Impact of social media on young bank employees during COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, social media (SM) use saw a sharp raise, especially for obtaining information regarding COVID-19 during the lockdown. SM platforms also led to misinformation about the disease which caused negative psychological effects on individuals. Bank employees (BE) are special workgroups who experience various levels of mental stress at their workplace due to workload. During lockdown and till date many of the BE work from home which enabled them to use SM accordingly. Objective: The study was conducted to assess the stress levels and anxiety levels due to usage of SM in young BE during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, an online Google form questionnaire was distributed to the participants using convenient and snowball sampling method. The final sample consisted of 126 Goan young BE. Statistical analysis was performed using descriptive analysis. Results: The results of the study revealed that SM use had significant impact on the BE, with a potential negative effect on developing stress and anxiety. 10.3% (13) of the participants experienced low stress and 89.7% (113) experienced moderate stress. 51.6% (65) of the participants had mild anxiety, 10.3% (13) had moderate anxiety, and 38.1% (48) had severe anxiety. Conclusion: The present study concludes that increased SM use among the BE was associated with negative psychological outcomes. Anxiety and stress were associated with the time spent on using SM sites.

The relationship between transformational leadership and organizational citizenship behaviors of bank employees in the United States

This study examined the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) of bank employees in the United States. The study was necessary, as bank customers are urging banks to go the extra mile or engage in OCB to improve customer service given the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected customers' use of bank services. The study used the 24-item MLQ Form 5X-short for transformational leadership and the OCB instrument developed by Podsakoff et al. to collect data from bank employees in the National Capital Region (NCR) of the United States. Pearson correlation analysis was conducted to analyze the data, and the results showed a statistically significant relationship between transformational leadership and OCB. The multiple regression analysis conducted to test the relationship between the dimensions of transformational leadership and OCB indicated that idealized influence (attributed) and idealized influence (behavior) with statistical significance at 5% and 10%, respectively, exerted the greatest influence in explaining changes in OCB. Overall, the coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.11) indicated that 11% of the variance in OCB was due to the five dimensions of transformational leadership. Based on the results, the study suggests that bank leaders may consider the practice of transformational leadership behaviors to promote the OCBs of employees. The findings also suggest that the aggregate effort of OCB could create better bank service delivery and improved customer satisfaction. These suggestions are supported by previous studies that show that organizations that promote OCB perform better than those that do not. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

THE EFFECT OF JOB INSECURITY ON BANK EMPLOYEES’ JOB STRESS AND JOB BURNOUT DURING COVID-19: A MODERATED MEDIATION MODEL

The COVID-19 pandemic has seriously undermined the global banking industry, forcing several major banks around the globe to lay off their employees. As a result, job insecurity has become a rising concern among bank employees. This study examined the influence of job insecurity on job stress and job burnout. The study also examined the moderating effect of hierarchical position, i.e. whether operation workers in comparison to senior workers were more strongly affected by perceptions of job insecurity. Data were collected from 520 bank employees working in 53 bank branches in Thailand. The moderated mediation results of the study revealed that job insecurity had a positive influence on job burnout both directly and indirectly via the mediating role of job stress. Results also indicated that the association between job insecurity and job burnout via the mediating role of stress was stronger among operation workers than senior workers. Theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed © 2022. ABAC Journal.All Rights Reserved.

Dealing with stress in new normal after the onset of COVID-19 – a study on public sector bank employees

The paper attempts to address issues related to occupational and personal stress faced by bank employees in new normal post-COVID-19, understand its impact on their mental and physical health, and how yoga and meditation can help them to develop self-care capabilities to manage stress in a eustress way. Structured questionnaires were used to collect first-hand data from employees working in public sector banks across India. Factor analysis was conducted on 21 statements which led to the creation of six factors. Using the clustering method, three clusters were identified to determine the profile of employees. This was followed by impact analysis and analysis of coping mechanisms. The study found that bank employees have been mainly grappling with mental health. The study recommends employees to adopt self-care tools to replace the script of fear, anxiety, depression, and insecurity with health, happiness, and joy. © 2021 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.