EFFECT OF JOB STRESS ON EMPLOYEES' PERFORMANCE IN FEDERAL UNIVERSITIES

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

In today’s world, stress has become a worldwide phenomenon, which occurs in various forms in every workplace. In today’s work life, employees are generally working for longer hours, as the rising levels of responsibilities require them to exert themselves even more strenuously to meet rising expectations about work performance (Bamba, 2016). Stress is a complex and dynamic concept. Undesirable level of stress affects overall performance of the organization. Therefore, in order to get the work done effectively, the organization or manager should properly manage the level of stress. To achieve this organizational objective, all the factors which influence stress should be properly identified and measured (Jadeja & verma, 2016). Job stress has a vital importance and has become a key challenge for the organizations because of its strapping impact on the performance of an individual as well as the organization. Employees serve as assets for an organization, but when they are stressed, undesirable circumstances such as increased absenteeism; low productivity, low motivation and usually legal financial damages (which eventually effect the employee work behavior and leads him/her towards the counter-productive work behavior) emerge. Stress in organizations affects both the individual and the organization (e.g. increased turnover rates). Individuals can be affected at the physiological, affective, and behavioral levels, and in their leisure time and family life. Stress affects individuals and organizations within different time frames. Stress reactions can occur immediately (short-term reactions) and/or may take longer time to develop (long-term reactions). With respect to physiological responses, stress has an effect on the cardiac system. For example, individuals in so-called high-strain jobs (i.e., job with high demands and low job control, show higher blood pressure than individuals in other types of jobs (Creswell and Creswell, 2017). 

Performance of an employee at his/her workplace is a point of concern for all the organizations, irrespective of all the factors and conditions. Consequently the employees are considered to be very important assets for their organizations (Kilingu,2015). A good performance of the employees of an organization leads towards a good organizational performance thus ultimately making an organization more successful and effective and vice versa (Masood,2016). Stress is an unavoidable consequence of modern living. It is a condition of strain that has a direct bearing on emotions, thought process and physical conditions of a person (Folkman, 2013). In fact, stress is much more common in employees at lower levels of workplace hierarchies, where they have less control over their work situation (Creswell & Creswell, 2013). 

Stress can be considered as an unpleasant emotional situation that we experience when requirements (work-related or not) cannot be counter-balanced with our ability to resolve them. This results in emotional changes as a reaction to this danger. It stems from the relationship between a person and his environment, and it appears as pressure that is subjective because the same stress can affect one person but not another. When an employee can manage the pressures of the job and the possibility to complete a task is substantial, then stress can work as a motivating factor (grobelna,2016). 

Stress can be positive (Eustress) or negative (Distress). Eustress results can be stimulating, thus enhancing work performance and positively encouraging workers to make efforts. Distress results in negative effects on workers’ health and performance. Employee performance is adversely affected by workplace stress. This in turn reduces the effectiveness of the employees and organization (Dar et al., 2011). Such job stress often results in workplace accidents (Ajayi, 2018). 

Work stress, also known as hazard in a traditional working environment, is recognized worldwide as a major challenge to workers’ health and the healthiness of their organization (International Labour Organization, 1992) as cited in Bratton (2017). Stress can be brought about by pressures at home and work. Employers of labour in Nigeria do not protect their workers from stress arising outside and within the work place (Ajayi, 2018). Organizations as well as their workers have been facing hardship for some time, considering that employers of labour are not adhering to the international labour organizations protocol which posit that employers of labour should initiate a stress management policy that will not only enhance the effectiveness and productivity of their organizations but will boost their morale at work and make them healthier (Zuraidah, & Rasi 2014). Therefore, this study will examine the effect of stress on employee productivity.

 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Past studies provide evidence to show that work stress has been a topic of increasing public and professional concern, both inside and outside Human Resource Management domains. The employee performance determines service delivery in the public sector in Nigeria (Kiruja &Mukuru, 2018; Kinyita, 2015) has left the public sector with little choices but to resort to address issues in regard to employee stress management. According to the report on the Presidential Taskforce on Parastatal Reforms (2013), the employee performance of public sector in Nigeria has been a matter of on-going concern in an environment of resource scarcity and mounting needs. In addition, there is weak human resource and institutional capacity to attract and retain the skill sets needed to drive performance due to work stress (Juma, 2015; Omolo, 2015; Kiprop &Yego, 2014). Therefore, there is a dearth of information on work stress and employee performance in the federal universities in Nigeria. Indeed, there is no study (as far as the researcher was able to establish from a review of available previous studies) on the relationship between work stress and employee performance in the federal universities, particularly Modibbo Adama University Yola. The lack of information on relationship between work stress and employee performance creates a gap in knowledge on how work stress has increasingly affected employees’ performance in the Nigerian Federal Universities. It‟s on this premise the current study sought to examine the effect of work stress on academic staff performance in the Nigerian federal universities, a case of Modibbo Adama university Yola.

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main objective of this research will be to study the effects of job stress on employee’s performance in Federal Universities. However, the research has the following specific objective which is to: 

Identify the sources of stress on the employees(academic staff) of Modibbo Adama University(MAU) Yola

Identify the symptoms of stress on the employees.

Find out the effect of job stress on the performance of the employees in MAU.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

What are the sources of stress on the employees of MAU?

What are the stress management practices put in place to reduce the effect of stress on employee performance in MAU? 

What are the effects of stress on employee performance in MAU?

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Professionally, the findings from this study will serve as a useful guide to managers and policy makers in most Federal universities on stress management and come up with a policy framework to enrich the existing stress management practices. To the academia, the study will serve as a springboard upon which further research can be carried out, possibly to explore new ways where stress management practices can be a useful learning tool. Also the findings in this study will further enrich the body of knowledge already tapped on the effects of stress on employee performance in formal organizations. Managers  will use the findings and recommendation from this study to examine the extent of the danger which stress have meted on employee performance in Federal Universities and the ways and approaches to avoid further harm.

1.6 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

This study is restricted to assessing the effects of stress on employee performance in Federal universities, a case study of academic staff of Modibbo Adama University Yola, Adamawa state. However, this study is not without limitations. A research like this requires re-evaluation after some time to know whether the effects of stress on employee performance have lessen or not and this cannot done due to time constraint. Secondly, responses from the staff members are likely to be subjective due human nature.

1.7 DEFINITION OF TERMS

Stress- is a condition arising from the interaction of people and their jobs and characterised by changes within people that force them to deviate from their normal functioning.

Burnout- Burnout is a type of existential crisis in which work is no longer a meaningful function.

Eustress- is the exhilaration and excitement that comes with winning a competition

Stress management- has a goal of maintaining stress at an optimal level for the individual and the organization. Not all stress should be reduced, because some stressors are unavoidable, and some amount of stress is not bad for many people.