The effect of stress and satisfaction on productivity

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the effects of stress and job satisfaction on the functioning of a company. It seeks to focus on factors affecting stress and job satisfaction such as number of work hours, good relations between management and employees, good function of the group and work related to employees' area of education. Design/methodology/approach: A random sample of 425 employees in the private and public sector and two stage cluster sampling is first used to collect primary data. Factor analysis is used next to identify the responsible factors for the correlation among a large number of qualitative and quantitative variables and their influence on productivity. Logistic regression is used next presenting many useful elements concerning the function of stress, satisfaction and supportive elements on productivity. Findings: As expected, increased stress leads to reduced productivity and increased satisfaction leads to increased productivity. When work begins to overlap with workers' personal life this implies a negative effect on productivity. Quality work is more related to conscientiousness and personal satisfaction than work load. Energetic and active individuals affect productivity positively. Originality/value: The paper presents a number of qualitative variables as factors representing stress and satisfaction. This is achieved using factor analysis. Next logistic regression offers the odds ratio and the corresponding probability of the effect on productivity after a change in stress and satisfaction. The empirical analysis completes the existing literature contrasting different theoretical sets of predictor variables and examining their effect on productivity. Additionally, in the study the states of stress and job satisfaction are the result of the interaction of the environment's demands with the personal characteristics. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited