EFFECT OF JOB STRESS ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE: THE ROLE OF ENTRAPMENT IN GOVERNMENT HOSPITALS WITHIN JOS METROPOLIS, PLATEAU STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Work related stress is a genuine and developing issue in the present world. Many employees, especially health workers in the world are witnessing an alarming increase in job stress. This was further worsened with the advent of the novel COVID 19 which put health workers in difficult and highly demanding work environments, and this negative effect of job stress on employee performance necessitated the need for this study. This study examined the effect of four job stress factors on employee performance, and how entrapment mediate the relationship between job stress and employee performance among health workers in government hospitals in Jos, Plateau State. The study adopted survey research method. A representative sample size of 341 health workers was used for this study, out of which three hundred and four (304) copies of the questionnaire were retrieved for analysis. Multiple regression model was employed to test the hypothesized relationships using SPSS. The result revealed that work overload, role conflict and harassment had significant and negative effects on employee performance. The study also showed that the relationship between peer competition and employee performance was not significant, and finally hypothesis five shows that entrapment mediates the relationship between job stress and employee performance. It was therefore recommended among others that Healthcare managers should employ management intervention programmes that would promote both the work place and the individual’s coping strategies. Specific job resources such as autonomy, job control, empowerment, organizational support, and access to information should be enhanced in other for healthcare professionals to deal with high job demands. Healthy competition should be encouraged among health workers in order to improve their effectiveness at work, and finally; Management should find a way of repressing dangerous competitive drive among employees in the workplace by providing an equal platform for all employees to thrive in their careers.