ABSTRACT

The study examined the impact of job stress on employee performance in food and beverage firms in South East Nigeria. The study was conducted to determine the relationship between role incongruency and employee commitment; assess the relationship between work overload and employee effectiveness (competence); examine how work underload influences employee productivity; determine the effect of role conflict on capacity utilization; ascertain the impact of workplace culture on product innovation; determine how workplace violence affects organizational growth(expansion); determine the relationship between job insecurity and employee retention. The survey research design was adopted in the study. A structured questionnaire was the major instrument for data collection. The study has a population of 705 and a sample size of 477. The study employed descriptive statistics of percentages, mean and standard deviation. Correlation analysis was used to test hypotheses. It was found that incongruency significantly affected employee commitment; work overload significantly affected employee effectiveness (competence); work underload significantly affected employee productivity; role conflict significantly affected capacity utilization; workplace culture significantly affected product innovation; workplace violence significantly influenced organizational growth (expansion); job insecurity significantly affected employee retention. It was concluded that job stress affects employee performance. The study recommends among others that management should always ensure that role incongruency is managed in such a way that employee commitment is not discouraged. Also, work underload should be x-rayed by organizational management with a view to improving on employee productivity indicators.