It is a brief presentation about occupational stress and productivity correlation.

1. THE CORRELATION BETWEEN
WORKPLACE STRESS AND
PRODUCTIVITY
Ali YILMAZ
aliyilmaz.al@gmail.com
MSc. Student, Management Dept.
Graduate School of Social Sciences
Yalova University
April, 2015 – Yalova

2. INTRODUCTION
Stress and productivity are widely used
phenomena in our daily lives and they are serious
issues. There are a great number of studies about
the correlation between stress and productivity.
Both stress and productivity are vast topics to
deal with on a single paper. Therefore, this paper
focuses on the workplace stress, which is a
medical situation and cannot be overlooked in
the long run, and its consequent results such as
absenteeism, lower productivity, role conflicts,
moodiness, etc.

3. DEFINING STRESS
• Stress concept stems from “estrica” in Latin
and “estrece in Old French. Previously, during
17th century it meant disaster, calamity or
trouble and in the 19th century it referred to
the resistance of an individual when faced
with calamity. (Baltaş and Baltaş, 1989: 219)
Nowadays, it is almost present in all world
languages. (Can, H. 2005:366)

4. STRESS TODAY
• There is also an excessive usage of the word
stress. Now and then, people define
themselves as stressed individuals. There is a
big debate among health and social sciences
researchers worldwide. Stress is a disease and
it should be paid attention to. The factors
causing stress can be divided as
environmental, psychological and biological.
(Cohen, S. and et al., 1997: 5)

5. STRESS TODAY
• Stress is called the disease of the 21st century,
and it does not only affect only the
individuals, it also causes many problems at
organizations (İştar, E. 2012). Even though
people spend most of their day at work with
their colleagues, stress is usually overlooked at
organizations. People who experience
workplace stress usually are long gone before
they are understood by the organization they
are working for.

6. STRESS
PERSONAL
STRESS
WORKPLACE
STRESS

7. STRESS AT DIFFERENT LEVELS
Both types cause workplace problems. However,
the scope of this paper is limited to the
workplace stress. We face workplace stress at all
occupations and at all levels. Upper level
managers might have as much stress as blue
collar employees. Workplace stress can be
defined as the response of an employer due to a
negativity while performing his/her job, either
triggered by his/her own character or the nature
of the job. (Şenyiğit, 2004: 104).

8. Stress is observed at
all levels, but it seems
like upper level
managers might have
a bigger share in
workplace stress since
they are going from
one meeting to
another all day
everyday with their
assistants arrange
their schedules.
Mostly it is work
overload behind
stress.

9. When we look at the issue from lower levels of
employers, we see that their problems usually are
related to:
• Inadequate time to complete the job properly
• No clear job description or chain of command
• No recognition or reward for doing well
• No way to voice complaints
• Too much responsibility with too little authority
• Unco-operative fellow workers
• Job insecurity
• Prejudice in the workplace
• Unpleasant or hazardous working conditions
• No opportunity to use personal talent and ability
effectively

10. Is all stress bad?
• Some studies in the area of stress-productivity
phenomena suggest that an optimum level of
stress is required to maximize performance.
The relationship between stress and
productivity, when graphed, would then
reveal an inverted U-shaped curve: the level of
performance increases up to a point then
declines with further increases in stress (M.E.
Sharpe, 1985)

11. “The Yerkes-Dodson Principle,”
(Alfers, C)

12. 2. Defining Productivity
• A measure of the efficiency of
a person, machine, factory, system, etc.,
in converting inputs into useful outputs.
• Productivity is computed by
dividing average output per period by
the total costs incurred or resources (capital,
energy, material, personnel) consumed in that
period. Productivity is a critical determinant of
cost efficiency.

13. An example for productivity
calculation:

14. 3. Consequences of Stress
• “Stress in the workplace can be, so to speak, "contagious"—low job
satisfaction is often something employees will discuss with one
another. If stress is not noted and addressed by management early
on, team dynamics can erode, hurting the social and
cultural synergies present in the organization. Ultimately, the
aggressive mentality will be difficult to remedy.
• Managers are in a unique position when it comes to workplace
stress. As they are responsible for setting the pace, assigning tasks,
and fostering the social customs that govern the work group,
management must be aware of the repercussions of mismanaging
and inducing stress. Managers should consistently discuss job
satisfaction and professional and personal health with each of their
subordinates one on one.”

15. Some of the most common
consequences:
• Tardiness & Absenteeism
• Lower Productivity
• Lower Job Satisfaction
• Role conflicts
• Moodiness & Communication Problems
***All of the consequences of stress have impact
on productivity (i.e. workplace performance).

16. SOLUTIONS
INDIVIDUAL LEVEL
* Time Management
* Physical Activities
* Relaxation & Meditation
* Social Help
ORGANIZATIONAL LEVEL
* Right Employment
* Goal Setting
* Re-Positioning
* Organizational Communication
* Improvement Programs

17. DATA AND METHODOLOGY
• Stress is a psychological state with its overt and
covert consequences. People are not always
honest with their psychological state even to
themselves. Therefore, collecting data about the
stress levels and their impact on the productivity
is not a simple task. However, there are some PSS
(Perceived Stress Scales) developed. "The PSS
measures the degree to which situations in one's
life are appraised as stressful" (Cohen et al, 1983,
p.385).

18. An example to a PSS:
Questions NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES OFTEN ALWAYS
Have you ever thought that you have no control over
your work within the last month?
Do you consider yourself successful in dealing with
workplace problems?
Do you think that your work cause problems at work?
Do you feel overwhelmed with your workload?
How often do you consider yourself as far as your work
performance is concerned?

19. ANALYSES
• Once stress levels are seen, the stressed and
non-stressed employees’ productivity (i.e.
work performance) levels can be compared.
However, there is also need to calculate
productivity of employees. A productivity
calculation method is given in the “defining
productivity” part of the paper.

20. RESULTS

21. • Just like János Hugo Bruno "Hans" Selye puts it
“Everyone knows what stress is, but nobody
really knows.”
• Most of the people would agree that there is
negative correlation between stress and
productivity. However, when controlled and kept
at optimum level stress can be good. It will not
even be called stress anymore; it can be called
eustress as in the graph previous.

22. CONCLUSION
• All in all, stress exists in all world societies and it is often overlooked.
There is certainly a relationship between stress and productivity at
workplaces. There are various factors causing stress at both individual and
organizational level. And yet, there is a solution for each one of them.
• This paper had its time limitation. If it were given a longer period, it might
have been a more concise work. Since it is a bare literature review, it did
not employ any firsthand data. But, as explained in earlier, both stress and
productivity can be measured. It’s difficult but not impossible.
• Future studies might be carried out with a profession limit. For example,
workplace stress and productivity levels of teachers at private school
sector could be examined.