Impact of Stress Management on Employee Productivity in Polytechnics in Delta State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated the impact of stress management on employee productivity in Polytechnics in Delta State. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design and the four owned public polytechnics were used in the study. The population of the study was 8,365 which comprised academic and non-academic staff. The sample size comprised 381 respondents which was determined using Taro Yamane's sample size determination. The instrument used in the collection of data was the questionnaire and data were analysed using frequency counts, simple percentage, mean and Pearson product moment correlation. Findings showed that the main causes of stress among employees in Polytechnics in Delta State were long work hour, increased work load/long working hours, inability to meet deadline, non-conducive working environment. The major stress management adopted by employees was flexible work time, going on vacation/sabbatical leave, breaking challenging pieces of work into smaller sets of task, seeking more information in order to clarify ambiguous role expectations. Stress management had significant positive relationship with employee productivity (r = 0.264**; p<0.05). It was recommended that employees should be given leave as and when due and those teaching staff who are entitled to sabbatical should be given as this could serve as a way of managing stress in order to avoid physical and psychological strain that could emanate from stress.