ABSTRACT
The study sought to (i) identify the related stressors that affect employee productivity. (ii) ascertain the physical environmental stressors that affect employee job satisfaction, (iii)Assess the interpersonal stressors that affect employee efficiency and (iv) assess the consequences of emotional stress on employee commitment. The population of the study was two thousand five hundred and ninety two (2592) comprising of senior and junior staff of the selected deposit money banks namely: First Bank, United Bank for Africa, Ecobank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and Access Bank Plc. The sample size of 487 was obtained from the population using Godden formula. Primary data were obtained from questionnaire and oral interview. Secondary data were obtained from books, journals and internet. Reliability test was done using Cronbach’s alpha, giving a coefficient of 0.98%, indicating high reliability of the instrument. Content validity was measured by – experts from the industry and academia. Findings revealed that role conflict, role ambiguity and workload are role related stressors that affect employee productivity β = 6.094, p = 0.003 <0.05). Office space, lack of privacy and poorly ventilated rooms are physical environment stressors that affect employee job satisfaction β = 18.968, p = 0.009 <0.05). Office politics, poor supervision and conflict with co-workers are interpersonal stressors that affect employee efficiency β = 22.439, p = 0.016 <0.05) and High blood pressure, burn-out and high absenteeism are consequences of emotional stress on employee commitment β = 7.445, p 0.037 <0.05). The study concluded that organizational stress comes as a consequence of role ambiguity, role conflict, workload,physical environmental stressors, interpersonal stressors and emotional stress. The study recommended that Banks should manage related stressors so as to ensure improved employee productivity.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Declaration ii
Approval i
Dedication iii
Acknowledgements iv
Abstract v
List of tables vi
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
- Background of the Study 1
- Statement of the Problem 6
- Objectives of the Study 7
- Research Questions 7
- Research Hypotheses 8
- Significance of the Study 8
- Scope of the Study 8
- Limitations of the Study 9
- Definition of terms 9
- Profile of the Banks Under Studied 10
References 27
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 Conceptual Framework 29
2.2 Theoretical Framework 62
2. 3 Empirical Review 69
2.4 Summary of Review of Related Literature 77
2.5 Gap in Literature 77
References 79
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
3.0 Introduction 89
3.1 Research Design 89
3.2 Sources of Data 89
3.3 Population of the Study 90
3.4 Sample size Determination 90
3.5 Description of the Research Instruments 92
3.6 Method of Data Analyses 91
3.7 Validity of Research the Instruments 93
3.8 Reliability of Research the Instrument 93
References 95
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSES
4.1 Data Presentation 96
4.2 Test of Hypotheses 99
4.3 Discussion of Results 107
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Summary of Findings 108
5.2 Conclusion 108
5.3 Recommendations 109
5.4 Contribution to Knowledge 109
5.5 Areas for Further Studies 109
Bibliography 110
Appendices 118
LIST OF TABLES
Table 4.1: Questionnaire Distribution 96
Table 4.2 To Identify the Related stressors that Affect Employee Productivity in Selected Nigeria Deposit Money Banks 96
Table 4.3 To Ascertain the Physical Environment Stressors that Affect Employee Job Satisfaction in Selected Nigeria Deposit Money Bank 97
Table 4.4 Asses the Interpersonal Stressor that Affect Employee Efficiency in Selected Nigeria Deposit Money Banks. 98
Table 4.5 assess the consequences of emotional stress on employee commitment in Selected Nigeria Deposit Money Banks. 98
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1Background of the Study
The global competition witnessed in business world today, as well as the international cooperation and coordination with the responsive innovative changes taking place in every passing moment had caused complex stress in the work environment. The impact of these rapid changes on the employees and their performance is sometimes favorable and sometimes not. As the technological changes pave the speed of work done by the organizations, the lack of transparency gets least to the limit due to the ill tactics and strategies used that result in a number of organizational problems such as higher turnover rate of employees, the role conflict, the comparatively lower promotion opportunities, and the work overload as well, (Budhwar, 2001).
Stress is a condition which happens when one realizes the pressure on them or requirements of situation are wider than they can handle, and if these requirements are huge and continue for a long period of time without any interval, mental, physical or behavioral problems may occur. Job stress is one of the most important workplace health risks for employees in developed and developing countries (Paul, 2002; Danna and Griffin, 2002). Stressors concern interpersonal relationships at work, such as conflicts with the behavior of supervisors, conflicts with colleagues, conflicts with subordinates and conflicts with management policies (Paul, 2002). Job satisfaction has been the most frequently investigated variable in organizational behavior (Spector, 1997).
Apparently,organizations new practices and programs usually encounters the employees in to a stressful state. The potential for maintaining a substantial amount of resistance at every step by our employees is not simple. To survive and dominate in competitive world today, the employees, especially banking sector employees, must be assigned a proper and balanced job to be accomplished that should be free from job stress (Budhwar, 2001).
In other words, stress at work is a phenomenon of modern life styles. The nature of work has gone through drastic changes over the last few decades and it is still changing at a rapid speed. It has become a universal element and persons from nearly every walk of life have to face stress and almost all profession, starting from an artist to a surgeon, or a commercial pilot to bankers, to sales executives and obviously stress leads toward leaving the job. Stress exists in every organization either big or small. The work places and organizations have become so much complex due to stress has significant effects onemployee’s job performance and the organizations are trying to cope with this scenario (Anderson, 2003).
Agulanna (2007) states that stress is inextricably interwoven with life and it ceases as soon as life itself stops. All living thing: – man, plants and animals are in a constant state of dynamic interaction with their environments. Within the interactions, man tries to modify his environment while his environment actually modifies him and in the process, man experiences a kind of tension or stress. He also adds that as the physical, psychological and behavioural reactions experienced by individuals in situations where they feel that their ability to cope may soon be overwhelmed most psychologists define stress as the physiological and psychological response to a condition that threatens or challenges a person and requires some form of adaptation or adjustment. Stress is the non-specific response of the body to any demand made on it. It is a physiological reaction to either internal cognitive stimuli or external environmental stimuli (Omeje and Agu, 2011).
It is necessary to explore stress factors at work scenarios that are held responsible for mental as well as physical distress for the employees. It is said that globalization, technological advancement and unhealthy competition in the world are the main issue responsible for work stress (Usman, Ahmed, Ahmed, and Akbar, 2011). Hence, this approach compel the workforce to perform their tasks more efficiently and sometimes it may causes the reduction in numbers of employees in the organization. The downsizing also occurs in response to cost-reduction strategies adopted by senior management.
Munir (2011) opines that 80% job related grievances and 40% turnover intentions of the employees are due to stress. Usually workers at organization feel stress when they have to maintain good relations with their coworkers, sub ordinates and other supervisors, sometimes too much work overload, surplus activities created due to inter role conflicts, unachievable deadlines/targets, lack of promotion opportunities, lack of certainty in roles and creativity and also long working hours. Even sometimes job rotation of the employees by senior management is responsible for generating stress at workplace. The success of every organization or every sector depends on the employee performance that is how efficiently they manage to handle and accomplish their tasks.
Employee performance is also known as job performance of an employee at workplace. It is considered as an important factor in the success of any organization. According to Otley (1999), organizational productivity and success depends on the employee performance. Higher the level of performance of employees, greater will be the organizational accomplishments.Improving performance of employees are dominant issues in every organization as it translates to increasing performance/productivity of organizational goal attainment. As such, measuring performance has become an essential for survival in any sector with unexpected changes globalization has brought to the economy. Organizations are seeking for strategies to increase performance so as to stay competitive especially in the banking sector.
Deposit money bank is one of the high stress creating sectors among the workers because of many high strain works, which may increase risk of depressive symptoms. (Theorell, Hammarström and Aronsson, 2015).
Employees in the financial services sector are exposed to great stress at work. However, psychosocial work conditions are independently associated with poor health-related physical and mental quality of life among the workers of financial services where it assumed that job in the financial sector belongs to professions with high psychological and emotional stress (Silva and Barreto, 2012).
Working in the deposit money bank, the most stressful factors occur because of psychical balance of work, lack of rewards, social contacts and uncertainty at work. The financial sector has seen an increase in the number of cases of violence and stress, which can result in adverse health outcomes, including depressive symptoms related to stress at work and depression for these workers are scarce. Psychosocial conditions are in banking activity involving high strain, low social support at work, high effort with low reward and over-commitment may represent possible risk factors for depressive symptoms in bank employees(Valente, Menezes, Pastor-Valero and Lopes, 2016).
Akingbola and Adigun, (2010) opine that the Nigerian socio – physical environment is fraught with occupational stress indicators Especially exposed to high occupational stress are commercial bank workers in Nigeria who must contend with a host of precipitating factors, such as, excessive and unpredictable work schedule occasioned by an ever increasing competition in the industry; a virtual disappearance of job security as evident in mass retrenchment of thousands of bank workers on a regular basis; low decision latitude on the job; and increasing threats to physical safety, security and well-being as banks have become the number one target of armed robbery attacks, kidnappings, and armed raids by bandits.
Bashir and Ramay (2010) state that bankers are under a big pressure because of antecedents of stress such as Overload, Role ambiguity, Role conflict, Responsibility for people, Participation, Lack of feedback, Keeping up with rapid technological change. Therefore, one of the affected outcomes of stress is on job performance.
Agboli and Ukaegbu (2006) observe that working in the South Eastern parts of Nigeria carries an elevated risk for occupational stress. Apart from stress-inducing factors implicit in banking jobs generally, bank workers in the South East Nigeria must also contend with social and environmental factors such as security concerns (incidents of kidnapping are very high in South East Nigeria with white-collar workers, such as bankers, expatriates, and other high-profile individuals often the targets), decaying infrastructures (bad roads, for instance, making it difficult getting to work or getting back home on time, thereby constituting additional stress), relatively higher cost of living without a corresponding increase in take-home pay, among other factors. Studies have suggested that occupational stress should be studied within the context of the individual’s belief system, the organisation in ‘which he/she work, and the environment outside of the organisation (Heck and Marcoulides, 1989).
Therefore in Nigeria, there is a higher need for stress factors to be given due attention and taken seriously in order to ascertain its root causes and how to overcome them. Thus, with such reoccurring incidents unattended to, it offers results in decreasing from the desired performance of such organization and the development is also affected. Some of the motives on behalf of which this study has been conducted so that the organizations, especially the banking sector of Nigeria that centers on their core competencies, achieving the higher level of desired output and productivity and therefore meeting the crucial demands of the developed world today. The balanced work life policies designed by the organization is the golden phenomenon that keeps the employees bonded with the organization and working even beyond the normal time span assigned to them for better job accomplishment and job performance. Consequently, this study seeks to evaluate the extent to which job stress affect employee performance in selected Nigerian Deposit Money Banks in Enugu State.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
