Occupational stress and job performance of female bankers in bank branches in Abakaliki, Nigeria

Abstract

This study titled Occupational Stress and Job Performance of Female Bankers in Bank Branches in Abakaliki, Nigeria was conducted on the United Bank for Africa Plc branches in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State.The objectives of the study were to ascertain the degree of relationship that exists between occupational stress (role boundary, distorted responsibility and physical environment) and job performance of female bankers in United Bank for AfricaPlc branches. To achieve these objectives, a descriptive survey was carried out, and data were collected using structured questionnaire in Likert scale format. Analyses of data were done using descriptive statistics, while hypotheses of the study were tested using Pearson correlation coefficient. Findings were that all three dimensions of occupational stress studied have high degree of  relationship with female bankers‟ performance. Occupational stress indicators of role boundary, distorted responsibility and physical  environment were further found to significantly affect the performance of female bankers in different ways depending on their marital status and their specific assigned duties. Recommendations are that peculiar working environment ought to be created for female bank workers especially the lactating mothers; adequate job redesign and improved physical environment of the bank branches would also improve the performance of female bank workers at branch level. The implication of the study is that some bank branch environmental settings may be unfavourable to female bank workers and could reduce their  effectiveness.

Keywords: Occupational stress, Female bankers, and Job performance