Occupational stress and job performance of administrative assistants in university

Abstract

Work-related stress undoubtedly could negatively affect job performance in any given institution and thereby have serious implications for the overall output of the institution, if not well managed. The study sought to find out the factors that contribute to occupational stress among administrative assistants of a public university in Ghana and the coping strategies adopted by the staff to deal with stress-related problems. Stratified sampling technique was used to select 150 respondents from a total population of 300 for the study. Questionnaires were used to collect data which were analyzed using frequencies, percentages and simple linear regression. Results of the study revealed that workload and inadequate remuneration were the major causes of occupational stress among central administration administrative assistants. In order to relieve stress, they often visit other colleagues in their offices to discuss matters unrelated to their work thereby affecting productivity at the university. University management commitment to employee-related issues such as paying attention to workload, conflict, working environment, supervisor’s recognition of outstanding work output of staff and the introduction of proper stress management training programmes were perceived as significant steps which if practiced, could contribute to improved productivity of staff.