Job stress of employees in Bangladesh: An empirical

study on service sector

Md. Tarek Rahman

+8801725545950

BBA and MBA

4th Batch Student

Department of Management Studies

Comilla University, Bangladesh.

Table of Contents

Titles Page no

Executive Summery: 03

Objective of the study 03

Methodology of the study 04

Limitation of the study 04

Literature Review: 05

Analysis of the Report: 06

Findings of The Study: 14

Recommendations of the study: 16

Conclusion 17

References 18

Appendix 20

Abstract:
Most of the jobs in Bangladesh are becoming more challenging and more dynamics also.
Large number of employees is performing their job in different sectors like Bank, Hospital,
Universities, Service commissions, and govt. jobs sector in Bangladesh. And Stress is very
common factor that belongs to every job sector and amount of stress might be different
depending on the sectors.

This Study is designed with a view to investigating the propensity of job stress among the
employees of Bangladesh from different service sectors of the country. Basically Stress is an
inevitable feature of work and personal life. In Our country all organizations does not bear
the same environment and it varies organization to organization. So amount of stress also
varied organization to organization. Some organizations are low stress, healthy environment,
whereas others are high-stress environments that may place their employees health at risk.
Beside determining the amount of stress of the employees of different service sector here I
will also show how stresses influences on work performance and health of employees in
contemporary commercial and service sectors in Bangladesh.. This study also includes the
origins of stresses like salary structure, personal conflict, and balance work, Pressure from the
clients, technical breakdowns, pay inequity, brassiness, and long working hour and so on.
This study also includes how stresses affect the health condition of the employees in
Bangladesh.

Objective of the study

Broad Objectives
The overall condition of job stress with the positive and negative effects in different
government and non-government service sectors.

Specific Objectives
To see whether there is a relationship among job satisfaction, job stress and mental
health on Government and non-government employees of different service sectors.
To see whether there is any difference of job satisfaction, job stress and mental health
on the basis of Government and non- government service oriented employees.
To see whether there is any difference of job satisfaction, job stress and mental health
on the basis of gender.

Methodology of the study

Methodology is the vital part of a papers design. It is the heart of any research. It includes
data collection methods, study area method of data analysis etc. This chapter presents the
qualitative methodology that was followed to conduct this report.
The following methodologies were followed for the study:
Sources of Data
For this study, all information has been gathered both from primary and secondary sources.
They are in order to make the paper more meaningful, presentable, a complete one and to
meet the goal of this report different data and information is required. Those data and
information were collected from various sources, such as, primary and secondary which is
showed below:

Primary Sources
Practical analysis.
Face to face conversation with the employees who are working in different service
oriented sectors.
Secondary Sources
 Different articles which published in different times on different service sectors of
Bangladesh.

Present contributions of women and unexpected incidents which are occurring and
have occurred recently.

Report on this where have previous studies by researchers.

Limitation of the study
The present research study was not out of limitations. But it was a great opportunity for me to
know about the stress conditions in the service sectors of Bangladesh .Some limitations is
given bellow:
Government service providers are conservative in nature. So that, they dont want to
reveal some matters to others for which they can fell shy and unsafe to others.
Time and scope didnt match for visiting with the respondents.
Provided informations in some places dont match with the actual or practical
situation.
The informations that I found on the web site, dont meet our actual demand for info
on job satisfaction.
One big fact is, women also dont want to reveal their advantages for traditional
mentality though they are enjoying those.
It was not possible for us to take interview from the respondent as much as I wanted.
For the above limitations, this term paper doesnt get fulfillment on the related topic.

Literature Review:
a. Knowing the Job Stress:
Work stress is a universal phenomenon that has been found to raise adverse health,
performance and general well-being concerns in diverse organizational and behavioural
studies. However, Colligan & Higgins (2005, p. 90) claim that occupational stress is a
complicated scientific construct that requires an initial understanding of the parent
construct known as stress. Broadly speaking, stress is commonly perceived in terms of
general physiological and psychological reactions that provoke adversarial mental or physical
health conditions when a persons adaptive capabilities are overextended. Thus, job stress is
popularly described as occurring when there are discrepancies between the physiological
demands within a workplace and the inability of employees to either manage or cope with
such work demands. But Dewe & Trenberth (2004) suggested that the diverse nature and
perception of stress experiences encountered within the workplace makes it difficult to find a
unitary definition of stress in a swathe of studies and reports on the impact of stress on
organizational well-being and productivity. To this end, stress has been defined in different
ways over the years as either a stimulus, or a response, or a stimulus-response combination or
a transitional relationship between individuals and the environment.

b) Job Stress and Employees Performance

Applied to the work place, a large study by researchers at Cornell University of 1800
managers identified examples of bad stress as office politics, red tape, and a stalled career
and good stress as challenges that come with increased job responsibility, time pressure,
and high quality assignments. A recent Meta analysis found that hindrance stressors
(organizational politics, red tape, role ambiguity, and in general those demands unnecessarily
thwarting personal growth and goal attainment) had a negative effect on organizational
performance. On the other hand, so called challenge stressors (high workload, time pressure,
high responsibility and in general those demands that viewed as obstacles to be overcome in
order to learn and achieve) were found to have effect on motivation and performance.
The Yerkes-Dodson law (1908) indicates that stress leads to improved performance up to an
optimum point. Beyond the optimum point, further stress and arousal have detrimental effect
on performance. Therefore, healthy amounts of eustress are desirable to improve performance
by arousing a person to action. It is in the midrange of the curve that the greatest performance
benefits from stress are achieved.
Md. Hasebur Rahman , Md. Kamruzzaman , Md. Enamul Haque , Md. Abdullah Al Mamun ,
& Md. Ibrahim Molla in their research (2013)"Perceived Intensity of Stress Stressors: A
Study on Commercial Bank in Bangladesh", identifies employees of commercial bank as one
the occupational group that functions under conditions of high stress. The variables such as
long working hour, workload, family sympathy, management pressure, mental depression,
deadline, poor working conditions, physiological sickness, role ambiguity and job insecurity
perceived stress stressors of commercial bank in Bangladesh.
Kazi Nazmul Huda and Abul Kalam Azad (2015) in their research Professional Stress in
Journalism:A Study on Electronic Media Journalists of Bangladesh", indicates Professional
stress is a multi-dimensional situation of a persons life that could be caused by off and on the
job stressors. In managing people with productivity and job satisfaction, professional stress
management is a prime issue of consensus and consciousness for the new generation
managers, employees, and the policy makers at large.
According to (Newstrom 2010), "Stress also leads to physical disorder, because the internal
body system changes to try to cope with stress" Some physical disorders are short-range,
such as an upset stomach. Others are longer-range, such as a stomach ulcer. Stress over a
prolonged time also leads to degenerative diseases of the heart, kidneys, blood vessels, and
other parts of the body.

Analysis of the Report:

While working for the survey with the service persons of different organizations I have
gathered information relating to workplace stress. Here I have allocated the information and
drawn some analysis.

1. Trouble with clients

Strongly disagree Neutral Agree Strongly

disagree agree
No. of person 4 6 5 15 3

16
14
12
10
8 15
6
4
6 5
2 4 3
0

Figure 1: From the figure you can see that majority of people opine that dealing with clients
creates job stress and it is 16 respondents where as only 4 said they are strongly disagree with
the statement.

2. People interruption

Strongly disagree Neutral Agree Strongly

disagree agree
No. of person 3 4 7 17 0
 Strongly disagree
disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly agree

Figure 2: From the above chart this is clear that 17 respondents agree with the
statement that People interruption creates job stress and there is no respondent to the
column of strongly agree with.

3.Trouble with boss

Strongly disagree Neutral Agree Strongly

disagree agree
No. of person 1 2 2 9 16

18
16
14
12
10
8 16
6
4 9
Column3
2
1 2 2
0

Figure 3: From the above figure we see that majority of the people are strongly agree
with the statement that Trouble with boss at work create more job stress. Very few
personnel are in an opinion that they have no stress regarding work with boss.

4. Pressure of work

Strongly disagree Neutral Agree Strongly

disagree agree
No. of person 2 6 3 13 4
 14 13

12

10

8
6
6
4
4 Series 1
3
2
2

0
Strongly disagree disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree

Figure 4: From the above figure we see that majority of the people are agree with the
statement that Pressure of work, workloads at work create more job stress. Very few
personnel that mean only 2 are in an opinion that they have no stress regarding work
Pressure.

5. Dealing with bureaucracy at work

Strongly disagree Neutral Agree Strongly

disagree agree
No. of 1 3 9 12 6
person

14

12

10

0
Strongly disagree disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree

From the above figure we see that majority of the people are in support that Dealing with
bureaucracy at work causes stress.
6. Technological breakdowns

Strongly disagree Neutral Agree Strongly

disagree agree
No. of person 3 7 10 8 2

2 3
Strongly disagree
8 disagree
7
Neutral
Agree
Strongly agree
10

The figure shows that a little percent of people are agree with the factor that Technological
breakdowns causes stress and a large percentage are neutral about it.

7. Pay inequity

Strongly disagree Neutral Agree Strongly

disagree agree
No. of person 1 2 2 9 16
 1 2
2
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neutral
16
Agree
9
Strongly agree

In case of pay inequity, majority of the people express their views that pay inequity is a major
cause of job stress.

8. Bias to minority, women and people of color

Strongly disagree Neutral Agree Strongly

disagree agree
No. of person 2 4 4 7 3

3
2 Strongly disagree
disagree
4 Neutral
7
Agree
4 Strongly agree

From the figure we see that 7 people are agree with the view that Bias to minority, women
and people of color causes stress. On the other hand, 4 people are neutral as well as 4 people
are disagree about it.

9. Degree of trouble with colleagues

Level Disagree Strongly Nautral Agree Strongly
Disagree agree

Number of 5 6 7 3 4
respondent

Percentage 20% 24% 28% 12% 16%

Trouble with colleague

Disagree Strongly Disagree Neutral
Agree Strongly Agree

16% 20%
12%
24%
28%

From the above chart it is seen that in the case of troubling situation with colleagues,20% employees
disagree about this problem,24% strongly disagree,28% are neutral,12% Agree and 16% strongly agree
about its bad impact on their job performance as stress.

10. Impact of role ambiguity

Level Disagree Strongly Nautral Agree Strongly
Disagree agree

Number of 3 3 5 8 7
respondent

Percentage 11% 12% 19% 31% 27%

 Role ambiguity
Disagree Strongly Disagree Neutral
Agree Strongly Agree

27% 12%
12%
31% 19%

Here,on the above 11% disagree,12% strongly disagree,19% neutral,31% agree and 27% strongly agree
with the impact of role ambiguity as stress.Seen that most of the employees are agreed upon this and it
indicates that if more work,stress is more.

11. Promotional opportunity

Level Disagree Strongly Nautral Agree Strongly
Disagree agree

Number of 2 3 4 11 8
respondent

Percentage 7% 11% 14% 39% 29%

Promotional Opportunity
Disagree Strongly Disagree Neutral
Agree Srtongly Agree

7%
29% 11%
14%
39%

On the above chart,from the employees,7% disagree,11% strongly disagree,14% neutral,39% agree and
29% are strongly agree about the promotional opportunitys effect as their job stress.

12. Miss match of expectation

Level of Disagree Strongly Nautral Agree Strongly
Disagree agree

Number of 5 4 9 10 6
respondent

Percentage 15% 12% 26% 29% 18%

Miss Match of expectation

Disagree Strongly Disagree Nautral
Agree Strongly Agree

18%
15%
12%
29%
26%

On the above chart, on the miss match of expectation which create job stress,15% disagree,12% strongly
disagree,26% neutral,29% agree and 18% strongly agree. Most of the employees keep neutral about this.

Findings of The Study:

Through the study I have founded different causes and the consequences of stress in the work
places and those are given consequently in this of the part the report.

Findings One: Some stress are founded that arises due to some family issues like miss
understanding with the spouses, Family size is too large to cooperate, or small size family.
Some time situations are too odd that they can not cooperate with the family members and
this is why stresses arises from the family.

Findings Two: Stresses might come due to some professional issues like sometimes seniors
give pressures to help them in their personal work, but due to heavy pressure it was
impossible to perform more jobs of the seniors, this is a regular problem of the work place
stress.
Findings Three: Stress Might come due to workplace environment. If there are bad smell in
the work place it would create disturbance in the work and ultimately creates pressure in the
job.

Findings Four: Stresses might come due to worse relation among the colleagues. From our
analysis I found that case of troubling situation with colleagues,20% employees disagree
about this problem,24% strongly disagree,28% are neutral,12% Agree and 16% strongly
agree about its bad impact on their job performance as stress.

Findings Five: Stress might arises due to poor relation with the supervisor. 17 respondents
agree with the statement that People interruption creates job stress and there is no respondent
to the column of strongly agree with.

Findings Six: Poor Salary might be a cause of workplace stress. Bd Govt job sectors salery
scale increased for few but the rate does not increased in the private sectors. Not only that
some organizations does not follow the rule of salary structure also.

Findings Seven: Ambiguity in the promotion system also creates stress in the job place. This
is most often found to the posts that are limited with promotions and with other facilities.

Findings Nine: It is amazing that most of the govt. Employees are happy with there jobs in
the work places. The main reason is some how they got the job and they feel they are better
then who are not getting the job as unemployment is the major problem of Bangladesh.

Recommendations of the study:

Job Stress often permeates the workplace, whether it arises from personal or professional
issues. Factors that increase workplace stress include demanding schedules, lack of job
security, no rewards system for meeting employers' high expectations, too much work and
work obligations overlapping with family life. Try some stress-reducing methods to improve
your workplace productivity, quality and satisfaction as well as your relationships with co-
workers and managers.
Break Bad Habits

Bad habits contribute to workplace stress levels. If you dwell on negative details and
socialize with negative-thinking co-workers, strive instead to think positively and avoid
others' negative energy. The drive to achieve perfection and control things that you cannot
also affects stress levels, so focus on doing your best and on factors you can control. If you
regularly run late for work, give yourself extra time. If you sit at a messy desk, file important
paperwork and throw out unnecessary clutter.

Manage Emotions

Manage and use your emotions in positive and constructive ways to reduce stress levels in the
workplace. Recognize your emotions and their impact on the workplace, and keep emotion
under control as you adapt to changing circumstances on the job. Be aware of and understand
co-workers' emotions, and, in turn, let your emotions have a positive influence on others.

Improve Communication

Communicate effectively and positively with co-workers to help keep workplace stress at a
minimum. Be sure everyone is on the same page to avoid stressful errors caused by
miscommunication or a lack of communication. Maintain eye contact and ensure that
nonverbal cues such as facial expression, gestures, posture and tone of voice are friendly and
positive. Read co-workers' nonverbal cues, and respond accordingly. Combat stress further
with workplace friendships and mutually shared humor with co-workers.

Keep a Planning Journal

Reduce workplace stress with a planning journal and record goals, personal and professional
mission statements, accomplishments, dreams, successes and values. Maintain and review
daily a list of all appointments, activities and weekly deadlines. Schedule relaxation and
social activities. When a stressful incident occurs, write down your feelings and thoughts.

Prioritize and Organize Responsibilities

Workplace responsibilities may overwhelm employees and increase stress. To reduce stress
levels, prioritize and organize those responsibilities. If you have a tasks to accomplish within
a specified amount of time, choose tasks that you know you can complete in that time frame.
Perform unpleasant -- yet necessary -- tasks early on to avoid lingering stress throughout the
work day. When tackling multistep projects, take each step one at a time.

Take Care of Yourself

Take short breaks during your work day and step away to recharge and increase your
productivity. Engage in daily physical activities that increase your heart rate and boost
energy, focus and mood. Get enough sleep, eat healthy meals, drink alcoholic beverages in
moderation and avoid nicotine products. High amounts of alcohol and nicotine products
increase your anxiety and stress.

Conclusion:

As stresses are sometimes positive and sometimes negative, the stress management authority
should handle it carefully. If the stresses act as motivating factor, then it should be repeated to
the workers for greater production and for reducing the cost and for overall development of
the organization and the workers. But if the stresses hamper the workers activity to perform
better or create low production, absenteeism of the workers then proper measures should be
taken to minimize stresses .Actually employees of commercial banks do stressful jobs due to
stressors like long working hour, workload, deadline, management pressure etc. there has
been positive relationship observed between stress and employees performance in
Bangladesh. It also statistically proved that employees well being psychologically and
physically depress if stress prolong over the period of time. Effective job design, healthy
working environment, justifiable remuneration should be offered to employees being
motivated in competitive jobs like employees of commercial bank in Bangladesh.

Reference:

a) Cavanaugh, Wendy R. Boswell, Mark V. Roehling, and John W. Boudreau, An

Empirical Examination of Self-Reported Work Stress among U.S. Managers, Journal of
Applied Psychology, Vol.85, 2000, pp.65-74.
b) Beehr, The Current Debate about the Meaning of Job Stress Journal of Organizational
Behavior Management, Fall/Winter 1986, pp. 5-18.
c) Newstrom W.,Organizational Behavior, Twelfth Edition, Tata -McGraw Hill, India, 2010,
pp.353.
d) S. Sauter, L. R. Murphy, and J. J. Hurrel, Jr.,Prevention of Work Related Psychological
 Distress: A National Strategy Proposed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety
and Health. American Psychologist 45 (1990): pp. 1146-1158.
e) Yitzhak Fried, and Arie Shiom, The Effect of Hours of Work on Health, Journal of
Occupational and Organizational Psychology, Vol.70, 1997, pp. 391-408.
f) S. Zivnuska, C. Kiewitz, W. A. Hochwater, P.L. Perrewe, and K.L. Zellars, what is Too
Much or Too Little? The Curvilinear Effect of Job Tension on Turnover Intent, Value
Attainment, and Job Satisfaction, Journal of Applied Social Psychology, July 2002, pp.
1344-1360.
g) Hans Selye, The stress of Life, rev.ed., New York:McGraw-Hill, 1976.

Appendix:

Questionnaire
Dear respondent,
This Paper is only for finding out the Job stress of employees in Bangladesh: It is An empirical study
on service sector. To prepare this term paper, I need the following information. Let us assure that all the
information provided by you will not be used for organizational and academic purpose and will keep under
strict secret. So, we expect your cooperation.

RESPONDENTS DETAIL

Name of the Respondent ___________________________________

Name of the Institution_____________________________________

Phone number _____________________________________

Age: __________________________

Gender: Male Female

Marital Status: Single Married Others

Job Nature: Permanent Temporary

Experience: 1-5 yrs 6-10 yrs 10 yrs above

RESPONDENT QUESTIONNIRE

1. Do you feel stress in your work place? How would you rate the level of your job stress?
Mild
Moderate
Severe
Extreme
 2. How long have you had this particular job stress?

Less Than A Month

1-3 Months
1-3 Months
6 months - 1 year
More than 1 year

3. Do you have any health problem caused by job?

Yes No
4. If yes, what factor affects more?
Volume of work
Nature of the job and its responsibilities
Physical work environment
Personal health issue

5. What is your opinion about your salary structure?

Satisfy Dissatisfy

6. Is stress positively influence your job performance?

Yes No

7. Do you think inter personal conflict creates stress in your work place?

________________________________________________________________________________
.
8. Please say how you balance work life with personal or family matters?

________________________________________________________________________________________

9. How do you handle stress situations?

Optimistically
With the help of others
Depends upon level

10. Please place a tick &Indicate the extent to which you agree with the following statements:
Statements Strongly Disagre Neutral Agre Strongly
Disagree e 3 e Agree
1 2 4 5

Impact of trouble with clients/customers on job stress

Constant people interruptions cause job stress

Trouble with boss as a source of stress at work

Deadlines, time pressures and work overload cause job stress

Dealing with the bureaucracy at work cause job stress

Technological breakdowns causes job stress

Pay inequity is a source of job stress

Bias to minority, women and people of color is a source of job

stress

Trouble with work colleagues

Job difficulties and role ambiguities as a source of job stress

Less promotion and poor communication facilities as a source

of job stress

Mismatch between expectation and reception

11. To What level management is effective in handling your stress situation?

Completely
To a certain extent
To a satisfactory
Not at all

12. What is the best stress relief method that you have seen working in your organization?
_______________________________________________________________________________

13. Do you have any further issues that you would like to comment on?

..................
Respondent's Signature