An Exploration of the Relationship Between Technostress, Employee Engagement and Job Design from the Nigerian Banking Employee’s Perspective

Abstract

The introduction of technology in the banking sector has induced benefits to this sector. ICTs has facilitated the delivery of efficient and reliable banking services. Despite all the benefits associated with the use of technology, organizational researchers have argued that technology is a double-edged sword because its ability to induce stress in its users, this kind of anxiety is technostress, a strain that is caused by the lack of knowledge of individuals to cope and adapt to the use of technologies. The increasing use of technologies has resulted in work-family conflict, role-overload, work-overload, and multi-tasking. Additionally, technologies have resulted in consistent task reengineering, which has created knowledge gaps for employees. Past studies on technostress have demonstrated that can affect employees, performances, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction. However, the association of technostress with employee engagement and job design has not been established. Hence, the objective of this current study is to explore the association of job design with technostress and employee and the impact of technostress on employee engagement. Using a purposive sampling method, a total of 319 Participants were recruited from front desk employees of the Nigerian commercial banks and data has been analyzed using smart PLS. The findings of the study show a significant positive relationship between job design and technostress and positive relationship between technostress and employee engagement contrary to the negative relationship proposed based on the stress and engagement literature is an indication that job design alone may not reduce the impact of technostress if other organizational-stressors are not addressed. While technostress does not reduce employee engagement instead a moderate level of stress can serve as a motivator, but extreme stress can have a damaging impact on employees and the organization. Equally, the study also found a positive association between job design and employee engagement, while technostress has a mediating effect on job design and employee engagement.