ABSTRACT
This study aimed to determine the level of job anxiety and its influence on the performance of non-teaching personnel in Misamis Oriental Division. The three-hundred sixty-two (362) administrative and finance staff were the study's respondents. Additionally, this study utilized the Job Anxiety Scale. To assess the effect of job anxiety and identify the connection between job anxiety and work performance, descriptive-quantitative research methodology, specifically the Mean, Standard Deviation, and Pearson Product Moment Correlation was used. The results showed that the respondents' level of job anxiety in terms of its five dimensions was low. The respondent's performance based on their Individual Performance Commitment and Review Form (IPCRF) for Fiscal Year 2019 to 2021 was Very Satisfactory. Additionally, this study confirms that there is no significant relationship between the level of job anxiety and the respondents' performance for the Fiscal Year 2019 to 2021. However, there is a significant relationship between job-related worries and work performance in 2020. Therefore, the Department of Education should promote and allocate funds to support various initiatives to enhance the well-being and working conditions of the personnel. Aside from that, the non-teaching personnel should manage time efficiently to attain a healthy work-life balance and maintain excellent performance. Furthermore, the human resource department should provide appropriate training and resources, appreciate achievements, and implement stress-reduction techniques for non-teaching personnel.
Keywords: Job Anxiety, Work Performance, Individual Performance, Commitment and Review Form
INTRODUCTION
Obtaining employment today is essential for survival. People put a lot of effort into their jobs to support their families. Due to this, most people spend more time at work than they do at home. Spending more time at work exposes the person to the tasks and to co-workers more. Consequently, negative emotions like stress from the workplace and natural uneasiness among coworkers cannot be ruled out. However, if the emotions get so intense that they cause individuals to become apprehensive, it could cause anxiety in the workplace.
Cases of mental health issues have increased over the years. As reported in the Mental Health Strategic Plan 2019-2023 by the Department of Health, anxiety disorders affect 3.6% of the global population and are predicted to affect one in every four people at some point in their lives. Moreover, based on the study conducted by Kontsevaya et al. (2021), in 2017, anxiety disorders affected approximately 3 million people or 3.1% of the population in the Philippines. In fact, as reported by Dela Peña (2022) in the Inquirer.Net, 3.6 million Filipinos have at least one mental, neurological, and substance use disorder. With that, the Philippines ranks third in the Western Pacific Region for the highest rate of mental health problems. With these numbers stated, many people are still unaware of the existence of mental health issues, specifically anxiety. Some argue that people experiencing a mental health crisis are simply overreacting and seeking attention. Nevertheless, the truth is it exists, and many people are suffering from this condition.
Stephens et al. (2020) stated that anxiety is a state of being concerned or uneasy about a situation. A person with anxiety tends to overthink and always think of negative thoughts. Trauma, present living situations, and physical health difficulties can all contribute to anxiety. The trauma that a person suffers as a result of terrible experiences in the past, current living circumstances such as a stressful life due to numerous challenges, and physical health issues such as having a medical condition. Restlessness, impatience, inexplicable pains such as stomach aches and muscle pains, shortness of breath, palpitation, and sleep problems are common symptoms of anxiety. These symptoms give fear to the person. The fear of passing out in public, of offending someone, of failing to complete a task, of losing control, of going crazy, and, worst of all, of dying. It affects the daily lives of the person more so its job performance. According to Chand and Marwaha (2022), anxiety, like fear, manifests as a future-oriented mood state characterized by a complex cognitive, affective, physiological, and behavioral response system associated with preparation for anticipated threatening events or circumstances. Fear is a neurophysiological alarm state characterized by a fight or flight response to a cognitive assessment of imminent or present danger (real or perceived).
The non-teaching personnel in the Department of Education assume non-teaching jobs related to the department, such as administrative and finance functions. Due to the limited number of non-teaching personnel in the Division of Misamis Oriental, some personnel are multi-tasking to cater to all the schools assigned to them. Having many functions at different schools simultaneously causes stress, exhaustion, and worries that affect the employee's performance. The researcher encountered colleagues who shared their personal experiences of developing anxiety in the workplace. Being anxious really affects the way they do things. For instance, some of them avoid co-workers because they are afraid that those people might say negative things about them. This reaction coming from them is due to their trauma of experiencing power tripping or mistreatment from one of their co-workers. There are also several colleagues who, at times, get scolded, and occasionally lead to humiliation. Due to these circumstances, some of them are not motivated to report to work and often take leave of absence because they easily get sick, and everything is too overwhelming. The anxiety that these employees feel in the workplace limits them from giving their best in their job. These situations, for example, affect the said employees' performance. Hence, this predicament served as the inspiration for this study.
The researcher believes that the effect of job anxiety on work performance varies by individual. People have different ways of dealing with the stress and anxiety that work brings. The purpose of this study is to determine the extent and manner in which job anxiety affects the work performance of non-teaching personnel in the Department of Education-Division of Misamis Oriental. The findings can be used by the agency to help deal with and provide necessary support to those employees who require assistance, such as creating various programs and activities that will help the employees manage their anxieties in the workplace.
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