Job stress in sales department at saigon plastic packaging joint stock company

1 - Chart of statistics of changes in human resources in Sales department of SAPLASTIC.JSC for the period of 2015 - 2017 According to the figures above, the retirement status of employee

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY

International School of Business

-Lê Thị Đoan Hạnh

JOB STRESS IN SALES DEPARTMENT

AT SAIGON PLASTIC PACKAGING

JOINT STOCK COMPANY

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

SUPERVISOR: Ph.D NGUYEN PHONG NGUYEN

Ho Chi Minh City – Year 2018

CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES 5

LIST OF FIGURES 6

CHAPTER 1 7

1 Company background 7

1.1 History of company 7

1 2 Mission and Vision 8

1.3 SAPLASTIC.JSC organization chart (Appendix 1) 8

1.4 SAPLASTIC.JSC Sales department chart (Appendix 2) 8

2 Symptom 8

2.1 Symptom description 8

2.1.1 High turnover rate 8

2.1.2 Low sales revenue 10

2.2 Symptom consequences 11

3 Initial cause effect map 13

3.1 High goal expectation 13

3.2 Job Stress 15

3.3 Low compensation and benefits 15

4 Updated cause effect map 16

5 Potential central problems 19

CHAPTER 2 22

1 Problem definition 22

2 Problem existence 23

2.1 Work pressure 25

2.2 Working environment 26

2.3 Career development opportunities 28

2.4 Personal relationship 29

2.5 Conflic between work – life roles 31

3 Problem importance 33

3.1 The studies relate to job stress consequences 33

3.2 The consequences of job stress affects to SAPLASTIC.JSC 35

3.2.1 Performance consequence 35

3.2.2 The increasing of customer complaint 36

3.2.3 Higher training and hiring cost 37

3.2.4 The employees go to work late and ask for day-off frequently 38

CHAPTER 3 40

1 Causes validation 40

1.1 Work pressure 40

1.2 Working environment 40

1.3 Career development opportunities 41

1.4 Personal relationship 41

1.5 Conflict between Work-Life roles 41

2 Solution 41

2.1 Work pressure 41

2.2 Working environment 43

2.3 Career development opportunities 44

2.4 Personal relationship 44

2.5 Conflict between Work-Life roles 46

APPENDIX 1 - SAPLASTIC.JSC ORGANIZATION CHART 47

APPENDIX 2 - SAPLASTIC.JSC’s SALES DEPARTMENT CHART 48

APPENDIX 3 – IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW – ROUND 1 49

APPENDIX 4 – IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW – ROUND 2 53

APPENDIX 5 – QUESTIONAIRE – ENGLISH VERSION 57

APPENDIX 6 – QUESTIONAIRE – VIETNAMESE VERSION 60

APPENDIX 7 – SURVEY RESULT COLLECTION 63

REFERENCES 65

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 1 - Statistics of changes in human resources in the Sales department of

SAPLASTIC.JSC for the period of 2015 - 2017 8

Table 1 3 - Business plan of SAPLASTIC.JSC for the period of 2015 – 2017 14

Table 2 1 - External expressions of stress 23

Table 2 2 - Observation variables define Job stress causes at SAPLASTIC.JSC 24

Table 2 3 – Summary of complaint cases from customers 36

Table 2 4 - Training and hiring cost of salesman in SAPLASTIC.JSC in 2015 – 2017

37

Table 2 5 - Statistics of hours that staff go to work late and the number of vacations of sales department in SAPLASTIC.JSC 38

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 1 - Chart of statistics of changes in human resources in Sales department of

SAPLASTIC.JSC for the period of 2015 - 2017 9

Figure 1 2 - Revenue Results at SAPLASTIC.JSC for the period of 2015 - 2017 10

Figure 2 1 - Measurement of work pressure factors 25

Figure 2 2 - Evaluation of working environment factors 26

Figure 2 3 - Evaluating opportunities for career development 28

Figure 2 4 - Evaluating personal relationship factors 29

Figure 2 5 - Evaluating the conflicting factors between work and life 31

1 Company background

1.1 History of company

CHAPTER 1

April 6th, 2001: was established with name Saigon Plastic Packaging Limited Company as forerunner and started building factory in an area 5,208 m2

February 2003, the factory had been finished, in turn the machinery was

invested, began with gravure printing machines, laminating, slitting and bag making machines

January of 2006, Saigon Plastic Packaging Limited Company was the first who granted both quality management certificates ISO 9001:2000 and environment

management certificate ISO 14001:2004

In 2007, the company equitized and rename to Saigon Plastic Packaging Joint Stock Company (SAPLASTIC.JSC)

September 2008, the share was officially listed on the stock market, as the code SPP SAPLASTIC.JSC has been invested by great investment fund, such as: BIDV Investment, Vietnam Holdings, to name a few

In the end of 2010, SAPLASTIC.JSC invested in setting up LAB department, became first and only packaging company which had been equipped fully and

modernly equipment This LAB was built with three functions: R&D activities input material checking and output product control

 English name: SAIGON PLASTIC PACKAGING JOINT STOCK COMPANY

 Email: info@saplastic.com.vn

1.2 Mission and Vision

Mission: Contribute to the stable development of Vietnamese brands in the

packaging industry, not only in South East Asia but also whole Asia Market, in order

to aim at the global market in future

Vision: Corporate vision for the period 2010 – 2030 is to build SAPLASTIC.JSC

to become the great interdisciplinary corporation SAPLASTIC.JSC’s business base is the stable development in association with eco-friendly and social responsibility

1.3 SAPLASTIC.JSC organization chart (Appendix 1)

1.4 SAPLASTIC.JSC Sales department chart (Appendix 2)

2 Symptom

2.1 Symptom description

2.1.1 High turnover rate

Table 1 1 - Statistics of changes in human resources in the Sales department of SAPLASTIC.JSC for

the period of 2015 - 2017

(Source: Administration & Human Resources department in SAPLASTIC.JSC )

Figure 1 1 - Chart of statistics of changes in human resources in Sales department of

SAPLASTIC.JSC for the period of 2015 - 2017

According to the figures above, the retirement status of employees at the Sales Department of SAPLASTIC.JSC has increased steadily over the years 2015 - 2017

In 2015, the total number of employees in the sales department of the company

is 17, with 3 employees retiring accounting for 17.65%

In 2016, the total number of employees in the sales department of the company increased to 21, corresponding to an increase of 4 people, corresponding to a 23.52% increase over 2015 But this year the number of employees leaving the department is

up to 5 people, accounting for 23.81% compared with the total staff of the sales

department The number of employees leaving the sales department increased to 5 people, corresponding to the increase of 2 people compared with 2015, corresponding

to the rate of increase of 66.67% Thus, in 2016 SAPLASTIC.JSC has recruited 4 salesstaff to expand its business activities in the company's business plan But this year the number of salespersons leaving SAPLASTIC.JSC was higher than the number of employees recruited by the company This is quite dangerous and alarming situation inthe sales department of SAPLASTIC.JSC

In 2017, the total number of employees in the sales department of

SAPLASTIC.JSC increased to 27, in which 6 people are recruited by the company, increasing by 28.57% compared to 2016 But the turnover status at the dales

Revenue Cost Profit before tax

125,555 422,699 79,192

369,771

93,634 332,877

548,254 448,963426,511

department of SAPLASTIC.JSC is more serious when this year the number of

employees leaving is up to 9 people, accounting for 33.33%, corresponding to an

increase of 4 persons and an increase of 80% compared to 2016 Thus, the number of employees recruited to the sales department SAPLASTIC.JSC is lower than the

number of employees leaving sales department This proves that the current demand for human resources in the sales department of the company is lacking and

significantly affecting the manufacturing and business activities of SAPLASTIC.JSC

in the past period

2.1.2 Low sales revenue

Another alarming problem SAPLASTIC.JSC is facing is sales are tending to decrease,

Profit before tax 93,634 125,555 79,192 31,921 34.09 (46,363) (36.93)

(Source: Sales Department - SAPLASTIC.JSC )

Figure 1 2 - Revenue Results at SAPLASTIC.JSC for the period of 2015 - 2017

Looking at the table above, we see the business results of SAPLASTIC.JSC

fluctuating unevenly through the years 2015 - 2017 Specifically:

In 2015, total sales of the company reached VND 426,511 million, profit reached VND 93,634 million

In 2016, revenue increased to VND 548,254 million, equivalent to an increase

of VND 121,743 million, a 28.54% increase compared to 2015 The company's profit also increased to VND125,555 million corresponding to an increase of VND31,921 million The growth rate is 34.09% compared to 2015 It shows that in 2016, the company's business performance still meets the target, the rate of the profit growth is higher than the rate of revenue increase In terms of the human resources of the sales department at SAPLASTIC.JSC in 2016, the department has recruited 4 sales staffs and 5 sales staffs retired Thus, the problem of retirement of the sales staff at this timedid not significantly affect the sales revenue and profit of SAPLASTIC.JSC

In 2017, the company's sales revenue fell to VND448,963 million, corresponding to adecrease of VND99,291 million and a decrease of 18.11% compared to 2016 In addition to decreasing sales, pre-tax profit also suffered and reduced to VND79,192 million, corresponding to a reduction of VND46,363 million, corresponding to a decrease of 36.93% compared to 2015

In 2017, the company's sales revenue fell to VND448,963 million,

corresponding to a decrease of VND99,291 million and a decrease of 18.11%

compared to 2016 In addition to decreasing sales, pre-tax profit also suffered and reduced to VND79,192 million, corresponding to a reduction of VND46,363 million, corresponding to a decrease of 36.93% compared to 2015

2.2 Symptom consequences

Firstly, the status of salespersons of SAPLASTIC.JSC, which has the tendency

to increase in the period of 2015 – 2017, has significantly affected the revenue and profit of SAPLASTIC.JSC in the past period All of these are proved by the results ofbusiness of SAPLASTIC.JSC for the period of 2015 - 2017 has been stated in the second symptom

In terms of personnel condition in the sales department of SAPLASTIC.JSC,

in 2017, the company recruited 6 employees but the number of employees leaving is

up to 9 employees Thus, the status of the sales staff has directly affected sales and

12profits of SAPLASTIC.JSC in 2017 The large number of customers, human resources at the

moment are not enough to take care of old customers so finding new customers, expanding the business activities of SAPLASTIC.JSC in 2017 are difficult and

unsuccessful Thus, we see that the status of sales staff leaving the company has a negative impact on the business results of the SAPLASTIC.JSC

Secondly, the current status of sales staff, apart from affecting the revenue andprofit of the company, it also directly affects the cost of recruitment and training costs

of the SAPLASTIC.JSC

This is a specialized industry that produces plastic packaging products, which demands salespeople must have the knowledge and skills for industry, knowledge about products to advise and support customers in the way of designing, ordering, contracting, etc So, to get a salesperson know and get him familiar with the job and equipped with the knowledge of packaging, advice to customers, the company spends

a lot of time and effort recruiting and training employees According to Head of Sales,

Mr Tran Phu Vinh said: "It takes 2-3 months to recruit an employee according to the company's procedures, then it takes at least one month for training qualified staff having specialized knowledge of packaging and at least 3 months to train a new staff who knows nothing about plastic packaging Thus, the status of many employees retiring has a serious impact on the company's business performance

Thirdly, there is also another consequence that few people care about, which is the business secret of the company being exposed outside, especially the companies that are competitors in the manufacturing plastic packaging industry such as

SAPLASTIC.JSC At this point, when the sales staffs quit, competitors in the

industry will be willing to pay a higher salary and offer a better working

environment to entice employees of SAPLASTIC.JSC to work for them, they will exploit information from these employees and gradually get customers from the SAPLASTIC.JSC This can be said as the most serious consequence if the status of sales staff leaving SAPLASTIC.JSC still continuously increasing in the future

3 Initial cause effect map

To figure out the causes and problems of job stress leading to the high turnoverrate in Sales Department at SAPLASTIC.JSC, the author conducted the interview of 5current and former employees at SAPLASTIC.JSC:

1 Sales Director: Mr Tran Phu Vinh

2 Deputy Sales Manager: Ms Tran Thi Bao Tram

3 Sales Executive: Mr Mach Thanh Hai

4 Sales Manager (Resigned): Ms Pham Thi Que

5 Human Resource Manager: Mr Vo Quoc Hung

3.1 High goal expectation

Based on the results of the survey of 5 experts, who are currently working and use to work at SAPLASTIC.JSC, about the causes of quitting job in the sales

department of the company, most of their opinions pointed the sales target that are assigned by the board of directors to the sales department and then to each employee istoo high which exceeds the capacity of employees and results in the failure to achieve

Year 2017

(Source: Sales Department – SAPLASTIC.JSC for the period of 2015 - 2017)

The above table shows the planned revenue set by SAPLASTIC.JSC isconstantly increasing through 2015 – 2017 Specifically, in 2015 the company'srevenue target was set at 400,000 million, while the actual revenue this year reached426.511 million which reached 106.63% compared with the plan and the targetsales/staff is 23.529 million

By 2016, the company set a sales target of VND560,000 million, an increase ofVND160,000 million and a 40% increase compare to 2015 However, in fact, thecompany's revenue in 2016 is only VND 548,254 million, reaching 97.90% of the planand the target of sales/staff of this year is VND 26,667 million/employee/year Thus, in

2016, the company is close to achieving the target The sales target for eachsalesperson increased to VND 3,137 million/person, corresponding to a 13.33% ofincreasing

In 2017, the company set a sales target up to 750,000 million VND, equivalent

to an increase of 190,000 million VND and a growth rate of 33.93% compared to

2016 In fact, in 2017, the company's revenue was only VND 448,963 millionreaching 59.86% of the plan The sales target for each salesperson is VND 27,778million/person/year, corresponding to an increase of VND 1,111 million and 4.17%compared to 2016 The reason for the sharply reduction of sales revenue of theSAPLASTIC.JSC in 2017 is due to the high number of staffs quitting (9 people),most of them are experienced, knowledgeable and having a good relationship withthe customers, while the new recruits do not have enough knowledge and skills

to care customers Those new employees need time to get acquainted with thenew environment and learn the

knowledge Since there is not enough manpower to take care of the customer that leads

to the sharply fall of sales revenue in 2017, the sales department must coordinate withthe Organization and Administration Department to recruit more staff to fill vacancies

In addition, the current facilities of SAPLASTIC.JSC are bad such as thebackward production line, the limited number of machines, the old machines that needmaintaining and upgrading, etc., which significantly affects the quality and quantity ofproducts of the company In contrast, SAPLASTIC.JSC has set up its business targetsincreasing gradually over the years as the increase of 40% in 2016 compare to 2015and the growth of 33.93% in 2017 compare to 2016 This inadvertently putspressure on salespeople to achieve the high target of the company, and it is the cause

of stress in theworkplace and lead to the status of many sales staffs time off work in the past

3.2 Job Stress

The concept of stress in the workplace is of great interest to many researchers

in biology, psychology, medicine, and economics in the world and in Vietnam

Job stress exists in every department and every company It is generally defined in thecorrectional literature as feelings of work-related hardness, tension, anxiety,frustration, worry, emotional exhaustion, and/or distress Lamber E.G et al (1) statedthat job stress occurs as a result of stressors in the work environment and has beenfound to have numerous negative effects on correctional staff

According to a survey of 5 employees, they all agree that stress is a major cause

of many job quits In the opinion of the interviewees, there are many causes of stress

in the sales department at SAPLASTIC.JSC, including: Work pressure (KPI,regular meeting, sales report, old customer care, new customer search, etc.),personal relationship (relationship with leader, coworker, etc.), the conflict betweenwork and personal life, career development opportunities, working environmentconditions, etc., these are the main causes of job stress in the sales department ofSAPLASTIC.JSC

3.3 Low compensation and benefits

According to a book of MacLean J.P (2), there is a connection between lowcompensation and high turnover rate In this book, many literatures about turnover are

16collected by author and a relationship between low compensation and turnover isdescribed The author pointed that low wages increases the turnover rate in company

and also had negative impact on recruitment – the company is more difficult to hirenew good employee Compensation comes up with tangible and intangible part, whichaffect directly to staff morals The compensation packages a business offers toemployees affects the company’s recruitment rate, retention rate and employeesatisfaction.

SAPLASTIC.JSC is applying salary policy through KPI system, in which theefficiency of work (the revenue that sale can get in month) accounted for 50%.Previously, the performance score was calculated to cover 25% of purchase orders and25% of sales in the month However, since the beginning of 2017, the board ofmanagement changed the policy of applying a 50% KPI to revenue Combined withhigh sales expectation pressure and unreasonable, the income of sales executives isaffected much

Deputy of Current Accounts Manager at SAPLASTIC.JSC was also mentioned

on how to calculate bonus points beyond the target at the company is unreasonable.The staffs are required to reach the target but there is absolutely no regulation orbonus for those who exceed the excellent criteria in the month This bonus is based

on the sales pitch proposal but does not exceed 10% of the KPI score In addition, forthe 13th month salary, the company has a policy that this bonus is split into twophases: one received at the end of the year and a haft will be paid at the end of thefollowing year

In addition, the interviewees took the example of sales executive staffs are notsupported for telephone charges, gasoline fee Meanwhile, the nature of the workrequires move out frequently, but these costs are not supported from the companyalthough they are big deal with staffs

4 Updated cause effect map

To find out the other causes that can effect on turnover rate in industry related

to manufacturing, the researcher conduct studying literature to identify more reasonsthat can be cause high employee turnover rate And there are many causes group thatlead to high turnover rate for the business organization leaving for something betterand leaving an unsatisfied job In a study of Strolin et al (3) showed that: “the causes

of workforce turnover are abundant and have been categorized into three areascited most often

throughout the literature: individual factors, supervisory factors and organizational factors”.

Stronlin et al report also concreted its findings by categorized each group:

“Individual factors can be defined as causes of turnover that stem from individualworker characteristics such as educational background, professional commitment, anddemographics Supervisory factors are defined as the causes of turnover that stem frominsufficient supervisor support and competency Organizational factors are thosecauses of turnover that stem from the organization such as caseload size,organizational climate and culture, salary benefits, promotional opportunities andadministrative burdens.”

Combined with the factor groups mentioned above, I went back to interview theinterviewees that whether there are other reasons lead to the high turnover rate at thecompany or not The causes I proposed include:

Individual factors: Burnout, demographics (age, time in the job, gender or even

ethnicity issue) or professional commitment, which is argued as “who are morecommitted to profession and its goals are less likely to be highly committed to theorganization” by Wallace (4)

Supervisory factors: in a study of Fleischer (5) stated that inadequate and

insufficient supervision has been cited as an important factor in a caseworker’sdecision to leave the job, while Dickinson et al (6) argued perceptions ofsupervisory support contributed to a caseworker’s decision to stay

Organizational factors are aggregated by a variety of reasons, but much of it

was mentioned in the first round of personnel interviews on salary, bonus, benefits,etc So that they were not mentioned in second round

Conducting the interview again, I received many answers concur with somereasons I gave In that burnout is often referred to as over work load The reason is thatbecause tasks need to be solved a lot, staffs are often required to work over timewithout adding salary or more time annual leave

In the case of SAPLASTIC.JSC, the interviewees confirmed that the work inthe sales department is too much As the former employees, they have to bear not onlytheir responsibility and also the work of the employees have been off Ms Tram, the

deputy sale manager, said that many employees must work up to 8-9pm to resolvecustomer

reports and emails Staying up late at the company after 10h to browse samples fortimely delivery also occurs frequently Meanwhile, the company does not grant anycompensation for them She believes that if this situation continues, some employeeswho cannot bear the pressure of work will again resign in 2018.

The two remaining causes in the individual factors confirmed by respondents

do not have this status at the company However, respondents mentioned that theywere aware of the limited employment of Northern workers The reason given isafter the holiday, workers who have or live in the distance tend to stay longer oreven quit working, which makes the company difficult to arrange workers But thislaw only applies to workers, not to the office staff The interviewees also said thatthere is no clear evidence of professional commitment factors affecting the highturnover rate in the flexible plastic packaging industry

With supervisory factors, the respondents said they are satisfied with the directsupervisor in currently – Sales Director, for his support and communication of theexperience that he brings to all sales executives

Sales Department also assigns the experienced staff to train new employeeswith the needed knowledge The arrangement of 1:2 means that one former employeesalong with two new employees will form a team to support each other in the case ofreaching customer or searching market Thus, currently, the sales staffs feel satisfiedwith the support they receive from direct managers For the support from higherlevel of management (the board of directors), interviewed personnel feel it is notimportant to them, as they do not work directly with the board of directors As a salesdirector, Mr Tran Phu Vinh confirmed his direct boss - the CEO is very interested inthe work of the department, and always willing to receive opinions from him andsupport under the condition of the company

Basing on literature review and interview data, the author updated cause effect map as below:

5 Potential central problems

Updated cause effect map shows 04 main problems that leads to high turnover rate in Sales department in recently:

A: High goal expectations

with the scope of the industry and the brand of Saplastic, the expected sales can bereached As a result, the broad of directors shall commit sales to the investor, and agreat pressure will be applied to the sales department This makes salers becomestress and boring, and even make them decide to quite their job.

Most of the causes given and approved by interviewees relate to job stress.Even problems such as over goal expectation, low compensation and benefit andover workload are also one of the causes of stress, which makes staffs feeldepressed and tending to leave job, transfer to another company with a betterenvironment or change to another profession

Stress is not only the main reason for the high turnover rate at the salesdepartment, but also the cause of the decrease in work efficiency, unstable emotionthat leads to hot temper and the tension between the sales department and otherdepartments The vicious circle between the causes of stress and stress causesnegative consequences for the staff to feel more impassable and more stressful So

the authorsupposed that "Job stress" is a problem and should be resolved immediately

The final cause-effect map identifying the cause of stress in the sales

department of SAPLASTIC.JSC is the following:

Work pressure: The requirements of the job exceed the ability of the sales

person, such too high and irrational KPIs base on the human resources and factorycapacity; the clients complain frequently; the manager is too strict… The pressure ofwork causes the stress in the sales department at SAPLASTIC.JSC The more ofworkload, the more stressful of the job

Working environment: Poor working conditions (eg: hot, noisy, too light or too

weak, radiation, air pollution, etc.), much work travel, many working hours, highlytechnical work can cause stress No support from management can also be a cause ofstress

Career development opportunities: Stabile (or unstable) work, promotion

(promotion or downgrade), job rotation, and career development opportunities arestress-inducing factors

Personal relationship in the company: It may be both the source of the stress,

and the social support that can affect a person's response to stress Workplaceaggression such as bullying, violence, unsupported staffs… are the causes of stress

Conflicts of work – life roles: It may be the cause of stress A typical job only

fulfills a part of purpose and personal need, so when these jobs are in conflict with oneanother or simply do not have enough time for both, they can lead to stress

1 Problem definition

CHAPTER 2

Job stress is a common condition in almost companies all over the world Manyresearches and definitions of job stress have been raised According to a study byLazarus in 1993 (7), stress can be defined as "a process of interaction between peopleand the environment in which the person identifies the event from the environment asthreaten or hazards, and it requires the person to try to use the adaptive potential ofhimself " Sager’s study (8) also argued that job stress is an individual's psychologicalstatement when people face up to difficulty, opportunity, and significant but uncertainoutcomes

According to DeFrank R S et al (9), stress in the workplace belongs topersonal reaction; it is different from general stress because it is related to organizationand work Job stress refers to a situation in which factors related to interactions with

worker alter (disrupt or enhance) the psychological or physiological state that theperson is forced to take and deviate from normal activity.

The study by Kahn et al in 1964 (10) said that stress is a process depending onmany factors and affecting people too much Mostly stress is generated by individualemployees who cannot solve the problem between personal ability and the demands ofthe job Stress can be caused by many factors: work pressure, personal relationships,inefficient resources, low salaries and unsafe work environment,

William C Moncrief et al (11) also found that banal job, bad manager,unsatisfied working conditions contribute to stress Banal jobs, organizational role,unsatisfied working conditions, working environment lacking co-workers, careerdevelopment, uncontrollable roles and responsibilities, personal relationship,information exchange, conflicts between work and personal life, changes in theorganization make workers feel stressful

In 2009, Jaffe-Gill et al (12) presented a table of the exposures of stress to employees:

Table 2 1- External expressions of stress

- Being Lonely and Isolated

- Pressure and Unhappiness

- Pain

- Diarrhea or Constipation

- Nausea, Dizziness

- Chest Pain, Palpitation

- Poor Sexual Ability

- Cold

- Eating more or less than usual

- Sleeping more or less than usual

- Isolating from everyone

- Delaying Tasks

- Drinking or Using Drugs

- Bad Habits (nail biting, pounding …)

2 Problem existence

To assess the stress scales of the Sales Department at SAPLASTIC.JSC, Theauthor created questions about the causes of stress in the sales department atSAPLASTIC.JSC and then conducted a survey of 25 employees working in salesdepartment of SAPLASTIC.JSC The expected number of questionnaires deliveringwas 25, and the number of collected was 22, through the screening process, only 20valid questionnaires were used by the authors for processing and analyzing surveyresults

The tool for conducting data collection was questionnaire survey The authordeveloped a scale in the questionnaire based on the results of the study including 5independent variables that caused stress in the Sales Department at SAPLASTIC.JSC.The questions to measure the factors that influence on stress of Sale Department inSAPLASTIC.JSC used the 5-point Likert Scale (With 1 = Absolute disagree, 2 =Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree and 5 = Strongly Agree) The degree of agreementwas increased by 1 to 5 points The questionnaire was directly sent to the employeesworking in the Sales Department of SAPLASTIC.JSC and the staff were

instructed how to respond Employees were provided with a questionnaire andfilled in their survey

responses on their own With wrong scales or incorrect answers’ cases, the author had

to explain to the respondent to understand and respond in the right direction Invalidresponse such as blank, multiple answers for the same statement or same level for allobservation variables would be refined and removed

Table 2 2 - Observation variables define Job stress causes at SAPLASTIC.JSC

1 Work pressure

WP4 The superiors always set out of ability tasks to you 1 2 3 4 5

WP5 You often think about leaving the current job at

EC2 Inadequate infrastructure, old equipment which is

often ruined, affecting the speed of working settlement 1 2 3 4 5EC3 Workplace’s noise makes you feel stressed and tired 1 2 3 4 5

3 Career development opportunities

CDO1 There are not much opportunities to develop your

CDO3 The promotion and nomination policies at the

CDO4 You do not have many opportunities to show your

4 Personal relationship

WORK PRESSURE

4.754.704.65

4.554.50

PR5 Customers often complain and give negative feedback

5 Conflict between work-life roles

WL2

Your work takes too much time and effort, so you do

WL3

Working makes you unable to maintain relationships

2.1 Work pressure

Figure 2 1 - Measurement of work pressure factors

(Source: Appendix 7 – The survey result collection)

The assessment of the job stress’s factors of the Sales Department atSAPLASTIC.JSC indicated that the rate of Sales Department was relatively high Withthe answer for question “You find your work very stressful”, the author records 100%respondents agree working in packaging industry is very stressful This job needs all

employees using many skills from human communication, problem solving,planning… The statement “The superiors always set out of ability tasks to you”was evaluated with the high score of 4.70 points show that many sales staffs do notagree with the goal they are carrying on The company in particular has set salestargets without concerning about the capacity of the factory Many times inhistory were recorded that when the sales orders reached 60% of goals (40 billion),the factory would be chaotic and goods were delay The target for each sale’semployee of the company in 2015 was VND 23,529 million, in 2016 the numberincreased to VND 26,667 million corresponding to the increase of VND 3,137 millionand 13.33% rate when compared to 2015 By 2017, the sales target increased to VND27,778 million, corresponding to an increase of VND 1,111 million and a growth rate

of 4.17% over 2016 The businessgoals and overloaded tasks made the employees to spend too much time on working

The statement “You do not have enough time to finish the tasks” was highlyagreed by the staff with an average score of 4.55 Therefore, leaders ofSAPLASTIC.JSC in general and Sales Department in particular should considerassigning norms to subordinates and avoid overload in work In addition, frequentmeetings and sales reports to the leaders at the end of each week also took up time andput tremendous pressure on sales staff at SAPLASTIC.JSC

“You often think about leaving the current job” was rated with 4.75 pointsshowed that the sales staff of the company planned to quit job because of the pressure

of work and overload business goals of the company

“Your work is overloaded” with 4.50 points and the WP1 with 4.65 pointsindicated that all sales staff of the company noticed the workload of the office, jobstress and overloaded tasks

2.2 Working environment

Figure 2 2 - Evaluation of working environment factors

WORKING INVIRONMENT

4.154.452.25

EC1EC2EC3

(Source: Appendix 7 – The survey result collection)

The factor of working environment also has a direct impact on the salesdepartment's stress at SAPLASTIC.JSC The most stressful and most selected factor is

"Inadequate infrastructure, old and broken office equipment affect the speed of worksettlement", at 4.45 points Sales staffs often encounter broken air conditioners,especially basic office equipment such as printers, faxes, and photocopiers, whichresult in the futile wait of the sales staff Employees are not promptly transferrednecessary documents for customers and are complaining In addition, in order tosave costs, SAPLASTIC.JSC also cut the cost of stationery According to the survey,employees say that office equipment and stationery are the means to support work, so

do not save so much that hinder the business On the contrary, the company shouldhave a guide on how to use the equipment and stationery reasonably At present,office equipment has not been interested and invested by the company It is easy tocreate stress and pressure in the workplace

The factor "Environmental air in the workplace near the factory, hot, oftenexposed to the smell of solvent, colloids, ink, affect your health and work spirit"rated at the second highest point with 4.15 points shows that the current location ofbusiness offices near the workshop has a great impact on the quality of workperformance of employees in the sales department Due to close to the workshop andthe requirements of the workplace, employees are frequently exposed to chemicals,

colloids, ink, etc., which affect the health of their employees… Therefore, thecompany needs to invest in

CAREER DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES

to the production area, they should be equipped with protective clothing to prevent theimpact on health and to reduce the stress on employees in the working at the company

The factor: "Noise at work makes you feel stressed and tired" with 2.25 point islow The office is locating at the same area with factory will be affected by the noisefrom plant However, the sales staffs did not agree that the noise from the factory wasloud enough to affect the working space

2.3 Career development opportunities

Figure 2 3 - Evaluating opportunities for career development

(Source: Appendix 7 – The survey result collection)

Career opportunities are something that every employee is interested in andsales staffs at SAPLASTIC.JSC are no exception The factor "You do not havemany opportunities to develop your career at the company," causes the highest stresswith 3.90 points It shows that the opportunity of professional development of thesales department at SAPLASTIC.JSC has not really attracted the company'semployees This will directly affect the performance of the employee when working

PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP

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The factor "The promotion and nomination policies at the company are unfairand not transparent” causes stress in work with 4.05 points which is most rated Thus,SAPLASTIC.JSC has unclear procedure in promotion and motivation staffs

The factor: "You do not have the training programs for promotion" was highlyrated with 4.2 points, which shows that SAPLASTIC.JSC has not built the trainingprograms and the clear promotion procedures and this is not the company's attention,

so the staff s think that the opportunity to develop career at SAPLASTIC.JSC is quite

low.The factor: "You do not have many opportunities to express your personalability in the company" of the sales department at SAPLASTIC.JSC was alsoevaluated with only 2.50 points, clearly showing that in the company, the salesstaff has many opportunities to demonstrate his or her ability to work in the companybecause they have to engage in most of the company's activities, including marketing,production planning, resolving customer complaints, etc Therefore, the sales staffhave a practical friction environment, and are involved in many large projects of thecompany, so they easily show the ability to solve work as well as their capacity.However, because of having to deal with many problems in the company, the salesstaff plays a big role and puts a lot of pressure on them

2.4 Personal relationship

Figure 2 4 - Evaluating personal relationship factors

(Source: Appendix 7 – The survey result collection)

The relationship between the individuals in the company or the co-workerrelationship directly affects the stress in the work of the sales departmentSAPLASTIC.JSC In fact, conflicting personal relationships increase job stress andvice versa

The factor "You often contradict your colleagues" is rated at 4.45 points,showing the contradiction between sales colleagues at SAPLASTIC.JSC tends toincrease and affects the quality of work This contradiction arises mainly betweenthe sales department and other related departments such as:

- Accounting department: contradictions about debt recovery The accountant is

responsible for and is charged with the KPI for debt collection on time.However, between the sales department and the accountant there is a constantconflict on the rotation of documents between the accounting department andthe client, sometimes the invoicing process or the debt payment of the client isnot timely

- Production department: contradictions of product quality and delivery time.

Production with frequent failures is often complained of quality and deliveryprogress by clients In fact, this contradiction also arises from the backwardmachinery and the capacity of the factory which is not enough to meet theorders from the sales department

- Planning and purchasing department: Contradictions in material preparation

and material planning report in the month, quarter which sometimes is notenough to meet the production need The main reasons are: (a) customers donot send orders forecast or actual order is not in line with the forecast, sothere is the material backlog but there is not enough supply; and (b) thecompany's financial resources are limited to material imports, so theplanning department must balance the supplies

It is the contradiction between co-workers that makes it uncomfortable foremployees to work together

The factor "Customers often complain and have bad feedback about you" which

is rated on a scale of 4.30 points shows that stress in work more or less discomfort forcustomers and customers are not satisfied with the quality of service of the sales

department at SAPLASTIC.JSC In the packaging industry, keeping a goodrelationship with customers is also a prerequisite for a smooth and successfulwork However, salespeople are taking on a huge role in resolving customercomplaints, filing complaints with related departments and tracking, receivingcustomer feedback to respond to customers In addition, packaging is also a keyinput material of the production process The fact that the product quality is notguaranteed, and the delayed delivery are the two of the reasons why customers oftencomplain about sales employees and create difficulties and stress for the employees.

The factor: "You cannot maintain good relationship with your boss" with 2.50points shows that the relationship between staff and the leader at the sales department

of the company is still neutral, with temporary acceptance The factor: "You do notreceive support from colleagues and other departments" with 3.85 points is highlyrated, which shows that most of sales staff at SAPLASTIC.JSC do not have supportamong colleagues and departments in the company Usually each department onlyknows the work of itself without mutual assistance among departments Specially,when there are conflicts in the work or customers’ complaints, the departments oftentend to push each other responsible for fear of being blamed and fined

The factor: "You do not have confidence in working with colleagues" with 3.40points indicates that this is a serious problem in the sales department atSAPLASTIC.JSC, especially when the employees of the department do not trust eachother and do not support each other in the work, which greatly affects and also causesstress in the work of the sales department at SAPLASTIC.JSC

2.5 Conflic between work – life roles

Figure 2 5 - Evaluating the conflicting factors between work and life

CONFLICT OF WORK-LIFE ROLES

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(Source: Appendix 7 – The survey result collection)

Conflicts between work and life directly affect the efficiency and quality ofwork that the sales department at SAPLASTIC.JSC undertakes In fact, the salesdepartment at SAPLASTIC.JSC cannot balance between work and life with a highproportion of employees agreeing on an average scale of 3.64 points and the factor

"You find that your work takes too much time and effort, leaving you with no time forother personal tasks" has the employee's high agreement with 3.90 points This showsthat the work of the company takes up too much of the salesman's time, so thebalance between work and life is very difficult "Because of the work, you cannotmaintain good relationships or other roles" also creates tension for the company'ssales staff with 2.90 Sales staff often have to go with customers after work or staybehind the print template when the customer requests, so the role in the family will bedifficult to complete well Therefore, in addition to the pressure of work, sales staffwill also be under pressure from family members when they are not able to spend alot of time for them If these factors are not improved, it will put pressure on salesstaffs at SAPLASTIC.JSC in the future and may cause employee's job change to raisesoon

The relationship between work and life is directly related to the performance ofthe company Therefore, for the sales department at SAPLASTIC.JSC, it is necessary

to manage the family work to complete the work of the company For the company, it

is important to support staff when their family has problems, so employees can focuswell