The impact of mental health on employees’ job performance in the hospitality sector

Abstract

A lot of attention has been directed at employee mental health lately and this has largely coincided with the increased in prevalence of mental health problems. Mental health has also been highly relevant in the workplace with the hotel sector in South Africa not being spared the challenge. The effects of the pandemic aggravated the matter as it affects the job performance of the employees. Consequently, this study examined the impact of mental health on employee job performance with focus on the hospitality industry in South Africa. Quantitative research approach and a questionnaire was used to collect data. Simple random sampling technique was utilized to collect data from 44 employees of a Hotel in Gauteng province and the data collected was analysed using SPSS. Result from the descriptive statistics revealed that anxiety has an impact on the employees’ as they find themselves in situations where they were anxious only to be relieved when everything is over. Additionally, stress was identified as the factor that influence the mental health of the employees’ job performance, as a result, counselling services are provided by the Hotel. Based on the result of this study, changes can be made regarding promoting awareness and destigmatizing of mental health in workplace. The study recommended that mental health should be promoted in the workplace, flexible schedules should be offered at workplace, workplace stress should be addressed frequently, voluntary benefits should be offered at workplace and lastly, that managers should be trained on mental health management.