OCCUPATIONAL STRESS AND HOW IT INFLUENCES EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE AMONG PUBLIC SERVANTS IN UGANDA

Abstract

The study attempted to unravel the influence of occupational stress to employee performance. The findings revealed that 97.6% of respondents have experienced stress at their place of work. 60% of respondents attributed occupational stress to work overload, 31.7% reported stress arising from negative work relations, 21.9% reported role ambiguity and conflict as a source of stress and 14.6% reported long hours as a source of stress. Other minor causes of stress include lack of job security, low salaries, and facilitation, which in turn creates financial strains, hence the occupational stress. Findings further show that occupational stress has an effect on the employee at work. 51.2% reported a fall in their job performance as a result of stress, 29.2% reported psychological effects like mood swings, feelings of anger towards other employees, and frequent arguments with co-workers, and 19,5% reported physiological effects which include excessive perspiration, frequent headaches, and nausea coupled with fatigue. Occupational stress has an effect on the organization itself. 41.5% of respondents observed a decline in the overall performance of employees who experience occupational stress due to the delays observed in the execution of tasks at the organization. 26.8% reported a fall in timely and quality service delivery from the organization. A few respondents reported no significant effect noticed on the organization, in fact, it improved service delivery and performance. Using relaxation techniques like listening to music and watching soccer as a means of managing occupational stress, 22% of respondents utilized social support networks like counseling and interacting with colleagues, and 29.3% had to improve on-time management in order to manage occupational stress. The study recommends more personal and group wellness programs, improvement in workplace communication and working environment, redesigning of jobs and their description to reduce on job ambiguity hence managing occupation stress.