MANAGING STRESS IN A RECESSED ECONOMY: IMPLICATIONS FOR BANK EMPLOYEES

Abstract

This study examines the notion of stress management in a recessed Nigerian economy with the implications for bank employees. In the process, it further considers the stiff competition in the banking sector coupled with the current sharp decline in the global price of crude oil with its attendant implications for the performance of the Nigerian economic growth which has a spillover effect on indwelt elements like stress factor facing the banking employee. Based on this foundational philosophy, 300 structured questionnaires were administered of which 218 were found usable and on which an in-depth analysis was conducted via the use of Statistical Package for Social Sciences’ (SPSS) data analysis; whilst Correlation and Regression analyses were applied to test the formulated hypotheses. The finding of the research effort affirms that stress issue in the workplace is of a growing concern particularly in the banking sub-sector. This development portends a detriment to the health and psychic of bank employees – and thus poses a great threat to work place performance. Further findings from the study; reveal amongst others; the potential stress-propelled debacle facing the bank employees in different dimensions. These include work overload, low level of job satisfaction (in spite of measurable remunerations and lack of autonomy–including job insecurity. The study recommends amongst others; that effective management of bank staffers require developing action plans by bank management that would entail monitoring, re-assessing (via feed-back mechanism) the dynamics of the internal workplace and the turbulent external environment. It concludes on the note that, where the optimum of an average bank employee is sought, the work environment should embrace his participation in decision making process at appropriate level of the affected organization. This is largely achievable through his engagement in state of the art training programs amongst other incentives.