Essay Example: Job-linked stress

Job-linked stress is an unusual feeling that people experience with the need to modify the desired character due to arising opportunities or demands related to vital work objectives. Rizwan et al. (2014) defined job stress which is also known as occupational stress as the status of unwanted reactions caused by alleged unattractive work conditions such as severe pressures. According to Jayasinghe and Mendis (2017), stress is the strain, pressure, and force applied to a person who resists the forces and tries to sustain their original state. It is an inevitable result of modern living. The significant causes of the rise in stress among individuals include an increase in population, pressure in cities, and industrial development. People working in the bank are faced with various stress due to the long working hours; thereby, decreasing their performance (Ehsan and Ali, 2019). An individual's occupation is a significant source of stress in particular situations. When people experience stress because of different issues in the workplace and they cannot cope with it, tend to burnout.
A significant amount of research has been conducted to determine the factors causing stress in the workplace and its impact on the employee's mental and physical health (Kumari and Milan, 2016: Rizwan et al. 2014: Bhatti, 2016). Rizwan et al. (2014) identified factors like lack of management support, family-work balance, the riskiness of a job, poor association with coworkers and consumers, workload and time limitation, management support, and work environment. The banking sector in Hong Kong went through remarkable and swift modifications like policy changes because of liberalization and globalization, enhanced competition due to the entry of corporate or private sector banks, emerging technologies, and downscaling (Gerlach, 2015). The changes in the banking sector have caused the staff to experience a substantial level of stress than in the past.

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Job Performance

Job performance is an essential factor in an organization because it measures the success of a company. Employees’ performances are measured through their task-related features and expected activities. According to Jayasinghe and Mendis (2017), job performance is the efficiency of personal behaviors that contribute to the aims and objectives of a company. Job performance is a reflection of the capabilities of employees to realize their specific work objectives, achieve expectations, and achieve job goals (Ehsan and Ali, 2019). It comprises behaviors and actions, which are relevant to the company's objectives and can be measured through personal proficiency. Research in the past indicates various factors influencing employees' performance (Jayasinghe and Mendis, 2017: Sharma and Khanna, 2019: Zhou et al., 2016). The factors range from individual, environmental, and organizational factors. Bin (2015) found that job satisfaction has a positive relationship with an employee's job performance and commitment. Shrestha and Mishra (2012) defined job satisfaction as the reaction towards the work experience of an employee or positively felt by workers towards their jobs. Competitiveness, self-efficiency, and determination have a vital positive impact on employees' job performance. Job satisfaction is a vital indicator of the psychological health and emotional well-being of employees, which influences organizational output. Staff with a high rate of job satisfaction are less affected by ambiguities or overload hence there is no effect on their job performance (Bin, 2015). Additionally, job stress can lead to alcoholism, drug abuse, depression, and even accidents.

Causes of Job Stress

Kumari and Milan (2016) researched to determine the impact of stress in the private bank sector and found that the efficiency of employees depends on the inner peace and health of staff. Majoring on work and forgetting about family and health is the major cause of work stress. According to Lopes and Kachalia (2016), technological growth in public and private banks has revolutionized the working methods and there is global competition due to the economic conditions. Their study discovered that there is a strong connection between role, job, education, and gender, age, type of bank, and impact of occupational stress among people working in the bank. Ementa (2015) conducted a study on the perception of bank secretaries towards job stress. The secretaries stated that most work activities in the bank are significant stressors that substantially affect work productivity. They added that a secretary ought to go through a type of stress to complete office tasks.

Rubab (2017) contributed to the causes of job stress in the workplace which include poor relationships with workmates, substantial responsibilities, unsuitable work environments, lack of enough training, inadequate supervision, shift work, long hours of working, changes at work, cuts in employees, and workload. Additionally, (Bhatti, 2016) similarly found out that job stress is influenced by factors such as workload, management support, and work environment. Stress arises with the relations between a person and the environment; thereby producing emotional strain distressing an individual’s mental and physical condition. According to Manjunatha and Renukamurthy (2017), there is a high cost of excessive stress on society, organizations, and people. Various staff might suffer from stress linked diseases like depression and anxiety disorder. Referring to the amount of time spent in the job, it is approximated that every affected person in a job loses around sixteen working days annually due to depression, anxiety, and stress (Manjunatha and Renukamurthy, 2017).

Work Overload and Job Performance

Work overload is among the factors that influence job performance. Excessive workload causes stress linked to psychological illnesses. It has negative effects on job productivity and the health of workers. Work overload is an increased number of tasks provided to employees in comparison to the deadline, resources, and abilities. Work overload appears when an individual has more responsibility than his or her strength. According to Wu et al. (2019), work overload causes job stress for employees. Similarly, Abbasi and Janjua (2016) conducted a study to determine the connection between job stress and work overload. They discovered that there is a positive correlation between job stress and work overload. Job stress caused by work overload leads to poor decision-making, mental block, and poor concentration. Work overload occurs when an organization has more workload compared to the number of employees. Work overload reduces effectiveness due to exhaustion. Karatepe (2013) states that work overload can increase conflict between employees and their families due to insufficient time and attention. This leads to psychological and physical stress that decreases job productivity. Work overload leads to increased turnover rates thereby reducing the company’s output. The reduction of work overload reduces job stress, which further has a favorable and positive impact on business performance.

Work-Family Conflict and Job Performance

According to Hossain et al. (2017), staff in-service sectors like banks are faced with a high level of work-linked stress that leads to poor productivity in the company and increased turnover. The conflict between work and family creates role pressures from the family and work domains due to an incompatible mutualism; thereby, it becomes harder to participate in one responsibility under involvement in the other role. Employees working in banks are vulnerable to work-family conflict due to their role in the organization (Shrestha, 2012). Employees are motivated or forced to build a long-term relationship with clients, time demand is enhanced because staffs require more time to be accessible to the clients when they are needed. The situation causes distress to the employees, tiredness, and lack of interest to work. Additionally, Rubab (2017) states that some serious consequences can arise due to unfavorable connections with family members leading to deteriorating physical health and mental impairment. According to Rubab (2017), family-work conflict and work stress are related because physical and emotional wellbeing is impacted.

Also, work-family conflict leads to employees burnout due to a lack of balance between resources and demands. According to Mittal and Bhakar (2018), job stress is the process of physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral reactions evoked by new, increasing, or prolonged pressures, which are substantially greater than the obtainability of surviving techniques. Prolonged stress leads to mental, psychological, and physical problems like burnout. Bhatti (2016) mentioned that job stress has a significant impact on employees, hence are unable to accomplish the goals of an organization due to organizational, psychological, and physical burnout. Burnout is a severe type of stress exceeding the capacity of an individual’s capability to the stress (Wu et al., 2019). Employees experiencing burnout due to a high level of stress report more depersonalization and emotional fatigue. Burnout occurs to the employees are unable to withstand pressure and demands on their resources, time, and energy. Stressed employees have the possibility of becoming less safe at the workplace, less productive, poorly encouraged, and unhealthy. Organizations with stressed workers have low chances of succeeding in the competitive market. Mittal and Bhakar (2018) researched to determine the relationship between family-work conflict and job stress and discovered that family-work conflict has a significant connection with work stress leading to burnout, absenteeism, aggressiveness, poor productivity, and a high rate of turnover. The study displayed a significant positive relationship between job stress and family-work conflict.

Excessive demands and time pressures might also negatively impact the strength of balancing both family and work. The inability to cope with work-family conflict is the source of stress that causes burnout. The employees tend to bring out the burnout to their family thereby destroying their relationships with their partners, parents, children, and friends. Currently, workplaces are more stressful due to high demands in less workforce (Wu et al., 2019). Increased family-work conflict leads to more stress, lowered support from loved ones, poor attitude towards workmates, and poor relationships with clients; thereby, participating in workplace unusual behaviors.

Role Ambiguity and Job Performance

Various studies on job performance focus on its relationship with role ambiguity. George and Zakkariya (2015) stated role ambiguity occurs when employees lack knowledge of their responsibilities in the company, how to accomplish the roles, and the proper procedures accessible to make sure that they perform the role effectively. Role ambiguity causes negative results because it lowers confidence, increases anxiety and depression, and develops a feeling of hopelessness (Zhou et al., 2016). According to Ehsan and Ali (2019), role ambiguity can exist if inadequate information is provided to a person to conduct a task. Additionally, role ambiguity is referred to as a condition that occurs due to disagreement happening in the community after failing to understand the employee's side. A study conducted by Hossain et al. (2017) demonstrated that role ambiguity affects a worker's job productivity, commitment, and satisfaction in the service sector.