1.

2 Objectives of the study

The general objective of the study is to determine the effects of stress on
employees performance The specific objectives of the study are to:
1. Determine what constitutes stress at work?
2. Examine the effects of employees job stress on performance.
3. Examine how workers cope with stress factors at work
Literature Review
A mainstream group of employees articulated that their organizations did not care
for its employees and sometimes employees dont like to work with their
organizations indicating high levels of stress among them and majority were
between the age brackets of 26-35 years. Misfit with organization, no part in
decision making, were reported main causes of stress as well no control over work
environment, personality traits, lack of relaxation along with ambiguous rules affect
employees performance
(Meneze 2005).better managed employees are more cooperative and serve as
assets for an organization and when their stress is ignored by the employer the
results are increased absenteeism, cost, low productivity, low motivation and
usually legal financial damages. (The Office of Radiation, Chemical and Biological
Safety, 1999).
Employees in the following ratios reported that their job is source of large amount
of stress they experienced, 33%, and 77% articulated that they remain always or
sometimes in stress during last 12 months, 23% reported that rarely experienced
stress during their job. Many workers express that their job is prominent source of
stress in their life but reduced workload, improve management and supervision,
better pay, benefits, and vacation times can reduce the stress among employees
(Thomson, 2006).
Stress is a universal experience in the life of each and every employee even
executives and managers. It is estimated that about 100 million workdays are being
lost due to stress and nearly 50% to 75% disease are related to stress (Bashir).
Stress results in high portion of absence and loss of employment. the ratio of stress
affectees in organization are increasing on alarming rate which effects both the
employee performance and goal achievement (Treven 2002).

INTRODUCTION TO STRESS
INTRODUCTION

Stress is a part of day-to-day living of every individual. The college students may
experience stress in meeting the academic demands, people on the job, business men may suffer
stress to reach office in time and to complete the projects on time and even the house hole ladies
may experience stress in managing the home affairs and to look for the maid servant. The
reasons for the stress differ from person to person. The stress people experience should not be
necessarily treated as harmful. An optimum amount of stress can always act as an energizer or
motivator and propel people to apply the efforts and complete the work. But a high level of stress
can be serious threat to the personality trails of the individual and can cause physiological and
social problems.

What is Stress?

Stress is the "wear and tear" our bodies experience as we adjust to our continually changing
environment; it has physical and emotional effects on us and can create positive or negative

feelings.

STRESS UNDERSTADING
Three potential sources of stress:

Environmental Factors

Organizational Factors

Individual Factors

Environmental Factors:

Economic uncertainty is created when there is a change in the business cycle. That is
when people become anxious about their security. This uncertainty not only affects the stress
level of the organization but also to design of the organisation. By the coming up to the new
innovations in the field of technology
like computers, robotics, automation etc. It has become a threat to many people, which causes
stress. This type of uncertainty is called Technology Uncertainty.
Organizational Factors:
There is no storage of factors within the organization that can cause
stress.
These are categorized into:
Task Demands
Role Demands
Interpersonal demands
Organizational Demands
Organizational Leadership
Organizations Life Stage

Task Demands: Task demands are factors related to a persons job. They include the design of the
individuals job (autonomy, task variety, degree of automation). Working conditions, and the
physical work layout. Working in an overcrowded room or in a visible location where
interruptions are constant can increase anxiety and stress
Interpersonal Demands: Interpersonal demands are pressures created by other employees. Lack
of social support from colleagues and poor interpersonal relationships can cause considerable
stress, especially among employees with a high social need.

Organizational Structure: Organizational Structure defines the level of differentiation in the

organization, the degree of rules and regulations, and where decisions are made.
CAUSES OF WORK PLACE STRESS
Job stress results from the interaction of the worker and the conditions of work. Views differ on
the importance of worker characteristics versus working conditions as the primary cause of job
stress. The differing viewpoints suggest different ways to prevent stress at work. According to
one school of thought, differences in individual characteristics such as personality and coping
skills are most important in predicting whether certain job conditions will result in stress-in other
words, what is stressful for one person may not be a problem for someone else. This viewpoint
leads to prevention strategies that focus on workers and ways to help them cope with demanding
job conditions. Although the importance of individual differences cannot be ignored, scientific
evidence suggests that certain working conditions are stressful to most people. Such evidence
argues for a greater emphasis on working conditions as the key source of job stress, and for job
redesign as a primary prevention strategy. Personal interview surveys of working conditions,
including conditions recognized as risk factors for job stress, were conducted in Member States
of the European Union in 1990, 1995, and 2000. Results showed a trend across these periods
suggestive of increasing work intensity. In 1990, the percentage of workers reporting that they
worked at high speeds at least one-quarter of their working time was 48%, increasing to 54% in
1995 and to 56% in 2000. Similarly, 50% of workers reported they work against tight deadlines
at least one-fourth of their working time in 1990, increasing to 56% in 1995 and 60 % in 2000.
However, no change was noted in the period 19952000 (data not collected in 1990) in the
percentage of workers reporting sufficient time to complete tasks. A substantial percentage of
Americans work very long hours. By one estimate, more than 26% of men and more than 11% of
women worked 50 hours per week or more in 2000. These figures represent a considerable
increase over the previous three decades, especially for women. According to the Department of
Labor, there has been an upward trend in hours worked among employed women, an increase in
extended work weeks (>40 hours) by men, and a considerable increase in combined working
hours among working couples, particularly couples with young children. Job stress may be
caused by a complex set of reasons. Some of the most visible causes of workplace stress are:

JOB INSECURITY
Organized workplaces are going through metamorphic changes under intense
economic transformations and consequent pressures. Reorganizations, takeovers,
mergers, downsizing and other changes have become major stressors for
employees, as companies try to live up to the competition to survive. These

reformations have put demand on everyone, from a CEO to a mere executive.

HIGH DEMAND FOR PERFORMANCE
Unrealistic expectations, especially in the time of corporate reorganizations,
which, sometimes, puts unhealthy and unreasonable pressures on the employee,
can be a tremendous source of stress and suffering. Increased workload, extremely
long work hours and intense pressure to perform at peak levels all the time for the
same pay, can actually leave an employees physically and emotionally drained.
Excessive travel and too much time away from family also contribute to an

employee's stressors.
TECHNOLOGY
The expansion of technologycomputers, pagers, cell phones, fax machines and
the Internethas resulted in heightened expectations for productivity, speed and
efficiency, increasing pressure on the individual worker to constantly operate at
peak performance levels. Workers working with heavy machinery are under
constant stress to remain alert. In this case both the worker and their family
members live under constant mental stress. There is also the constant pressure to
keep up with technological breakthroughs and improvisations, forcing employees

to learn new software all the times.

WORKPLACE CULTURE
Adjusting to the workplace culture, whether in a new company or not, can be
intensely stressful. Making one adapt to the various aspects of workplace culture
such as communication patterns, hierarchy, dress code if any, workspace and most
importantly working and behavioral patterns of the boss as well as the coworkers, can be a lesson of life. Maladjustment to workplace cultures may lead to
subtle conflicts with colleagues or even with superiors. In many cases office
politics or gossips can be major stress inducers.

PERSONAL OR FAMILY PROBLEMS

Employees going through personal or family problems tend to carry their worries
and anxieties to the workplace. When one is in a depressed mood, his unfocused

attention or lack of motivation affects his ability to carry out job responsibilities.
JOB STRESS AND WOMEN
Women may suffer from mental and physical harassment at workplaces, apart
from the common job stress. Sexual harassment in workplace has been a major
source of worry for women, since long. Women may suffer from tremendous
stress such as 'hostile work environment harassment', which is defined in legal
terms as 'offensive or intimidating behavior in the workplace'. This can consist of
unwelcome verbal or physical conduct. These can be a constant source of tension
for women in job sectors. Also, subtle discriminations at workplaces, family
pressure and societal demands add to these stress factors.

EFFECTS OF STRESS

The death of a loved one

Divorce

Loss of a job

Increase in financial obligations

Getting married

Moving to a new home

Chronic illness or injury

Emotional problems (depression, anxiety, anger, grief, guilt, low self-esteem)

Taking care of an elderly or sick family member

Traumatic event, such as a natural disaster, theft, rape, or violence against you or a loved
one

Sometimes the stress comes from inside, rather than outside. You can stress yourself out just by
worrying about things. All of these factors can lead to stress:

Fear and uncertainty. When you regularly hear about the threat of terrorist attacks, global
warming, and toxic chemicals on the news, it can cause you to feel stressed, especially
because you feel like you have no control over those events. And even though disasters
are typically very rare events, their vivid coverage in the media may make them seem as
if they are more likely to occur than they really are. Fears can also hit closer to home,
such as being worried that you won't finish a project at work or won't have enough
money to pay your bills this month.

Attitudes and perceptions. How you view the world or a particular situation can
determine whether it causes stress. For example, if your television set is stolen and you
take the attitude, "It's OK, my insurance company will pay for a new one," you'll be far
less stressed than if you think, "My TV is gone and I'll never get it back! What if the
thieves come back to my house to steal again?" Similarly, people who feel like they're
doing a good job at work will be less stressed out by a big upcoming project than those
who worry that they are incompetent.

Unrealistic expectations. No one is perfect. If you expect to do everything right all the
time, you're destined to feel stressed when things don't go as expected.

Change. Any major life change can be stressful -- even a happy event like a wedding or a
job promotion. More unpleasant events, such as a divorce, major financial setback, or
death in the family can be significant sources of stress.

Your stress level will differ based on your personality and how you respond to situations. Some
people let everything roll off their back. To them, work stresses and life stresses are just minor
bumps in the road. Others literally worry themselves sick.
Individual and Organizational Approach in Managing Stress
October 8, 2008 Human Resource Management
From the organizations standpoint, management may not be concerned when employee
experience is low to moderate levels of stress. The reason is that such levels of stress may be
functional and lead to higher employee performance. But high levels of stress, or even low levels
sustained over long periods, can lead to reduced employee performance and, thus, require action
by management
Although a limited amount of stress may benefit an employees performance, do not expect
employees to see it that way. From the individuals standpoint, even low levels of stress are
likely to be perceived as undesirable. It is not unlikely therefore, for employees and management
to have different notions of what constitutes an acceptable level of stress on the job. What
management may consider to be a positive stimulus that keeps the adrenalin running is very
likely to be seen as excessive pressure by the employee. Keep this in mind as we discuss
individual and organizational approaches toward managing stress.
Individual Approaches: An employee can take personal responsibility for reducing stress levels.
Individual strategies that have proven effective include implementing time-management
techniques, increasing physical exercise, relaxation training and expanding the social support
network.
Many people manage their time poorly. The well-organized employee, like the well organized
student, can often accomplish twice as much as the person who is poorly organized. So an
understanding and utilization of basic time management principles can help individuals better
cope with tensions created by job demands. A few of the more well-known time management
principles are: (1) making daily lists of activities to be accomplished (2) prioritizing activities by
importance and urgency; (3) scheduling activities according to the priorities set; and (4) knowing

your daily cycle and handling the most demanding parts of your job during the high part of your
cycle when you are most alert and productive.
Non-competitive physical exercises such as aerobics, walking, jogging, swimming and riding a
bicycle have long been recommended by physicians as a way to deal with excessive stress levels.
These forms of physical exercise increase heart capacity lower the at-rest heart rate provide
mental diversion from work pressures, and offer a means to let off steam.
Individuals can teach themselves to reduce tension through relaxation techniques such as
meditation, hypnosis and biofeedback. The objectives to reach a state of deep relaxation, in
which one feels physically relaxed somewhat detached from the immediate environment and
detached from body sensations. Deep relaxation for 15 or 20 minutes a day releases tension and
provides a person with a pronounced sense of peacefulness. Importantly, significant changes in
heart rate, blood pressure, and other physiological factors result from achieving the conditions of
deep relaxation.
As we noted earlier having friends, family to or work colleagues to talk to provides an outlet
when stress levels become excessive. Expanding your social support network therefore can be a
means for tension reduction. It provides you with someone to hear your problems and to offer a
more objective perspective on the situation.
Organizational Approaches: Several of the factors that case stress particularly task and role
demands are controlled by management. As such, they can be modified or changed. Strategies
that management might want to consider include improved personal section and job placement,
training use of realistic goal setting redesigning of jobs, increased employee involvement
improved organizational communication, offering employee sabbaticals and establishment of
corporate wellness programs.
Certain jobs are more stressful than others but, individuals differ in their response to stressful
situation.

We know, for example, that individuals with little experience or an external locus of control tend
to be more prone to stress. Selection and placement decisions should take these facts into
consideration. Obviously, management shouldnt restrict hiring to only experienced individuals
with an internal locus, but such individuals may adapt better to high stress jobs and perform
those jobs more effectively. Similarly, training can increase an individuals self efficacy and thus
lessen job strain.