A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

A PROJECT ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING SECTOR

A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

CHAPTER 1
 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Stress is an inevitable concomitant of work life. Its source in an organization is task or role
related. An organization, being a network of roles performed in interconnected positions, is
dynamic in nature. The complex and dynamic environment of organization adds to further
stress at work. These environmental forces include rapid technological advancements, demands
made on employee’s skills, increased expectations about the quality of work life and
incongruence between the expectations and perceived organizational outcomes, changes in
organizations like downsizing, mergers, etc. These factors influence employment security,
social relations at work and upward mobility, which, in turn, will result in stress of the
employees. A lot of researches have been conducted about stress over the past years. A number
of theories behind it are now settled and accepted, others are still being researched and debated.

Stress Management is more important in now-a-days in the service, financial and banking.
There is no such thing like stress free job. Everyone in their work is exposed to tension and
anxiety as they gets through the duties assigned to them. Banking industry plays important role
in the developing the country’s economy is not an exceptional one. The job nature of banking
employees is very tedious as it involves the direct customer interaction in all levels. The
modern society and its people want everything should be at fast in tract. As the pace of life has
speeded up, the incidence of certain forms of stress illness has also increased. With the
introduction of new high speed information technology, increased global competitiveness and
reduced employees levels, employees have less job security in private sector. On the other hand
the public sector employees have job security, but they are also stressed over the work load,
target, competitiveness and work environment etc. particularly in the field of banking. They
are carrying heavier workloads and working longer hour for the purpose of completing work
and continuing their respective jobs. A marked increase in the stress levels at banking
employees is being experienced on a universal scale.

This research focus on a large number of bankers are who are facing high level of stress because
of their job and the reasons behind this stress include long working hours, heavy work load,
improper reward system, lack of job autonomy, organizational culture, role conflict, lack of
management support to employees, etc. The employees can notice a number of symptoms
indicating high level stress among them. However if these symptoms are not noticed in early
Stage, they can cause serious health problems among employees such as depression, heart
problems, diabetes etc. Not only health but personal life of bankers are also being affected
 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

because of high job stress, most employees are unable to spend time at home or with family.
The highly competitive banking industry has levied varied role requirements on employees
resulting in stress. This study, thus, aims at an exploration of the sources of role stress at
commercial banks, identifying the coping strategies used by the employees, assessing whether
the employees however, with the help of proper management techniques by management, the
bankers stress level can be reduced to great extent.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The project titled “A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING SECTOR” is

an attempt to study about stress and the effect on banking sector. Stress affects different people
with different background in different ways. Stress would deteriorate the employees‟
efficiency and organizational effective functioning, In this context, it will be worthwhile and
social relevant for the health of employees for undertaking a study to identify the job stress and
coping strategies of stress among banking employees.

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Objectives of the study are presented below.

➢ To recognize the major sources of stress of the bank employees in the selected study
area.
➢ To assess the relationship between socio-economic background of the employees
and their level of job stress.
➢ To evaluate the level of job stress among the bank employees.
➢ To identify the impact of job stress in different dimensions among the bank
employees.
➢ To suggest better ways and means to reduce stress among the banks employees in
the study area.

1.4 RATIONALE OF THE STUDY

The word stress has been repeatedly used in the recent years as a way to describe many
symptoms seen in working individuals. Stressful working conditions are also associated with
increased absenteeism, tardiness, disability claims, and other factors that reduce a company’s
productivity and competitiveness. The studies indicate that one fourth of the work force views
their jobs as the number one stressor in their lives and that worker widely perceives job stress
as being on the rise.
 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

In the case of Banking, the productivity of employees is affected due to their job stress. But
certain factors are avoidable. Heavy work load, conflicting job responsibilities and job
insecurity are stressors across the Banks. The risk for the job stress can be reduced through
smart strategic action. In this context, the management of banks must recognize the impact of
stress. A bank can be significantly higher in its performance in the absence of stress among its
employees. Under these circumstances a study on job stress among the bank employees to
suggest measures to reduce the impact of stress is very much important.

1.5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research methodology is way to systematically solve the research problem. It may be

understood as a science of studying how research is done scientifically. The study is based on
mainly primary data which is collected through questionnaires.

A. RESEARCH DESIGN

Research design is a plan structure and strategy of investigation conceived so as to obtain

answers to research questions and control variance. It is a catalogue of the various phases and
formulation of the researcher efforts. It is the arrangement of condition for collection and
analysis of data in a manner that is to combine relevance to research purpose with economy in
procedure.

The type of research chosen for the study is descriptive research. Various parameters will be
chosen and analysing the variations between these parameters. This will done an objective to
find stress management the in banking sector. The various research design used in this study
are as follows:

B. DATABASE DESIGN

1. TYPES OF DATA:

The data collected for the study is mainly through the distribution of e- questionnaire. To be
precise the data collected for study was both primary and secondary sources.

✓ PRIMARY DATA
 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

Primary data are usually collected from the source where the data originally originates from
and are regarded as the

✓ SECONDARY DATA
The secondary data is the historical data previously collected and assembled for some other
research problem. Secondary data can be usually gathered at faster and economical manner
than the primary data.

2. SOURCES OF DATA

✓ SOURCE OF PRIMARY DATA

In order to achieve the objectives of the present study, the primary data collected through a well
framed questionnaire that is duly filled in by the respondents. The respondents with varying
backgrounds are selected based on the important aspects of their gender, age, educational
status, designation, monthly income, marital status, family size, type of family and so on.
Primary data has been collected through small online discussions with employees, whom I
know personally working in banking sector.

✓ SOURCE OF SECONDARY DATA

Data collected through published and unpublished sources are called secondary data. The
secondary data are collected by some others for their use. Hence it is second hand data. The
source of secondary data include library, websites and various magazines and search engines.
The secondary data are also collected from various leading journals inclusive and exclusive of
various stress factors. Significant number of text books also studied to acquire relevant
literature on job stress.

C. MEASUREMENT DESIGN

There are four types scaling techniques. They are, nominal scaling techniques, ordinal scaling
technique, interval scaling technique and ratio scaling technique. The scaling technique used
in the research was Interval or Likert technique.

D. SAMPLING DESIGN

➢ UNIVERSE OF THE STUDY

 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

The group of individuals under the study is known as the population or universe. Therefore,
universe or population is the set of all items in any field of enquiry. The universe of the study,
here is the total number of employee working under banking sector.

➢ SAMPLING SIZE

Sampling size is the number of elements to be included in study. Determining sample size is
complex and involves several qualitative and quantitative considerations. The sample size in
this study is fixed as 100 in number which is collected from different employees.

➢ SAMPLING METHOD

The selection of employees was done on the basis of random sampling. For the purpose of
study simple random sampling would suit well due to its case of use and accurate representation
of large population with simple random sampling, item of population will get an equal chance
for being selected.

E. STATISTICAL DESIGN

The data collected was analysed by employing the percentage analysis technique.

Percentage analysis refers to special kind of ratio. It is used in making comparison between two
or more series of data. It is used to describe relationship. It is used to analyse the data. Bar
charts and pie charts were used to explain tabulation clearly.

Formula: percentage (%) = number of respondents / total number of respondents*100

1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

Most of the banks are now realized the importance of stress management. As already mentioned
in the importance of the study, job stress occurred due to work environment and also family
circumstance. However, the Banks focus on the reduction or management of the job related
stressors alone. But the impact of personal stressors like family and social commitments which
have a bearing on the emotional stability and physical ability of the bank employees has not
been taken care.
 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

The scope of the study is extended to include the personal stressors also. It is just not enough
to treat the causes but the consequences of stress on physical, emotional and behavioural areas
also require attention. This study focuses on the identification of the consequences of stress
with a view to enable the bank employees in the better management of their response to job
stress.

1.7 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

• The study is subject to the following limitations,

• Some of the respondents were very busy and hence they did not co-operate with the
research.
• The time frame given to complete the study did not allow an in-depth investigation into
the study because of the pandemic situation (COVID 19).
• There may be some sort of bias on the part of respondents.
• The survey intends to cover respondents mainly from Kerala which may not be
generalised to other geographical areas.
• Since, the study covers only banking working banking institutions, the results obtained
may or may not be applicable to other type of industry
 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

1.8 CHAPTERIZATION

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Review of literature

Chapter 3: Theoretical frame work

Chapter4: Industry Profile

Chapter 5: Data Analysis

Chapter 6: Findings, Conclusion. Suggestions

A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

CHAPTER 2
 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

2.1 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Literature review is the process of going through the articles related to the topic of research
topic, which are published in journals, online databases, magazines, newspapers, books or any
other source of information including online sources. Literature review helps researcher to
know and understand the findings and views of earlier researches who have carried out research
in an area similar or related to topic of study. It also helps in understanding the data collection
methods and the statistical tools used for analysing the data. The key findings and the
conclusion drawn by researchers are of great help for any new researcher. It helps us the
researcher to find research gaps, which could be taken up for further studies.

Mathew (1993)1: -Stress has a variety of meaning to people in the workplace. To the
production manager in a chemical plant, it may be the tension of missing the shipping date of
a large order for a major customer. To the business executive, it may be frustration associated
with the inability to acquire sufficient short-term loans from banks to cover the operating needs,
and so on.

Shruti M. (2009)2 -Concludes that employees at bank are too much stressed with their job with
heavy workload, so the employees expert some refreshing events to add up in their work place
like entertainment, trips, tea breaks, intervals once in a while during lumps of work.
Accordingly the employees expect hike in their salary from their worth performance. But even
then the employees are very cooperative and have a very good high regard and respect towards
the bank’s image and its future

Dileep Kumar M. (2008)3 - The productivity of the work force is the most decisive factor as
far as the success of an organization is concerned. The productivity in turn is dependent on the
psychosocial wellbeing of the employees. In an age of highly dynamic and competitive world,
man is exposed to all kinds of stressors that can affect him on all realms of life. The growing
importance of interventional strategies is felt more at organizational level. This research was
study the impact of occupational stress on Nationalized and Non–Nationalized Bank
employees. The author draws the attention from policy makers and men of eminence in the
related fields to resume further research.

Bashi. Usman et.al (2010)4 -They have analyzed the relationship between job stress and job
performance. The result has indicated that job stress has negatively correlated with job
performance and the researchers find out that job stress significantly reduce the performance
 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

of employees. The stress in work environment reduces the intention of employees to perform
better in jobs. It can be concluded that stress management is not gender sensitive or gender-
centric.

Rajendran Jayashree (2010)5 - This research was to study the impact of occupational stress
on Nationalized Bank employees. The problem of stress is inevitable and unavoidable in the
banking sector. A majority of the employees face severe stress related ailments and a lot of
psychological problems. Hence, the management must take several initiatives in helping their
employees to overcome its disastrous effect. Since stress in banking sector is mostly due to
excess of work pressure and work life imbalance the organization should support and
encourage taking up roles that help them to balance work and family.

S. Katyal M. Jain and B. Dhanda (2011)6 “A Comparative Study of Job Stress and Type of
Personality of Employees Working in Nationalized and Non-nationalized Banks” The
employees have to face stress and strain at workplace which is responsible for higher neurotic
symptoms among them like emotional instability, depressive mood, nervous breakdown, hyper
reactivity, over anxiousness, etc.

Sharmila A. and Poornima J. (2011)7 - The banking sector is becoming increasingly

competitive around the country and the level of product and service quality being offered to
customer is almost same. Hence, the bank management adds more responsibilities on the
shoulders of employees, resulting into a pressure on them, with increasing psychological
problems i.e. stress, strain, anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, etc. This situation, in which
the employees have little or no sense of identification with their job, can cause an individual
looking for another job or don't perform efficiently their own. Therefore, it is very difficult for
management that how to maintains bank employees’ ability to develop successful performance
with their organization under present conditions. The study is addresses the specific problems
of private bank employees related to occupational stress. This throw light in to the pathogenesis
of various problems related to occupational stress among bank employees.

Suchitra M. G. (2012)8 -Concludes that the stress in the work place has become the black
plague of the present century. Much of the stress at work is caused not only by work overload
and time pressure but also by lack of rewards and praise, and more importantly, by not
providing individuals with the autonomy to do their work as they would like. Most of the
employees were not satisfied with the grievance handling procedure of the organization which
was found by the unstructured interview. Organization must begin to manage people at work
 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

differently, treating them with respect and valuing their contribution. If we enhance the
psychological well-being and health of the employees.

Renu V. V. (2012)9 - The study is confined to the male population of 200 bank employees of
the Nationalized and Non-Nationalized Banks of Chandigarh City. Hence; stress management
approaches might be beneficial to the organizations to change the attitude of Nationalized and
Non-Nationalized Bank employees. The researchers study the stress level while considering
few stress variables of bank employees of the Nationalized Banks and Non-Nationalized Banks
in Chandigarh, Union Territory.

Arti Devi (2013)10 -This study aims at an exploration of the sources of role stress at commercial
banks, identifying the coping strategies used by the employees, assessing whether the
employees can be segmented on the basis of their role stress experiences, examining the
determinants of role stress based employee segments, proposing a comprehensive model for
role stress phenomenon at commercial banks.

Showkat Khalil Wani (2013)11 - The study revealed that clerical grade employees experience
more stress than officers and there is strong relationship between job stress and employee
motivation. On the basis of findings of the study the current payer puts forth some relevant
suggestions and recommendations to improve overall job scenario in banking industry.

Tilottama Azad (2014)12 - This research shows that a large number of bankers are facing high
stress because of their job and the reasons behind this stress include long working hours,
improper reward system, lack of job autonomy, organizational culture, role conflict etc. and
the main reason is lack of management support to employees. The employees can notice a
number of symptoms indicating high level stress among them. However if these symptoms are
not noticed in early stage, they can cause serious health problems among employees such as
depression, heart problems, diabetes etc. Not only health but personal life of bankers are also
being affected because of high job stress, most employees are unable to spend time at home or
with family. However, with the help of proper management techniques by management, the
bankers stress level can be reduced to great extent.

N.R.V. Prabhu (2014)13 - Banks and bank employees are playing a very important role for
developing the Indian Economy. It is generally believed by the common man that employees
of banks may not experience stressors in their jobs when compared to other occupations. To
test the validity of this belief the researcher had undertaken a study of bank employees in
 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

Chennai. It is the comparative study with reference to the employees of Nationalized Banks,
State Bank of India, Private sector Banks and the Co-operative sector Banks in Chennai.

P. Kannan and Suma U. (2015)14 - This research shows that a large number of bankers are
facing high stress because of their job and the reasons behind this stress include long working
hours, improper reward system, lack of job autonomy, organizational culture, role conflict etc.
and the main reason is lack of management support to employees. The employees can notice a
number of symptoms indicating high level stress among them. However, with the help of proper
management techniques by management, the bankers stress level can be reduced to great
extent. The type of research conducted is causal as this research explores the effect of one
variable over other. It aims to determine the cause-effect relationship between factors causing
stress and their impact on banker’s personal life and health.

Priyanka Das, Alok Kumar Srivastav (2015)15 -They have identified that banks must manage
people at work to improve physical work environment, If the organizations enhance the
psychological well-being and health of the employees, the organizational revenue will increase
and there will be employee retention as well. Because of “A Healthy Employee is a Productive
Employee”. they concluded that the level of stress among the select public sector banks are
found to be limited and if the necessary action taken by the management that will help to relieve
the stress of the employees and also help to impact more productive employees that will help
the banks to achieve greater heights.

G. Radha (2015)16 -Banks are among the top ten high stress workplaces in India. Elucidating
the causes of occupational stress is important not only for its potential implications for stress
management at banks but also for enhancing an understanding of strategic human resource
management. The study is addresses the specific problems of bank employees related to
occupational stress. The study throws light into the pathogenesis of various problems related
to occupational stress among public sector bank employees in Tiruvarur. The result of the study
reveals that the officers and clerical staff experience high level of occupational stress and sub
staff experience moderate occupational stress.

Ementa, Christiana Ngozi (2015)17 -the study looked into the bank secretaries’ perceived
causes of stress, its effect on their performance and effective strategies for coping with stress.
The study showed that bank secretaries consider most of the work functions as causes of stress
in the workplace, and these stressors has great effect on their performance, and have considered
a number of factors as effective strategies for coping with occupational stress. This study
 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

concluded that bank secretaries experience a lot of work stress as they carry out their
administrative and clerical functions in the bank. The study further revealed that gender; work
experience and marital status do not significantly affect respondents’ mean rating on causes of
stress, effect of the stressors to performance and effective coping strategies. Since stress is
unavoidable in work life, it is obvious that bank secretaries must go through a form of stress to
accomplish office tasks, efforts towards effective management of stress is paramount.

Mrs. Caral Lopes, Ms. Dhara Kachalia, (2016)18 - they have conducted a study in private
and public banks. They have shown that the technological growth has revolutionized the way
banking sector works and the competition is globalised now way days because of the economic
condition. The level of stress faced by the employees in banking sector is also growing rapidly.
The study found that there is a significant relationship between type of the banks, age, gender
and education, job, role, interpersonal relationship and Impact of occupational stress. So the
banking sector employee should adopt new coping strategies for maintaining good physical
and mental condition to improve productivity.

B.kishori & B.vinothini (2016)19 -the authors have found that productivity of the work force
is decisive factor for the success of an organization is concerned. In an age of highly dynamic
and competitive world, an employee is exposed to all kinds of stressors that can affect them on
all realms of life. The research intended to study the impact of occupational stress on
Nationalized Bank employees.

Pooja Chatterjee (2016)20 -Employees are increasingly recognizing that work is infringing on
their personal lives and they are not happy about it. Evidence indicates that balancing work and
life demands now surpasses job security as an employee priority. They want a life as well as a
job. The study assess the occupational stress, job satisfaction and mental health of employees
belonging to two professions namely bank and IT firms comprising of both private as well as
private sector. The need was felt so as to aid the personnel to combat with various dimensions
of occupation stress and job dissatisfaction and to inculcate feelings of organizational
citizenship behaviour and commitment and reduce employee turnover costs and attrition which
is on the rise these days.

Mohanapriya & Mahadevan (2016)21 studied causes which decide the stress among bank
employees. The study concluded that banking industry has become one of the highly
competitive sectors in India. The banking industries, since the beginning of this decade, have
been in front of greater challenges in terms of global banking and technological changes. Stress
 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

is inevitable on the part of the employees as the procedures, system; techniques are receiving
difficulty with the use of advanced technology. Every employee cannot handle with such rapid
modifier taking place in the jobs. In this study primary data collected from 108 employees
selected with the help of stratified sampling. The study concluded that majority of the
employees make an effort to find solution to reduce the stress. The measures are also
recommended in the research to defeat stress that affects their physical and mental health

Shukla & Srivastava (2016)22 concentrated that organization should evaluate job stress by
knowing, what employees have issues related to their job description, work pressure, social
support, and balance between work and family, which will lead to job stress. Any organizations
may benefit by including the work pressure, anxiety, and social environment concepts in
training and assimilation programs for employees and managers. They stated that, employee
and managers development programs should emphasize the value of coworker and supervisor
support, providing training to develop the skills necessary to create more supportive work
environments. Apart from the above literature reviewed, the researcher extensively reviewed
some literature to know the factors considered by prominent researchers to measure the level
of stress. The following table depicts the name of the authors who have identified and used
different factors to assess the level of work stress of employees

References:
1. Iqbal M (2012) - Impact of Job stress on Job Satisfaction among Air Traffic
controllers of Civil Aviation Authority: An Empirical Study from Pakistan
International - Journal of Human Resource Studies 2(2).

2. Shruti M. (2009) – A Study on Stress Management of Employees at Syndicate Bank

Hassan – A dissertation submitted to H.R. Institute of Higher Education, Hassan.

3. Rajendran Jayashree (2010) -Stress Management With Special Reference To Public

Sector Bank Employees In Chennai - International Journal of Enterprise and
Innovation Management Studies, Vol. 1 No. 3

4. Sharmila A. and Poornima J. (2011) - A Study on Employee Stress Management in

Selected Private Banks in Salem - International Journal of Management, IT and
Engineering, Volume 1, Issue 07.

5. Suchitra. M. G (2012) - A Study On Stress Management Among The Yes Bank

Employee Chennai - Project Report Submitted To Department Of Management
Studies, Hindusthan Institute Of Technology, Coimbatore.
 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

6. Arti Devi (2013) - Role stress: a comparative study of public and private sector banks
– Thesis submitted to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Jammu.

7. Showkat Khalil Wani (2013) - Job stress and its impact on employee motivation: a
study of a select commercial bank - International Journal of Business and
Management Invention, Volume 2, Issue 3.

8. Tilottama Azad (2014) - Managing Stress among Banking Sector Employees in

Bhopal - International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research in Social & Management
Sciences, Volume 2, Issue 2.

9. N.R.V. Prabhu (2014) - Occupational Stress - A Study With Reference to Select Bank
Employees in Chennai Region - AMET International Journal of Management.

10. P. Kannan and Suma. U. (2015) -Managing Stress among Cooperative Bank
Employees in Palakkad district - International Journal of Scientific Engineering and
Applied Science, Volume1, Issue-7.

11. G. Radha (2015) -Occupational Stress among the Bank Employees in Tiruvarur
District of Tamilnadu - Indian Streams Research Journal.

12. Mohanapriya, K. & Mahadevan, A. (2016). A Study on Stress Management among

Bank Employees with special reference to Erode District. Asian Journal of Research
in Social Sciences and Humanities, Volume. 6, No. 10, pp. 1236-1250.

13. Shukla, H. & Garg, R, (2013). A Study On Stress Management Among The
Employees of Nationalised Banks. Voice of Research, Volume 2, Issue 3.

.
A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

CHAPTER 3
 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

3.1 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Pressure is a part and parcel of all work which helps to keep one motivated and urges the
individual to strive for excellence, but excessive pressure can leads to stress which undermines
performance is costly to employers and can make people ill. The working environment or
working condition can be defined as the surrounding of an employee in a certain work area,
and may be divided into two categories, ‘physical’ and ‘non-physical’. Elements of physical
condition include equipment; setting etc. and non-physical include privacy, noise and
conversation. The occupation stress can eventually affect both physical and emotional
wellbeing if not managed effectively. Job stress is a common work place problem experienced
by all professionals, irrespective of their nature of work. Occupation stress can be defined as
the harmful physical and emotional responses occur when the requirement of job do not match
capabilities, resources or need of the worker. The job stress can leads to poor health and even
injury.

Increased competition, growing customer demands, prompts customer services, time pressure,
target and role conflicts are main factors of stress to bank employees. The 1990s saw radical
policy changes with regarding to the fiscal deficit and structural changes in India, so as to
prepare to cope with new economic order. The advent of technological changes especially
extensive use of computers in the sector has changed the work patterns of bank employees and
has made inevitable to downsize the workforce sector. Poor working relationship among co-
workers cannot provide valuable social support and this can cause job stress. Job stress
becomes an important agenda for managers now a days and it will remain in future.
Organizational Stress is receiving increasing attention in the academic literature and has
become a salient issue for the organizations
 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

3.1.1 Historical Perspective of Stress

The term „stress‟ is not a new one. It is as old as mankind. Since time immemorial various
concepts have been developed by ancient Indian scholars, which relate to the phenomenon of
stress. The ancient philosophical and religious texts like „Ramayana’ and „Bhagwad Gita’ and
various indigenous systems like „Samkhya’, ‘Yoga’ and „Ayurveda’ deliberate on native forms
of stress. „Dukha’ (pain, suffering), „Klesa’ (afflictions), „Atman’ and „Ahamkara’ (ego) etc.
have indicated the traces of the origin of stress in Indian thought. Samkhya and Yoga systems
to point that klesha have its origin in the root „khis’ which means to torment, or cause pain.
„Avidya’ (ignorance), „Asmita‟ (egoism), „Raga’ (attraction), „Divesa’ (repulsion) and
„Abhinivesa’ (lust for life) are the five types of Kleshas which lead to Dukha. Dukha, which is
opposite to wellbeing, includes all negative feeling states of anxiety and discontent. In Indian
thought, the life is equivalent to Dukha which indicates that even pleasure and enjoyment of
worldly „goodness‟ can be a source of stress.

Stress, as a problem associated with the existence of the individual, has been, therefore,
accepted and consequently reflected in the Indian thought. The problem of stress is related to
the meaning and purpose of life itself and efforts to cope with it must focus on preventing and
overcoming dukha. However, the concept of stress, in its present sense, finds its roots in the
field of life sciences. Derived from the Latin word „Stringere‟, which means to draw tight,
„stress‟ concept was used in the 17th century to describe hardships or affliction. Eventually, it
started to be perceived as a physiological or medical phenomenon. One scientist who has been
the inspirational force in the area of research on stress, Walter Bradford Cannon, studied the
effects of stress on human beings and animals in terms of the popular „fight or flight‟ syndrome
during early 1900s. Giving the concept of „Homeostasis‟, he revealed that the body has ability
to maintain its own consistency, which is relatively stable. He found that under stress an
individual may choose to fight the stressor and emerge victorious or flight away from it and
placate the situation. This is done by the body naturally which in its own wisdom begins
adjustments in the face of a stressor and tries to come back at a steady state

The contribution of Hans Selye to the field of stress is highly acknowledged. He gave the notion
of „Stress Syndrome‟ after experimenting upon the „syndrome of just being sick‟ in 1936. In
the physiological sense, Selye propounded „stress‟ as a nonspecific response of the body to
any demand made on it. He theorized that to a broad array of stressors, the body‟s way of
responding is surprisingly same. It indicates that a wide variety of stressors are capable of
 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

producing same stress response like effort, fear, success and fatigue. Elucidating the General
Adaptation Syndrome (GAS), the body‟s adaptation energy is finite, and constant stress leads
to exhaustion. Selye mentioned that a series of four closely related processes occur under
conditions of stress. It is these processes which help in bringing about the „flight or fight‟
response proposed by the physiologist Sir Walter Canon in 1935.

Stress refers to the strain from the conflict between our external environment and the individual,
leading to emotional and physical pressure. Stress has often been misunderstood to be negative,
with few people acknowledging the importance and usefulness of positive stress. In our
everyday lives, stress is everywhere and definitely unavoidable; hence our emphasis should be
on differentiating between what is good stress, and what is bad. This will help us to learn to
cope with negative stress, and harness the power of positive stress to help us achieve more.
There are four main categories of stress, namely „eustress‟, „distress‟, „hyper stress‟ and
„hypo stress‟. Negative stress can cause many physical and psychological problems, while
positive stress can be very helpful for us. The negative stress may lead to poor work
performance. Job stress is also associated with various biological reactions that may lead
ultimately to compromised health. Thus, Stress is inevitable in our society. Researchers on
stress make it clear that, to enter into the complex area of stress, especially in the area of
occupational stress, is very difficult. Stress is an unavoidable consequence of modern living.
With the growth of industries, pressure in the urban areas, quantitative growth in population
and various problems in day to day life are some of the reasons for an increase in stress. Stress
is a condition of strain that has a direct bearing on emotions, thought process and physical
conditions of a person.

3.1.2 Types of Stress

There are three types of stress as follows:

1. Physical Stress:
It is the stress that occurs due to the ergonomics in any organization. The physical conditions
i.e. the space given to an employee to sit, the equipment provided to him and the space
requirement for its handling, the comfort level of the furniture at his disposal, the placement of
telephones, the system of cross ventilation in the room/ work station, the placements of lights
etc. come in this head and play a vital role in providing ease to the employee. If employees do
not have comfort while working, they would be stress and these strains would result in
 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

extremely terrible results. Employees would either fall ill or would be so disturbed that they
could go to the limit of quitting their job. Physical stress results in diseases like ulcer, blood
pressure or even heart attack.

2.Emotional/Mental Stress: Emotional/mental stress has become a very vast study as every
individual has his own distinct personality, attitude, likings, dis-likings, perceptions, opinions
and mind-set and therefore all this makes the study of emotional / mental stress a very diverse,
dynamic, complicated and even confusing at times. Every individual at the work place has to
keep on playing with his own attitudes and styles of dealing with his subordinates, peers and
boss. One attitude which might be the most appropriate to deal with a peer might create
problems when used with a sub-ordinate or boss or even the same attitude used within a similar
category, say peers, sub-ordinates or bosses might raise eyebrows of many. This situation gives
rise to mental stress. Emotional stress raises its head as a result of insults, jealousy which results
from attention given to one peer by the boss and neglecting the other. Emotional/ mental stress
also gives rise to consequences which have disastrous results for the organization. Emotional
stressors result in apathy, boredom, inattentiveness, loss of ability to concentrate, irritability
and negativism.

3. Behavioural Stress: Behavioural stress is the stress that results due to the behaviour of self
or others. Any employee entering the organization in an un-usual state of mind would definitely
be unexpected to others and when they would greet that employee in the same old manner, the
reaction would not be the same as it used to be. This situation might cause behavioural stress.
Behavioural stressors bring changes in behaviours like a sudden change in smoking habits,
sudden noticeable weight loss or gain or even difficult breathing.

3.1.3 Causes of stress

Most people are affected by stress due to current lifestyles. People today are more active in
many fields than in the past and therefore they also suffer from stress which is a biological
term, that refers to the consequences of the failure of the human body to respond appropriately
to mental or physical threats, whether actual or imagined. Common stress symptoms include
irritability, muscular tension, inability to concentrate and variety of physical reactions, such as
headaches and accelerated heart rate. By adopting healthy habits one can avoid stress. Stress
depends on person capability and it varies from person to person. These causes are given below.
 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

• Environmental Causes: Environmental factors are dynamic and changeable from time
to time. Management does not control them. Environmental factors not only affect the
functional growth and development of the organization but also responsible for causing
stress among individuals who work in various organizations.
• Organizational Causes: People work in organizations, perform the various types of job,
and play a variety of roles for achieving the organization goals. There are various causes
such as
• Characteristics of the job: These potential sources of stress relate to the vital nature of
the job itself such as the working conditions and type of tasks. This is related to work
performance closely monitored, organizational changes for change's sake, dull and
repetitive work, dealing with difficult customers and clients and lack of enjoyment of job.
• Work-overload: This is the point to which individuals feel that the demands of their
workload and the allied time pressures are a source of pressure such as unrealistic
deadlines and expectations, technology overload and under recruitment of staff for work
already timetabled.

• Role in organization: If the employee role within the organization is unclear it may be
source of stress. Role conflict occurs when an individual is expected to play two
contradictory roles. Role ambiguity arises if the role is not well defined and it involves
uncertainty regarding job expectations and job description

• Relationship at Work: Employees is working in organizations develop personal

relationship. These relations may be with supervisor and colleagues. Poor or unsupportive
relationships with colleagues and supervisors can be a potential source of pressure. Failure
to establish friendly relationship can be a result of aggressive management style, absence
of support from others, isolation at work, avoiding behaviour, bullying and irritation, lack
of understanding and leadership, manager always finding faults in your work.

• Organizational structure: Organizational structure defines the level of differentiation,

task allocation, supervision and coordination in the organization. Extreme rules and lack
of participation in decisions might be potential sources of stress.
• Reimbursements and benefits: The financial rewards consociates with a job are
important in terms of lifestyle. They are also often perceived to be an indication of an
individual's worth and value to the organization. Employees at Commercial Banks with
 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

Career development and Job security: If there is lack of career opportunity in the
organization and lack of job security it may be source of stress. Job changes are a source
of pressure, for example job insecurity, lack of job stability, temporary or fixed term
contracts, future job change and fear of skill redundancy
• Work and home interface: The demands of work have affected personal and home life
and so put a strain on relationships outside work. For example, working people fail in
maintaining a proper balance between personal and professional life.
• Personal Causes: Many events related to the individual that are taking place outside the
organization may also become the source of stress at work for employees. Some past
incidences like traumas and unhappy events may contribute stress in life. For example,
events of personal life like divorce, death of loved one, hostile environment of family,
financial difficulties, personal health problem have been considered as personal causes of
stress.

Stress is found at all workplaces, and can affect an individual’s performance, health and well-
being. An effort to control or manage stress levels at the workplace should be an integral part
of all corporate houses. Many corporates are now introducing innovative technology to
provide a healthy and stress free environment to their employees in order to increase their
productivity and reduce stress.

3.1.4 Effects of Stress

Organizations are man-made system run by employees. Employees who work in highly
stressful situations develop undesirable tendencies in their working behaviour. In medical
science, stress affects the human body and sub systems of human body such as nervous
system, immune system and blood pressure.8 Stress affects individuals in various ways
such as physical effects (headache, backache, restlessness, loss of appetite, infections, skin
problems, and respiratory disorder), psychological effects (tension, anxiety, fear,
depression, loss of concentration, forgetfulness, loss of self-confidence, nervousness,
negative thinking, mental disorder, frustration, personality disorder, anger) and behavioural
effects such as arguing, crying, conflicting attitude, sleeping disorder, exhaustion, burnout,
carelessness and frequent mistakes, increase absenteeism, decrease commitment of work
 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

and increase staff turnover. Stress not only effects on employees but also affects the
organizations. Major effects of stress can be classified as under:

• Performance: Stress adversely affects the performance of individuals in an

organization. It ultimately contributes low productivity of the whole organization
because the organization works through these individuals.
• Change in Attitude: Employees who face highly stressful situation constantly for a
long period are bound to experience some change in attitude. They develop negative
thinking, low morale and job dissatisfaction and fail to maintain friendly interpersonal
relation with co-workers.
• Withdrawal Behaviour: The stress faced by employees also results in Behaviour. As
a result of this, it increases absenteeism, affects the internal environment of the
organization.

3.1.5 Problem of Job Stress in Banking Institution

The job stress is an increasing problem in present day organizations; it does not affect the
employees work life only, but has far reaching impact on employees’ family life as well. Stress
refers to the pressure or tension people feel in life. Schular R. S. (1980) defines ‘Stress as a
dynamic condition in which an individual is confronted with an opportunity, constraint or
demand related to what he or she desires and for which the outcome is perceived to be both
uncertain and important’. Selye (1979) defines it as ‘the non-specific response of the body to
any demand made upon it’

Stress leads to various Physiological, and behavioural difficulties. It affects the health of
employees. It causes various psychological problems like anger, depression, anxiety, irritability
and tension. Job stress is the outcome of various organizational and individual stresses.
Researches provide solid evidence that various organizational stresses like, Role conflict, Role
ambiguity, Role overload, task demands etc. increase the level of stress. Job related stress can
cause job related dissatisfaction and hence may also lead to lesser motivation of employees.
Motivation is an effective instrument in the hands of management in inspiring the workforce is
the core of the management. Motivation promotes job satisfaction and increases productivity.
Management can do its job effectively only through motivating people to work for the
accomplishment of organizational objectives.
 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

1. Banking Workplace Factors Causing Stress

The workplace is an important source of both demands and pressures causing stress and
structural and social resources to counteract stress. The workplace factors that have been found
to be associated with stress and health risks can be categorized as those to do with the content
of work and those to do with the social and organizational context of work. Those that are
intrinsic to the job include long hours, work overload, time pressure, difficult or complex tasks,
lack of breaks, lack of variety and poor work conditions (space, temperature, light). Under work
or conflicting roles and boundaries can cause stress, as can having responsibility for people.
The possibilities for job development are important buffers against current stress, with under
promotion, lack of promotion, lack of training and job insecurity being stressful. There are two
other sources of stress or buffers against stress: relationship at work, and the organizational
culture. Managers who are critical, demanding, unsupportive create stress, whereas a positive
social dimension of work and good team working reduces it.

2. Bank Employees Stress Management:

Bankers Stress Level Can Be Reduced: Stress Management is more important in now-a-days
in the banking sector. There is no such thing like stress free job. Everyone in their work is
exposed to tension and anxiety as they gets through the duties assigned to them. Banking
industry plays important role in the developing the country’s economy is not an exceptional
one. The job nature of banking employees is very tedious as it involves the direct customer
interaction in all levels. The large number of bankers are facing high level of stress because of
their job and the reasons behind this stress include long working hours, heavy work load,
improper reward system, lack of job autonomy, organizational culture, role conflict etc. and
the main reason is lack of management support to employees. The employees can notice a
number of symptoms indicating high level stress among them. However if these symptoms are
not noticed in early Stage, they can cause serious health problems among employees such as
depression, heart problems, diabetes etc. Not only health but personal life of bankers are also
being affected because of high job stress, most employees are unable to spend time at home or
with family. However, with the help of proper management techniques by management, the
bankers stress level can be reduced to great extent.
 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

3. Banking Industry

Banks are among the top ten high stress workplaces in India. Elucidating the causes of
occupational stress is important not only for its potential implications for stress management at
banks but also for enhancing an understanding of strategic human resource management. The
massive and speedy expansion and diversification of banking has not been without its strains.
The banking industry is entering a new phase in which it will be facing increasing competition
from non-banks not only in the domestic market but in the international markets also. The
operational structure of banking in India is expected to undergo a profound change during the
next decade. With the emergence of new private banks, the private bank sector has become
enriched and diversified with focus spread to the wholesale as well as retail banking. The
existing banks have wide branch network and geographic spread, whereas the new private
banks have the clout of massive capital, lean personnel component, the expertise in developing
sophisticated financial products and use of state-of-the-art technology.

4. Human Resources Management in Commercial Banks

In the booming and blooming Indian economy all the industries are doing well in the market
and Indian banks are also performing well comparatively. In the booming economy and the
continuing expansion most of the banks facing challenges to perform well and it clearly brought
out by the fact that, contrary to public perception, it is not just the new private sector banks that
are doing well. There are few public sector banks are also doing well and got the place in top
10 best performing Indian banks. And its worth mentioning that these public sector banks have
performed so admirably in spite of the fact that they operate with many handicaps, such as
strong unions and the inability to offer market salaries and incentives and burdened with huge
workforce. The secret of success of any company simply depends on how they treat employees
and keep them satisfied. For that they have design their human resource process like
recruitment, selection, training and development, performance appraisal and other based on
employee perspective in order to benefit them.

In India the banking industry becoming more competitive than ever, private and public sector
banking are competing each other to perform well. The executives of the bank are now in the
position to modify their traditional human resources practice in to innovative human resource
practices in order to meet the challenges from other competitive banks. Effective human
resource practices relate to Bank’s performance by contributing to employee and customer
satisfaction, innovation, productivity and development of a favourable climate in the Banks.
 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

With the objective to give due attention at the macro-level human resource management issues,
a new human resource organization structure has already been established by the commercial
banks at all levels, by carving out the routine administrative functions and delegating them to
a separate Personnel Administration Division (PAD). This has enabled the Human Resources
Development Division (HRDD) to focus on strategic thinking necessary for meeting human
resource challenges. The Personnel Administration Division (PAD) looks after administration
and implementation issues such as Payroll, Transfers and Postings, Promotions, Disciplinary
Actions, Industrial Relations, etc., while the Human Resource Development Department
(HRDD) deals with the broader Human Resource Policy (HRP) framework, manpower
planning and development and welfare issues. The Bank has also constituted a sub-Committee
on human resource comprising of some of the Top Management Bank officers for deliberating
on various human resource issues and for piloting organization-wide human resource
interventions.

3.1.6 Management of stress

Stress effects the individual, organisation, family through changed behaviour both
psychologically and physiologically and hence efforts should be made to reduce high level of
stress. Following are the strategies or approaches to reduce the stress.

a) Individual Approaches

As we know that stress has got a number of negative consequences for the individuals that is
why every individual should take personal responsibility for reducing his /her stress level.
There are a number of approaches by which a person can either avoid stressful conditions,
change them or learn to cope with them. Stress can manage by an individual, which will enable
him to regain control over his life. Some of the stress reducing strategies from individual’s
point of view are:

• Knowledge about stress: In the first stage, an individual should become knowledgeable
about stress. He should know about the process and effects of stress. He must find out
the major sources of his stress. He must anticipate stressful periods and plan
accordingly in advance. He must be honest with himself and decide what he can cope
with and what he cannot.
 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

• Physical Exercise: Physical exercise is advised to overcome stress. Activities like

walking, playing, swimming bring changes in his mental outlook. Yoga and meditation
are encouraged to reduce stress at work place. Individuals who busy with work can go
away from place of work for few days to spend time with family members elsewhere,
it will reduce tension, stress and strain.
• Readjust Life Goals: Because of severe competition, many individuals set high goals.
They are trying to do too much in too little time. They have fear of failing and they are
running nowhere. Thus high expectation with limited resources result in stress.
Accordingly they have to reset the goals keeping the resources in mind.
• Relaxation: Stress can be overcome through relaxation. Some techniques applied are
meditation, bio-feedback and passive attitude by which one can eliminate stress.
Relaxation refers to a state or condition where the individual is detached from both the
immediate environment and body sensation. A few minutes a day of deep relaxation
provides a person peacefulness. Significant changes in heart race, blood pressure can
be had from deep relaxation method
• Advance planning: Whatever shall be, will be is the attitude of many. They do not plan
the life, and effort whenever the problems occur in some way or the other. Many times
people face situations which induces stress because they do not plan or do bad job of
planning. Hence planning reduces the stress
• Work-home transition: This technique advise a person to reach home relaxedly at the
end of day’s work. He may reviews the day’s work before go home. He can plan for
tomorrow’s work so that he can be comfortable in his next day’s work
• Networking: It suggests to develop trusted colleagues, who are good listener to him.
Such friends and co-workers build confidence and provide moral support required to
push through stressful situations
• Time Management: Tension and stress are resultant of hectic work in office. If work is
sorted out and time is managed optimally, it will reduce the stress. So job demand can
be better managed if time for each work is planned and utilised carefully.
• Social Support: Talking to friends, colleagues, family will provide an outlet when stress
level are excessive. One should expand social support network to reduce tension.
Someone to hear the problems gives a more objective perspective of the situation.
 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

b) Organisational Approaches

Individuals may design their strategy to reduce stress, but it is a must for the
organisation to develop programmes that will help the employees in reducing their
stress. This will lead to less employee turnover, absenteeism and as a result productivity
of the organisation will improve. Some of the measures which organisation take care
are:
• Supportive Climate: Stressors happen due to faulty organisational processes and
practices. They can be controlled by establishing supportive climate. This depends upon
leadership mainly. Employees support or no support depends on their involvement in
decision making and policy framework. Such climate develop team work and reduces
stress.
• Job Enrichment: Monotonous job cause stress. So manager can design jobs by
improving content factors such as responsibility, recognition, opportunity to grow, etc.
and make the jobs interesting. The jobs should enriched to use the existing skills of
employees maximum and such phenomenon reduces the stress.
• Role Clarity: Managers by conducting role analysis can ensure role clarity by avoiding
role ambiguity and role conflict. Sometimes stress occur due to overloading or under
loading of job. Hence by breaking down the jobs into various components one would
give rise to understand the job expectations well by the employees, consequently
reducing job stress.
• Selection and Placement: Stress varies from job to job, and certain jobs are associated
with mental stress. Similarly experienced persons have more stress bearing capacity. So
management should keep both job factors and individual characteristics into
consideration and select such people to match the situations.
• Goal Setting: People perform jobs better if feedback is timely given on their
performances. This goal feedback reduces uncertainties and minimise employee
frustration, stress role ambiguity.
• Job redesign: Employee should have greater control over the job he is doing and should
have feedback timely to perform very well. So management should design the jobs from
time to time keeping the employees abilities in mind. Employee who aspire for growth
may be entrusted the challenging job.
• Stress Control Workshop: Manager can give counselling on social, personal,
organisational problems. Seniors of organisation can touch upon personal finance,
 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

health, children, education and marriage aspects to orient them better so that stress can
be minimised.
• Communication System: To some extent stress and confusion are the effects of
interpretation by employees on organisational matters. Employee perceptions should be
altered meaningfully by proper and timely communication of rules, procedures, etc. so
management by formal communication can reduce the role ambiguity and role conflict
among employees
Wellness Programmes: Organisation should organise wellness programmes and focus
employee’s attention on health. Management should organise programmes to increase
health awareness among employees. The employees are personally responsible for their
mental health and physical wellness. Management only should educate them.
Team Work: Management should create a work environment in which the members of
the work group consider themselves as a member of same family. There should be no
room for interpersonal conflict or between group and individuals. Such conflict cause
stress hence they should be eliminated. Hence members should work with team spirit

3.1.7 Models and Theories of Occupational Stress

1. French Kaplan and Kahn’s Person – Environment Fit (PE-Fit) theory (1972) - French
Kaplan, Kahn and their colleagues subsequently incorporated Lewis’s concepts of stress
and strain in their Person – Environment Fit (PE-Fit) theory, which is widely accepted
as a major conceptual framework for research on occupational stress. In the context of
this theoretical orientation, occupational stress is defined in terms of job characteristics
that pose a threat to the individual resulting from a poor match between the abilities of
the employee and the demands of the job. The workplace stress that occurs as a result
of incompatible person– environment fit produces psychological strain that may
contribute to stress-related physical disorders.
2. Marshall and Cooper’s (1979) Model: Stress at work model is similar to PE-Fit
theory, but is more specific in identifying five major categories of job pressure and lack
of organizational support in the workplace that contribute to occupational stress:15 (1)
Pressures intrinsic to the job; (2) The employee’s role in the organization; (3)
Interpersonal relationships at work; (4) Limitations in career development; and (5)
Organizational structure and climate.
 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

3. Karasek’s Demand–Control Model (1979): Karasek‟s Demand–Control model

focuses on interactions between the objective demands of the work environment and
the decision latitude of employees in meeting these demands. According to this model,
the greatest risk to physical and mental health from stress occurs to workers facing high
psychological workload demands or pressures combined with low control or decision
latitude in meeting those demands. The combination of high job demands with
relatively little control contributes to lowered productivity and a greater risk of health-
related problems. The demand–control model also recognizes the beneficial effects of
social support from supervisors and co-workers.
4. Lazarus’ Transactional Process Model (1966): Lazarus‟ (1966) Transactional
Process model of psychological stress and coping conceptualizes stress as a process that
involves a complex transaction between a person and her/his environment. In applying
this model to occupational stress, Lazarus (1991) emphasizes the distinction between
sources of stress in the workplace and the emotional reactions that are evoked when a
particular stressor is cognitively appraised as threatening. Three types of appraisal
mediate the effects of stressors on emotional reactions. Primary appraisal occurs when
a stressor is evaluated in terms of its immediate impact on a person’s well-being.
Secondary appraisal takes into account the resources of the employee for coping with
the stressor. The third type, reappraisal, incorporates new A Study on Stress
Management of Employees at Commercial Banks with information resulting from the
worker’s appraisal of the effectiveness of her/his efforts to cope with a particular
stressor.
5. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Model: National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) defines job stress in terms of „the
harmful physical and emotional responses that occur when the requirements of the job
do not match the capabilities, resources, or needs of the worker‟. This definition of job
stress, as well as the resulting model developed by NIOSH, was primarily influenced
by PE-Fit theory. The NIOSH model explicitly recognizes that exposure to stressful
working conditions plays a primary role in causing job stress and influencing worker
safety and health, while „individual and other situational factors can intervene to
strengthen or weaken this influence‟. However, the NIOSH model gives little attention
to the significant influence of the employee’s cognitive appraisal of sources of stress in
the workplace.
 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

Spielberger’s State–Trait Process (STP) Model (1972): Spielberger‟s State–Trait Process

(STP) model of occupational stress focuses on the perceived severity and frequency of
occurrence of two major categories of stressor events, job pressures and lack of support. The
STP model builds on the PE-Fit and Transactional Process models by A Study on Stress
Management of Employees at Commercial Banks endeavouring to integrate these models with
the conception of anxiety, anger and depression as emotional states and personality traits. The
STP model gives greater emphasis than other models to the effects of individual differences in
personality traits in determining how workplace stressors are perceived and appraised
A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

Chapter 4
 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

4.1 INDUSTRY PROFILE

4.1.1 Profile of Indian banking sector

There are twenty seven nationalised banks, nineteen private sector banks, thirty-two foreign
banks, various co-operative banks and regional rural banks operating in India. The service
sector which reports for around 60 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), has
emerged as one of the largest and fastest growing sectors not only in the country but also in the
global landscape. The country’s banking industry would be world’s third largest in asset size
by 2025, as per a report by Boston Consulting Group. The last decade witnessed of rapid
increase in transactions through ATMs as well as internet and mobile banking. The country’s
banking industry examines for greater transformation. With the Indian Parliament passing the
Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill in 2012, the area of activity of the sector has significantly
changed. The Bill permits The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to make final guidelines on issuing
new licences, which could increase the number of banks in the country. India’s banking
industry could become the fifth largest banking sector globally by 2020 and third largest by
2025. Now-a-days, banks in India focus on serving clients and improving their technology
infrastructure, which can help better customer experience and give them a competitive edge.
The popularity of internet and mobile banking increasing, with customer relationship
management (CRM) and data warehousing anticipated drive the next wave of banking
technology in the country.

Banking sector in India was on a growing trend. It has vastly benefitted from the surge in
disposable income of individuals in the country. There has also been a noticeable upsurge in
transactions through ATMs, and also internet and mobile banking. Consequently, the different
banks, viz public, private and foreign banks have invested considerably to increase their
banking network and thus, their customer reach. The banking industry in India has the potential
to become the third largest by 2025 according to a KPMG-CII report. Over the next decade,
the banking sector was projected to create up to two million new jobs, driven by the efforts of
the RBI and the Government of India to integrate financial services into rural areas. Also, the
traditional way of operations will slowly give way to modern technology. According to the
Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the banking sector in India was sound, adequately capitalized
and well-regulated. Indian financial and economic conditions were much better than in many
other countries of the world. Credit, market and liquidity risk studies show that Indian banks
were generally resilient and had withstood the global downturn well. With a sense of optimism
 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

slowly creeping in, the banking industry expects that 2015 had brought better growth prospects.
This optimism stems from factors such as the Government working hard to revitalize the
industrial growth in the country and the RBI initiating a number of measures that had gone a
long way in helping the banks to restructure. The recent announcements of RBI, it was felt,
were a clear pointer to the future of the restructured domestic banking industry

The Indian banking sector has emerged as one of the strongest drivers of India’s economic
growth. The Indian banking industry has made outstanding advancement in last few years, even
during the times when the rest of the world was struggling with financial meltdown. India's
economic development and financial sector liberalization have led to a transformation of the
Indian banking sector over the past two decades.

Today Indian Banking is at the crossroads of an invisible revolution. The sector has undergone
significant developments and investments in the recent past. Most of banks provide various
services such as Mobile banking, SMS Banking, Net banking and ATMs to their clients.

4.1.2 HISTORY

Although some form of banking, mainly of the money-lending type, has been in existence in
India since ancient times, it was only over a century ago that proper banking began. The first
bank in India, though conservative, was established in 1786. From 1786 till today, the journey
of Indian Banking System can be segregated into three distinct phases. They are as mentioned
below:

• Early phase from 1786 to 1969 of Indian Banks

• Nationalization of Indian Banks and up to 1991 prior to Indian banking sector Reforms

• New phase of Indian Banking System with the advent of Indian Financial & Banking Sector
Reforms after 1991, The banking industry has moved gradually from a regulated environment
to a deregulated market economy. The market developments kindled by liberalization and
globalization have resulted in changes in the intermediation role of banks. The pace of
transformation has been more significant in recent times with technology acting as a catalyst.
While the banking system has done fairly well in adjusting to the new market dynamics, greater
challenges lie ahead.
 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

4.1.3 STRUCTURE

The Reserve Bank of India, the nation’s central bank, began operations on April 01, 1935. It
was established with the objective of ensuring monetary stability and operating the currency
and credit system of the country to its advantage.

In India, the banks are being segregated in different groups. Each group has their own benefits,
own dedicated target markets, limitations in operating in India.

Scheduled and Non-scheduled Banks: Scheduled bank was one which was included in the
second schedule of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. Certain conditions were to be satisfied
to be eligible for this as, for example, a bank must be a corporation and not a partnership or a
single-owner firm. Scheduled banks enjoy certain facilities like borrowings from the RBI. In
return, they had to meet certain obligations of RBI like, Scheduled State Co-operative Bank
Regional Rural Banks maintaining a part of their cash reserves with the RBI. Non-scheduled
banks are disappearing from the banking scene and hence they were not important.

Indian and Foreign- Banks: Indian banks were those which were incorporated in India and had
their head offices in India. Some big Indian banks had their branches in foreign countries.
Foreign banks were incorporated in foreign countries with their head offices outside India.
They were scheduled banks and generally specialize in the field of foreign exchange.

Public Sector and Private Sector Banks: The Central Government entered the banking business
with the nationalization of the Imperial Bank of India (now the State Bank of India) in1955. In
1969, fourteen large banks were nationalized and again in 1980, six more banks were taken
over by the Government. These nationalized banks are called public sector banks. The others
are private sector banks.

Regional Rural Banks: These were started in 1975 to cater to the needs of rural economy of
India. They paid particular attention to the credit requirements of small farmers, artisans and
agricultural workers. They operate mainly at the district level.

4.1.4 BUSINESS DIVISIONS

 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

Retail banking - Loans to Individuals (Auto loan, Housing Loan, Education Loan and other
personal loan) or small businesses.

Wholesale banking – Loans to Mid and Large corporate (Working Capital loans, Project
finance, Term loans, Lease Finance)

Treasury Operations – Investment in Equity, Derivates, Commodities, Mutual Funds, Bonds,

Trading and Forex operations

Other Banking Businesses – Merchant Banking, Leasing business, Hire purchase, Syndication
services etc.

4.1.5 CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF THE INDIAN BANKS

The banking system in India has a conversion due to the development of the financial position
and of the liberalization process. Some of these changes occur when another includes a
undulation result on a bank, a commitment to her diploma of a regulated market completely
seller fully liberalized market. The bank these days chop dynamic and thus the rules of
yesterday now will not be applied. The company therefore legal obstacles, separate the different
banks, investment and insurance of the area unit less well set out and thus the crossover the
surface unit increases. It is therefore the promotion works more dynamism to the support of the
Bank said in this dynamic market. The key to the promotion of the challenge of our time is the
support and recommendation on the main objective is the promotion and positioning of
resources offer services on the products of the bank and services. The marketing as a consultant
job placement, integrated on the reorganization of the wishes of delivery within not only the
most important strategic segments Markey, but gradually redefined for small segments. The
major challenges are,

• Deregulation:This release founded the banking sector extremely competitive with

greater flexibility and operational autonomy and liberalization of the standards for
replace. The release of the company more liberalization in the interest cost for a
junction with entrance of the variety of actors redresser within the banking system .In
good time always as a means of the company to be reduced because of the downturn
of the economy caused lot of important competitors fights for a tart.
 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

• Rules: New rules thus the market has been re-new rules for the activity. The banks of
the unit interface redesign of the universal bank, recording new channels with
evaluation free base remunerators and to supply. Collapse natural outside this new
players, new channels pressed spreading, large customers of the quality of service,
promotion of competition of responsibilities, new rules for this sport on the
performance of the pressure of incomprehensible. The output of the bank to facilitate
a series of innovative products of the occupation in the customer segments, in particular
credit in detail.
• Effectiveness: This has created in succession it appear necessary to efficiency within
the company. World Bank have in connection with the access of the funds is of little
value and at the same time a better performance. The banks against the pressure of the
assessment to squeeze deplore and offer the necessary boost to the assets in the detail.
• Loyal customers distributed: Loyal customers in general: there can be no doubt
impact the preferences of the customer, you are guaranteed to respond, accessories
worth of savings. Customers become tense and therefore the loyalty of area unit skilful.
The unit of area of this diverse selection; in the case of parts is reduced by bank with
the request for flexibility and customization. In view of the relatively low number of
cost, the switch of the reluctance of customers requires takes place on public order and
without problems, the service unflawed.
• Distance Competencies:The Talent appropriately in the right place can confirm the
success. The distance of the capacity needs at the same time otherwise there will be
opportunities. The main objective of the incomprehensible individuals work but no
solutions on the recovery problems rather than their resolution and the customer as
bullying in the sale of goods.

The Possibilities for the banking industry

The increase in the elimination of retail trade in the increase in the threshold countries such as
India has recently been origin. The population of Asia Pacific, mixed with cost savings banks
financial, monetary explosive, processes and the development of banking services details offer
growth opportunities are very important for the banks. The banks need to serve effectively the
phase of the private customer business to use pot luck. Different ways of area unit
 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

• Market growth as a result of irregular see new products and services, and embody the
opportunities in the credit cards, customer finance and control element details and
instructs entirely on the financing and economic advantages of aircraft in the area of
banking services big problem. They need new skills in the sale and the promotion of
credit and operations.
• The banks may now no imagination of the ministry of finance, the exceptional profits
10 years reduction of the interest costs for the laity to be provided. This shows the
weakness of the banks.
• Excessive interest in India, rivalry with foreign banks only increase. • The
demographic changes as a result of changes in the age profile and social unity of
financial profits, the customer can demand a higher step-by-step the administrative
capacity and the amount of compensation in the case of banks.
• Other banks can achieve personal information of Bearing Housings following your
growth in the banking sector to develop by India and pioneer of models of cases
excellent serve as successfully as the segments with low financial profit rural could
take and Segments; active procurement as a method to grow and reach the level of
performance in your drilling service. Attract, develop and keep a wide range of options
for management.
• Foreign banks on the creation of a coin in India may be obliged to purchase the different
concepts for the race win for the customer? And the form of a customer value creation
before openness rules certainly by distance poster 2009. Time, you should remain
constant in this game for the possibilities of the potential acquisition and after you air
within the almost limited. The maintenance of a semi-permanent mainly the added
value of Outlook.
• Travel in the rural areas in India for the area of the individual and the banks abroad.
• Growth in the Indian economy expected to be stable for quite slow, in particular in the
service sector at the request of banking services, in particular the private customer
business, mortgages and securities services of area unit is estimated to be stable.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has presented a proposal of the govt. Amendment of
the law on the control of banks that banks to sell derivatives.
• The liberalisation of the standards ECB: Govt. Common rules Liberalisation of the
ECB for the use of the facilities of the private sector involved in the financing of the
infrastructure CENB should be repealed. This has the banks and credit institutions
 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

currency, not previously not possible, this appropriation this route of the rising cheaper
the funds during the markets for overseas.
• Hybrid capital: In an effort to reduce the banks in their capital crunch, invoice you
enabled perpetually obligations and opportunity to promote equity hybrid shore their
capital. If the opinion of the new outlying areas it could facilitate the banks nutrition
links with very little room for more justice. The most important is the department of
IFI and NRI limits investment in securities must be installed forty ninth compared to
twenty cases in measures in the public sector has the banks of the unit
• The reluctance of customers
• Debt
• The Information Technology

4.1.6 IMPORTANT BANKING LEGISLATIONS

1.The Imperial Bank of India Act 192 1 (The First Banking Act)

2. Reserve Bank of India Act 1 935.

3. Banking companies (Amendment) Act 1950.

4. R.B.I. Act (Amendment) 1950.

5. Banking Regulations Act 1949.

6. State Bank of India Act 1955

7. State Bank of India (Amendment) Act 1959.

8. Banking companies Act 1957.

9. R.B.I. Act (Amendment) 1960

4.1.7 LIST OF BANKS IN INDIA

• State Bank of India (1806) and its partners

 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

• Bank of the state of Jaipur Bikaner &

• Bank of Hyderabad

• Bank of Indore

• Bank of the state of Mysore

• Bank of the state of Patiala

• Bank of the state of Saurashtra (SBI i.e. merged with 13. August 2008)

• Bank of the state of Travancore Nationalized banks:

• Allahabad Bank

• The Andhra Bank

• Bank of Baroda (1908)

• Bank of India

• Bank of Maharashtra

• Canara Bank

• Central Bank India(1911)

• Corporation Bank

• Dena Bank

• ICICI Bank

• IDBI Bank (1964)

• Indian Bank (1907)

• Indian Overseas Bank

 A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY

• Oriental Bank of Commerce

• The Punjab & Bank (1908)

• Punjab National Bank (1894)

• Syndicate Bank

• The Union Bank of India (1919)

• United Bank of India

• Bank of the LFS

• Vijaya Bank Private Banks:

• Axis Bank (formerly UTI Bank) (1995)

• Bank of the Rajasthan

• Bharat Bank Overseas

• Bank Catholic Syrian

• The Centurion Bank of Punjab (merged with HDFC Bank)

• Amended Union Bank

• Bank Credit Development

• Dhanalakshmi Bank

• The Federal Bank

• HDFC Bank (1994)

• ICICI Bank (1995)

• Indu Bank (1994)

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• ING Vysya Bank (1930)

• Jammu and Kashmir Bank

• Karnataka Bank

• Karur Vysya Bank (1916)

• Mahindra Kotak Bank (1985)

• Lakshmi Vilas Bank (1926)

• The Seigneur Krishna Bank (Now the centurion bank of Punjab)

• Bank Nain Ital

• Bank Nedungadi (now Punjab National Bank)

• Ratnakar Bank • Rupees Bank

• Bank Joseph Vaillancourt

• SBI and trade International Bank

• Bank in India South Africa (1929)

• Tamilnad Mercantile Bank

• Thane Janata Saha Kari Bank

• Bassein Catholic bank

• United Western Bank (NOW IDBI Bank)

• YES Bank (2002)

4.1.10 SOME OTHER SERVICES PROVIDED BY BANKS

• Vending machines
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• EFT (electronic transfer of funds)

• Electronic payment of invoices (RASE)

• E-Check

• Internet banking

• The tele-travel

• Mobile Banking Services

• Flow controller card

• Credit Card

• Demat Account

• Net cash

• M-check&E-Invest