a study on role of occcupational stress on employees productivity-2

International Journal of Management (IJM), ISSN 0976 – 6502(Print), ISSN 0976 - 6510(Online),

Volume 6, Issue 1, January (2015), pp. 560-572 © IAEME

560 G.Indhu Mathi & M.Thirumakkal, “A Study on Role of Occupational Stress on Employees Productivity” – (ICAM 2015)

A STUDY ON ROLE OF OCCUPATIONAL STRESS ON

EMPLOYEES PRODUCTIVITY

G. Indhu mathi

Student, Department of Management Studies,

Sri Manakula Vinayagar College of Engineering and Technology – Pudhucherrry.

M. Thirumakkal

Student, Department of Management Studies,

Sri Manakula Vinayagar College of Engineering and Technology – Pudhucherrry

ABSTRACT

The goal of the study was to investigate the impact of stress on productivity of employees at

the Pothys boutique, a textile showroom. According to dean, stress related illness have been a leading

cause for low productivity levels in the work place. Immense pressure at work has led to stress which

makes it the number one factor that has lead to illness and dissatisfaction towards the organisation.

For this study Descriptive study was utilized, as the main goal was to find the impact of stress on

productivity in the organisation was concerned. Thus the study helped to elucidate descriptive

information on the impact of stress on employees at the Pothys boutique, and gave specific details

about the phenomena in question. Research was conducted within the frame work of the survey .The

sampling used for this study is stratified random sampling. The respondents in this study were the 80

employees at the Pothys boutique who were employed during the period of the study. Questionnaires

were designed and distributed to all the sections at the Pothys boutique.

From the results obtained it was evident that there were many stress factors that the

employees at Pothys boutique endured, and the enquiry proved that the impact of stress affected

productivity negatively .The fact that the majority of the employees thought that the organisation did

not care about them was a reflection of huge dissatisfaction that undoubtedly lowered productivity.

Keywords: Occupational Stress, Productivity, Employee, Impact, Pothys, Boutique Productivity

Levels.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT (IJM)

ISSN 0976-6502 (Print)

ISSN 0976-6510 (Online)

Volume 6, Issue 1, January (2015), pp. 560-572

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INTRODUCTION

Occupational stress is stress involving work. Occupational stress is a major hazard for many

workers. Increased workloads, downsizing, overtime, hostile work environments, and shift work are

just a few of the many causes of stressful working conditions.

Occupational stress can affect your health when the stressors of the workplace exceed the

employee’s ability to have some control over their situation or to cope in other ways.

"Stress" when we feel that everything seems to have become too much - we are overloaded and

wonder whether we really can cope with the pressures placed upon us.

When we are stressed the following happens:

• Blood pressure rises

• Breathing becomes more rapid

• Digestive system slows down

• Heart rate (pulse) rises

• Immune system goes down

• Muscles become tense

• We do not sleep (heightened state of alertness)

Stress Factors

1. Lack of recognition & financial rewards 2. Inflexibility work hours

3. Personal issues 4. Work family conflicts

5. Low control over work environment 6. Livelihood facilities

7. Physical strain 8. Psychosocial risk factors

9. Career 10. Job burn out

Productivity Factors

1. Work Performance 2. Behavioral changes

3. Work engagement 4. Loss of productivity

5. Labour turn over

Objectives of the Study

• To study the stressful environment of employee in Pothys boutique

• To identify the impact of occupational stress on employee productivity

• To study the relationship between stress factors and employee’s productivity

• To analyze the major factors influence stress

• To suggest ways to reduce stress among employees & increase productivity

Effect on your body

• A tendency to sweat

• Back pain

• Chest pain

Effect on your behavior

• Eating too much

• Eating too little

• Food cravings




RESEARCH PROBLEM

This study is done to find out the occupational stress of the employees in the work place and

how it affects the productivity of the employees in “POTHYS BOUTIQUE”.

It has been noticed that the employees in textiles showroom has been undergoing the stress in

higher rate and has certain impact on productivity .Thus suggesting the organisation in which they

have to concentrate more and improve the necessary areas for reducing stress among employees in

organisation This study helps to know the importance of occupational stress in the textile showrooms.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

Occupational stress factors are very important to be identified in an organisation and also the

factors that relate to increasing the effects of stress in the workplace. In addition to that the

occupational stress factors help us to identify the impact on productivity of employees, exploring

health protection, physical illness and psychological factors in the work place. This study helps the

organisation to know about the A. Stress of employees B. Impact of occupational stress over

productivity.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Field Work and Collection of Data

Primary Data

The primary data are collected from the employees of POTHYS BOUTIQUE CHENNAI

through a direct structured questionnaire.

Secondary Data

Company profiles, websites, magazines, articles, journals, etc were used widely as a support

to primary data.

Data Collection Tool

The data required for this study were collected from primary data and secondary data. The

primary data were collected mainly from the questionnaire.

Questionnaire

The questions were framed using the rating scale (Likert scale), Open ended questions, and

Closed ended questions. The questionnaire is designed based on three Factors

SECTION A: Personal Information Contains 11 Questions.

SECTION B: Stress Factors Contains 10 Parts & 47 Questions.

SECTION C: Productivity Factors Contains 5 Parts & 15 Questions.




The sampling technique used in this study is stratified random sampling, the strata are formed

based on members' shared attributes or characteristics. A random sample from each stratum is taken

in a number proportional to the stratum's size when compared to the population. These subsets of the

strata are then pooled to form a random sample. Here strata are each sections or floors in Pothys

boutique.

Population The total population size is 800 (employees working in Pothys boutique approximation)

Sample Size

The item selected from population constitutes the sample size. In this study, the Sample size

is 80 respondents (10 % of population).

Data Analysis

Table 1 :Demographic Profile of The Respondents

S.No Demographic variables Particulars No.of.respondants Percentage

1. Gender Female 42 52.5

Male 38 47.5

2. Age

15-20 15 18.8

21-30 57 71.3

30 above 8 10.0

3. Highest Level of Education

5th - 10th standard 29 36.3

10th-12th standard 36 45.0

Degree 11 13.8

None of the above 4 5.0

4. Home Town

Thiruvanamalai 13 16.3

Tirunelveli 6 7.5

Tutucorin 6 7.5

Thanjavur 18 22.5

Chennai 4 5.0

Others 33 41.3

5. Marital Status

Single/never been married 58 72.5

Married 18 22.5

Separated 4 5.0

6. Experience

0-12 months 29 36.3

1-5years 49 61.3

More than 8 years 2 2.5

7. Elder one No 56 70.0

Yes 24 30.0

8. Native

Urban 13 16.3

Sub urban 4 5.0

Rural 63 78.8

9. Source of Income No 31 38.8

Yes 49 61.3




CALCULATION OF OVERALL TOTAL SCORE FOR OCCUPATIONAL STRESS

Total Score

The total score using SPSS software is calculated by declaring a variable called Occupational

stress and all the 10 factors (47 Questions) are added using the symbol of addition. The five scale

rating is divided in to three scales rating by means of a table.

The total score obtained by adding all the 10 factors and averaging it, the average value lies in

the three scale values which help in identifying the level of stress using the 5 scale rating table.

Scale Rating Table Value

Table No: 2

Overall Total Score

The total score thus obtained by means of following the above step for all the 10 factors is

added and the average of all the total score is taken to find out the overall total score.

Overall total score= Total score for factor 1+ Total score for factor 2........factor 10)/100

In order to find out the level of stress the values has been divided into three categories (Low,

moderate, high). Here the overall total score thus obtained for rating scale calculation is 129.5 which

fall in between the value (47-141).From the above table value it is determined that the organisation

lies in the level of low stress.

Analysis on Factors of Occupational Stress versus Total Score of Productivity (Using Multiple

Regressions)

Table No: 4.3(A)

a. Predictors: (Constant), Job Burn Out, Work Hours, Career Enhancement, Livelihood Facilities,

Lack Of Recognition & Financial Rewards, Personal Issues, Psychosocial Risk Factors, Work Family

Conflicts, Physical Strain, Low Control Over Work Environment. The R column represents the value

of R the multiple correlation co efficient, R can be considered to be one measure of the quality of the

VALUE LEVEL

Value 47 - 141 (47*3) Low

Value 141 - 188 (47*4) Moderate

Above 188-235(47*5) High

Model Summary

Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate

1 .780a .608 .551 9.46438




prediction of dependent variable. In this study, the R value 0.780a

indicates good level of prediction.

The R2

value 0.608 is called co efficient of determination, which is the proportion of variance in the

dependent variable that can be explained by the variable that can be explained by the independent

variable. From the value of R2

= 0.608 the independent variable (factors of stress in organisation)

explain 60.8% of the variability of dependent variables (productivity total score).

Table No: 4.3(B)

a. Dependent Variable: Productivity of Employees

b. Predictors: (Constant), Job Burn Out, Work Hours, Career Enhancement, Livelihood Facilities,

Lack Of Recognition & Financial Rewards, Personal Issues, Psychosocial Risk Factors, Work

Family Conflicts, Physical Strain, Low Control Over Work Environment.

The F ratio in the ANOVA table tests whether the overall regression model is a good fit for

the data. The table shows that independent variable statistically significant predict the dependent

variable (total score of productivity), F (10, 69) =10.709, p<0.05.

The regression model is good fit for the data.

Table No: 4.3(C)

Coefficientsa

Model Unstandardized Coefficients

Standardized

Coefficients t Sig.

B Std. Error Beta

(Constant) 11.456 5.554 2.063 .043

Lack Of Recognition & Financial

Rewards -.097 .303 -.032 -.319 .751

Work Hours -.222 .278 -.079 -.799 .427

Personal Issues .004 .525 .001 .008 .994

Work Family Conflicts .278 .416 .082 .668 .507

Low Control Over Work Environment 1.112 .468 .369 2.375 .020

Livelihood Facilities -.250 .305 -.085 -.821 .415

Physical Strain -.045 .448 -.015 -.101 .920

Psychosocial Risk Factors .718 .267 .319 2.687 .009

Career Enhancement 1.101 .399 .336 2.758 .007

Job Burn Out -.863 .415 -.178 -2.081 .041

a. Dependent Variable: Productivity of Employees

ANOVAa

Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.

1

Regression

Residual

Total

9592.349

6180.639

15772.988

10

69

79

959.235

89.574

10.709 .000b




The general form of equation to predict the agreement rating total score is

Productivity total score=11.456 - (0.097*Lack of Recognition & Financial Rewards) - (0.222*

Inflexibility Work Hours) + (0.004* Personal Issues) + (0.278* Work Family Conflicts) + (1.112*

Low Control Over Work Environment) - (0.250*Livelihood Facilities) - (0.045*Physical Strain) +

(0.718*Psychosocial Risk Factors) + (1.100824*Career Enhancement) - (0.863*Job Burn Out)

Table No: 4.3(D)

From the above table it is found that Low Control over Work Environment is the major factor

influencing the dependent variable productivity of the employee.

Analysis of Respondents Native versus Occupational Stress (Using One Way Anova)

Hypothesis

H0: There is no significant relationship between native and occupational stress

Ha: There is a significant relationship between native and occupational stress

TESTING OF HYPOTHESIS

Table No: 4

ANOVA

Occupational Stress

Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.

Between Groups 998.431 2 499.215 .500 .609

Within Groups 76935.519 77 999.163

Total 77933.950 79

Inference

The p value 0.609 which is greater than 0.05.Therefore Ho is accepted and Ha is rejected.

There is no significant relationship between native and occupational stress

Analysis of Respondents on Age, Education and Occupational Stress (Using Two Way Anova)

FACTORS REGRESSION RANK

Low Control Over Work Environment 0.369 I

Career Enhancement 0.336 II

Job Burn Out 0.178 III

Psychosocial Risk Factors 0.319 IV

Livelihood Facilities 0.085 V

Work Family Conflicts 0.082 VI

Inflexibility Work Hours 0.079 VII

Lack Of Recognition & Financial Rewards 0.032 VIII

Physical Strain 0.015 IX

Personal Issues 0.001 X




Hypothesis

H0: There is no significant difference between age education and occupational stress

Ha: There is significant difference between age education and occupational stress.

Testing Hypothesis

Table No: 5 Between-Subjects Factors

Value Label N

Age

1 15-20 15

2 21-30 57

3 30 above 8

Highest level of education

1 Less than 5th

standard 0

2 5th - 10th standard 29

3 10th-12th standard 36

4 Degree 11

5 None of the above 4

Tests of Between-Subjects Effects

Dependent Variable: Occupational Stress

Source Type III Sum of

Squares

df Mean Square F Sig.

Corrected Model 12453.754a 8 1556.719 1.688 .116

Intercept 365858.775 1 365858.775 396.700 .000

age 2261.056 2 1130.528 1.226 .300

education 1511.582 3 503.861 .546 .652

age * education 3964.289 3 1321.430 1.433 .240

Error 65480.196 71 922.256

Total 1414896.000 80

Corrected Total 77933.950 79

a. R Squared = .160 (Adjusted R Squared = .065)

Inference

A two way between group analysis of variance was conducted to explore the impact of age

and education on occupational stress. Participants were divided into three groups according to their

age (GROUP 1:15-20 years, GROUP 2: 21-30 years, GROUP 3: 30 above). The interaction affect

between age and education was statistically significant F (2, 3) =1.44, P=0.240.

There is no significant difference between age, education and occupational stress. There is no

significant difference between intercept of age, education and occupational stress. The p value 0.240

is greater than 0.05. Thus H0 is accepted and Ha is rejected.

Analysis of Respondents Elder One versus Total Score of Occupational Stress (Using

Independent Samples Test)

Hypothesis

H0: There is no significant difference between elder one and occupational stress

Ha: There is significant difference between elder one and occupational stress




Testing Hypothesis Group Statistics

Elder one N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean

Occupational Stress No 56 131.7679 31.85877 4.25731

Yes 24 123.4583 30.18059 6.16059

Table No: 6

Inference

The p value 0.281 which is greater than 0.05.Therefore H0 is accepted and Ha is rejected.

There is no significant difference between elder son/daughter and occupational stress.

Analysis of Opinion of Respondents Regarding Gender versus Total Score of Occupational

Stress (Using Independent Samples Test)

Hypothesis

H0: There is no significant difference between gender and occupational stress

Ha: There is significant difference between gender and occupational stress

Testing Hypothesis

Table No: 7 Independent Samples Test

Levene's Test

for Equality of

Variances

t-test for Equality of Means

F Sig. t df Sig. (2-

tailed)

Mean

Difference

Std. Error

Difference

95% Confidence Interval of

the Difference

Lower Upper

Occupational

Stress

Equal variances

assumed 15.695 .000 -.465 78 .643 -3.28571 7.06714 -17.35531 10.78388

Equal variances

not assumed -.456 64.164 .650 -3.28571 7.20089 -17.67044 11.09901

Independent Samples Test

Levene's Test for

Equality of

Variances t-test for Equality of Means


tailed)

Mean

Difference

Std. Error

Difference

95% Confidence

Interval of the

Difference

Lower Upper

Occupational

Stress

Equal variances

assumed .277 .600 1.086 78 .281 8.30952 7.65429 -6.92900 23.54805

Equal variances

not assumed 1.110 45.841 .273 8.30952 7.48849 -6.76544 23.38448

Group Statistics

Gender N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean

Occupational Stress Female 42 127.7143 25.29368 3.90290

Male 38 131.0000 37.30372 6.05146




Inference

The p value 0.650 which is greater than 0.05.Therefore H0 is accepted and Ha is rejected.

There is no significant difference between gender and occupational stress.

Analysis of respondents regarding primary income to family versus total score of occupational

stress (using independent samples test)

Hypothesis H0: There is no significant difference between Primary income to family and occupational stress.

Ha: There is significant difference between Primary income to family and occupational stress

Testing Hypothesis Group Statistics

Primary income to

family N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean

Occupational Stress No 31 116.7097 32.57831 5.85124

Yes 49 137.2245 28.17450 4.02493

Table No: 8 Independent Samples Test

Levene's Test

for Equality of

Variances

t-test for Equality of Means


tailed)

Mean

Difference

Std. Error

Difference

95% Confidence

Interval of the

Difference

Lower Upper

Occupational

Stress

Equal variances

assumed 1.523 .221 -2.985 78 .004 -20.51481 6.87212 -34.19615 -6.83347

Equal variances

not assumed -2.889 57.115 .005 -20.51481 7.10190 -34.73551 -6.29412

Inference

The p value 0.04 which is lesser than 0.05.Therefore H0 is rejected and Ha is accepted. There

is significant difference between Primary income to family and occupational stress.

Analysis of respondents relationship between total score of occupational stress versus total

score of productivity (using correlation)

Table No: 9

Correlations

Occupational Stress Productivity of

Employees

Occupational Stress

Pearson Correlation 1 .644**

Sig. (2-tailed) .000

N 80 80

Productivity of Employees

Pearson Correlation .644**

1

Sig. (2-tailed) .000

N 80 80

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).




Inference

From the above table it is inferred that the correlation between the total score of occupational

stress and total score of productivity were strongly positively correlated, the value is 0.644

Analysis of Respondents Relationship between Occupational Stress Versus Productivity (Using

Correlation)

Table No: 10 Productivity /

Stress factors

Work

performance

Behavioral

changes

Work

engagement

Loss of

productivity

Labour turn

over

Lack of recognition 0.212 -0.062 0.287 0.284 0.432

Inflexibility in work hours 0.262 0.131 0.061 0.201 0.192

Personal issues 0.170 0.242 0.122 0.160 0.208

Work family 0.315 0.301 0.326 0.113 0.410

Work environment 0.366 0.344 0.590 0.583 0.574

Livelihood 0.273 0.00 0.439 0.317 0.356

Physical strain 0.458 0.383 0.391 0.437 0.513

Psychosocial 0.370 0.294 0.509 0.534 0.550

Careers 0.413 0.427 0.563 0.445 0.528

Job burnout 0.038 -0.087 0.120 0.304 0.110

Inference

From the above table it is inferred that a Pearson product – moment correlation trend on

individual finding are to occupational stressors and its impact.

The relations between,

Work environment and Work engagement are Strong Positively Correlated were r=0.590,

Work family and Behavioral changes are Moderate Positively Correlated were r=0.301, Personal

issues and Work Performance are Weak Positively Correlated were r=0.170, Lack of recognition

and Behavioral changes are Strong Negatively Correlated were r=- 0.062, Job burnout and

Behavioral changes are Moderate Negatively Correlated were r=-0.087.

SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Occupational stress is the important factor in the organisation, it has the impact on

productivity. Positive stress can improve the organizational effectiveness and efficiency. In view of

the above findings and implications, the following suggestions can be made.

Low control over work environment

• Superior has to maintain a coordinal relationship with employees, so that the job satisfaction and

work environment can be changed.

• Control over work environment has a correlation (relationship) between each other, so necessary

steps have to be taken

Career Enhance Enhancement

• Employees looking for career enhancement and promotions




Job Burnout

• Employees are facing the job burnout in higher rate, so necessary steps have to be taken to

change the attitude of employees.

• If the employees is the primary source of income to his family it makes occupational stress.

• Special care and attention should be taken for overcoming the stress for those employees.

Personal Factors

• Work family conflict and behavioral changes are correlated with each other.

• Employees facing difficulty in balancing work life and personal life, necessary steps have to be

taken to overcome those difficulties.

• First son / daughter among the employees are higher, special attention to be given to those in the

basis of emergency leave and financial support.

To maintain stability in following factors

• Financial reward system, working hours, and performance.

• Fun activities can be conducted in non seasonal times.

• Physical strains have to be avoided and job routine can be offered.

CONCLUSION

Occupational stress is one of the major health hazards of the modern workplace, it accounts

for much of the physical illness, substance abuse, and family problems experienced by workers. Also,

occupational stress and stressful working conditions have been linked to low productivity,

absenteeism, and increased rates of accidents on and off the job. From this study it is concluded that

the occupational stress in the organization is low.

The existing method of having a control over environment by the supervisors is the

influencing factor which affects the work engagement. The income level of an employee affects on

occupational stress .Special attention has to be given to the employee who is the first son/daughter of

the family since they faces stress in higher rate compared to another employees. Standing for long

hours makes the employee into stress, remedies has to be taken to make the job rotations. Employees

are undergoing psychosocial issues innovative measures can eradicate the problems and can increase

the productivity.

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