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OCCUPATIONAL ROLE STRESS – AN EXPLORATORY STUDY IN THE INDIAN PUBLIC SECTOR BANKS

Dr.Kakoli Sen

Associate Professor (OB & HRM)

Institute for International Management and Technology

Off.address : 336, Udyog Vihar, Phase IV, Gurgaon – 122001, Haryana

ksen@iimtobu.ac.in

kakolix@yahoo.com

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OCCUPATIONAL ROLE STRESS – AN EXPLORATORY STUDY IN THE INDIAN PUBLIC SECTOR BANKS

Abstract

Following liberalisation in 1991 and introduction of reforms in the financial sector,

during the past two decades, there have been major changes including increased

participation from private and foreign banks in the otherwise stable Indian banking

sector. There has been intense competition among all the banks and the Public Sector

Banks have had to change not only their operational methods but also introduce new

products, services and marketing techniques which is very likely to create stress among

employees.

The present study explores the Occupational Role Stress level present with the Public

Sector Bank employees in Delhi NCR with the help of Organisational Role Stress Scale

by Pareek (1993). Empirical data has been collected for the study. This study also

presents recommendations to managers/administrators and policy makers on several

Organisational Development interventions which can alleviate stress experienced by

Public Sector Bank employees.

Keywords: Stress, Organisational Role Stress, Occupational Stress, Public Sector Banks

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Occupational Role Stress – An Exploratory Study in the Indian Public Sector Banks

Introduction

The Concept of stress

According to Robbins (2003) an opportunity, demand, constraint, threat or challenge can create stress for an individual when the effect of the event is uncertain and important. Factors relating to the environment, the organization, and the individual can also trigger stress (Robbins & Judge, 2007). This happens especially when s/he is unable to deal with the demands or constraints encountered. While stress at work as a concept has been in existence since long and has been widely studied, both the antecedents and consequences of stress in modern day are very different and have strong implications in ones’ professional lives.

The concept and sources of occupational Role stress

Organizational Role Stress (ORS) is the stress experienced due to occupation of an organizational role (Srivastava, 1999). Organisational role stress occurs if there is poor fit between one’s work requirements and conditions and his/her abilities, (Holmlund & Strandvik, 2005). As the business environments become more competitive, businesses more dynamic and organizational roles more complex, the potential for organisational role stress increases. Varied sources of work stress have been identified by researchers. Five categories of stressors were identified by Landy and Trumbo (1976) such as excessive competition, hazardous working conditions, job insecurity, task demands and long or unusual working hours. Cooper and Marshal (1976) classified stress as intrinsic to a job or role, career growth, relationship with colleagues and organisational climate and structure as five main clusters of work stressors. Srivastava and Singh (1981) assessed perceived stress related to occupational conditions such as role conflict, role ambiguity, group and political pressures, role overload, responsibility for persons, powerlessness, under participation, poor peer relations, low status, intrinsic impoverishment, unprofitability and strenuous working conditions. Schuler (1982) identified relationship, job qualities, organizational structure, career development, physical qualities, change and role as main categories of work stressors. Parker and Decotiis (1983) proposed six specific causes of work stress which included job characteristics, organizational structure, climate and information flow, role, relationship, career development and external commitments and responsibilities. Hendrix et.al. (1985) identified work overload, work autonomy, control supervision and support, role ambiguity and role conflict as major organisational stressors. Cummins (1990) suggested role conflict and ambiguity, work overload, under utilisation of skills, resource inadequacy and lack of participation as the main categories of work stressors.

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Srivastava (2009) found that the role of an employee in the organization may create conditions that cause stress for employees at work affecting the quality of work life. Such Organizational role stress has been found to be negatively related to managerial effectiveness. Nelson and Burke (2000) suggest that a number of factors such as role ambiguity, lack of power and role conflict can also be stressful. Sharma & Devi (2008) further add that Role overload, lack of senior level support, lack of group cohesiveness, inequity at workplace, role stagnation, resource inadequacy in the role, constraints of change contribute to the stress of employees. Consequences of Occupational Stress Individuals as well as organizations can be affected by stress in a very adverse manner (Ross, 2005). Stress may create hyper irritability, anxiety, disturbed interpersonal relationships, sleep disturbances, which can be damaging to an individual's health and lead to low productivity, absenteeism, poor quality of work, high turnover etc. (Edworthy, 2000; Cooper and Cartwright, 1994). Parasuraman and Alutto (1984) suggest that Role frustrations and short lead times can be potent stressors and that, felt stress contributes to voluntary turnover. Job stressors are thus projective of job dissatisfaction and can prompt people to leave the organization. It can also result in employees expressing negative or cynical attitudes about customers/clients, avoiding responsibilities and certain tasks, being superficially involved, blocking out new information, wasting time at work or being late for work Diijkhuizen (1981). All the potential indirect stress can lead to Job dissatisfaction, low motivation, lowered overall quality of work life, reduced organizational commitment, turnover, absenteeism, and intention to leave the job Adams (1980). One’s capability to solve problems and subsequent satisfaction with the job may also get impacted by stress at workplace (Elfering et al., 2005). According to Dubinsky et al.,(1984) service sector employees, who are involved in direct dealing with the customers, role stress has been found to be very important in determining their commitment to the organization and satisfaction with supervisor and their intention to leave the organization. Although there are several studies in the context of various professions, studies on role stress among Bank professionals are limited. However banking sector as one of the emerging areas of service sector expanding very rapidly in the recent past, needs to be studied to understand in what ways is the rapid growth affecting the stress levels of its employees and how it can be managed well for maximizing efficiency levels. This study makes an attempt to identify and examine the organisational role stressors among the Public Sector Bank employees in the current dynamic business context. The Context of Occupational Role Stress in the Banking Sector in India

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In 1991 & again in 1997, under the chairmanship of M.Narasimham, a set of reforms were introduced to liberalise the Indian Economy. The liberalisation process objectives included developing a diversified, efficient and competitive financial system and included recommendations on entry of Private and Foreign banks in India, Computerization, Reduction of government shareholding in government owned banks, Introduction of Voluntary retirement schemes (VRS) for surplus staff etc. Post these reforms, the banks multiplied in size and numbers as well as diversified into new areas like mutual funds, insurance, merchant banking and other new financial services and products and have included personal investment counselling etc in their business profile. Over the years, implementation of Information Technology on a large scale has revolutionised the very concept of traditional banking activities.

The 1990s saw major policy changes preparing India to cope with the new economic world order. The Liberalisation, Privatisation & Globalisation led policies paved way for the banking sector to prepare itself to compete with the tough new market.The competition has also brought in fresh expectations from the customers. There is growing competition from non-banking financial institutions also which has put pressure on the Public Sector Banks to change the ways in which they do business. With the entry of new players in the market, absolutely business oriented, fiercely competitive, technologically advanced and with professionally skilled workforce, the public sector banks that had so far enjoyed monopoly have had to adapt to the new customer centric business environment. Literature Review Occupational stress has received substantial attention in past research on various professionals. Studies conducted on service sectors concluded that service-oriented jobs, which involve a direct interaction with customers, are prone to creating relatively greater stress levels for employees. Sabir et.al. (2003) suggest that increased interaction with computers, computer breakdowns, computer slowdowns, electronic performance monitoring, central processing system are the new age stressors. Lehal (2007) studied Job Satisfaction and Organisational Role Stress in employees in Punjab and found a negative correlation between Organisational role stress and job satisfaction. In another study however, women employees experienced higher stress levels due to the additional responsibility of establishing a Work Life stability (Modekurti and Chattopadhyay, 2008). Prominent role stressors and their consequences were identified in a study by Gupta et.al. (2008) who surveyed civil hospital nurses in West Bengal. Role erosion emerged as the most prominent role stressor in an empirical study of public sector by Srivastava (2006) Studies have been undertaken to assess the contributory factors for stress in the banks. Shah (2008) conducted a study in the banking industry in Kashmir and found Role

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stagnation, Role erosion, Inadequacy of role authority to be high role stressors. Social support and its impact on role stress was studied by Fernandes et al (2008) on the Private and Public Sector bank executives in Goa. The study found that role stress is reduced by enhanced social support. A study by Nirmala (2002) identified the impact of different sources of occupational stress on job Performance in nationalized banks of Haryana. The findings show significant negative co relation between occupational stressors and job performance. Bhatnagar and Bose (1985) studied the role stress experienced by branch managers of a banking organisation and found Role Erosion, Inter Role Distance and Role Isolation to be the prime stressors. Organisational climate and its impact on stress levels of employees has also been greatly studied. Organizational climate refers to how the work environment is perceived by employees who are working in it, and how it influences their behavior. Wendell et al, (2004) describes Organisational Climate as employees’ perception and attitude about the workplace – of its value as a place to work, welcoming or otherwise. An organization’s climate also covers employees’ perceptions of whether there is autonomy, satisfying interpersonal relations with peers and seniors, satisfaction in their work, and many other work settings (James, 1982). These conditions can also significantly impact their motivation levels, stress level and behaviour. Two most important factors according to David (2000) that can create employee stress are ineffective supervision and poor teamwork. All employees in an organization have definite aspirations, and achievement of these determine one’s perception of his/her compatibility with the organizational climate (Lehal, 2004). Schneider (2008) adds that Climate includes perception about the procedures, policies, practices and in their organization, communication within the organization, problem solving, decision making, learning and motivation. Nicholson and Miljus (1992) suggest that it is inclusive of leadership or management styles, employee involvement in decision making, challenging jobs to employees, excitement on the job, personnel policies, benefits, good working conditions and career growth. In a study of effects of organisational climate on Job satisfaction, role stress, sense of participation and alienation in public sector and private sector, Sharma (1987) found significant differences between the two on the dominant organizational climates. There was also high correlation between the climate variable and role stress variables. Kang & Singh (2004) conducted a study in the Electronics Industry to identify stressors at work in which poor Organisational Climate and Structure, Lack of Inter-Personal Relations, Insensitive Supervisor, Lack of Role Clarity and Work Inhibitors emerged as the main stress factors. Gladies & Kennedy (2011) studied how organizational climate affects Job stress for females working in the Indian IT sector. High positive co-relation was found between organizational climate and job stress in the IT sector.

Objectives of the study

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The objectives of the current study is to:

1. Evaluate the Occupational Role Stress in the Public Sector Bank employees with special reference to Delhi NCR.

2. Identify the major stressors in the employees of Public Sector Banks with special reference to Delhi NCR.

3. Suggest various ways to mitigate the stress in the Public Sector Banks.

Methodology The study is exploratory in nature and is based on field survey. Data was collected

through a structured questionnaire followed by open ended interviews with bank employees. The study has been conducted in Public Sector Banks located in Delhi and National Capital Region. Scheduled commercial banks have been selected as the universe of the study. Stratified Random Sampling method was used to collect data. The Organisational Role Stress (ORS) Questionnaire by Pareek (1993) which is a comprehensive tool to elicit data about different role stressors afflicting a respondent was used for the purpose. The list of banks was taken from the “Best bank survey” of Business Today group 2009 February – March issue. The researcher personally approached 225 PSB employees comprising both managers and non managers; however a number of respondents cited unavailability of time due to work pressure and a total of 160 respondents participated in this survey with a response rate of 71 %. In addition, 10 personal interviews were also conducted with senior and middle managers including Branch Managers from the Public Sector Banks. Informal discussions were also held with respondents while explaining and collecting the questionnaire. The calculated Mean and Variance values and contents of interviews have been included in discussions section.

1. Inter -role distance (IRD): When people play a number of roles both at work and outside, which have their own unique demands on their time as well as abilities, they may have trouble in giving their best to all the situations. Stress arising from difficulties in balancing multiple Organizational & Non Organizational roles is called inter role distance stress. In such situations where people feel it is important to do justice to both and they are unable to do so, such a stress may occur. Goffman (1961) in Vijayashree and Mund (2011) discuss how an individual’s identity is not restricted to a role in the organisation alone.

Role stress constructs: The following ten stressors were assessed in the study:

2. Role stagnation (RS): When people experience being held up in a role with

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limited/no career growth prospects, stress due to Role stagnation sets in. It may happen at any point of time in life. Generally when people feel that they are not doing anything new or different, such stress may occur. Many middle aged, middle management executives according to Levinson (1973) and Constandse (1972) suffer from fear and disappointment of becoming obsolete. Vijayashree and Mund (2011) suggest that with age, job opportunities become fewer in number and new jobs require new skills. This may create a sense of helplessness of being stuck at a role because of lack of options.

3. Role expectations conflict (REC): Conflicting expectations or demands by the different role senders can create Role Expectations Conflict stress. For every role, there are significant others who have expectations from the role. These expectations from multiple role partners at the same time can be incompatible and the person can experience Role Expectation conflict. All individuals according to Netemeyer, Johnston and Burton (1990) confront conflict or ambiguity with respect to his/her job which is compounded by the different expectations.

4. Role erosion (RE): When people feel that some of the important functions that should be part of their role are being done by others, they may feel stressed due to Role Erosion. Such a situation may also be threatening to the role holder who thinks that he should be doing this work to justify his position or authority. Role erosion generally happens when there is restructuring happening in an organisation and new roles being created. This can also lead to the feeling of being underutilised for some people. Beukel and Molleman (2002) suggest that people do not enjoy feeling underutilized.

5. Role overload (RO): When people face multiple obligations, role demands, or duties requiring them to do more than possible in the time available (Tyagi, 1985) they are likely to feel stress due to Role overload. Marshall and Cooper (1979) also differentiate between quantitative overload which is about too much to do and qualitative overload which is about difficulty of the tasks and the accountability of the role. Kahn and Quinn (1970) suggested that role overload may happen in conditions when there is 1) absence of role integration 2) when large variations exist in the expected output 3) absence of role power and 4) when duties cannot be delegated.

6. Role Isolation (RI): Role isolation has been defined as the stress resulting from the situation when the role occupant feels physically or psychologically isolated due to lack of communication with others in the organization, due to location, hierarchy, process, organizational climate etc. S/he feels a lack of support from the others performing roles vitally linked with his/her role. Vijayashree and Mund (2011) state that the key measure of perceived role distance is ease and frequency of interaction. Role distance is considered to be low when relationships are strong, and vice versa.

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French and Caplan (1970) and Kahn et al. (1964) also suggested that mistrust of co-workers is positively related to low job satisfaction and high role ambiguity.

7. Personal inadequacy (PI): When a person feels deficient in the required skills, knowledge or preparation to perform his/her work, s/he may experience stress due to Personal Inadequacy. This may be due to new technology, new products /markets or even at new positions and roles. McMurray (1973) discusses that a manager who has received too many quick promotions may also overwork to keep the job and hide the feeling of personal inadequacy.

8. Self-role Distance (SRD): When a role occupant does not identify with the occupied role or feels underutilized or ill-utilised, s/he suffers from Self Role Distance. Self Role Distance according to Sharma (2007) is stress when a person’s self-concept and his/her role do not match. In her study on the determinants of burnout among Indian executives, she suggests that executives suffering from burnout have strong feeling of inadequacy. The study concludes that there are five predictors of ‘inadequacy’ viz., role expectation conflict, stress personality, inter-role distance, self role distance and role stagnation. When a person does not want to be involved in a certain job but has to, either due to the norm or because of the role or demand of the situation, or even because of no choice, s/he may experience stress due to an inner conflict between the given role as perceived by the role occupant and self.

9. Role ambiguity (RA): When there is a lack of clarity about the role and the expectations of others from the role, or inadequate feedback on how one’s performance is regarded by others, stress due to Role Ambiguity may happen. Behrman and Perreault (1984) suggest that when management expectations are vague, when a person has insufficient information to carry out job duties or when uncertainty exists concerning job requirements, Role ambiguity can occur. Four types of roles, according to Kahn and Quinn (1970) are most likely to experience ambiguity a) New Roles in the organisation, b) Roles in expanding or contracting organisations, c) Roles in organisations subjected to repeated changes, d) process related roles. In such situations, people may experience stress because they are uncertain about how their performance is being evaluated and whether they are doing the right things. Kahn (1973) also differentiated between present role ambiguity and future-prospect ambiguity. People suffering from role ambiguity according to Kahn et.al. (1964) may also experience high job related tension, low job satisfaction, low self confidence and a sense of futility.

10. Resource inadequacy (RIn): When a role occupant feels s/he has inadequate but necessary external resource to fulfil their job demands, s/he may feel stress due to resource inadequacy. The inadequacy could be related to shortage of supplies, manpower, information, infrastructures or even money.

Total Organizational Role Stress (TORS): Combination of all the above listed role

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stressors is called Total Organizational Role Stress (TORS).

To fulfil the objectives of the study, the following hypothesis was developed:

Hypothesis: There is significant occupational role stress among the employees of Public Sector Banks.

In order to find out the level of Occupational Role stress among the employees of the Public Sector Banks and to test the hypothesis, Duncan's mean test was conducted. Given below is the computation of the mean scores and Variance.

Table 1

Computation of Occupational Role stressors among the employees of Public Sector Banks on the basis of Mean and Variance

Public Sector Banks ( n=160) Stressors Mean Variance (%) Inter Role Distance 10.94 33 Role Stagnation 9.78 37 Role Expectation Conflict 8.79 42 Role Erosion 9.78 37 Role Overload 9.31 43 Role Isolation 8.85 40 Personal Inadequacy 9.34 40 Self Role Distance 9.13 37 Role Ambiguity 6.80 61 Resource Inadequacy 8.96 43 Total Organisational Role Stress 91.69 26

Table 1 shows that with TORS of 91.69, there is a moderate - high level of stress in the Public Sector Bank employees. In terms of various other role constructs, like IRD (Mean 10.94), RS (Mean 9.78), REC (Mean 8.79), RE (Mean 9.78), RO (Mean 9.31), RI (Mean 8.85), PI (Mean 9.34), SRD (Mean 9.13), RA (Mean 6.80), RIn (Mean 8.96) the Public sector bank employees experience moderate - high stress in all individual stress constructs as well as Total Organisational Role stress. The results in Table 1 thus support the hypothesis as mentioned above. The most dominant stressor that emerges in this study is Inter Role Distance.

Discussions

This section discusses top three stressors found in the survey of Public Sector Bank employees. Based on the Stress construct explanations above and the findings in table 1, it is evident that the Public Sector Bank employees have problems in balancing multiple

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Non Organizational & Organizational roles and are facing stress due to Inter Role Distance. In a study by Srivastava (2006) among Public Sector Bank employees to assess Organisational Role Stress across age groups, Inter Role Distance was found to be the prime Role Stressor. The early 1990’s financial sector reforms initiated by the Government of India and RBI brought in major development in the Indian Commercial banking sector. It also brought in serious competition from both domestic and international players. Phenomenal growth in Information Technology has changed the very manner of banking and helped them reach out to their customers. Products and services underwent rapid innovation and new financial instruments were introduced. There is intense competition among all the types of commercial banks to attract customers. Various attractive loans; both long term and short term and Fixed Deposit schemes are being offered to customers. With the changing business context in India post liberalisation, the Public Sector Units irrespective of the sectors have had to change their business functions and work practices which have not been easy for employees. Over the years, several studies have been conducted to assess the stress levels of employees in the Public Sector. In a comparative study of Organizational role stress among managers of Government, Public and Private sectors by Mohan and Chauhan (1999) Public sector managers were found to experience high Occupational Role stress primarily due to rapid changes in the Indian Banking Environment which has led to higher work load and lower Work Life Balance. The long held Bureaucratic work culture and work practices have also been said to be unsuitable in the current demanding business scenario. Sharma (2005) who studied Role stress among fifty Private and Government hospital doctors from Jaipur, Rajasthan also found that Government doctors experience higher levels of stress than Private ones. An ASSOCHAM report (www.assocham.org/prels) states that those working in the banking sector have to attract a large pool of customers for their various schemes. At the same time they also have to ensure timely recovery of loans which is quite likely to create stress. Following Inter Role Distance, Public Sector Bank employees have been found to be experiencing Role erosion. The Public Sector Banks have been so far been functioning in a regulated environment. With the entry of new Private Sector Banks and Foreign Banks, the PSBs have had to move from an existing system to a new system, from a system which was focussed on developing the economically and socially important sectors post independent India to an evolved system which is fiercely competitive, technology driven and is fast moving towards international standards. With social development and employment generation in mind, over a period of time, the PSBs also acquired a large workforce in the early days especially at the non managerial level. This section of manpower in the pre computerization phase had sufficient howsoever repetitive workload to occupy them meaningfully. Post Computerization and Technology enabled banking, a number of these jobs have been automated or made available through internet banking.

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With a centralised Customer Service Cell, most banking Head Quarters are looking at making all the branches, Profit centres where routine work will be less and the emphasis will be on adding new customers and servicing them uniquely. The Headquarters are thus redefining roles and creating new roles which has created a situation where skills previously held by the Public Sector Bank employees have become obsolete and new skills such as Computer Literacy, Selling, and Customer Relations etc. have to be acquired fast enough. In a study by Kamal and Sengupta (2009) on Bank Officers to assess Job Satisfaction, 88.75 per cent of the respondents felt that the changed banking is truly challenging to their administrative abilities. In a study by Awasthy et.al. (2011) on top down change in Public sector banks, the employees have commented that training is a weak area in the PSBs and nothing is taught on the commercial orientation and customer relationships which is so much the focus of all banks now. Following Inter Role Distance is also the feeling of Role stagnation among the Public Sector Bank employees. Sharma and Devi (2011) report that the public sector employees feel stressful for being pigeonholed in one position for long. A plateaued career is what faces most of the public sector employees who see their counterparts in the private sector growing in career and earning more money as well. This is true in the case of Public Sector bank employees as well. Ahmad & Shah (2007) discuss “Role Fortification stress” due to lack of enrichment of roles which is more a characteristic of public sector banks. This is reflected by the reorganization policies adopted by public sector banks whereby horizontal promotions are granted which are devoid of Job enrichment. Confinement to routine operational tasks leads to monotony and boredom and eventually to stress. Shrivastava and Purang (2009) studied employee perceptions of Job Satisfaction among Indian Banks and found that private sector bank employees perceived greater satisfaction with pay and growth aspects of their job as compared to the Public Sector Bank employees.

Interviews with branch managers also revealed that in Public sector banks, especially at branch levels, there is still a lot of routine work and not significant change in posts and salaries; therefore there is no real extrinsic motivation to work hard. The Work climate also neither encourages nor rewards creativity at work. The Compensation and Rewards system is designed in such a manner that there is high base pay, the salary differentials between employees is low and there is reward for long term tenure.

A study by Gani and Shah (2001) on the banking industry in Kashmir indicates that the banking industry as a whole has a poorly perceived organisational climate. All strategic decisions seem to get taken at the very senior level and the change is mostly thrust upon the employees without their involvement. Such changes are barely understood and often resisted. Srivastav (2009) suggests that Control Climate discourages delegation of power and responsibilities and can debilitate the development and growth of employees. In a study of the control climate in Public Sector and its relationship with stress,

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Srivastav (2009) found that Control Climate is positively correlated with Role Expectation Conflict, Role Stagnation, Role Isolation, Role Erosion, Role Ambiguity, Self Role Distance, Resource Inadequacy as well as Total Role Stress. Sandra and Frans (2002) suggest that control is generally stronger in Public Sector.

Implications for managers :

If the Public Sector Bank management desires its people to readily accept change and increase productivity, it will simultaneously need to alleviate stress levels among its people. Vakola and Nikolaou (2005) suggest that commitment will be less and reluctance will be high from highly stressed individuals to accept organizational changes. A goal oriented organizational approach according to Maslach and Leiter (1997) is essential to reduce stress-induced burnout. The author suggests a three pronged approach to mitigate the stress factors in the Public Sector Bank employees as under:

1. Reducing Inter Role Distance stress by acquiring the right people

2. Reducing Role Stagnation stress by Retaining, Developing and Motivating the people

3. Reducing Role Erosion stress by Building an Organisational Culture of Performance and Accountability

Reducing Inter Role Distance stress by acquiring the right people

According to a report by Lele (Business Standard, 2009), 20% of the 750,000 PSU Bank employees retiring by 2011-12 and with the policy of financial inclusion, new branches will be opening across the country. With most of the Public Sector Banks offering specialised services, skilled people will be needed. Right recruitment and selection will be absolutely imperative for the Public Sector Banks. The search has to be very focussed and refined for the right kind of people. To get into a Public Sector Bank, one needs to be a graduate Indian between 21 to 28 years of age. One has to take a two hours written test checking the comprehension and expression ability of the candidate. The written exam is followed by an interview assessing the personality, intelligence, alertness and suitability of a candidate. The skills are very generic which have little relevance to the real job that s/he will be performing in the bank if selected. On the other hand, some of the leading Private banks like ING Vysya Bank, IndusInd, ICICI, Axis Bank list out clear Job specifications like Graduates with Financial Background or MBAs with Finance specialisation, and are savvy with Capital Markets, Investment products etc. Soft skills include Leadership skills, service orientation, target oriented approach, result orientation etc. ING Group also has a telephonic job search portal dedicated to candidates searching for jobs at ING. The positions available are also very

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specific such as Relationship Managers – Wealth, Emerging Corporates, Customer Services, Credit Analyst etc. By being specific in the recruitment and selection process itself, the Private sector banks stand a better chance in attracting the people with the right skills and mindset. This in turn quickens the employees' learning curve and they are job ready in no time. Additionally because there is heavy reliance on the Information Technology and lot of routine jobs have been automated, Private Sector banks do not have the concept of clerks anymore. Everyone is an officer and has a specific role than of just a support staff. On the other hand, Public Sector Banks still recruit people in the clerical cadre in large numbers. Pertinent to quote here is a working paper by Das, Ray and Nag (2005) where the labour – use efficiency in a large public sector Bank was looked at. The study found that invariably the efficient branches had more number of officers than clerks and vice versa.

The Public Sector Banks will need to invest strategically in their human resource and provide appropriate training. The core competencies required in today’s business environment should be identified and the skill gaps plugged quickly enough so that the talent pool can continue to remain productive as well as competitive. Training should also aim at developing flexibility at work to adapt to changing business practices, multi skilling and cross cultural skills. Mergers, acquisitions, outsourcing, reengineering, downsizing etc.in the banking sector are the common practices that are likely to emerge in the times to come. The skill sets should prepare the employees to operate in a global environment and develop an international perspective. When the PSBs recruit the right kind of people in terms of skills and abilities, they will also be in a better position to balance a number of roles that they are required to play. Additionally, the rightly selected people will not suffer from the feeling of Personal Inadequacy and Self Role Distance as they will identify with the role they shall be playing at work and will also have the necessary skills to do the same.

Reducing Role Stagnation stress by Retaining, Developing and Motivating the people

The Public Sector Banks have been huge talent pools; and this talent pool has been often raided by the Private Sector Banks. The obvious reasons include a much attractive pay package and other benefits and the not so obvious reasons include an enabling work environment. Private Banks seem to have kept employees at the fore front, offering them challenging assignments, cross functional exposure, work life balance and immense growth opportunities. The business philosophy of HDFC is based on four core values –Operational excellence, Customer Focus, Product Leadership and People. The bank proudly claims the exceptional quality of its people and their extraordinary efforts as the ultimate identity and success of the bank.

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There is an urgent need for the Public Sector Banks to review their reward systems. The performance dimensions should be linked to meeting and satisfying internal and external customer requirements and defined with a focus on value for e.g. quantity, quality, timeliness, consistency, cost effectiveness etc. The compensation should be based on performance. There are various ways in which private sector banks and foreign banks keep their employees motivated, viz. good pay packages, leave benefits, long term benefits in the form of ESOPS etc. About 12 % of the YES bank's fully diluted equity is owned by its staff. Foreign banks like Standard Chartered Bank actively promote Work Life Balance for their employees and offer 30 days compulsory annual leave. Family fun day events are held from time to time and each region has an approximate annual budget of Rupees One Crore for such events. There are Gym and sports facilities available at select branches. In contrast, recreational activities are not really a part of the regular agenda for Public Sector Banks especially at the branch level.

The 21st century career success is measured by fast movement up the corporate ladder in a short time irrespective of age and life stage. The PSBs as an organisation will need to implement a Career Development System and design processes to balance individual career needs and organisational work force requirements. Career developmental practices not only enhance career satisfaction of employees but also improve organisational effectiveness. Employees can be provided an environment of continuous learning and self development. They can be made part of Employee Development Programs, offered sabbatical to pursue education or other interests. Talent Management, Employee Engagement, Employee Recognition and mentor programs can also be introduced. Such initiatives will ensure that the employees value their association with the organisation and have a psychological contract with their employer. Recreational activities will also bring down the stress experienced due to Role Overload as they get their deserved breaks in between and reconnect with their work. While resources are not really scarce in PSBs, there is a lot of scope for better utilisation of the same which can reduce the stress caused due to the feeling of Resource Inadequacy.

Reducing Role Erosion stress by Building an Organisational Culture of Performance and Accountability

A basic pattern of shared assumptions, values and beliefs that decide how employees look at people and situations is understood as Organisational Culture. The culture also decides how problems and opportunities are looked at. While there is no denying that the Public Sector banks have robust practices in place and are pools of talent, the work culture at the Public sector banks does not come across either as customer service and/or high performance oriented. The general approach to a certain task or a problem does not seem very enthusiastic or at all competitive. At the Branch level, chasing targets seem to be resting mostly with the branch managers. Even with Technology aided banking, the executives seem to be too busy with routine work and hardly have time to spend with

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customers and establish a healthy rapport. An organisation can be called effective when the organisational objectives are internalised and met with passion by all its employees. While this passion or engagement needs to be developed from within it will have to be organisation driven to be sustainable. In order to develop a culture of performance and accountability, the PSBs will need to open two way communication channels, sharing concerns, challenges and strategies, involve its own employees and unions in decision making. Under the leadership of the senior management, the Public Sector Banks need to build a strong Performance Oriented Work Culture and growth oriented development. The new organisational climate will clarify all roles and thus also prevent stress due to conflicting role expectations. Clear and regular communication will foster in trust and bonding within the organisation and remove the stress due to Role Isolation. While Role Ambiguity has the lowest mean figure as per the study, it also has the highest variance, hence an improved organisational work climate can also help in bringing down Role Ambiguity.

Conclusion

According to Sharma and Devi (2011), Banks are among the top ten high stress workplaces in India. Banking is one of the very important sectors in the Indian economy and Public Sector Banks play a big role in the same. With ample studies suggesting that role stress has an adverse effect on employee output, this study tries to explore the factors causing role stress amongst Public Sector Bank employees. The findings indicate that several changes have happened in the business environment due to which the Public Sector Banks have had to alter their product lines, customer focus, work systems, business objectives and business strategies. But naturally, the employees have had to adapt to the workplace changes which have caused specific types of stress among employees.

The study suggests that externally the Public Sector Banks must consciously work on reinventing their brand image and project themselves as technically sound and professional players with skilled manpower. Internally there should be a shared vision among all employees to become more professional, more competitive and more efficient. The PSBs must involve its employees in the decision making process and also critically review their HR policies and practices. The Manpower Planning and recruitments should focus on attracting, retaining and developing talent in line with the current demands of the business environment. PSBs should also aim at reducing routine work burden on its employees and focus on increasing organisational efficiency through proper training on commercial skills required of them now in the changed business environment.

There needs to be a coordinated effort on part of Ministry of Finance and the RBI and other relevant government and regulatory entities to promote banking as an industry in

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India and bring in more professionalism in the work culture of the Public Sector Banks and strengthen it to be more competitive to deal with current as well as future market forces.

Limitations of the study and scope of future research

The study is limited to the banking sector in the NCR of Delhi, Trans-national studies across countries or economies can be done to understand the differences in the exhibition and management of stress in the banking sector across countries which are experiencing similar growth in this or any other sector.

Such studies could be done in sectors with similar growth pattern like aviation, hospitality sector, education etc. to map and mitigate stress levels among employees.

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