Working in public administration appears to be associated with high levels of stress, according to the findings of a survey carried out in the framework of an EU-funded project for improving human resource management in this sector. The main stress factor reported by over half of the survey respondents was the low level of remuneration. Other work-related stress factors included high workload, too many and diversified tasks, time pressure and low levels of autonomy.
About the survey
In September 2008, the Министерството на държавната администрация и административната реформа (MDAAR, Ministry of State Administration and Administrative Reform) presented the results of a survey – entitled Employee turnover, working conditions and motivation of civil servants (in Bulgarian, 512Kb PDF) – conducted within the framework of the project ‘Improvement of human resource management policy within the state administration’. The latter is funded by the European Social Fund under the Operational Programme Administrative Capacity 2007–2013 (1.23Mb PDF). The survey examines civil servants’ perceptions about stress at work, factors causing stress, job satisfaction or dissatisfaction, and motivation. This article looks mainly at the survey findings in relation to the issue of job-related stress.
Survey methodology
The quantitative study was conducted among a representative random sample of 4,000 civil servants chosen from three target groups: managers, professionals and auxiliary staff. The survey respondents were distributed as follows: 60% from central administration; 28% from municipal administration; and 2% from district administration. The survey was conducted using structured face-to-face interviews.
Main findings
High workload and stress at workplace
The survey found that work overload and stress have become a regular feature of work in state administration institutions. The majority of the respondents reported either very high (36.5%) or high (59.6%) levels of workload (Figure 1). Only about 4% of the respondents indicated low levels of workload.
Reported levels of workload (%)
Almost three quarters of the survey sample indicated that their job stress levels were either very high (22.5% ) or high (50.7%), while the remainder (26.8%) reported only a low or very low level of work-related stress (Figure 2).
Respondents’ perceived level of work-related stress (%)
Sources of stress
Analysis of the data revealed a number of specific determining factors for stress at work. Low remuneration was the most frequently experienced work-related stress factor, reported by 66.7% of the respondents (Figure 3). About half of the respondents (51.3%) indicated that their jobs had evolved to encompass a diverse range of responsibilities that had significantly increased their workload and stress levels. The third most frequently experienced work-related stress factor was time pressure: almost half of the sample (48.1%) cited insufficient time for completing tasks as being a highly stressful factor. Nearly one third (27.4%) of the respondents mentioned lack of performance assessment among the main causative factors for stress, while a fifth (22.8%) pointed to too many tasks but low autonomy in decision making; almost another fifth (17.3%) complained about the lack of clearly defined tasks to be performed.
Main factors leading to stress cited by respondents (%)
Among the other most frequently mentioned job-related stress factors were the following: poor relations with colleagues (16%); doing monotonous work (12%); lack of clearly defined job descriptions (9.1%); and the high complexity of tasks (6.2%).
Relatively high satisfaction levels despite stress at work
Despite the survey respondents’ perceptions of high stress levels at work, most of them appeared to be generally satisfied with their working conditions.
Relations with team members, working hours, job content, the reputation of the organisation and working atmosphere received the highest satisfaction ratings, with 80% or more of the employees indicating that they were either completely or fairly satisfied with these aspects. Conversely, employees were fairly dissatisfied or not at all satisfied with the level of remuneration (75.7% of respondents), performance appraisal (36.5%) and training activities (33.1%).
Commentary
Bulgaria’s public administration has undergone radical transformations as a result of the country’s transition to a free-market economy and its accession to the EU. As a result, civil servants are now thought to be experiencing highly demanding and rapidly changing work environments that challenge both competencies and established human resource (HR) policies. This latest study clearly shows how stress is emerging as a growing problem in public administration, with extensive costs to individuals, organisations and society. In this regard, it is important for the social partners at national and organisational level to undertake joint actions to identify and prevent work-related stress in line with the European social partners’ Framework agreement on work-related stress (78Kb PDF) (EU0410206F), which has thus far been overlooked by Bulgaria.
MDAAR is committed to using these latest survey findings as a basis for adopting measures seeking to improve human resource management (HRM), which will be included in its ‘Action plan for the implementation of the human resource strategy 2006–2013’.
Nadezhda Daskalova, Institute for Social and Trade Union Research (ISTUR)
