Work stress, mental health, and employee performance

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak—as a typical emergency event—significantly has impacted employees' psychological status and thus has negatively affected their performance. Hence, along with focusing on the mechanisms and solutions to alleviate the impact of work stress on employee performance, we also examine the relationship between work stress, mental health, and employee performance. Furthermore, we analyzed the moderating role of servant leadership in the relationship between work stress and mental health, but the result was not significant. The results contribute to providing practical guidance for enterprises to improve employee performance in the context of major emergencies.

An urgent call to address work‐related psychosocial hazards and improve worker well‐being

“…To answer these questions, we draw upon national and international research, authoritative policies and frameworks, and NIOSH guidance on reducing work-related psychosocial hazards. 1,6,11,80,89,104,105 In the following sections, we present our findings and conclude with a call to action which outlines six worker mental health and well-being. We begin by discussing how work affects well-being.…”

“…79 Beyond their effects on health, psychosocial hazards can impair workers' ability to participate effectively in the work environment and with other people in and outside of work. 80 Table 2 presents a summary of the behavioral, mental, and physical health effects reported as being associated with work-related psychosocial hazards.…”

“…well-being. 3,9,80,83,[93][94][95][96] Fifth, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has established a foundational approach, Total Worker Health ® , focusing on the design and organization of work and nonwork factors that affect the well-being of workers. 97 This approach is a holistic perspective that focuses on how work affects overall health and well-being, including physical, psychological, social, and economic aspects.…”

On the consequences of electronic performance monitoring in organizations: theory and evidence

“…According to one theory, there is a considerable positive association between workplace stress and employee performance (Ismail et al, 2015;Soomro et al, 2019), indicating that stress can motivate workers to put in extra effort, thereby increasing their productivity. In contrast, another theoretical perspective indicates that work-related stress impairs employee performance (Chen et al, 2022;Yunus et al, 2018) because employees must manage their stress, thereby increasing their workload and reducing their productivity (Chen et al, 2022). SFT explains that subjects perform better on simple tasks in the mere presence of fellow subjects and that when executing complex tasks, this facilitation reverses and the individual's performance declines.…”

Editorial: How do extreme environments influence psychological functioning for performance?

“…Whether physical or psychological, the individual determinants of work or athletic performance are the subject of a large body of literature aimed at better understanding what makes an individual perform and how their work can be made safer and more productive (Van Yperen et al, 2014 ; Gomez-Ruano et al, 2020 ; Chen et al, 2022 ). For example, given global warming, thermal stress will exact greater strain on both athletes and also emergency crews during extreme weather events, forcing the body to adapt both physiologically and psychologically.…”