OCCUPATIONAL STRESS AND EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE IN A MALAYSIAN LOCAL GOVERNMENT AUTHORITY
Shah Imran Rosalie
Kuppusamy Singaravelloo
DOI:
Keywords:
local authorities, occupational stress, employee performance
Abstract
Local governments in Malaysia are the authorities closest to the people and play a major role in the citizens’ daily lives. Often referred to as local authorities in Malaysia, the expansion of cities and districts has increased the role of local authorities to meet the demands of the population. Unlike other civil servants, local authority employees need to face untold pressures such as heavy workload during peak working seasons as well as reactions from the public. It is thus inevitable that occupational stress is a common problem faced by local authority employees. This study seeks to better understand occupational stress and employee performance within the context of a local authority. This quantitative study was conducted using a questionnaire to obtain data from respondents totaling 164 employees from job grades 11 to 40. The respondents were from four departments namely Health, Environment and Hawkers, Treasury, Enforcement, and Licensing. The findings show that the level of occupational stress for this category of employees in the local authority is moderate and does affect their work performance. Though the study was performed in one local authority, the findings are likely to be reflective of situations in active local authorities serving a large populace. It is recommended that local governments implement measures to reduce stress levels such as identifying the optimum workload for each employee, providing clear job descriptions, implementing a policy of cooperative culture, and improving stress management programs. This should be tested at different levels of local authorities across the country.
References
Aasia, M., Hadia, A. & Sabita, M. (n.d.). Investigating the Impact of Work Stress on Job Performance: A Study on Textile Sector of Faisalabad. Asian Journal of Business and Management Sciences, 2(1), 20-28.
Ahlam, El S. & Hassan, A. M. (2012). Factors Associated with Occupational Stress and Their Effects on Organizational Performance in a Sudanese University. Creative Education Scientific Research, 3(1), 134-144.
Amat Taap, M., Rodrigue, F. & Chong, S. C. (2003). Occupational Stress among Managers: A Malaysian Survey. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 18(6), 622-628.
Ashwani, B. (2015). Psychological Factors Affecting Sports Performance. International Journal of Physical Education, Sports and Health, 1(6), 92-95.
Azad, M., & Hamid, T. (2007). Job Stress, Job Satisfaction and Mental Health. Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research, 1(4), 24-234.
Azizi, Y., Noordin, Y., Farhana, A., Abdul Talib, B., & Zurihanmi, Z. (2009). Occupational Stress and its Effects towards the Organization Management. Journal of Social Sciences, 5(4), 390-397.
Babatunde, A. (2013). Occupational Stress: A Review on Conceptualisations, Causes and Cure. Economic Insights – Trends and Challenges, 2(3), 73-80.
Beehr, T., Jex, S., Stacy, B. & Murray, M. (2000). Work Stressors and Coworker Support as Predictors of Individual Strain and Job Performance. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 21(4), 391-405.
Bell, A., Rajendran, D. & Theiler, S. (2012). Job Stress, Wellbeing, Work-Life Balance and Work-Life Conflict among Australian Academics. Electronic Journal of Applied Psychology, 8(1), 25-37.
Bridger, R., Kilminster, S. & Slaven, G. (2006). Occupational Stress and Stain in the Naval Service: 199 and 2004. Occupational Medicine, 57, 92-97.
Dua, J. K. (1994). Job Stressors and Their Effects on Physical Health, Emotional Health, and Job Dissatisfaction. Journal of Educational Administration, 32(1), 59-78.
Fry, L., Futrell, C., Parasuraman, A. & Chmielewski, M. (1986). An Analysis of Alternative Causal Models of Salesperson Role Perceptions and Work Related Attitudes. Journal of Marketing Research, 23(2), 153-163.
Health Advocate (n.d.). Stress in the Workplace: Meeting the Challenge. Retrieved from http://healthadvocate.com/downloads/webinars/stressworkplace.pdf
Mardhiah, Y. & Choi, S. L. (2015). Role of Occupational Stress on Job Satisfaction. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 6(2), 81-87.
Mariam S. & Chaudhary, A. R. (2015). Stress and Health at the Workplace-A Review of the Literature. Journal of Business Studies Quarterly, 6(3), 94-121.
Moaz G., Syed Ahsan, J., Moinuddin, A. & Suhail, G. (2016). The Impact of Job Stress on Job Performance: A Case Study on Academic Staff at Dhofar University. International Journal of Economic Research, 13(1), 21-33
Mohamed Irfann, I. & Tan, T.H. (2011). Identifying Work-Related Stress among Employees in the Malaysian Financial Sector. World Journal of Management, 3(2), 229-243.
Muwafaq, A. (2015). How can Stress Affect Your Work Performance? Quantitative Field Study on Qatari Banking Sector. Business and Management Research, 4(1), 99-109.
Muzaffar Syah, M. (2016). Occupational Stress in Malaysia: Causes, Effects & Possible Solutions. Proceedings of SOCIOINT 2016 3rd International Conference on Education, Social Sciences and Humanities, 82-88.
Nadia, N., Shabnam, K. & Sobia, N. (2017). Workplace Stressors and Job Performance: The Hypothesized Mediating Role of Job Satisfaction in Higher Educational Sector of Pakistan. International Journal of Engineering Sciences & Research Technology, 6(2), 609-623.
Nart, S. & Batur, O. (2013). The Relation between Work-Family Conflict, Job Stress, Organizational Commitment and Job Performance: A Study on Turkish Primary Teachers. European Journal of Research on Education, 2(2), 72-81.
Noblet, A., Rodwell, J., & McWilliams, J. (2002). The Job Strain Model is enough for Managers. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 16(8), 635-649.
Nurul Illahi, Z. A., Mohd Fitri, M. & Noor Hidayah, A. (2013). Factors Influencing Work Stress among Expatriate Managers: A Study of Government-Linked Companies in Malaysia. Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 7(8), 979-990.
Obiora, C & Iwuoha, V. (2012). Work Related Stress, Job Satisfaction and Due Process in Nigerian Public Service. European Scientific Journal, 9(20), 214-232.
Olusegun, A., Oluwasayo, A. & Olawoyim, O. (2014). An Overview of the Effects of Job Stress on Employees Performance in Nigeria Tertiary Hospitals, 60(4), 139-153.
Parikh, H. (2015). Stress Levels, Gender and “Examination Performance” of Medical Students. International Journal of Sciences & Applied Research, 2(1), 13-18.
Park, J. (2007). Work Stress and Job Performance. Statistics Canada, Catalogue no. 75-001-XIE.
Roohangiz, K. & Farhad, A. (2011). Reduce Job Stress in Organizations: Role of Locus of Control. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 2(18), 232-236.
Spector, P. (2002). Employee Control and Occupational Stress. Current Directions in Psychological Science 11(4), 133-136.
Syed Saad, H. S., Ahsan Raza, J., Jabran, A., Wasiq, E., Ihsan UlHaq & Syed Neiman, R. (2011). Workload and Performance of Employees. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, 3(5), 256-267.
Te-Yi, C. & Yu-Lien, C. (1993). The Relationship between Role Stress and Job Performance: An Empirical Study of Travel Agents. Symposium on Sustainable Management of Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Industry, May 1, 209-217.
The Star (2016, May 18). Vital to Manage Work-related Stress, Advises Lee. Retrieved from http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2016/05/18/vitalto-manage-workrelated-stress-advises-lee/
