JOB STRESS AMONG EMPLOYEES AT STATE BANK OF PAKISTAN (SBP), An Exploratory Study, in Karachi.

Job Stress Among Employees At State Bank Of Pakistan; An Exploratory Study In Karachi
BRP Report/fall 2010
Business Research Project Report JOB STRESS AMONG EMPLOYEES AT STATE BANK OF PAKISTAN (SBP), an exploratory study, in Karachi.
Submitted to:
Mr. Afzal Ahmed
Submitted by:
Mariam Imran (271028) Nazia Shan (262074) Syed Ali Raza (262090) Wajeeha Mazahir Khan (271038)
Submitted on:
10th January 2011
JOB STRESS AMONG EMPLOYEES AT STATE BANK OF PAKISTAN (SBP), an exploratory study, in Karachi.
Hamdard Institute of Management & Sciences | Mariam Imran,
Nazia & Wajeeha
PREFACE
This Business Research project has been given to us as a part of Business Research course for BBA (Honors) program. This project pertains to conduct the research on the prospective of Human Resource Management and the research has been conducted on Stress among employees at State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). Studying of Business Research has added enormous value to our professional life specially studying under the supervision of my course instructor. We are sure, this report is containing all the mandatory information, which is required by the course instructor, and this will certainly reach up to his high expectations.
Nazia & Wajeeha
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
In the name of ALLAH, who is the most Merciful and Beneficial. On the completion of this report, I express our thankfulness to Allah first who gave us the persistency and ability to complete this project. We consider it is a great honor and privilege to record profound sense of gratitude to my instructor Mr. Afzal Ahmed for his constructive criticism and valuable suggestions throughout the Business Research project course and in the preparation of this report. He has been the source of inspiration to us. His inspiring guidance and consistent encouragement given in learning, execution of the training will ever shine in our mind. We have tried our best to make this report effective and efficient. We are very thankful to our course instructor who maximized our skills in order to make this report effective and very systematic.
Nazia & Wajeeha
Table of contents
S.NO Abstract 1. Introduction 1-1. Background of the study 1-2. Introduction of the SBP 1-3. Problem statement 1-4. Research Objectives 1-5. Significance of the research 1-6. Limitations 1-7. Origin of report Literature review 2-1. Introduction 2-2. Stress 2-3. Occupational stress 2-4. Factors of stress 2-5. Effects of job stress 2-6. Stress in Banks Research Methodology 3-1. Research design & methodology 3-1.1. Scope 3-1.1.1. Geographic 3-1.1.2 Time horizon 3-1.2. Sampling 3-1.2.1. Population 3-1.2.2. Sample size 3-1.2.3. Sampling method 3-1.2.4. Sampling plan 3-2. Data collection & analysis 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Findings Conclusion Recommendations Area of further study References & Bibliography Appendix 9-1. Questionnaire 9-2. Researcher articles/ Abstract/ Essays. 22--38 39--40 41 41 42--49 50--66 2--6 Title Page#
2.
7--19
3.
20--21
Nazia & Wajeeha
Abstract
Bankers are under a great deal of stress and due to many past history of stress such as Overload, Role ambiguity, Role conflict, Responsibility for others, Lack of feedback, Keeping up with rapid technological change. During the past decade, banking sector had undergone rapid and striking changes like policy changes due to globalization and liberalization, increased competition due to entrance of more private corporate sector bank, downsizing, introduction of new technologies etc. due to these changes the employees in banking are experiencing high level of stress. One of the final outcome stresses is job performance. The main purpose of the research is to find whether the employees feel work-stress under the working conditions of SBP? If there exists job stress, than to which extent? The basic objective is to understand job stress and its nature, causes symptoms of stress in SBP. This study examines the relationship between job stress and job performance on bank employees of banking sector. This research is basically exploratory and qualitative in nature. To get the data, questionnaires are being filled by the employees of SBP. Our sample size is 60. The result is being analyzed using graphical representations and charts. The results are significant that the employees in State bank do not feel stress. The study also suggested that there is a negative relation between job stress and job performances and shows that job stress significantly reduces the performance of an individual. This study is also useful to direct the top management to formulate strategies and processes keeping in view the causes and consequences of stress in order to cope with the stress successfully. Key Words: Job stress, SBP (State Bank of Pakistan), causes and symptoms of stress, job performance.
Nazia & Wajeeha
1. Introduction
1-1. Background of the Study:
The nature of work has gone through huge changes over the last centuries and is still changing at a rapid speed. They have touched almost every profession. With the change comes stress. Job stresses in the life of workers, affects health of organization. During the past decade, banking sector had undergone rapid and striking changes like policy changes due to globalization and liberalization, increased competition due to entrance of more private corporate sector bank, downsizing, introduction of new technologies etc. due to these changes the employees in banking are experiencing high level of stress. The advent of technological has drastically changed pattern in all sectors including the banking sector. Job stress results from the interaction of worker in condition of work. According to the school of thought, difference in individual directors such as personality and coping style are most important in predicting whether a certain job condition will result in stress. What is stressful for one person may not be problem for someone else. The noticeable factors that may leads to stress are the design of task, management style, interpersonal relationship, workloads, career concerns and environment condition. The main reason for conducting this research is to find stress and to identify all common factors which may leads to employee work stress. Our area of concern is the State Bank of Pakistan.
1-2. Introduction of the state bank of Pakistan:
Nazia & Wajeeha
In May, 1948 Muhammad Ali Jinnah (Founder of Pakistan) took steps to establish the State Bank of Pakistan. These steps implemented in June 1948, and the State Bank of Pakistan commenced operation on July 1, 1948. The State Bank of Pakistan mission is to promote monetary and financial stability and foster a sound and dynamic financial system, so as to achieve sustained and equitable economic growth and prosperity in Pakistan. Its primary functions include issue of notes, regulation of the financial system, lender of the last resort, and conduct of monetary policy. SBP secondary functions include the management of public debt, management of foreign exchange, advising the Government on policy matters, anchoring payments system, and maintaining close relationships with international financial institutions. Departments
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.
Agriculture credit Audit Banking Inspection Banking Policy & Regulations Banking Supervision Corporate Services Economic Analysis Financial Monitoring Unit Monetary Policy Research Statistics and Data Warehouse Exchange Policy Human Resource Information Systems & Technology Islamic Banking Legal Services Library Payment System Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS System) Small and Medium Enterprises Nazia & Wajeeha 7
21. 22. 23. 24.
Training and Development Department (TDD) Treasury Operations Strategic & Corporate Planning Microfinance
1-3. Problem Statement Job stress is a common work-place problem experienced by all professionals irrespective of their nature of work. As part of this study, we want to study the main factors associated to job stress in State Bank of Pakistan. In this study we want to address: Do the employees feel work-stress under the working conditions of SBP? If there is exists job stress, than to which extent? There may be various causes of job stress
Nazia & Wajeeha
1-4. Research Objectives The purpose of this research study is to test the association of the independent variables (role conflict, role overload, role ambiguity, interpersonal conflict, career development, physical working condition) with the dependent variable that is stress. The basic questions we want to investigate in this research study are as follows: To analyzes different causes of stress in SBP. To observes or identify different symptoms of work stress in SBP. To evaluates the impact of stress on occupational performance. The basic objective is to understand the job stress and its nature. Understand theoretical view point of stress. How it has affected employees in SBP.
1-5. Significance of the research This paper will certainly add value to the existing knowledge base and simultaneously give us ability and motivation to indulge in further advance researches in the field of management sciences. This study will help the managers to understand their workforce.
This study is also useful to direct the top management to formulate strategies and processes keeping in view the causes and consequences of stress in order to cope with the stress successfully.
Nazia & Wajeeha
1-6. Limitations All the branches and departments of SBP may not be covered due to shortage of time and resources. Some of the respondents might hesitate to fill the questionnaires considering it wastage of time as they would be busy in their daily work. The employees of the SBP might not be free at our convenient time. Limited data collection scope that result reduced generalizibility of the findings. 1.7 Organization of report Ch1: Introduction It deals with the background study, problem statement, research objectives, research significance and limitations. This part of the paper presents the background, justification, and relevance of our study CH2: Literature Review A Deep looks on the definitions of Stress, its types, symptoms, effects, & what type of role stress is playing in banking sector. All the information we learned from someone else are "cited" in this section with footnotes. Ch3: Research Methodology Stress deals with the type of research, sampling techniques, questionnaire design, data collection and data analysis. Ch4: Findings The finding section is containing data summarization or a collection of tables and figures; it is also containing the of the data, including qualitative observations we made during the study. It tells the reader exactly what we found, what patterns, trends, or relationships were observed. Illustrations in the results section consists of graphs, that visually depict our result
Nazia & Wajeeha
10
Ch5: Conclusion The end of our paper contain a brief summary of our basic findings Ch6: Recommendations What the organization should do in order to maintain the level of stress. strategies other organization must adopt to cope up with the stress. Ch7: Area of further study On which areas we can conduct the studies related to stress and related to State Bank Of Pakistan Ch8: References The sources from which we have gathered date for the literature review their orientation is mentioned in this chapter alphabetically and we have followed Harward Referencing Style. All references given in our paper appear in the literature cited section. Ch9: Appendix Questionnaire that has been distributed to gather data is attached in this chapter of the report What
2. LITERATURE REVIEW 2-1. Introduction

In today's world probability are that our environment is probably fast-paced (at least more so than it has previously been) and as such stress is an ever-present opportunity just waiting around the corner. No matter to which occupation we belong
Nazia & Wajeeha
11
to, the advancement in new technology has resulted in a hectic situation. (Jeff foster, 2010) Nowadays with the fast moving life, the competition has also increased. Everyone is trying to fight and lead the competition. There is a situation of panic all around due to such a rapid moving economy. This panic has caused stress. (Hal Johnson) Market globalization is a quickly changing world renders stress at work in effect obligate experience, suggesting that stress management, rather than stress elimination, could represent a more realistic goal. However, relatively few studies have addressed that real-life stress exist probably because of practical and technical reasons. (Daniela Lucini et al)
2-2. Stress
Stress is a growing occupational problem in the current society. Competing with stressful situations in the workplace is a common incidence for all employees mainly in a service industry. Hans Selye was one of the fathers of stress research. His vision was that stress is not essentially something bad it all depends on how you take it. The stress of exciting, creative successful work is useful, while that of failure, shame or infection is harmful. Selye believed that the effects of stress would be practiced irrespective of the situation positive or negative. A great deal of further research has been conducted, and views have moved on. Stress is now viewed as a "bad thing", with a range of harmful l and long-term effects. These effects have seldom been found in positive situations. The most commonly accepted definition of stress (Richard S Lazarus) is that stress is a condition or feeling experienced when a person perceives that demands exceed the personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilize. In short, it's what we feel when we think we've lost control of events. Stress is a condition of strain that has a direct bearing on feelings, thought process and physical condition of a person (Prof. Dileep Kumar). He stated Stress has been
Nazia & Wajeeha
12
defined in different ways in the past over the year. Firstly, it was conceived as pressure from the atmosphere, and then its considered as nervous tension within the person. Today's is one of the interactions between the situation and the individual. It is the both psychological and physical disabilities state that when the resources of the individual are not sufficient to cope with the demands and pressures of the situation. "Stress is experienced by almost every one of us. The reasons can be family tensions or problem at the workplace. The perception of stress is usually misunderstood because of its complexity. However, Stress is a person's adaptive response to excessive psychological or physical demands caused by one stimulus. (James & Jonathan, 1984) The stimulus causing the stress is said to be a stressor. It is not necessary that a stimulus causing stress for one person may also affect other individuals. Stress is caused only when a stimulus places excessive demands on the individual and some individuals have more patience for certain demands as compared to other individuals." Robbins (2001) defines stress as a situation in which an individual feel opportunity, constraint or demand to what an individual desire and the result can be both uncertain and important. Stress ruins the strength of the individual and ultimately their ability to compete suffers. Human strength is the most important blessing of the Almighty. So it's very important to maintain it. (Eustress and the Positive Effects of Stress) (2010) Stress is not always negative or damaging and indeed, the absence of stress is death. Stress is the non-specific reaction of the body either positive or negative. (Rubina Kazmi, et al), (2003) indicated that decision making sector is one of the most stressful working sector that created stressful situation for the workers.
2-3. Occupational Stress

Stress at work is a moderately new phenomenon of present lifestyles. The nature of work has gone through strong changes over the last century and it is still changing at
Nazia & Wajeeha
13
rapidly speed they have touched almost all professions. Occupational stress or job stress poses a threat to physical health. Working at job related stress in the life of organized workers, as a result, affects the health of organizations. (Sanyo Moosa, 2009)
Stress exists in every organization either big or small the work places and organizations have become so much complex due to which it exists, work place stress has significant effects over the employees job performance, (R. Anderson, 2003) Steers (1981) indicate that, Occupational stress has become an essential topic for study of organizational behavior for a number of reasons.
Stress has destructive psychological and physiological effects on employees. Stress is a main reason of employee turnover and absenteeism. Stress practiced by one employee can influence the safety of other employees By controlling stress, individual and organization can be managed more effectively.
Beehr and Newman (1978) define occupational stress as "A condition arising from the interaction of people and their jobs and characterized by changes within people that force them to deviate from their normal functioning." According to the researchers there are five major categories of work stress (Cooper, et al 1988). These five categories include: 1. Factors intrinsic to the job. 2. Role in the organization. 3. Relationships at work. 4. Career development. 5. Organizational structure
Nazia & Wajeeha
14
Job stress is the unclear reaction of the body to any situation (Selye, 1976). Job stress may occur when one is not ready to deal any situation. It is the internal feeling in which we feel danger deliberately or automatically as real or imagined (Clarke and Watson, 1991). In the article Occupational Stress in Social Work (Faith Gibson et al) the effects of stress is showing in all the professional lives like social workers, nurses and teachers. Stressors can be identified in both professional and private lives. Stress at workplace, anxiety and troubles are increasing due to stress in personal and professional lives. Stress has produced a negative impact on performance (Hellriegel, Slocum and Woodman). In an article entitled 'Stress in the workplace', Lisa(2004) makes the point that while a certain amount of stress is needed to motivate individuals into action, prolonged stress can have a huge impact on overall health.
At work place stress is becoming a major anxiety for employers, managers and government agencies, owing to the Occupational Health and Safety legislations requiring employers to practice duty of care by providing employees with safe working environments which also cover the psychological wellbeing of their staff. (Lisa, 2010) The stress is not limited to any one level of employee. Line operations people have more responsibilities to perform. Managers, who used to take charge of only eight or nine workers, are now managing twice or three times that many. The resulting stress is causing burnout, the symptoms of which include lack of interest, lack of energy, irritability, errors, complaining, tardiness, absenteeism, illness, and decreased motivation. (Dave Bowman)
2-4. Factors of Stress
Nazia & Wajeeha
15
Job stressors refer to any attribute of the workplace that poses a danger to the individual, whether due to job demands that a person cannot meet or due to a lack of sufficient resources to do the job. For job stress to occur, the environmental demand of the job is usually much out of balance with the ability of the employee. This occurs when an individual has little control over the job, when work demands go beyond his or her abilities or when job circumstances prevent the accomplishment of personal expectations and goals. Stress is additive. Therefore, a raise in the number of stressors in the work situation results in an increase in overall job stress level. ( Larson et al) Stress is an unnecessary reaction people have to relentless pressures or other types of demands placed upon them. A urge and multi fields literature points a lot of key factors such as work environment, management support, workload etc in determining the stressful the work can be and its effect on employee physical and mental health all life events, even positive ones, cause a certain degree of stress ( Eustress and positive effects of stress, 2010). Major causes of job stress have been identified as task demand, role demand and organizational structure (M.A Khan et al), (2007) (Beehr, Jex, Stacy & Murray, 2000) found the relationship between occupational stressors and the performance of employees of an organization and how it affects the employees psychologically. A report from mental health charity MIND cited sources of stress in the job that are poor working conditions, poor relationships at work, an unclear role in the organization, long hours, lack of job security, organizational climate, and a general mismatch between an individual's personality type and the requirements of their job. (Brian Amble) Human beings are not able to create a balance between their personal and professional life and this sort of situation has lead to stressful conditions among them. The only centre of their life is to be successful (in-fact to be at the top) in spite of giving attention to their personal and family life. This is the reason the social
Nazia & Wajeeha
16
values have been badly ignored now a days. Amy Twain (2010) clarified that there may be various real life situations in our lives that cause stress in our lives. Some personal factors may be continuous working for long hours; working under pressure, sometimes-inappropriate marriages cause problems or improper relation with others. Health problems are also caused by stress. At any job high level of stress in role conflict and ambiguity, low in autonomy and variety and situated in an organization that provides poor supervision will generate much job stress in the workplace. However, people differ in their vulnerability to stress and in their coping effectiveness. The individual factors that increase weakness among workers are personality traits, career goals and previous experience. The amount of social support and stress experienced by the individuals outside of work also plays a role. (Edwards, 1992) Stressors at the individual level have been considered more than any other category. Role conflicts, role ambiguity, role overload and under load, are widely examined individual stressors (Mc Grath 1976) It is also mentioned by many researchers that low job satisfaction was linked with high stress (Hollingworth et al., AbdulHalim, 1981; Keller et al., 1975; Leigh et al, 1988). Factors causing stress may be environmental, organizational, and individual variables (Matteson and Ivancevich, 1999; Cook and Hunsaker, 2001). Organizational-based factors encourage stress for employees at their work place (Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985). These factors that are causing stress in an organization are commonly termed as organizational stressors since they serve as agents that generate the various stress reactions (Von Onciul, 1996). Job stress can be caused due to many reasons. Some of these factors include role conflict, role ambiguity, interpersonal conflicts, work overload. Job stress also occurs when the situation has high demands and the worker has little or no control over it. Poor health and injury can be caused by stress.(Dilip Kumar)
Nazia & Wajeeha
17
According to (Anderson et al, 2002) work to family conflicts is also a predecessor, which creates stress in employees of an organization. There are a lot of reasons causing stress work family conflicts work over load one of reason indentified by (Stamper & Johlke ,2003) that if the organization or management does not appreciates its employees for their hard work or contribution toward the organization creates stress and mostly creates intention to leave Competition, lack of time, more uncontrollable factors, lack of space, continuous technological development, conflicting demands from organizational stakeholders (Hall and Savery, 1986), increased use of participatory management and automation (Murray and Forbes, 1986), greater ambiguity, and others are the challenges in the work environment that have resulted in job stress. For the betterment of the organization and in the search of excellence managers have to work under stress full situation. Managers in the manufacturing sector experiencing high stress (Jestin and Gampel, 2002). Role conflict and job stress have the positive relationship (Roberts et al, 1997). When individuals do two or more work together which are entirely different with each other they experience job stress as job conflict make expectations which is difficult to settle. Foot and Venne (1990) found that there is a positive relationship between barriers to career advancement and work stress. When there is lack of career opportunity, employee feel uncertain about the future in organization can causes job stress. Dissatisfaction at work can also be a source of stress in the organization. Thoits (1995) in his found that there is a positive relationship between the work dissatisfaction and the stress. When employees work alone they feel dissatisfied. According to Kanungo (1981), when employee thinks there is a no connection between their own job and other work related situation, a sense of disturbance can be seen in a behavioral of employee and laziness occur. No support from the peers and the manager leads to stress (Mirovisky and Ross, 1986). Work over load is linked to a variety of physiological, psychological, and behavioral strain symptoms
Nazia & Wajeeha
18
(Beehr and Newman, 1978; Roberts et al, 1997; Miller and Ellis, 1990). According to Greenhaus et al (1987), heavy workload causes stress by affecting the psychological well-being. A work environment with unpleasant organizational climate, lack of privacy, a lot of hassle in conducting work, and distractions can result in stress (Miller and Ellis, 1990). The potential sources of stressor are lack of participation in the decision making process, lack of effective consultation and communication; unjustified restrictions on behavior, office politics and no sense of belonging. Lack of participation in work activity is connected with negative psychological mood and behavioral responses (Caplan et al.1975). (Caplan et al.1975), point of view was that "The responsibility load creates severe stress among workers and managers." If the manager cannot oblige with the improved responsibilities it may lead to physical and psychological uncertainty among them. When an individual is assigned a major responsibility without proper authority and delegation of power stress is developed. (Vansell, et al). Studies on burnout found that, it is related to exhaustion and work over load factors in various organizations (Chermiss, 1980). Stress on the job is costly for employers, it lower productivity, decreases motivation and job skills, and increased and accidents. Job stress results from the poor interaction of the worker & the conditions of work and Differences in individual characteristics such as personality and cope certain job conditions. A person's position in the workplace can also affect levels of stress. While place of work stress has the potential to affect employees of all categories; those who have very little influence to those who make major decisions for the company. However, less powerful employees are more likely to
Nazia & Wajeeha
19
suffer stress than powerful workers. Managers as well as other kinds of workers are at risk to work overload (Primm, 2005) Economic factors that employees are facing to increased stress levels. (Primm, 2005), economic factors that may lead to workplace stress are the following: Stress from investors, who can quickly take out their money from company stocks. The lack of employment and professional unions in the workplace. Inter-company rivalries caused by the efforts of companies to compete globally. The willingness of companies to swiftly lay off workers to cope with changing business environments. (Lisa, 2010) Despite the fact that when a certain amount of stress is needed to motivate then individual take action, extended stress can have a huge impact on overall health. Each profession has its own unique factors that may cause stress; causes of many other professions are giving below: Increased workload Organizational changes High demands Lack of support Personal and family issues Poor work organization Lack of training Long or difficult hours Inadequate staff numbers and resources Poor management communication Lack of control or input
2-5. Effects of Job Stress
Nazia & Wajeeha
20
Occupational stress may produce both psychological and physiologic disorders. It can affect personal well-being and productivity (Quick et al, 1992). Occupational stress may result into health problem and it can be a major reason for the economic loss. It may be cause psychological as well as physiological disabilities (Sandeep Kumar Lath) There may be different effects of stress. Stress can be both positive and negative. It depends on the individual that how do he/she react to the situation. The positive stress can help you to energize in order to get your goals on time. Stress can be beneficial to you if you do not take it on your nerves. (Jeff foster, 2010) The negative outcomes of stress have been recognized as financially costly. Negative outcomes of job stress among individuals include illness, decline in overall quality of work, job dissatisfaction, bunking off, and staff turnover (Schwab). Tension is created when the demands of the job or the job situation exceeds the capacity of the person to respond successfully. (M.A Khan et al), (2007) A job stressed individual can cause job dissatisfaction, increased absenteeism, increased frequency of drinking and smoking, increase in negative psychological symptoms and reduced aspirations and self esteem (Jick and Payne, 1980). Occupational stress is connected with individual, interpersonal and structural variables (Kutz and Kahn, 1978). The stress has effect on psychological as well as emotional state of an individual. Stress-related disorders encompass a broad selection of conditions, including psychological disorders (e.g., depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder) and other types of emotional strain (e.g., dissatisfaction, fatigue, tension, etc.), maladaptive behaviors (e.g., aggression, substance abuse), and cognitive impairment (e.g., concentration and memory problems). (Prince Thomas)
Nazia & Wajeeha
21
A useful review in this area (Motowidlo, 2009) found that stress has great effect on the interpersonal and cognitive/motivational aspects of job performance. The employees with high level of role ambiguity react to situations with anxiety, depression, physical symptoms, a sense of futility or lower self esteem, lower levels of job involvement and organizational commitment, and perceptions of lower performance because of the expectations of the organization, of the supervisors and of themselves (Aldag et al) According to Steven and Tony (2003) there may be some consequences that may lead to distress- the degree of psychological, physiological and behavioral deviation from healthy functioning. Stress may have negative results also which means that it may lead to damage. The negative impact of stress can be a hurdle to get our aims. According to Will grant Work can be demanding and raising a family has its own difficulties, but complaining and harboring a negative attitude will only compound your stress. According to (Greenhaus et al) (1987), the job stress lowers the psychological well being of individual.
2-6. Stress in Banks

The advent of technological changes has changed the working style of the bank employees. Globalization and privatization has led the banking sector to modify their policies in order to cope with the environment. (Jeff foster, 2010) Many people working in banking and finance sector believe that stress is a powerful instrument for their work and over and over again take steps to control it when they feel the effects of overload stress. At place of work stress is the harmful physical and emotional reaction that occurs when there is a poor match between job demands and the capabilities, resources, or needs of the worker. (Larson et al) The banking sector has improved a lot with the changing environment. The working conditions of banks have changed a lot due to privatization, globalization and atomization. The workload of employees has greater than before and due to this
Nazia & Wajeeha
22
increased work pressure the employees feel themselves under job-stress. (Michailidis M, Georgiou Y), Jan Schuijer(1992) found that during the past decade banks have had to cope with deregulation, liberalization and 'de-specialization. Such changes in the banking sectors have definitely affected the work load of its employees' the employees' task has been increased due to high level of competition. There are different banks that are competing with each other and due to this the level of competition. The high level of competition among the banks has resulted into an increased level of tension. The staff of banks has loads of work. They have to keep themselves up to date in the market. According to Jan Schuijer (1992) technological development plays a vital role in removing the barriers between the banking sectors among different countries. Due to such technological improvements, the banks are nowadays faced with various challenges. Work variety, discrimination, favoritism, delegation and conflicting tasks do not allow bank employees to take out time for relaxation. (Maria Michailidis and Yiota) Employee occupational stress in banking sector (Michailidis M, Georgiou Y), Occupational stress emphasizes the importance of assessment and management of workplace stress. The physical and psychological stress affects on both individuals and organizations. Bank employees cannot have much time to relax and "chill out" when they are faced with work variety, bias, favoritism, delegation and conflicting tasks. Some employees tend to bring work-related problems at home (and take family problems to work) depends on their educational background, the strength of the employees' family support, and the amount of time available for them to relax. working in banking and finance sector many people believe that stress is a commanding tool for their work and frequently take steps to control it when they feel the effects of excess stress. On the other hand, the pressure in these jobs can suddenly become extremely. Banking sectors can set up to consider more active ways to encourage workers in the financial sector to address job-stress. The training
Nazia & Wajeeha
23
programs give confidence to workers to look at the sub-cognitive processes involved with their own work motivation. Employees show too many stress factors. Those who have been coping deficiencies rather than coping skills become distressed. Distress persons lead to social and financial costs-accidents, injuries, turnover and poor productivity. (Jeff foster, 2010) In the article Occupational Stress in Social Work (Faith Gibson et al) the effects of stress is showing in all the professional lives like social workers, nurses and teachers. Stressors can be identified in both professional and private lives.
The discovery of the harmful physical and psychological effects of stress on both individuals and organizations is widely studied in many parts of the world. Most researches examine that occupational stress of employees in the banking sector. Bank employees cannot afford the time to relax and "chill out" when they are faced with work variety, discrimination, favoritism, delegation, and conflicting tasks. Occupational stress is seen in between among managers of different age group. Finally, the researchers founded that a worker determining the levels of occupational stress by playing a significant role. (Prince Thomas)
Nazia & Wajeeha
24
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3-1. Research Design and Methodology

It would be an exploratory, qualitative and quantitative research and we will use both the quantitative and qualitative approach to analyze data and find out the association / relationship between stress and the factors affecting it.
3-1.1 Scope
The scope of this study needs to be defined in two horizons. 3.1.1.1 Geographic: The scope of this research would be limited to Head-office of SBP (Karachi). 3.1.1.2 Time horizon: this study will take about duration of 8 months from April 2010 to November 2010.
3-1.2 Sampling
3.1.2.1 Population: Total population of the employees at SBP is 2200 employees. 3.1.2.2 Sample size: A total of 60 employees out of which 15 employees will be from top management, 15 employees will be selected from middle management and 30 employees will be selected from lower level. 3.1.2.3 Sampling method: the sampling method will be probability sampling that is based on random selection of employees.
Nazia & Wajeeha
25
3.1.2.4 Sampling plan: The employees would be contacted through Questionnaires and if necessary interviews will also be conducted.
3-2. Data Collection and Analysis

Survey would be conducted with the help of questionnaire in order to collect required data. The questions will be Structured and close-ended type and respondents will be asked to mark the appropriate box matching the correct answer. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics, both the techniques would be used to analyze, interpret and represent the data. The responses to the structured close-ended questions will be rated and presented through graphs, charts etc. MS Excel will also be used in the research.
Nazia & Wajeeha
26
4. FINDINGS
1. How often do you feel you have too little authority to carry out your responsibilities?
Scale Rating Employee #
1 13
2 22
3 22
4 3
5 0
The above sub divided bar chart shows that 13 out of 60 means that 21% employee feel that they never have too little authority to carry out their responsibilities. Whereas 22 means 37% employee seldom feel that they have too little authority to carry out their responsibilities.22 means 37% employees feel that sometimes they have too little authority to carry out their responsibilities. 3 out of 60 mean that 5% feel that often they have too little authority to carry out their responsibilities. In addition, none of the employee said that they all the time feel that they have too little authority to carry out their responsibilities. It means that mostly of the employees have the authorities to carry out their responsibilities.
Nazia & Wajeeha
27
2. How often do you feel you are unclear about the scope and responsibilities of your job?
Scale Rating Employee # 1 4 2 21 3 27 4 8 5 0
The above sub divided bar chart shows that 4 out of 60 means that 6.7% or 7% employee feel that they are never unclear about the scope and responsibilities of job. Whereas 21 means 35% employee seldom feel that they are unclear about the scope and responsibilities of job.27 means 37% employees feel that sometimes they are unclear about the scope and responsibilities of job term. 8 out of 60 means 13% feels that often they are unclear about the scope and responsibilities of job. In addition, none of the employee said that they all the time feel that they unclear about the scope and responsibilities of job. It means that mostly of the employees are clear about the scope and responsibilities of job.
Nazia & Wajeeha
28
3. How often are you unaware that opportunities for advancement and promotion exist for you?
The above sub divided bar chart shows that 3 out of 60 means that 5% employee feel that they are never unaware that opportunities for advancement and promotion exist for them. Whereas 29 means 48.3% employee seldom feel that are unaware that opportunities for advancement and promotion exist for them.21 means 35% employees feel that sometimes they are unaware that opportunities for advancement and promotion exist for them. 7 out of 60 means 11.6% or 12% feels that often they are unaware that opportunities for advancement and promotion exist for them. In addition, none of the employee said that they all the time feel that unaware that opportunities for advancement and promotion exist for them. It means that mostly of the employees are aware that opportunities for advancement and promotion exist for them.
Nazia & Wajeeha
29
4. How often do you feel that your workload is too heavy and that you could not possibly finish during the ordinary workday?
The above sub divided bar chart shows that 5 out of 60 means that 8% employee feel that never their workload is too heavy and that that could not possibly finish during the ordinary workday. Whereas 23 means 38.3% employee seldom feel, that workload is too heavy and that they could not possibly finish during the ordinary workday. 30 means 50% employees feel that sometimes workload is too heavy and that they could not possibly finish during the ordinary workday. 2 out of 60 means 3.3% feel that often workload is too heavy and that you could not possibly finish during the ordinary workday. In addition, none of the employee said that they the entire time feel that your workload is too heavy and that you could not possibly finish during the ordinary workday. It means that mostly of the employees sometimes think that workload is too heavy and that they could not possibly finish during the ordinary workday.
Nazia & Wajeeha
30
5. How often do you feel that you will not be able to satisfy the conflicting demands of various people around you?
The above sub dividend bar chart shows that 2 out of 60 means that 3.3% employee never feel that they will not be able to satisfy the conflicting demands of various people around them. Whereas 26 means 43.3% employee seldom feel that they will not be able to satisfy the conflicting demands of various people around them. 22 means 36.6% or 37% employees feel that sometimes that will not be able to satisfy the conflicting demands of various people around them. 10 out of 60 means 16.6% or 17% often feel that they will not be able to satisfy the conflicting demands of various people around you them In addition, none of the employee said that they all the time feel that they will not be able to satisfy the conflicting demands of various people around them. It means that mostly infrequently the employees feel that you will not be able to satisfy the conflicting demands of various people around them.
Nazia & Wajeeha
31
6. How often do you think that your workplace environment is not very pleasant or particularly safe?
The above sub divided bar chart shows that 17 out of 60 means that 28% employee never feel that workplace environment is not very pleasant or particularly safe. Whereas 28 means 46.6% or 47% employee seldom feel that workplace environment is not very pleasant or particularly safe. 13 means 21.6% or 22% employees sometimes feel that workplace environment is not very pleasant or particularly safe. 2 out of 60 means 3% often feel that workplace environment is not very pleasant or particularly safe. In addition, none of the employee said that they all the time that workplace environment is not very pleasant or particularly safe. It means that mostly infrequently the employees feel that workplace environment is not very pleasant or particularly safe.
Nazia & Wajeeha
32
7. How often do you not know what your superior thinks of you or how he/she evaluates your performance?
The above sub divided bar chart shows that 0 out of 60 means that 0% employee never feel that they do not know what their superior thinks of them or how he/she evaluates their performance. Whereas 27 means 45% employee seldom feel that, they do not know what their superior thinks of them or how he/she evaluates their performance. 27 means 45% employees sometimes feel that they do not know what their superior thinks of them or how he/she evaluates their performance. 6 out of 60 means 10% often feel that they do not know what their superior thinks of them or how he/she evaluates their performance. In addition, none of the employee said that they all the time feel that they do not know what their superior thinks of them or how he/she evaluates their performance. It means that mostly infrequently the employees feel they do not know what their superior thinks of them or how
Nazia & Wajeeha
33
he/she evaluates their performance.
8. How often do you find yourself unable to get the information you need to perform your job?
The above sub divided bar chart shows that 0 out of 60 means that 0% employee never find them self unable to get the information they need to perform job. Whereas 30 means 50% employee seldom find them self unable to get the information they need to perform job. 25 means 41.6% or 42% employees sometimes find them self unable to get the information they need to perform job. 5 out of 60 means 8.3% often find them self unable to get the information they need to perform job. In addition, none of the employee said that they find them self unable to get the information they need to perform job. It means that mostly infrequently the employees find them self unable to get the information they need to perform job.
Nazia & Wajeeha
34
9. How often do you worry about making decisions that affect the lives of people you know?
The above sub dividend bar chart shows that 0 out of 60 means that 0% employee never worry about making decisions that affect the lives of people they know. Whereas 12 means 20% employee seldom worry about making decisions that affect the lives of people they know. 21 means 35% employees sometimes worry about making decisions that affect the lives of people they know. 27 out of 60 means 45% often worry about making decisions that affect the lives of people they know. In addition, none of the employee said that they worry about making decisions that affect the lives of people they know. It means that most employee frequently worry about making decisions that affect the lives of people they know.
Nazia & Wajeeha
35
10. How often do you feel that the job causes you the physical disorders? (Like headache backache & anxiety.etc.)
The above sub divided bar chart shows that 6 out of 60 mean that 10% employee never feel that the job causes them the physical disorders (like headache, backache, anxiety.etc). Whereas 25 means 42% employees seldom worry feel that the job causes them the physical disorders (like headache, backache, anxiety.etc). 19 means 32% employees sometimes feel that the job causes them the physical disorders (like headache, backache, anxiety.etc). 10 out of 60 means 16% often worry feel that the job causes them the physical disorders (like headache, backache, anxiety.etc).In addition, none of the employee said that they feel that the job causes them the physical disorders (like headache,
Nazia & Wajeeha
36
backache, anxiety.etc).It means that most employee does not frequently feel that the job causes them the physical disorders (like headache, backache, anxiety.etc).
11. How often do you feel that you may not be liked and accepted by people at work?
The above sub divided bar chart shows that 2 out of 60 mean that 3% employees never feel that they may not be liked and accepted by people at work. Whereas 29 means 49% employee seldom feel that they may not be liked and accepted by people at work. 21 means 35% employees sometimes feel that they may not be liked and accepted by people at work. 8 out of 60 means 13.33% often feel that they may not be liked and accepted by people at work. In addition, none of the employee said that they feel that they may not be liked and accepted by people at work. It means that most employees do not feel that they may not be liked and accepted by people at work.
Nazia & Wajeeha
37
12. How often do you feel unable to influence your immediate supervisors decisions and actions that affect you?
The above sub divided bar chart shows that 0 out of 60 means that 0% employee never feel unable to influence their immediate supervisors decisions and actions that affect them. Whereas 28 mean 46.66% employees seldom feel unable to influence their immediate supervisors decisions and actions that affect them. 30 means 50% employees sometimes feel unable to influence their immediate supervisors decisions and actions that affect them. 2 out of 60 means 3.33% often feel unable to influence their immediate supervisors decisions and actions that affect them. In addition, none of the employee said that they find
Nazia & Wajeeha
38
feel unable to influence their immediate supervisors decisions and actions that affect them. It means that mostly infrequently the employees feel unable to influence their immediate supervisors decisions and actions that affect them.
13. How often do you not know just what the people you work for expect of you?
The above sub divided bar chart shows that 6 out of 60 means that 10% employees never know just what the people they work for expect from them. Whereas 31 means 51.66% employees seldom know just what the people they work for expect from them. 23 means 38.33% employees sometimes know just what the people they work for expect from them. 0 out of 60 means 0% often know just what the people they work for expect from them. In addition, none of the employee said that they worry about making decisions that affect the lives of people they know. It means that most employee frequently know just what the people they work for expect from them.
Nazia & Wajeeha
39
14. How often do you think the amount of salary you are getting is not satisfactory?
The above sub divided bar chart shows that 5 out of 60 means that 8% employee never think that the amount of salary they are getting is not satisfactory. Whereas 20 means 33% employee seldom think that the amount of salary they are getting is not satisfactory. 24 means 40% employees sometimes worry think that the amount of salary they are getting is not satisfactory. 11 out of 60 means 19% often think that the amount of salary they are getting is not satisfactory. In addition, none of the employee said that they think that the
Nazia & Wajeeha
40
amount of salary they are getting is not satisfactory. It means that most employee frequently think that the amount of salary they are getting is satisfactory.
15. How often do you feel that you have to do things on the job that are against your better judgment?
The above sub divided bar chart shows that 4 out of 60 means that 7% employee never feel that they have to do things on the job that are against their better judgment. Whereas 39 means 65% employee seldom feel that they have to do things on the job that are against their better judgment. 17 means 28% employees sometimes feel that they have to do things on the job that are against their better judgment. 0 out of 60 means 0% often feel that they
Nazia & Wajeeha
41
have to do things on the job that are against their better judgment. In addition, none of the employee said that they feel that they have to do things on the job that are against their better judgment. It means that mostly infrequently the employees feel that they have to do things on the job that are against their better judgment.
16. How often do you feel your job interferes with your family life?
The above sub divided bar chart shows that 3 out of 60 mean that 8% employees never feel that their job interferes with their family lives. Whereas 24 means 40% employee seldom feel that their job interferes with their family lives. 27 means 45% employees sometimes feel that their job interferes with their family lives. 6 out of 60 means 10% often feel that their job interferes with their family lives. In addition, none of the employee said that they feel that
Nazia & Wajeeha
42
their job interferes with their family lives. It means that the employees frequently feel that their job interferes with their family lives.
17. How often you are satisfied with your job performance?
The above sub divided bar chart shows that 33 out of 60 means 55% of the employees feel that they are often satisfied with their performance. 27 means 45% employees feel that they are satisfied with their performances nearly all the time. This means that the employees frequently feel that their job performance is satisfactory.
Nazia & Wajeeha
43
5. CONCLUSION
The productivity of banks depends on the employees of the organization. The psychologically healthy employees lead to the progress of the organization. Occupational stress and the workplace health have been the issue of major concerns over last decade. The purpose of this research was to identify the existence of stress among the employees of State Bank of Pakistan. Stress level is very low among employees in the State Bank of Pakistan in terms of our scale of measurement. The literature reviews helped to identify some major factors that can help to know whether the employees at the State Bank of Pakistan feel stress or not. The employees at the State Bank of Pakistan are clear about their responsibilities and job duties. A lack of opportunity for growth or advancement can increase job stress. At State Bank of Pakistan the employees are aware about the opportunities for advancements and promotion.
Nazia & Wajeeha
44
Workload can be one of the reasons for the workplace stress. The employees at State Bank of Pakistan seldom feel workload when they find an ordinary work day not enough to complete their heavy tasks. The employees at State Bank of Pakistan are satisfied with the workplace environment of the bank. Dangerous and unwelcome environments can place pressure on workers and increase work stress. A lack of supportive relationships with supervisors and co-workers can increase job stress; this may play out in power struggles between workers and management. The employees of State Bank of Pakistan know about what their supervisors thinks about them and they are quite motivated to work for them. The research findings show that they usually know about the response of the supervisors. This reduces the level of anxiety and depression. They are quite confident in making decisions as shown by the findings. The findings help to know that the jobs of the employees in State Bank of Pakistan do not harm their physical health (like headache, anxiety, backache, etc). The employees at the State Bank of Pakistan are satisfied with the salary they are getting. Salary stress can make any one loose sleep, be restless and make anyone very unhappy person. Thats why salary should be satisfactory. Job satisfaction is the key element for a successful employee performance. The employees of State Bank of Pakistan are satisfied with their job performance. This shows that the management of State Bank of Pakistan is effective in managing its employee's performance.
Nazia & Wajeeha
45
6. RECOMMENDATIONS
As the conclusion suggested that the employees in the State Bank of Pakistan do not feel any major sort of work stress. We recommend that that the management of State Bank of Pakistan should continue their stress management practices as they have been doing it. The management of State Bank of Pakistan should take active part in making stress management training programs for their employees. On behalf of this research, we will recommend other organizations as well to reduce the workplace stress of employees and should organize stress management programs for the employees. The management should: Undertake stress audit at all levels in the organization to identify stress area improving conditions of job and alleviating job stress. Encourage open channel of communication to deal work related stress. Formulate individual stress alleviation program. Give attractive system of reward and recognition of good work. Develop realistic self-concept among employees that is neither overstated nor discouraged.
Nazia & Wajeeha
46
Encourage the cross-functional and interdepartmental work arrangements to reduce work related stress among low performers and low achievers.
7. AREA OF FURTHER STUDY
Job stress may have impact on the motivational level of employees in banks. The further studies may also help to know whether employee's culture or background creates stress or not. Workplace stress can be real cause of absenteeism and turnover in banks. Further researches may be done to know how the organizational environment creates stress among the employees of banks.
8. REFERENCE LIST
Aldag R.J., Barr S.H., and Brief A.P. (1981) Measurement of perceived task
characteristics. Psychological Bulletin, 90:415-431. Amy Twain Work Stress May Be Killing You Available at
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/self_improvement_and_motivation/article_742 9.shtml (accessed: 17april, 2010) Anderson R. (2003). Stress at work: the current perspective. The Journal of
The Royal Society for the Promotion of Health, 123; 81 Anderson E.S., Coffey S.B., & Byerly T.R. (2002). Formal Organizational
Initiatives and Informal Workplace Practices: Links to Work-Family Conflict and Job-Related Outcomes. Journal of Management 28,787.
Nazia & Wajeeha
47
Beehr A. T, Jex M.S., Stacy A. B., & Murray A.M. (2000). Work Stressors and
Coworker Support as Predictors of Individual Strain and Job Performance. Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 21, No. 4 , pp. 391-405. Beehr, T.A. & Newman, J.E. (1978). "Job Stress, employ Health and
Organisational Effectiveness- A fact analysis model and literature reviews." Personal Psychology, 31, pp.665-669 Brian Amble 2005 Stress - or job satisfaction Management-Issues the heart of 10th
a changing work place (May 2005) Available at http://www.managementissues.com/2006/8/24/research/stress-or-job-satisfaction.asp(accessed: April 2010) Caplan, R.D., & Jones, K.W. (1975). "Effects of work load, role ambiguity, and
type A personality on anxiety, Depression, and heart rate." Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol 60, pp713-719. Chermiss, C. (1980). "Staff burnout: "Job stress in human service." Beverly
Hills: Sage. Clark LA and D Watson, 1991. "Tripartite Model of Anxiety and Depression:
Psychometric Evidence and Taxonomic Implications. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Vol 100 No 12, pp 316-336. Cobb, S., and Kasl, S.V. Termination. (1977). The Consequences of Job
Loss, U.S. Government Printing Office. Washington, D.C. o Cooper CL, Cooper RD and Eaker LH (1988) Living with stress,
Penguin books, London.
Nazia & Wajeeha
48
Daniela
Lucini; Silvano
Riva; Paolo
Pizzinelli; Massimo . 2007;Stress
Management at the Worksite Reversal of Symptoms Profile and Cardiovascular Dysregulation Hypertension 49:291. American Heart Association, Inc. Dave April 2010) Dileep Kumar, Study on Job Stress of Bowman, Stress In The Workplace Available
at:http://www.ttgconsultants.com/articles/stressworkplace.html (accessed: 10th
Nationalised and Non Nationalised Bank Employees Kusgoan, Lonavala, Maharashtra Edwards, J. R. (1992). A cybernetic theory of stress, coping, and well being in
organizations. Academy of Management Review, 17(2), 238-274. Eustress and the Positive Effects of Stress. (2010) 'Stress-Relief Tools'. at: http://www.stress-relief-tools.com/positive-effects-of-stress.html
Available
(accessed: 7 April, 2010). Faith Gibson, Anne McGrath and Reid occupational stress in social work British journal of social work vol 19(1) pp. 1-18 Foot DK and R Venne (1990) "Population, Pyramids and Promotional
Prospects", Canadian Public Policy, Vol 14 No 4, pp 387-398. Greenhaus JH and NJ Beutell (1985) "Sources of Conflict Between Work and
Family Roles, Academy of Management Review, Vol 12 No 6, pp 120-128. Greenhaus JH, AG Bedeian and KW Mossholder (1987) "Work Experiences,
Job Performance, and Feelings of Personal and Family Well-Being", Journal of Vocational Behavior, Vol 31 No 7, pp 200-215.
Nazia & Wajeeha
49
Hal Johnson, 6 Tips To Smile More When Under Stress Available at:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Hal_Johnson (accessed: 17 April, 2010) Hall K and LK Savery, 1986. "Tight Rein, More Stress". Harvard Business
Review, VoI 23 No 10, pp 1162-1164. Hellriegel, D., Slocum, J.W., & Woodman, R.W. (2001). Organizational
behavior. (9th edn.). Cincinnati: South-Western College Publishing. Hollingworth, C.; Mathews, G. and Hartnett, 1988 Job satisfaction and mood:
An exploratory Study. Work and Stress, 2(3). Jackson, S., Schwab, R., & Schuler, R. (1986, November). Toward an
understanding of the burnout phenomenon. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71(4), 630-640. Jan Schuijer. (1992) 'banks under stress', OECD Observer, Vol. a, 1992.
Questia [online]. Available at: http://www.questia.com/google.scholar (accessed: 10 April, 2010) Jeff Foster (26 Feb, 2010) Stress in the Workplace. Available at:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jeff_Foster (accessed: 10th April 2010) James C. Quick, Jonathan D. Quick (1984), Organizational stress and preventive management McGraw-Hill New York . Jestin W and A Gampel, 2002. The Big Valley, Global Outlook. Toronto:
McGraw Hill Jick, T. D., and Payne, R. 1980. "Stress at work." Exchange: The
Organizaitonal Behavioral Teaching Journal 5: 50-55.
Nazia & Wajeeha
50
Kanungo RN (1981) "Work Alienation and Involvement: Problems and
Prospects" International Review of Applied Psychology, Vol 30, pp 1-15. Katz, D., and Kahn, R. L. 1978. The Social Psychology of Organizations. New
York: Wiley. Larson, Linda Lee; Murff, Elizabeth J. Tipton (June 1, 2006) An analysis of
job stress outcomes among bank internal auditors: environmental job stressors, including politics and rewards, were more stress producing than workload stressors such as time pressure .Bank Accounting & Finance Available at: http://business.highbeam.com/434984/article-1G1-147666416/analysis-jobstress-outcomes-among-bank-internal-auditors (accessed: 10th April 2010) Lazarus, RS. 1991. Psychological stress in the workplace. J Soc Behav
Personal 6(7):114 Leigh James H.; Lucas, George H. and Woodman Richard W. 1988. Effect of
Perceived Organizational and Factors on role stress Job attitude relationship. Journal of Management, 14(1) Lisa branigan (21 Dec, 2004) Stress In The Workplace. Available at: (accessed:17
http://ezinearticles.com/?Stress-In-The-Workplace&id=7439 april,2010)
McGrath, J. E. (1976). Stress and behavior in organizations., Handbook of
industrial and organizational psychology. Chicago: Rand McNally. Matteson MT and JM Ivancevich, (5th ed) (1999) Organisational Behavior and
Management. New York: McGraw Hill. Michailidis M, Georgiou Y 2005 .Employee occupational stress in banking.
Work: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment and Rehabilitation; 24(2):123-37.

Nazia & Wajeeha
51
Miller K and BH Ellis(1990) "An Integrated Model of Communication, Stress
and Burnout in the Workplace" Communication Research, Vol 17 No 3, pp 27300. Mirovisky J and E Ross (1986) "Social Patterns of Distress", Annual Review
of Sociology, Vol 12, pp 23-45. Motowidlo, Stephan J.; Packard, John S.; Manning, Michael R. (2009) '
Occupational stress: Its causes and consequences for job performance', Journal of Applied Psychology. Vol. 71(4) American Psychological Association Available at: http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/apl/71/4/618/ (accessed: 17april, 2010) Muhammad Ahmad Khan, Work stress in Korangi Pharmaceuticals. Market
Forces April 2006 Murray TJ and D Forbes, 1986. "Where Have All the Middle Managers
Gone?" Dun's Business Month, pp 31-34 Primm,Dave. (2005) "What Workplace Stress Research is Telling Technical
Communication. Technical Communication 52 449-455 Prince Thomas Stress Management among Bank Employees, B.B.A thesis
Bhavnagar University of Bhavnagar Quick, JC, LR Murphy, JJ Hurrell, and D Orman. 1992. The value of work, the
risk of distress and the power of prevention. In Stress and Well-Being: Assessment and Interventions for Occupational Mental Health, edited by JC Quick, LR Murphy, and JJ Hurrell. Washington, DC: APA press Robbins SP, (9th ed) (2001) Organisational Behavior. New Jersey: Prentice-
Hall.
Nazia & Wajeeha
52
Roberts JA, RA Lapidus and LB Chonko(1997) "Salesperson and Stress: The
Moderating Role of Locus of Control on Work Stressors and Felt Stress", Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, Vol 5 No 3, pp 93-108. Rubina Kazmi 2007, Occupational Stress and its Effects on Job Performance;
A Case Study of Medical House Officers of District Abottabad, Iqra University Islamabad. pp. Sandeep Kumar Lath. A Study of the Occupational Stress among Teachers 421-432 Research India Publications Available at:
International Journal of Educational Administration Volume 2, Number 2, (2010), http://www.ripublication.com/ijea.htm Sanyo Moosa. (2009) 'Stress at Work', stress management in work, scribd at: http://www.scribd.com/doc/12748110/Stress-Management-in-
Available
Work#about (accessed: 17 April, 2010) Schwab, Jackson, & Schuler, (1986, November). Toward an understanding of
the burnout phenomenon. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71(4), 630-640. Selye, Hans. (1978). "The general adaptation syndrome and the disease of
adaptation." Journal of clinical endocrinology. Selye H (1976) The Stress of Life. New York: McGraw Hill Selye, H. (1974). "Stress without Distress." Harper and Row Publications,
U.S.A. Stamper, C.L., Johlke, M.C. (2003). The impact of perceived organizational
support on the relationship between boundary spanner role stress and work outcomes. Journal of Management, 29(4): 569-588.
Nazia & Wajeeha
53
Steers, Richard M. (University of Oregon) (1981) Introduction to organizational behavior Goodyear Pub. Co. (Santa Monica, Calif.) Steven Mc Shane and Tony Travaglione (2003) organizational behavior on
the Pacific Rim. Mc Graw hill Australia. Thoits P(1995) "Stress, Coping, and Social Support Processes: Where are
We? What Next?, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Vol 36 No 1, pp 53-79. Von Onciul J (1996) "Stress at Work", British Medical Journal, Vol 313 No
7059, pp 745-748 Vansell, M., Brief, A.P. and Schuler, R.Strees (1981). "Role conflict and Role
ambiguity: Integration of the literature and directions for future research." Journal of Human relations, Vol.34, No.1, pp.43-66.
Bibliography
Ahmed, S. Nurala, B.S. (1985). "A Study of Stress among executives."
Journal of personality and clinical studies,Vol.1, No (2), pp.47-50. Bajpai, B.L. (1992). "Stress management." Financial Express, Bombay, June. Halt, R.R. "Occupational Stress." (1982). In Handbook of Stress: Theoretical
& Clinical Aspects. Leo Golberger & Shlome Breznats (Eds.), Free Press, London. Pestonjee D.M. (1992). "Stress and Coping the Indian Experience." Sage
Publications, New Delhi.
Nazia & Wajeeha
54
Sreelatha, P. (1991). "Stress: A Theoretical Perspective." Stress: Sources,
Effects, and Resolution Strategies and Stress Research Indian Perspective in Organisational Stress. V.S.P.Rao Eda. Sage Publishing House, New-Delhi, pp6163.
9. Appendix Questionnaire
Nazia & Wajeeha
55
W rk S s o tre s
NAME: AGE: GENDER: MARITAL STATUS
Q e tio n ire us n a
Scoring Method - Write in the score which best matches you: 1 = never, 2 = seldom, 3 = sometimes, 4 = often, 5 = nearly all the time. Question 1 How often do you feel you have too little authority to carry out your responsibilities? How often do you feel you are unclear about the scope and responsibilities of your job? How often are you unaware that opportunities for advancement and promotion exist for you? How often do you feel that your workload is too heavy and that you could not possibly finish during the ordinary work day? How often do you feel that you will not be able to satisfy the conflicting demands of various people around you? How often do you think that your workplace environment is not very pleasant or particularly safe? How often do you not know what your superior thinks of you or how he/she evaluates your performance? How often do you find yourself unable to get the information you need to perform your job? How often do you worry about making decisions that affect the lives of people you know? How often do you feel that the job causes you the physical disorders? (Like headache, backache, anxiety.etc.) Score
10
Nazia & Wajeeha
56
11
How often do you feel that you may not be liked and accepted by people at work?
12
How often do you feel unable to influence your immediate supervisors decisions and actions that affect you? How often do you not know just what the people you work for expect of you? How often do you think the amount of salary you are getting is not satisfactory? How often do you feel that you have to do things on the job that are against your better judgment? How often do you feel your job interferes with your family life? How often you are satisfied with your job performance?
13
14
15
16 17
Researcher Articles/ Essays / Research Abstract Article by Jeff Foster

Nazia & Wajeeha
57
There are any number stress management techniques and for coping with stress in general and dealing with both the physical and emotional causes for stress. There are techniques for both short-term symptoms of stress and even long-term or chronic symptoms of stress are possible. There are also a certain amount of self employed techniques that are actually or can be counterproductive in the quest for a cure. The following are some of the more typical errors. In an attempt to alleviate the tension and worry that accompany stress, some individuals can head down the wrong path will unwittingly engage in self-destructive behavior. The type of stress that can lead to being short-tempered and cause the individual behave angrily toward a friend or family member can many times be heightened by excessive alcohol drinking or even coffee drinking that results in a high intake of caffeine. Many times these dots aren't connected and the cycle continues causing more stress symptoms more often. Lack of sleep or chronic lack of sleep (insomnia) is one of the most common causes of stress. Again, the theme here is the cycle of stress itself. When something is troubling you, and you are physically uncomfortable, it's difficult to relax enough to sleep. And when you don't get enough sleep and become fatigued your patience grows shorter and you ability to reason becomes inhibited and thus the stress continues. During this type of a stress cycle, when you do manage to fall asleep, it's often interrupted during the night, or not the type of deep sleep that is genuinely restful. A heightened focus on problem solving is natural and generally a sign of good mental health. But completely obsessing, even in the face of serious issues, is counter-productive. Try to step outside the problem as if you are consoling someone or a friend who is faced with the problem. You would be concerned, of course and this will give you a different perspective of the situation. We're often much better at maintaining objectivity when the problem belongs to someone else. Some people try to cope with stress by doing the right thing for the wrong reasons. One of the techniques used to combat stress is the ability to focus on something else that takes your mind away from a stressful situation. However, burying oneself into projects at work or school as way of shifting focus away from problems at home may at best provide a change of focus, but ultimately is not a productive way to deal with the stress at home in this situation. Avoidance can only be partially successful, and only temporarily at that. Some problems do go away on their own and ignoring (or more accurately not overreacting to them) can be a viable strategy. But a reality check is the key here... the circumstances combined with the internal evaluations that lead to chronic stress do not disappear simply because we're not thinking about them. A temporary break to gain perspective and get the emotions under control is healthy. Hiding one's head in the sand is not.
Nazia & Wajeeha
58
Fundamentally, all these incorrect and unhelpful methods have a common root. Reality doesn't go away when some aspects of it are inconvenient or unpleasant. Life is filled with obstacles placed in your way. The existence of those hurdles and the need to overcome them - when combined with doubts about our ability to do so leads to stress. Learning to correctly evaluate and deal with life's obstacles leads to gaining confidence in one's ability to do so and with each hurdle overcome one's self confidence grows stronger... and stress stays on vacation.
Impact of Stress on Employees Job Performance A Study on Banking Sector of Pakistan

Usman Bashir Faculty of Management Sciences, International Islamic University Islamabad, Pakistan E-mail: bbashir.usman@gmail.com Muhammad Ismail Ramay Associate Professor, Chairman FMS Faculty of Management Sciences, International Islamic University Islamabad, Pakistan E-mail: proframay@iiu.edu.pk Abstract Bankers are under a great deal of stress and due to many antecedents of stress such as Overload, Role ambiguity, Role conflict, Responsibility for people, Participation, Lack of feedback, Keeping up with rapid technological change. Being in an innovative role, Career development, Organizational structure and climate, and Recent episodic events. One of the affected outcomes of stress is on job performance. This study examines the relationship between job stress and job performance on bank employees of banking sector in Pakistan. The study tests the purpose model in relation of job stress and its impact on job performance by using (n=144) data of graduate, senior employees including managers and customers services officers of well reputed growing bank in Pakistan. The data obtained through questioners was analyzed by statistical test correlation and regression and reliabilities were also confirmed. The results are significant with negative correlation between job stress and job performances and shows that job stress signifincently reduce the performance of an individual. The results suggest that organization should facilitate supportive culture within the working atmosphere of the organization. Results & Discussion The reliabilities of both the dependent variable and independent variable are shown in table 1(a) and table (b) which are 0.694 and .637 respectively, in table the relationship between job stress and job performance is negatively correlated at significance level of P .01 that is correlation is significant. In table 2 (a) and 2 (b) as the value of beta is -.527 that shows 52.7 means that for every one percent increase in job stress will have an effect of 52.7 effect on job performance which is negatively correlated to job stress. In other words 52.7 of job performance is being effected by job stress and the remaining by other factors. Regression analysis shows that relationship between job
Nazia & Wajeeha
59
stress and job performance is proved the value of R square .278 it shows that the impact of job stress on job performance is 27.8% is explained. The purpose of this study was to find out the relationship between the job stress and job performance of employees of banking sector in Pakistan. As per hypothesis job stress had a negative relation with job performance that when stress occurs it effects the performance of employees negatively, (Ivancevich & Donnelly, 1975) that lower the stress it increases the performance so both these are inversely proportional each other as to the results the correlation in table 2 shows both job stress and job performance is negatively correlated. Management support helps in reducing or increases stress in employees, (Stamper & Johlke ,2003) apparent organizational assistance, management support work as a cushion which acts positively in decreasing work related stress in employees. (Rose, 2003) studied the results that the stress in work environment reduces the intention of employees to perform better in jobs with the increasing level of stress the employees thinking demoralize and his tendency to work well also decreases. No doubt stress is necessary for increasing performance of employees but up to a certain level. In this study the employees do their job regularly but due to workloads and time constraints their performance reduces. Banks timing is mostly from 9am to 5pm in Pakistan but originally there is no time limit so employees have to work for longer hours as compared to other jobs which is also a reason of concern. The study was conducted only in industry that was banking sector and the impact job stress on job performance was measured only in one sector, if we want to generalize the results of this study then this study should be replicated in other sectors of Pakistan as well.
A Study on Job Stress of Nationalised and Non Nationalised Bank Employees By Prof. Dileep Kumar. M. Director Sinhgad Business School Sinhgad Technical and Educational Society Kusgoan, Lonavala, Maharashtra-410 401 E-mail: dilmail@rediffmail.com Methodology Population The population selected for this particular study is employees of Nationalised and Non-Nationalised banks in Kottayam and Ernakulam district of Kerala. Sampling The sampling population of this research includes 200 employees of nationalised and non-nationalised bank in Kottayam and Eranakulam district, of Kerala. Out of
Nazia & Wajeeha
60
which, 100 employees from Nationalised and remaining 100 from Non-Nationalised bank. This research followed the systematic random sampling method representative population. The population belongs to an age group of 30-40. Only male population considered in this research. Tool of data collection A multi dimensional analysis of job stress and coping patterns of employees is the primary focus of this research. A methodology adopted for this research is given below. The variables selected for the study are: 1. Role Conflict 2. Role Overload 3. Role Ambiguity 4. Lack of Group Cohesiveness 5. Feeling of Inequality 6. Lack of Supervisory Support 7. Constraints of Changes, Rules and Regulations 8. Job Difficulty 9. Inadequacy of Role Authority 10. Job Requirements Capability Mismatch
Objective 1. To analyse the level of occupational stress among the Nationalised and Nonnationalised bank employees. Hypothesis 1. Stress will be higher among Non-nationalise bank employees compared to nationalised bank employees Analysis and Results Table 1 Mean, SD and t-values of stress scores and coping scores of respondents with respect to their organisation. Nationalised Bank Non Nationalised Bank t Df Sl Variable N No. Mean SD Mean SD 1 Total stress 200 75.84 10.11 86.97 15.76 5.92** 198 ** Indicates significance at 0.01 level
Nazia & Wajeeha
61
The table (Table 1) indicates the significant difference between the nationalised and non-nationalised bank employees in their level of stress. The table (Table 1) indicates that the non-nationalized bank employees have high mean score (86.97) in relation to occupational stress compared to nationalized bank employees (75.84) in this particular research. This shows non-nationalise member's high-level stress compared to nationalize members. Table 2
Mean, SD and t- values of stress scores of respondents with respect to selected occupational stress variables. Variables RC FI RA RO LSS CRR JRCM IRA JD TOTAL STRESS Nationalised Bank Mean SD 10.27 3.6 6.85 2.87 9.03 2.46 12.3 3.76 9.21 2.4 6.51 1.5 5.47 1.99 5.83 1.58 4.21 1.74 75.84 10.10 Non-Nationalised Bank Mean SD 11.56 3.56 7.83 2.89 10.41 2.60 16.15 5.16 9.68 2.88 5.96 1.61 6.39 2.33 5.92 1.26 5.72 1.88 86.97 15.75 t-value 2.54 2.4 3.84 6.00 1.25 2.45 2.99 0.44 5.85 5.92 Df 198 198 198 198 198 198 198 198 198 198 P .01 0.01 0.01 0.01 >.05 0.01 0.01 >.05 0.01 0.01
The above table (Table 2) indicates that among the selected occupational stress variables role over load has the highest mean value of (12.3) followed by role conflict (10.23) in the nationalized banks. In the non-nationalized bank category also these variables have the high mean scores with 16.15 and 11.56 respectively. Job difficulty has the lowest mean score in both categories (4.21 and 5.92 respectively) followed by inadequacy of role authority (5.83 and 5.72 respectively). MAJOR FINDINGS 1. There is significant difference in the level of occupational stress between Nationalised and Non-Nationalised bank employees. 2. Occupational stress is found higher among Non-Nationalized employees compared to Nationalised employees. 3. Among different occupational stress variables Role over load, Role authority Role conflict and Lack of Senior level Support contribute more to the occupational stress among Non-Nationalized employees compared to Nationalised employees. Discussion
Nazia & Wajeeha
62
This section incorporates a short discussion, only on the first major four stress factors, widely recognised in this research finding, that in tune with the hypothesis; even though the study found significant difference at all variable selected for the study. The findings of present research are in line with the hypothesis stated above. The hypothesis stated that Stress will be higher among non nationalized banks compared to nationalized banks. The findings of the present research accept the research hypothesis, as it observed significant difference between the two sectors, in the level of organisational stress. The findings clearly indicate that stress is higher among non-nationalised bank employees compared to nationalise bank employees. The analysis of stress among nationalised and non nationalised bank employees indicates that the in both sectors the Role over load, Role authority, Role conflict and Lack of Senior level Support are the major stressors in this research. The discussion here is in line with the significant variable selected for the study. The study indicates that the non-nationalised employees have high workload compared to nationalise bank employees. The members feel that the work allotted is taxing to the employees and it is beyond their expertise and limit. Cobb (1975) has the rightly pointed out in the context that "The responsibility load creates severe stress among workers and managers." Member's confidence on his or her own performance expectations and contributions at work are affected because of hurry nature of work. A feeling of incongruity between the skills they have the workload given to them is the factor behind high stress among members in non-nationalised bank. The study indicates that the non-nationalised bank employees have high role conflict compared to nationalise bank employees. This indicates that a set of expectations applied to the incumbent by the organisation and the role they perform within the organisation is not in congruence with each other. Lower the levels of role clarity members feel at work higher the level of stress. Cooper and Marshall (1978) rightly indicates in this context that indicated that "role conflict exists when an individual in a particular work role is torn by conflicting demands or doing things he or she really does not want to-do or does not think our part of job satisfaction". In the turbulent competition status of in banking sector existence is the factor than maintenance. Members have to work under pressure, to compete with other non-nationalised banks. Member having different work skill and expertise also have to tune their work in accordance with the demand. Here the chances of role conflict and its impact will be higher. McGrath (1970), rightfully pointed out that " stress is a substantial imbalance between the environmental demand and the response capability of the focal organism." The finding of Lazarus and Folkman (1980), also substantiate the discussion that stress will generate among human beings where a particular relationship between the person and the environment, that is appraised by the person as taxing or exceeding his her resources and endangering his/her well being." The situation of non-nationalised bank employees is similar to the abovementioned findings of eminent researchers. Where there is high uncertainty about their nature of work, develop high job stress among members.
Nazia & Wajeeha
63
The study indicates that the non-nationalized bank employees have high ambiguity compared to nationalize bank employees. Higher the ambiguity related to the work and work schedule higher the occupational stress. The role ambiguity results when there low congruity between the expectations of the work behaviour and the scheduled task. There is lack of clarity about what to do, when to do, where to do and how to do. Experimental and longitudinal studies of the effects of role ambiguity reveal that lack of clarity about behavioural expectations causes a great concern with own performance, lower actual and perceived group productivity, less concern or involvement with the group, lower job satisfaction, unfavourable attitudes towards role senders, and increased tension, anxiety, depression, and resentment (Caplan and Jones, 1975). The present research is in line with the above finding that the members of non-nationalised members are facing high role ambiguity at work because of lack of clarity about behavioural expectations on work. Higher the level of ambiguity, higher the level of stress experienced by members at work. Lack of free flow information all across the hierarchical level, is the problem lead to role ambiguity at work. Role ambiguity exists when an individual has inadequate information about his work role. The study indicates that the non-nationalized bank employees have high feeling towards lack of supervisory support compared to nationalize bank employees. This indicates that the non-nationalized bank employees are not getting adequate support from the superiors in their work accomplishments and dissemination of functional duties. Lower the level of support employees obtained from the organisation higher the level of stress experienced by the employees at work. The superior's contribution to buffer the effect of work stress is found less in this research. Anoopsingh et al. (1991) rightly indicates that "Greater support from supervisors and co-workers in the workplace is strongly associated with greater feeling of well-being and any undermining from their part put the employee under irritability, anxiety, depression, and somatic disorders." Inadequate support given by the superiors and their subordinates contribute considerable stress for employees in non-nationalized bank in this research. Implications 1. Physical problems and health problems like heart diseases, ulcers, arthritis, increased frequency of drinking and smoking, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, endocrine and other stress related disorders 2. Psychological and behavioural problems: psychological problems like change of moods, inferiority complex, widespread resentment, reduced aspirations and self esteem, reduced motivation and job skills, 3. Organisational: job dissatisfaction, behavioural problems, production turn over, increased absenteeism, increased accidents, lower productivity, Recommendations To alleviate the negative consequences of stress more effort on the part of policy makers, practitioners, and organizational management envisaged. The author, there by making a few effort to suggest some effective measures, that can alleviate the
Nazia & Wajeeha
64
stress of bank employees and leads to their better adjustment within the organisation. They can be detailed as follows:
Program Stress Management Program Objective Organize a Stress Management Program that focuses on different leave categories of employees at all hierarchical level. Many situational observations of employee employer interaction identified within the organization can lead to stress at work. These include:

Relationships with co-workers An unsupportive supervisor Fear towards management Lack of consultation and communication Too much interference with employees private, social or family life Too much or too little to do Too much pressure, unrealistic deadlines Work that is too difficult or not demanding enough Lack of control over the way the work is done Poor working conditions Being in the wrong job Feeling undervalued Feeling Job difficulty Insecurity and the threat of unemployment Task
Task Organize Stress Management training programs' with specific human resource development goals in consultation with Senior Management. Prerequisites A successful Stress Management training programs' requires the involvement and support of top officials and the cooperation from employees. It depends upon a clear plan, ongoing evaluations of progress, and clear goals for measuring success. Stress management Strategies 1. Take adequate steps to redesign jobs, which are taxing to employees' abilities and capacities. 2. To reduce the workload role slimming and role adjustment process should be resorted to.
Nazia & Wajeeha
65
3. Encourage the cross-functional and interdepartmental work arrangements to reduce work related stress among low performers and low achievers. 4. Facilitate role enlargement, role linkage and role enrichment to manage role isolation, self-role distance and role erosion. 5. Adequate role clarification to be made whenever necessary to eliminate role ambiguity. 6. Introduce more job oriented training programs, which improve employees skill and their confidence to work effectively. 7. Do concentrate on career planning to manage role stagnation. 8. Encourage open channel of communication to deal work related stress. 9. Let the employee clear about hard work related reward and smart work related reward. 10. Adequate resources i.e., material, technical and human, should be extended to make employee feel safe and secure to perform their work effectively. 11. Undertake stress audit at all levels in the organization to identify stress area improving conditions of job and alleviating job stress. 12. Ensure justified use of grievance handling procedures to win trust and confidence of employees and reduce their anxiety and tension related to job related problems. 13. Encourage involvement of leaders and personnel at various levels in all phases of strategic interventions to ensure successful and long-standing interventions. 14. Formulate HRD interventions and individual stress alleviation program. 15. Introduce 'Pranayam' (Brain Stilling and control of Vital Force) as a holistic managerial strategy to deal with occupational strategy. 16. Provide counseling on work related and personnel problems and support from a team of welfare health and counseling staff. 17. Attractive system of reward and recognition of good work. 18. Ensure an organizational climate with career planning and career growth to ensure further the retention of talented employees. 19. Extent the counseling practices at employee family level including dependents and relatives. 20. Effective follow up should be made to different leave category absentee employees. 21. Organization should organize regular check up and those found suffering from very high stress should be subjected to stress management process. 22. Cut back excessive hours, which directly affect the employee's physical fitness. 23. Develop realistic self-concept among employees that is neither inflated nor deflated. 24. Encourage management to practice proactive approaches rather than reactive approaches as a strategic step. CONCLUSION The productivity of the work force is the most decisive factor as far as the success of an organisation is concerned. The productivity in turn is dependant on the psychosocial well being of the employees. In an age of highly dynamic and competitive world, man is exposed to all kinds of stressors that can affect him on all realms of life. The growing importance of interventional strategies is felt more at organisational level. This particular research was intended to study the impact of
Nazia & Wajeeha
66
occupational stress on Nationalized and Non Nationalized Bank employees. Although certain limitations were met with the study, every effort has been made to make it much comprehensive. The author expects to draw attention from policy makers and men of eminence in the related fields to resume further research.
OCCUPATIONAL STRESS AND ITS EFFECT ON JOB PERFORMANCE A CASE STUDY OF MEDICAL HOUSE OFFICERS OF DISTRICT ABBOTTABAD
Rubina Kazmi, Shehla Amjad, Delawar Khan* Department of Management Sciences, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Abbottabad, *Department of Forensic Medicine, Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad, Pakistan Background: Doctors especially house officers are under a great deal of stress related to a variety of occupational stressors. Occupational stressors contribute to organizational inefficiency, high staff turnover, absenteeism due to sickness, decreased quality, and quantity of practice, increased costs of health care, and decreased job satisfaction. One of the organizational outcomes that affected by occupational stress is job performance. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of job stress on job performance. Methods: The universe of the study is District Abbottabad and the complete population of house officers was targeted which were present at that time were 55. The data obtained through questionnaire was analyzed using the statistical methods including descriptive statistics, Spearmans correlation and multiple regression. Results: The analysis showed strong support for the hypothesis that there is an inverse relationship between job stress and job performance indicating that there is high job stress in the house officers, resulting in low job performance. Conclusion: Correct stress management should start from improved health and good intrapersonal relationships. The prevention and management of workplace stress requires organizational level interventions, because it is the organization that creates the stress. Success in managing and preventing stress will depend on the culture in the organization. A culture of openness and understanding, rather than of criticism, is essential. Those house officers who had high level of job stress had low job performance. All the factors affected male house officers more than the female house officers. Keywords: Occupational Stress, Job Stress
Nazia & Wajeeha
67
Occupational Stress and a Functional Area of an Organization

Hina Rehman* This study analyzes the relationships between relationship between occupational stress and a functional area of an organization. The study is essentially a correlation study. A randomly selected sample of 20 private and public organizations. The alpha reliability of the scale was calculated which was significant. Results show that it shows that job insecurity and stress were significantly positively correlated. It also shows that long work hours and stress were significantly positively correlated and there is a more stress in Human resource, IT as compare to accounting and marketing departments. Discussion The main objective of the study was to explore the relationship between occupational stress and functional areas of an organization. Recently, management analysts have been deeply concerned over the negative effects of job performance and the physical well- being of their employees, as it adversely affects the overall effectiveness of the 10 organization. In 1997, four industries accounted for the bulk of occupational stress cases: services, manufacturing, retail trade, and finance, insurance, and real estate. Thirty-five percent of cases of occupational stress involving days away from work were in the services industry. In comparison, 23 percent of all nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses occurred in services in 1997. Manufacturing accounted for 21 percent of occupational stress cases and retail trade for 14 percent. These proportions were lower for these industries than the comparable proportions for all injuries and illnesses. Like the services industry, finance, insurance, and real estate had a higher proportion of occupational stress cases than of all nonfatal injury and illness cases. Twelve percent of cases of occupational stress were in finance, insurance, and real estate, while only 2 percent of all injuries and illnesses were. (Industries with the most cases of occupational stress, MLR the editordesk.htm) The results were also consistent with International Labor Organization (1993) that conducted a research report on world labor and their finding assessed that occupational stress in the employees has become one of the most serious issues of the present century. So it was confirmed that higher occupational stress of the employees were increasing day by day in all over the world due to higher managerial functions and want to achieve them within a short time period. Caputo, 1991; Salter, 1991; Smith, Bybee & Raish; Hodges, 1990; conducted researches and specified that poorly defined work roles, managerial feedback which focuses on mistakes, inflexibility, outdated making employees feel personally responsible for failure, expecting too much work to be done, providing too little work or challenge, bad introduction of new technology and inadequate communication are the major causes of occupational stress. The findings of the present study can be assessed with the study of Ahmad & Ahmed (1992) which indicates that occupational stress is becoming increasingly globalize and effects all countries, all professions and all categories of workers. STRESS IN THE WORKPLACE
Nazia & Wajeeha
68
by Dave Bowman, Human Resource Expert
Every year, 30,000 Japanese workers die from "karoshi" -- they work themselves to death, according to Entrepreneur magazine. No such epidemic exists is the U.S. yet, but the medical journal, Annals of Internal Medicine, recently reported that 24 percent of workers surveyed suffered fatigue for periods longer than two weeks. Job stress was high on the list of causes for this fatigue. In fact, the United Nations' International Labor Organization indicates that 75 percent of American workers consider their jobs stressful Much of this stress results from the global competition and economic conditions that have caused reductions in force nearly everywhere in American business. Whether it's called downsizing, rightsizing, pancaking, or organizational flattening, fewer people are now having to do what previously had been accomplished by larger staffs. Employees are having to comply with greatly increased demands in terms of both quantity and quality. The trend today is to hire fewer than adequate staff and work it to the max. And the stress isn't limited to any one level of employee. Line operations people now have more responsibilities and must produce more. Managers, who used to supervise only eight or nine workers are now managing twice or three times that many. The resulting stress is causing burnout, the symptoms of which include apathy, lack of energy, irritability, errors, complaining, tardiness, absenteeism, illness, decreased motivation and substance abuse. When these symptoms appear, the smart employee and manager will begin to deal with it -- perhaps through an employee assistance program -- or the individual will spiral downward until either a resignation or termination occurs. Unfortunately, there's very little organizations can do about the global and economic conditions requiring leaner staffs, but there are many actions that can lessen the impact of stress and burnout from "do more with less." Make sure square pegs are in square holes. Sometimes people pick the wrong jobs for themselves, and managers do nothing about it. If an extrovert is in an accounting function, or an introvert is trying to be a salesperson, stress, burnout, and less than high productivity is likely to result. Also, what may cause stress for Sally may not be a problem for Sam. So management should make sure everyone is in the right job. There are many assessment instruments available to help in this process. Create worker empowerment. When employees feel they have no control over their work, stress and burnout can occur. This was the finding of a Cornell Medical College study. That doesn't mean management must totally give up control. In fact, worker control over small issues can often minimize burnout, such as prioritizing which of three things must be done first. The concept of self-managed work teams can also provide employee control over work, and free-up management as well.
Nazia & Wajeeha
69
Provide proper training. When workers don't know the best way to perform a task, anxiety and frustration results, causing stress and ultimately burnout. Employees should always know what to do and how to do it. If instruction hasn't been given, workers should ask for it. Create a listening management. Nothing reduces stress more than knowing someone is listening and caring about what is being said. Of course, action is part of this equation too, even if it's a failed attempt to deal with a worker problem. Good as these actions can be, the employee ultimately must deal with his or her own stress and burnout. So, here are some suggestions for creating a more mellow workplace

Get to the office 15 minutes earlier every day, thus taking the "rush" out of the morning. Don't trust your memory, write everything down. Try not to overschedule yourself or your projects. Don't promise what you can't easily deliver. Be realistic regarding your standards. Don't set them beyond your reach. Maintain your humor. Even a disaster can be funny. Plan "B" should always be ready. Blow off steam. Get things off your chest. Take some quiet time for meditation or deep breathing, particularly when you feel stress building. Each evening, prioritize activities for the next day. Establish deadlines for yourself, and stick to them. Before making or taking a phone call, ask yourself, "Is this call really necessary?" Eliminate or deflect drop-in visitors that waste your time. Try to avoid rush hour by changing your work schedule. Ask yourself if a job can be delegated to someone else. Don't always say "yes" to tasks thrown your way. Decide if a meeting is really necessary. Are there alternate ways to distribute or collect information? Try to see the other person's point of view. Listen and gain insight. Stay positive. Focus on the resources you have, instead of those you lack.
With individual awareness of workplace stress and how to control it, employees at all levels of organizations can be healthier, happier and more productive -- even in these lean and mean times.
Work Stress May Be Killing You

by: Amy Twain Work is by far the primary root of stress in our daily lives. 9 out of 10 individuals declare that they experience such high levels of stress numerous times per week. More often than not, 1 out of 4 of us have experienced high levels of pressure on a day to day basis. And if you ask some people if their jobs or work is stressful, chances are, you will most likely hear an emphatic, Man,
Nazia & Wajeeha
70
is it ever! What you might not be aware of is that work stress might in fact, be already adversely affecting your health and well being. Being stressed actually affects the human body in so many various ways. Whilst there are certain types of strain that can be beneficial, others could cause some serious problems in health. Main stress related health problems also include cancer, hypertension, insomnia, warts, coronary heart disease, ulcers, migraine headaches, certain cases of female infertility, and the common cold. Whats even more scary is that job or work stress is becoming an all-time high and still continues to elevate. The average worker now works at least 60 hours per week and that means more and more hours rendered at the workplaces and more hours of prolonged stressful environment and lesser time to relax or rest; so gone are the days of rendering 40 hours per week at work. Over $400 billion dollars per year is now being spent on stress related illnesses. Work stress even intrudes up to our vacation time. According to Anderson Consulting, 80% of individuals who took their vacations last 2000 still kept in touch with their workplaces by bringing along with them their cellphones and laptops. Chronic stress debilitates the human bodys physiological systems which can lead to so many health problems. As a matter of fact, 70 to 80 percent of all sickness and diseases are related to strain. There are in fact numerous factors you could use in order for you to find out if indeed, you suffer from chronic stress. Some warning signs and symptoms of chronic stress consists of anxiety, headaches, back pain (most especially in the neck or shoulders), insomnia and teeth-grinding. If you found out that you are afflicted with chronic stress, there are just so many things you could do to minimize pressure. Some of the good and effective strain management methods include meditation, relaxation exercises or just by taking a short catnap. If you are currently at the office or your workstation and you have to lessen stressful moments, try taking a short break, chatting with a chum or workmate, or try deep abdominal breathing. Your job environment could also cause a great deal of strain if its crowded, noisy, etc. Also, assess and evaluate the responsibilities of your job. Usually, high responsibility jobs could be a considerable source of pressure. Consequently, almost every work is quite stressful. But by identifying and effectively dealing with it, its highly possible that you could decrease the negative effects and enjoy a healthier and more productive life.
Banks Under Stress Jan Schuijer Recent developments in the banking world have been turbulent. During the past decade banks have had to cope with deregulation, liberalisation and de-specialisation'. New competitors have entered the market as cross-border restrictions have been lifted. Demarcation lines between financial sectors (commercial banks, savings banks, securities firms, insurance) have become blurred. Technological developments have eroded statutory and physical barriers between countries and sectors. Yet the opening-up of the financial industry has not led to a new era of bank prosperity. Although the pattern is far from uniform among countries, the financial evolution of the 1980s has put the banking industry under a considerable. degree stress.
Nazia & Wajeeha
71
OCCUPATIONAL STRESS AND COPING MECHANISM TO INCREASE JOB SATISFACTION AMONG SUPERVISORS AT KARACHI PHARMACEUTICALS
M.A. KHAN, AMBER RAZA College of Management Sciences PAF-Karachi Institute of Economics and Technology
UZMA ALI Institute of Clinical Psychology University of Karachi
This research explores the extent of stress and coping mechanism, in pharmaceuticals based in Korangi and other industrial areas in Karachi. The research is based on a previous study conducted by MA Khan (2006). The findings substantiate the view that coping mechanism increases job satisfaction of supervisors in the sampled firms. The design of the research is based on the measurement of the Organizational Stress Index. The data collected and analyzed is both from national and multinational pharmaceutical companies. Major causes of job stress have been identified as task demand, role demand and organizational structure. In Korangi area there is no significant difference in overall stress and job satisfaction levels between national and multinational pharmas. In the non Korangi sample job satisfaction is higher and job stress level in the multinationals is lower than in national pharmacy.
Nazia & Wajeeha
72

JOB STRESS AMONG EMPLOYEES AT STATE BANK OF PAKISTAN (SBP), An Exploratory Study, in Karachi.

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

JOB STRESS AMONG EMPLOYEES AT STATE BANK OF PAKISTAN (SBP), An Exploratory Study, in Karachi.

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Job Stress Among Employees At State Bank Of Pakistan; An Exploratory Study In Karachi

BRP Report/fall 2010

Hamdard Institute of Management & Sciences | Mariam Imran,

Nazia & Wajeeha

BRP Report/fall 2010

Hamdard Institute of Management & Sciences | Mariam Imran,

Nazia & Wajeeha

BRP Report/fall 2010

Hamdard Institute of Management & Sciences | Mariam Imran,

Nazia & Wajeeha

BRP Report/fall 2010

Hamdard Institute of Management & Sciences | Mariam Imran,

Nazia & Wajeeha

BRP Report/fall 2010

Nazia & Wajeeha

BRP Report/fall 2010

1-2. Introduction of the state bank of Pakistan:

Hamdard Institute of Management & Sciences | Mariam Imran,

Nazia & Wajeeha

BRP Report/fall 2010

Hamdard Institute of Management & Sciences | Mariam Imran,

BRP Report/fall 2010

21. 22. 23. 24.

Hamdard Institute of Management & Sciences | Mariam Imran,

Nazia & Wajeeha

BRP Report/fall 2010

Hamdard Institute of Management & Sciences | Mariam Imran,

Nazia & Wajeeha

BRP Report/fall 2010

Hamdard Institute of Management & Sciences | Mariam Imran,

Nazia & Wajeeha

BRP Report/fall 2010

2. LITERATURE REVIEW 2-1. Introduction

Hamdard Institute of Management & Sciences | Mariam Imran,

Nazia & Wajeeha

BRP Report/fall 2010

Nazia & Wajeeha

BRP Report/fall 2010

2-3. Occupational Stress

Nazia & Wajeeha

BRP Report/fall 2010

Nazia & Wajeeha

BRP Report/fall 2010

2-4. Factors of Stress

Hamdard Institute of Management & Sciences | Mariam Imran,

Nazia & Wajeeha

BRP Report/fall 2010

Nazia & Wajeeha

BRP Report/fall 2010

Hamdard Institute of Management & Sciences | Mariam Imran,

Nazia & Wajeeha

BRP Report/fall 2010

Nazia & Wajeeha

BRP Report/fall 2010

Hamdard Institute of Management & Sciences | Mariam Imran,

Nazia & Wajeeha

BRP Report/fall 2010

2-5. Effects of Job Stress

Hamdard Institute of Management & Sciences | Mariam Imran,

Nazia & Wajeeha

BRP Report/fall 2010

Hamdard Institute of Management & Sciences | Mariam Imran,

Nazia & Wajeeha