Stress in Banking Industry

1228 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Annotated bibliography stress management and employee performance

Money is the lifeblood of the world and therefore, the employees of financial institutions must face an unmeasurable level of stress from time to time. In this essay, I’ll discuss the main reasons that contribute the stress in the banking industry (particularly in the UK), the effects of stress on different parties and how the financial institutions and individuals somehow manage to reduce the stress resulted from their workload.
In commercial banking, one of the most typical reasons that lead to high stress is that the staff must (by any means) manage to meet the daily sales target in selling financial products to customers. Hilary Osborne (2013) reports how a staff member at Halifax described how stressful the sales culture there is, with “sales targets are everywhere” and “throughout the day, staff discuss how much they have sold and how they can sell more”. Specifically, there were around four meetings in a Halifax branch a day, discussing which products will be sold to which customers, which staff claimed left them quite “disheartened and demotivated” because “how can you know a customer's needs without ever speaking to them?”. If the customers available at the branch don’t buy much financial products, staff will need to “call existing customers about the potential products they could want”. All sales will be translated into points and since each branch has to make roughly 5,000 points a day, “pressure is put on staff again to find more points from customers before 5pm”.
Things are even worse in investment banking. One former banker comments on the workload in investment banking: “It's insane because even under normal conditions you could be clocking in 100-plus hours per week. Often I'd suddenly get up out of bed an hour o...

... middle of paper ...

.... Available at: http://rt.com/business/credit-suisse-saturday-off-585/ (7) (Accessed: 23 April 2014)
The Huffington Post/PA (2014) Hormones Can Make Stressed Bankers Worse In Financial Crisis, Study Reveals. Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/02/17/city-bankers-stress-hormones_n_4802802.html (8) (Accessed: 23 April 2014)
Tuttle B, (2014), RANKED: The Most Stressful Jobs On Wall Street, Business Insider, 9 January [Online]. Available at: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-most-stressful-jobs-on-wall-street-2014-1 (9) (Accessed: 7 May 2014)
Ward V, (2013), Bank intern who died after 'working for 72 hours' felt pressure to excel, The Telegraph, 20 August [Online]. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/10255199/Bank-intern-who-died-after-working-for-72-hours-felt-pressure-to-excel.html (10) (Accessed: 23 April 2014)

Show More
Related

  • Bulls, Bears and Golden Calves: A Thorough Overview With a Christian Perspective of Economic and Ethical Analysis

    2291 Words  | 5 Pages

    Miller, G. (2010, October 12). Twenty Something Finance . Retrieved April 12, 2011, from The U.S. is the Most Overworked Developed Nation in the World – When do we Draw the Line?: http://20somethingfinance.com/american-hours-worked-productivity-vacation/

    Read More

  • Karen Ho's Biographies Of Hegemony By Karen Ho

    1182 Words  | 3 Pages

    To achieve this, “banking firms provide [them] with a way to maintain [their] elite status in society by providing avenues to wealth and power that other professions do not” (179). They leave them unconsciously with an ultimatum, to either continue living their prestigious lifestyle and be the in the top with the elites, or settle for lower than what they’ve worked for, which is any other career path. Students who attend Princeton and Harvard who aspire to become teachers or writers are told they are settling for less than what they deserve and will be “more happy” with an investment banking career. There is a subtle form of manipulation being acted upon prospective students from investment bankers which is hidden by all of the positive, glamorous stigmas of Wall Street. To fully understand Wall Street as a whole, someone must know the small components that make it come together as a whole. This is shown through Karen Ho’s observations such as learning that students at Princeton and Harvard do not need to hold a finance degree to obtain a job on Wall Street. Whereas, Yale and Brown students must have a finance degree and are forced to show their abilities at a higher level than Princeton and Harvard students. Underneath all the dashing appearances and smart conversations on Wall Street, there is a hidden bias and a constant manipulation system in order for them to get what they want. The small components of Wall Street consist of their “small” priorities,

    Read More

  • Homework

    2058 Words  | 5 Pages

    Schott, Paul. "GHS Survey Finds Heavy Workload, Stress." GreenwichTime. n.p. 23 Nov. 2013. Web. 23 Nov. 2013.

    Read More

  • What Stress Is

    2588 Words  | 6 Pages

    The purpose of this paper is to define stress and how it effects the body's physiological systems. This paper will include the normal functions and organs involved in the following five physiological systems, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, respiratory, immune and musculoskeletal. This paper will also include a description of a chronic illness associated with each physiological system and how the illness is affected by stress.

    Read More

  • How Taylorism is Still Relevant

    2167 Words  | 5 Pages

    Partnoy, Frank. "Unlocking Yourself from the Clock; Even Professionals are Getting Paid by the Hour these Days--Making Us Stressed Out and Less Productive." Wall Street Journal Online. 22 June 2012. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.

    Read More

  • Stress-Induced Psychosomatic Illness

    1793 Words  | 4 Pages

    Kumar, Anil, Puneet Rinwa, Gurleen Kaur, and Lalit Machawal. "Stress: Neurobiology, consequences, and management." Journal of Pharmacy and Bioallied Sciences, 2013: 1-7.

    Read More

  • The Importance of an Employee Stress Management Program

    2748 Words  | 6 Pages

    The potential ramifications for the employer can be costly when employees succumb to internal and external stressors. To effectively combat job stress and develop a comprehensive stress management program, organizations must be cognizant of several areas that may be contributing factors to an employee’s stress level. Internally, organizations should review the employee’s workload and ensure that they have the necessary skills to complete the tasks they are expected to complete (Ornelas & Kleiner, 2003). They must also work to “motivate, challenge and take full advantage of the employee’s skills and abilities” (Ornelas & Kleiner, 2003). Employee’s job stress can also be decreased by allowing them take an active part in decisions, creating an atmosphere that facilitates a support network, and offering flexibility in their schedules that allows them to address responsibilities outside the workplace (Ornelas & Kleiner, 2003).

    Read More

  • Actuarial Science

    1772 Words  | 4 Pages

    Smith, J. (2013, april 23). The Best and Worst Jobs for 2013. Retrieved october 23, 2013, from Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2013/04/23/the-best-and-worst-jobs-for-2013/2/

    Read More

  • Ways to Reduce Stress

    972 Words  | 2 Pages

    As the world becomes more and more developed, stress gradually becomes an unavoidable feature of modern society. “Stress is a dynamic condition is which an individual is confronted with an opportunity, demand, or resource related to what the individual desires and for which the outcome is perceived to be both uncertain and important”. Stress occurs in a lot of events in our everyday life such as everyday events (suddenly sees a red light), exciting events (having a baby), scary events (watching a horror movie) and many more. Among the different types of stress, job stressors has been generally accepted as an universal phenomenon. Job stressors trigger problems for people both physiologically and psychologically. However, individual differences when they face a particular event to be a job stressors. Culture difference is one major factor that causes the individual differences. America, England, China and Japan are used for analyzing the different types of stress in western and eastern culture and their unique ways of coping the stress. Just like western culture, eastern culture also has a lot of stress among employees. China is one of most representative countries in eastern culture. While China becomes more and more universalized, China still contains its own Confucian culture. Since China has a special environment and culture, it causes unique types of stress compare to western culture. Those types of stress are mainly work demand stress and family demand stress. Work demands are psychological stress at the workplace, such as overloading of work; time shifts; complexity of work; and having conflict demands. Due to these work demand of stress, it damages employees’ both physical and psychological states (e.g., tension and anxiety...

    Read More

  • Stress: Causes And Effects

    786 Words  | 2 Pages

    Stress is an ongoing dilemma that occurs in each and everyone’s life. It is a factor that is undoubtedly a part of daily living. Due to the trivial problems that occur in people’s daily lives massive amounts of stress can arise. People perceive and manage stress in many different ways. The causes and effects of stress are numerous and one’s ability to manage stress is vital in maintaining healthy living.

    Read More

  • Stress: The Silent Disease

    1748 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Stress is a silent disease” (Doctor Hobel). Over the years, stress has played a major rule in a large majority of people’s lives throughout the United States. When thought about, it is said to be extremely surprising as to how many people really have stress in each individual’s life. People do not consider what the reasons are for the feelings and emotions they experience. There are all different types of stress, and stress can do a lot to a person. Each person also handles stress in a different way. Some can handle more than others, because every single person’s body works in a different way. Stress has also been told to cause people to act out of character (Dr. David Posen). They often do not act the way they usually would while under stress as they would if they were not under stress. Often times self control can fail to conquer when individuals are under stress and this can cause people to turn to addiction, abuse, or even have self destructive behavior. Stress is a huge problem in our country; that of which is underestimated.

    Read More

  • Stress Essay

    553 Words  | 2 Pages

    The hassles, deadlines, frustrations and demands of modern life have made stress so common that it has become a way of life for people. In small doses, stress can...

    Read More

  • Stress Management Reflection Paper

    1165 Words  | 3 Pages

    Stress is something that everyone has to deal with in life, whether it is good or bad stress. Stress management techniques are a great way to deal with stress. Some of the stress management techniques that I learned from this course are prioritization, scheduling, and execution. Using these techniques has effectively helped me deal with my own stress. When it comes to dealing with stress I still have many strengths and weaknesses that I will explain. Some stressors I have in my life that I will discuss are psychointrapersonal, social, life events, and daily hassles. Next, I will give my opinion on my post-course survey, and compare and contrast it to my pre-course survey scores. Finally, I will explain my last goals for this stress management course.

    Read More

  • Stress In The Workplace Essay

    2939 Words  | 6 Pages

    Since people are always dealing with certain changes in their lives, they are always dealing with some type of stress. One of the biggest growing issues with stress is stress in the workplace. According to Northwestern National Life, one-fourth of employees view their jobs as the number one stressor in their lives (“Stress at Work,” 1999).... ... middle of paper ...

    Read More

  • The Causes Of Stress In Modern Life

    1000 Words  | 2 Pages

    Long – term stress can even require the brain, leaving you more vulnerable to anxiety, and depression; it can be a main cause of moodiness and frustration. Many of us are aware of the physical symptoms of stress-muscle pain, rapid breathing or an increased pulse. At the same time, they also suffer from emotional of stress which can be like roller coaster of highs or lows. emotional effects rang from emotional overeating to a feeling of being overwhelmed and pressure. stress impact many other components, which leads to difficulties in making decisions, loss sense humor, poorer concentration, negative thinking. As can be seen, stress nearly brings serious effects to people. Apart from the effects above, it can be the main reason which creates your decreased productivity at work. stress makes people less control their pace work, which leads to dissatisfaction. about 40% employees said that they are burned out because of work-related stress and loss $300 billion each year in the workplace . In addition, your relationship with people around also become worsens because of your stress. In fact, stress makes people puzzled and their life can undergo a considerable

    Read More

More about Stress in Banking Industry

Open Document