Job Stress and Coping Among Executives and Managers in Hong Kong Before and After the 9.11 Event

19 Feb 2002

Dr. Siu Oi-ling, Associate Professor of Department of Politics and Sociology at Lingnan University, has completed a two-round study on job stress and coping among executives and managers in Hong Kong before and after the 9.11 Event in the last year. Dr. Siu collected the first round of data from February to May last year from 386 (197 males, 179 females) executives and managers of different ranks from different private and public service sectors, including finance and insurance, medical and health care, postal service and civil services. About one-third of the respondents were 35 years old or below, 40% between 36 and 45, and the rest were 46 years old or above (with mean age = 38.3 years). Dr. Siu then collected the second round of data from November to December last year from 145 (51 males, 94 females) similar employees from private and public services sectors, including office workers, medical and health care and civil services. 37% of the respondents were 35 years old or below, 28% between 36 and 45, and the rest were 46 years old or above (with mean age = 36.8).

The results obtained from both round of the study consistently revealed that quite a number of employees in Hong Kong perceived high work pressure, and there was a higher percentage of employees, with respective 6% and 7% increase, perceived high work pressure after the 9.11 event.

Employees after the 9.11 event reported worse mental well-being (resilience) and physical well-being; and lower scores in Chinese work value and self-efficacy than their counter-parts before the 9.11 event. However, employees after the 9.11 event reported higher organizational commitment (continuous commitment) than their counter-parts before the 9.11 event.

Before the 9.11 event, the main source of stress perceived by respondents was "pursuing a career at the expense of home life"; other sources of stress were "feeling isolated", "being undervalued", and "dealing with ambiguous or 'delicate' situations".

After the 9.11 event, the main source of stress was "being undervalued", other sources were "pursuing a career at the expense of home life" and "feeling isolated".

The results obtained from both round of the study also consistently revealed that employees who perceived more sources of stress would report worse physical and mental well-being, and low ratings on self-perceived job performance.

Dr. Siu also found that the respondents in the two rounds of the study who had strong organizational commitment (e.g., I really feel as if this organization's problems are my own), strong Chinese work values (e.g., persistence, patience, endurance, hard-working), and high self-efficacy (the extent to which people believe they can perform a behaviour to produce a particular desired outcomes), would score higher in job satisfaction and job performance.

Furthermore, Dr. Siu also consistently found from the two rounds of the study that older employees and those who exercised more would report higher job satisfaction, physical and mental well-being, and job performance.

Dr. Siu suggests that, under the present adverse economic situations, executives and managers in Hong Kong can better add values to self by having more assertive training (to boost self-confidence), developing self-esteem (admire one's strengths), and enhancing self-efficacy (the level of confidence towards one's ability to accomplish a desired outcome), in order to cope with heavy workload, have high adaptability, be wise decision-makers, and eradicate anxiety towards job insecurity. Employees are also advised to do more exercises after office hours to cope with job stress.

Concerning work attitudes, Dr. Siu suggested employees to develop stronger commitment and involvement towards their organizations, and to nourish some traditional Chinese work values (such as hard-working, persistence, and patience), to cope with this hard time with their employers.

As there are quite a number of older executives and managers unemployed, Dr. Siu suggests employers to recruit more older employees, as they have better work well-being (including job satisfaction, physical and mental well-being). They can contribute a lot to the workforce.