Job Stress and Employee Performance of Academic Staff in a Federal University

Stress occurs in various forms in every workplace. Stress has been defined by many in different ways. Olagunju (2010) defines stress as “a chronic complex emotional state with apprehension and is characteristic of various nervous and mental disorders”. According to Topper (2007) stress is a person‘s psychological and physiological response to the perception of demand and challenge. Hence, Stress is a condition of physical and psychological mental disorder which occurs in a situation of pressure, when resources are unable to fulfill the demand of an individual (Syed, 2013). Work-related stress is increasingly becoming a source of concern among organizations and employees around the globe (Gyllensten& Palmer, 2005; Khurshid, Butt & Malik, 2011) as productivity is basic to organizational effectiveness. Organizational performance refers to those attitudes' that have been assessed or measured as to their contribution to organizational goals (Cook &Hunsaker, 2001). High productivity can stimulate improvement and motivate employees (Prokopenko, 1987). Job stress produces large number of undesirable effects for both individual and organization in both monetary and non-monetary costs which is rapidly increasing the absenteeism rate of employers and employees. When people experience work-related stress in industrialized countries, they are made to become more familiar with what work-related stress is and how to manage it (WHO, 2005); however, in developing countries like Nigeria, employees of an organization have to be happy in order to deliver efficiency gains and first rate services. Thus, according to Akinmayowa (2009) stress is not only detrimental to the individual’s immediate emotional stability and behavior, but also for his or her long-term psychological wellbeing. Excessive stress at work could result in increased human errors and accidents, as well as negatively affect employees’ productivity and their overall effectiveness on the job (Akinmayowa, 2009; Armstrong, 2006). Immense pressure at work has led to stress, which made it the number one factor causing illness. Harvey and Brown (2006) revealed that the major stressors in the workplace includes changes in technology, downsizing, sudden reorganization and unexpected changes in the work schedules, competition for promotional opportunities, lack of participation in the decision making, and lack of employee empowerment. Based on the preceding it appears that stress can be managed but not eliminated (Johari, Shamsudin, Yean, Yahya& Adnan, 2019). Stress is considered important by researchers because it affects the employees of an organization and its management. When force or pressure is exerted upon an individual, certain types of relationship are formed from the action (Dar, 2011).