Relationship Between Stress and Performance

Even before COVID, the connection between stress and performance was affecting the workplace

The relationship between stress and performance at work is often a reciprocal one. On one hand, employees who bring their personal stress to work generally have performance issues; in turn, the workplace can cause stress, which will then affect employees both at work and at home. Is this situation a balancing act, one of cause and effect, or something else entirely?

Some claim a healthy amount of stress helps to drive optimal performance. For Ken MacDonald, associate vice-president of national accounts at Hub International Ltd., “Too much stress can overwhelm, and too little stress can underwhelm and hinder performance. ”