hypothesis of the  Strong career planning and development for all the
present research study is rejected. That proves that employees to make them satisfied and motivated at
work stress negatively affects the performance of work.
employees in terms of efficiency and productivity.
 Before assigning any role to employees should be
confronted with the same and there should be
Research Findings:
clarity in thought while accepting job roles.
After analysis, we can draw the inference that-  Congenial work environment to be provided to
 It has been found that lack of proper and healthy promote healthy interpersonal relationship.
working conditions leads work stress among bank  Organizations can also use few more interventions
executives. Inadequate resources, nature of work for stress management namely regular counseling
itself, insufficient information and lack of career sessions, time management and behavioural
prospects at work place also causes low training, employee wellness program and sessions
satisfaction and motivation. And low satisfaction like art of living etc.
and motivation leads to poor performance and
productivity. References:
 Stressors associated with the job role i.e.
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