Track: Human Factors and Ergonomics

Abstract

This paper forms part of a comparative study that explored the effects of occupational role stress on selected employees working in two banks with branches in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa. A survey of hundred respondents was conducted using a questionnaire was based on factors that promote stress versus those that dissolve  stress both, relating to issues involving occupational role stress among bank employees. The paper discusses the strategies adopted to manage stress. The analysis of the data shows that the relationship between the expectations of the superiors of the respondents and the expectations of their junior staff were causes of occupational role stress. Conversely, the ability of respondents to use their education and expertise in their duties and, the correlation with their personal values and job requirements, has the ability to mitigate and dissolve occupational role stress in the workplace.  However, the respondents expressed ambivalent views on, feeling overburdened in their role functions, the possibility of their occupational roles interfering with their family lives. The ambivalent views further go on with their role functions when having been assigned to some entities or people; the relationship between their occupational roles and their personal interests and, lastly, how the amount of work the respondents were required to do interfered with the quality of their work.