CORRELATION BETWEEN OCCUPATIONAL STRESS AND JOB PERFORMANCE

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), occupational stress is a worldwide epidemic that adversely impacts employees in various countries. More importantly, the problem of occupational stress is not limited to advanced countries like the US, UK, Canada, and other European nations; it also affects employees in developing countries like India. This is particularly true for IT organizations. Due to increasing trends of occupational pressure and severe competition for success, IT organizations have emerged as a new business area where employee stress has become a significant concern.

Occupational stress has adverse effects on employees in various ways, such as leading to dysfunctional behaviors and contributing to poor physical and mental health. It leaves a detrimental impact on employees who are under excessive work pressure or other workplace demands. In today’s business and corporate world, the problems of occupational stress are nearly impossible to avoid and have been identified as one of the most common perils of modern times. It is a major issue for organizations because those with highly stressed employees are more likely to be unsuccessful in the market.

Occupational stress can have a direct effect on the job performance of employees in any organization. To some extent, occupational stress may result in improved job performance, but beyond a certain level, occupational stress and its accumulation will create adverse effects on employees' job performance. Consequently, employees in IT organizations who work in highly stressful environments may feel tired and depressed. Severe levels of occupational stress can also cause physical issues like high blood pressure, and hearing and sight problems, and may lead to mental disorders among employees. These mental and physical health problems not only affect employees' performance but also negatively impact organizational productivity.

According to some experts and social researchers, a certain level of stress is necessary to develop physical and mental abilities. A slight amount of stress can make employees more creative, innovative, and alert to their responsibilities at work. Up to a manageable level, occupational stress allows employees to learn new skills and acquire new knowledge to cope with adverse organizational conditions. These are positive outcomes that contribute to employees' overall development and self-satisfaction.

However, if occupational stress exceeds a certain threshold or goes beyond employees' capacity to handle it, it leads to undesirable and harmful situations, resulting in physical and mental disorders. This situation is known as distress. It is said that a low degree of occupational stress can lead to negative outcomes such as lack of motivation, and disinterest in assigned tasks, and negatively affect both employee performance and organizational productivity. On the other hand, moderate levels of occupational stress may foster a positive and productive work environment, helping employees improve their performance and enhancing organizational productivity.

However, from a medical perspective, stress hurts the human body and its subsystems, including the nervous system, immune system, and blood pressure. Occupational stress affects employees in various ways, causing physical symptoms such as headaches, back pain, restlessness, loss of appetite, and respiratory disorders. Additionally, psychological effects include tension, anxiety, fear, depression, loss of concentration, loss of self-confidence, nervousness, and more.

Behavioral acts such as arguing, crying, conflicting attitudes, sleep disorders, burnout, etc., are also some of the noticeable adverse effects of occupational stress on employees. Additionally, due to heavy occupational stress, there may be an increase in absenteeism, a decrease in commitment to the assigned job, and a rise in the attrition rate of employees, particularly in Information Technology organizations. Thus, occupational stress not only hurts employees' physical, psychological, and behavioral conditions but also negatively affects the organization. The main adverse impacts of occupational stress are as follows:

i) Substandard Job Performance:

Occupational stress has an adverse impact on the job performance of employees, resulting in low productivity for the entire organization because all functions of the organization are carried out by the employees.

ii) Attitude Change:

Employees who experience highly stressful situations over extended periods may undergo many attitude changes. Due to heavy work stress, they may begin to think negatively. Moreover, they may develop lower morale and dissatisfaction with their job. As a result of heavy occupational stress, they are often unable to maintain friendly and cordial relationships with coworkers and management officials.

iii) Withdrawal Behavior:

Heavy occupational stress also negatively impacts employee behavior. Consequently, there is an increase in absenteeism, higher employee attrition, and an overall negative effect on the internal environment of the organization.

Employee productivity is directly related to employee health. Good health conditions result in optimal productivity. However, heavy occupational stress proves harmful, especially for IT employees, leading to compromised health and reduced productivity. Increased absenteeism, negligence of work responsibilities, productivity loss, higher employee turnover, more mistakes in assigned tasks, memory loss, complaints, various psychological problems, irritability, frustration, eating disorders, excessive smoking, and alcohol consumption are some of the significant outcomes of occupational stress. One employee suffering from heavy occupational stress can sometimes jeopardize the security of other employees. Occupational stress also adversely affects teamwork, employee well-being, and overall organizational performance.

At a personal level, occupational stress can have devastating effects on the physical and psychological health of employees, severely damaging their well-being. It can diminish employee confidence, resulting in a loss of ability and capacity to cope with challenging tasks and changing social situations. Occupational stress can also impair an employee's ability to concentrate on their job, leading to poor performance, lack of career opportunities, and even loss of employment.

At an organizational level, occupational stress can significantly affect productivity and efficiency. It increases organizational expenses related to the medical treatment of employees suffering from stress-induced sickness. Heavy occupational stress at the organizational level can lead to decreased job performance due to low motivation, higher employee turnover (resulting in increased recruitment and training costs), workers' compensation, and other legal expenditures. Occupational stress often indicates job dissatisfaction among employees. Therefore, the best approach for an organization is to recognize the harmful effects of occupational stress on employees. By doing so, the organization can prevent the dangers of occupational stress and its impact on employees' physical and psychological well-being. If employees are severely affected by occupational stress, it will inevitably harm the organization's health as well.

You can refer to the following articles for further reading, as well as additional links to more articles related to job stress and stress management.

Amiri, M. (2024). Occupational stress in the workplace. LAP Lambert Academic Publishing.

Singh, M. M., Amiri, M., & Sabbarwal, S. (2019). Role of job stress on job satisfaction. International Journal of Management Studies, 6(4), 57-60.

Amiri, M. Occupational stress and its management a comparative study of information technology IT employees in Pune and Chandigarh.

Sabbarwal, S., Singh, M. M., & Amiri, M. (2017). Occupational stress on employees in information technology organizations. Asian journal of social sciences & humanities, 6(3).

Amiri, M. (2018). Occupational Stress among Information Technology Employees in Chandigarh city. In National Conference on New Approaches to Management, Economics, & Accounting, Tehran, Iran.

Amiri, M. (2019). Occupational stress factors at the workplace. In Conference on Social and Management Sciences (pp. 1-8).