Impact of Job Stress on Employee Performance

Abstract

Purpose of this study is to analyses the impact of job stress on employee performance. A causal research design was adopted to carry out the data collection. For this purpose employees from various sectors were chosen. A questionnaire with 26 items with Likert Scale (1: Strongly Disagree to 5: Strongly Disagree) were developed and tested for its reliability and validity prior to the distribution of questionnaire via social media. 310 respondents were selected from various sectors in Malaysia using convenient sampling technique. The survey questionnaire was sent via Facebook inbox requesting to complete it. The questionnaire includes demographic information and statements to measure four (4) independent variables of time pressure, workload, lack of motivation, and role ambiguity to measure level of stress. The dependent variable is employee performance. Only 136 completed questionnaires were returned (usable sample). Regression analysis was carried out to examine the impact of stress on employee performance using SPSS21. We found that time pressure and role ambiguity have significant and negative influence on employee performance. The other two factors of workload and lack of motivation do not have any significant influence on employee performance. Therefore we concluded that increasing time pressure and role ambiguity would reduce employee performance in all aspects. Therefore it is important for managers to ensure role ambiguity is minimized and clear roles are given and communicated to the employees if they wish to enhance employee performance. Also managers and supervisors are strongly recommended to discuss the time allotment and task completion dates and duration of the task with their subordinates to avoid time pressure. This would possibly enhance employee performance. Future research should consider a larger sample from leading sectors where job natures are similar. Analysis should be more rigorous, where Amos could be used for structural Equation Modelling.

Keywords: Job Stress, Employee Performance, Time Pressure, Workload, Lack of Motivation and Role Ambiguity

JEL Classification: I, J, A, B, M