scholarly journals Is working from home the new workplace panacea? Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic for the future world of work

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremias J. De Klerk ◽  
Mandi Joubert ◽  
Hendrikjan F. Mosca
Keyword(s):  
Employee Engagement ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Office Work ◽  
Remote Work ◽  
Work From Home ◽  
Working From Home ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Value Add ◽  
The Impact ◽  
First Time

Orientation: The COVID-19 pandemic has forced millions of employees to work from home as governments implemented lockdowns.Research purpose: This study examined the impact of working exclusively from home on employee engagement and experience, and determined beneficial and distracting factors.Motivation for the study: Remote working trends have risen steeply since the onset of COVID-19 and are unlikely to taper off soon. Organisations need to understand the impact of remote work when reconsidering working arrangements.Research approach/design and method: A dual-approach qualitative design was followed. The sample comprised 25 employees (N = 25) who were forced to work exclusively from home during COVID-19. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews.Main findings: Working from home for protracted periods rendered paradoxical outcomes. Employees could work effectively with improved employee engagement and experience, but there were challenges rendering adverse effects. The experienced benefits of working from home created expectations that this practice would continue in future, along with some office work.Practical/managerial implications: Organisations need to continue, though not exclusively, with work-from-home arrangements. The ideal ratio of remote work to office work was seen as two to three days per week. However, support and cultural practices would have to be put in place.Contribution/value-add: The COVID-19 lockdown provided a unique environment to study remote work. For the first time, employees and organisations were placed in a situation where they could experience working from home in a stark and compulsory form, devoid of idealistic fantasies or romanticism.

scholarly journals The Impact of the Pandemic on the Maintaining Happiness at Work

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nona Karkuzashvili
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Employee Engagement ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Work Team ◽  
Remote Work ◽  
Working From Home ◽  
Natural Decrease ◽  
Normal Environment ◽  
The Impact

During the pandemic, it became especially difficult for companies to maintain employee engagement and motivation. They are cut off from the normal environment and work team, no longer have social relationships with colleagues, which leads to a natural decrease in emotional connection with the company, a sense of belonging and loyalty. In today's environment, the challenge is to manage, attract and retain talent, further compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. During the period of working from home, as a result of the experience gained in the new reality, employees have other requirements that the company must meet. The transition to remote work in early 2020 has forced employees to develop new skills and become more familiar with technologies, manage tasks and solve problems online. It is true that some did more remote work, some less and some did not like it at all, but the fact is that it showed them new opportunities, and companies were challenged - how to maintain and increase the employee happiness index during the pandemic and post-pandemic period. The purpose of the article is to demonstrate the impact of the pandemic on maintaining a happiness index at work and to assess employees' attitudes towards remote work in general. How did the changes in work regime and environment during the pandemic affect employees and their job satisfaction? - In order to identify these factors, a study was conducted in Georgia, in which 200 employees participated and the results of which are given in this article.

scholarly journals The Impact of the Pandemic on the Maintaining Happiness at Work

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nona Karkuzashvili ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Employee Engagement ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Work Team ◽  
Remote Work ◽  
Working From Home ◽  
Natural Decrease ◽  
Normal Environment ◽  
The Impact

During the pandemic, it became especially difficult for companies to maintain employee engagement and motivation. They are cut off from the normal environment and work team, no longer have social relationships with colleagues, which leads to a natural decrease in emotional connection with the company, a sense of belonging and loyalty. In today's environment, the challenge is to manage, attract and retain talent, further compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. During the period of working from home, as a result of the experience gained in the new reality, employees have other requirements that the company must meet. The transition to remote work in early 2020 has forced employees to develop new skills and become more familiar with technologies, manage tasks and solve problems online. It is true that some did more remote work, some less and some did not like it at all, but the fact is that it showed them new opportunities, and companies were challenged - how to maintain and increase the employee happiness index during the pandemic and post-pandemic period. The purpose of the article is to demonstrate the impact of the pandemic on maintaining a happiness index at work and to assess employees' attitudes towards remote work in general. How did the changes in work regime and environment during the pandemic affect employees and their job satisfaction? - In order to identify these factors, a study was conducted in Georgia, in which 200 employees participated and the results of which are given in this article.

scholarly journals The impact of psychological contracts on employee engagement at a university of technology

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vinessa Naidoo ◽  
Ishana Abarantyne ◽  
Robert Rugimbana
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Employee Engagement ◽  
Psychological Contract ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Psychological Contracts ◽  
Employment Relationship ◽  
Organisational Effectiveness ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Value Add ◽  
The Impact

Orientation: Changing organisational dynamics have caused a need for organisations to understand the employment relationship processes and outcomes in order to improve organisational effectiveness, increase productivity and retain talented employees.Research purpose: The purpose of the study is to determine which elements of the academic employee’s psychological contract are impacting employee engagement at a university of technology.Motivation for the study: The study was motivated by the findings of a 2013 climate survey at an institute of higher education, indicating that many employees were dissatisfied and believed that their expectations were not met by the organisation.Research approach/design and method: A quantitative technique via online questionnaires was employed for data collection. The sample size was 400 out of 900 academic staff members.Main findings: The study confirmed that most employees appear to have developed a positive psychological contract. It indicated, however, that many employees may be experiencing discord in the employment relationship. Both transactional and relational elements of the psychological contract appeared to be essential to academic employees.Practical/managerial implications: The study identified factors of importance to academic employees that should be considered in the compilation of retention policies.Contribution/value-add: The results of the study could contribute towards addressing some of the challenges by creating a better understanding of the needs of academic employees and the impact of psychological contract fulfilment and breach. This could benefit the higher education sector as a whole.

scholarly journals The impact of job description and career prospect on job satisfaction: A quantitative study in Mauritius

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ketan S. Ramhit
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Team Leaders ◽  
Job Description ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Career Prospect ◽  
Value Add ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Negative Relationships ◽  
Good Career

Orientation: Literature shows that job description and career prospect are connected to job satisfaction and it is seen that, in Mauritius, job description and career prospect impact job satisfaction.Research purpose: The purpose of the study was to determine the relationship between job description, career prospect and job satisfaction in Mauritius.Motivation for the study: It has been noticed that employees are dissatisfied when they perform duties outside their job description and also when they see that they do not have a good career prospect. Despite the existence of several researches, limited research exists in the Mauritian context. The outcome will provide significant relevance to existing knowledge.Research approach/design and method: A quantitative approach was adopted and a survey was conducted in a multinational company in Mauritius. A sample of 132 employees was chosen.Main findings: This research unravelled significant negative relationships between job description, career prospect and job satisfaction. The results revealed that, when duties are not well described or when duties are not in line with current responsibilities, the employees are dissatisfied. Similarly, the greater the chances that employees are not given the opportunity to get promoted, the more they are dissatisfied.Practical/managerial implications: Human resource practitioners, managers and team leaders need to recognise that employee’s moods influence the work pattern in the organisation and a clear job description and an appropriate career plan should exist.Contribution/value-add: Literature on the relationship between job description, career prospect and job satisfaction in the context of Mauritius is almost inexistent. This study will add to existing knowledge.

scholarly journals Inner strategies of coping with operational work amongst SAPS officers

2013 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Masefako A. Gumani ◽  
Mattheus E. Fourie ◽  
Martin J. Terre Blanche
Keyword(s):  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Critical Incident ◽  
The Body ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
Critical Incident Stress Debriefing ◽  
Critical Incident Stress ◽  
South African Police Service ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Value Add ◽  
The Impact

Orientation: Identification of the inner coping strategies used by South African Police Service (SAPS) officers who do operational work is something the SAPS should consider to ensure the officers’ management of trauma and efficiency at work.Research purpose: The objective of this study was to describe inner coping strategies used by officers in the Vhembe district (South Africa) to reconstruct stressful and traumatic experiences at work.Motivation for the study: Most studies on coping amongst SAPS officers focus on organisational stress and not on the impact of the officers’ operational work.Research design, approach and method: An exploratory design was used and 20 SAPS officers were selected through purposive sampling. In-depth face-to-face and telephone interviews, as well as diaries were used to collect data, which were analysed using content thematic data analysis.Main findings: The results showed that the main categories of coping strategies that led to management of the impact of operational work amongst the selected sample were centred around problem-focused and emotion-focused strategies, with some use of reappraisal and minimal use of avoidance. Considering the context of the officers’ work, the list of dimensions of inner coping strategies amongst SAPS officers should be extended.Practical/managerial implications: Intervention programmes designed for the SAPS, including critical incident stress debriefing, should take the operational officers’ inner strategies into account to improve the management of the impact of their work.Contribution/value-add: This study contributes to the body of knowledge on the inner coping strategies amongst SAPS officers, with special reference to operational work in a specific setting.

scholarly journals Organisation design and the role of ICT: Negative effects of working from home during the coronavirus pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Ernad Kahrović ◽  
Emina Kahrović
Keyword(s):  
Dominant Role ◽  
Organization Design ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Work From Home ◽  
Working From Home ◽  
New Organizational Forms ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Impact Of Technology ◽  
The Impact

The goal of the paper is to point to the role and importance of organization design as a tool for strategy implementation, together with a dominant, role of technology in shaping the design. Namely, the development, of modern information and communication technology (ICT) is accompanied by the creation of new organizational forms, which enable the management, and employees to carry out, a significant, portion of work from home. The central focus of this paper is the impact, of technology on the creation of new forms of design, with a virtual organization taking up a particularly prominent, position. We underline the fact, that, among many changes that, the coronavirus pandemic has produced in everyday life, working from home can be considered as the most, drastic one; hence, its harmful effects are underscored, such as those relating to negative psychological effects, anxiety disorders, health issues, job loss, decreased efficiency and reduced satisfaction of the employees.

A Study on the Impact of Work from Home on Employees Productivity in the IT Sector

2021 ◽  
pp. 59-72
Author(s):  
Sneha Shankar Shetty
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Occupational Stress ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Life Balance ◽  
Productivity Level ◽  
Descriptive Research ◽  
Work From Home ◽  
Working From Home ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Impact

This study is based on how does work from home impacts employee’s productivity in IT sector. The main aim of this particular study was to conduct an in depth research in order to understand the experiences of employees which they had while working from home and to understand whether there was any effect of working from home on employees productivity. Exploratory and Descriptive Research was conducted which was carried through questionnaire. This approach was taken in order to collect employee’s opinions and experiences and to observe if there were any trends emerged in relation to employee’s productivity while working from home. The study reveals that there is a significant impact of work from home on employee’s productivity level. Despite there were mixed opinions whether employees performance was low or high while working from home, however employees also shared their opinions on how their productivity levels be affected negatively if working from home was removed. Overall it was clear to observe the high level of positivity surrounding due to work from home and how it impacted positively not only on employee’s productivity but also on employee’s work life balance, job satisfaction, occupational stress and motivation of employees.

Managerial interpersonal competencies and the performance of family- and non-family-owned small and medium-sized enterprises in Zimbabwe and South Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nhamo Mashavira ◽  
Crispen Chipunza ◽  
Dennis Y. Dzansi
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Managerial Competencies ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Value Add ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Interpersonal Competencies

Orientation: Regardless of the contribution done by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in modern economies, and the critical role managerial interpersonal competencies play in sustaining these enterprises, no known comparative study has been conducted in SMEs in developing economies.Research purpose: This study purposed to establish the impact of managerial interpersonal competencies on SME performance as measured by innovation and return on investment (ROI) in both family-owned SMEs (FOSMEs) and non-family-owned SMEs (NFOSMEs) in Zimbabwe and South Africa.Motivations for the study: Efforts at understanding managerial competencies and firm performance among SMEs have taken a holistic approach, using all known managerial competencies; yet, recently, there is acknowledgement that interpersonal competencies are more effective in business sustainability than other competencies. With this observation, the need to extent this finding in other contexts among FOSMEs and NFOSMEs in developing countries becomes apparent.Research approach/design and method: The study whose design was a descriptive comparative case study adopted a quantitative approach.Main findings: The study found a positive and significant relationship between managerial interpersonal competencies and firm performance as measured by innovation and ROI in FOSMEs in both countries.Practical/managerial implications: NFOSMEs may need to focus their training on interpersonal competencies for managers in order to be sustainable. For FOSMEs, continuous enhancement of managerial interpersonal competencies is important as it promotes innovation and business sustainability.Contribution/value-add: The study helps fill the lacuna between research and practice with respect to managerial interpersonal competencies in FOSMEs and NFOSMEs in the two countries.

scholarly journals What will it take to make a successful administrative professional in the fourth industrial revolution?

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annette A.J. Venter ◽  
Tessie H.H. Herbst ◽  
Chux G. Iwu
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
New World ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Whole Brain ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
The Future ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Administrative Professionals ◽  
Value Add ◽  
The Impact

Orientation: The rapid economic developments of the last decade have been driven by the impact of revolutionary developments in information and communication technologies. These technological developments have irreversibly and significantly affected the role of an administrative professional with regard to assimilation, processing and utilisation of information.Research purpose: This study investigates the impact of global and national key drivers of change and transformation on the skills requirements of administrative professionals with the aim of developing a future-focused success profile to enable them to be effective in the new world of work.Motivation for the study: The study is motivated by the personal experience of one of the researchers, and her observation of the impact of technological advances and the necessity for administrative professionals to integrate new skills, knowledge and attitudes into the new world of work.Research approach/design and method: This study followed a mixed methods approach, using both pragmatist and constructivist paradigms. The pragmatist approach provides meaning through the natural work environment of an administrative professional, whilst a constructivist approach is followed to compile a whole-brain success profile. From a sample of 354, a total of 219 responses were received, which represent a response rate of 62%. Data were collected through a visual analogue scale-type questionnaire.Main findings: The findings reveal that the skill requirements for the future success of an administrative professional involve proficiency to function from all quadrants of the whole-brain model.Practical/managerial implications: The curricula of undergraduate qualifications should be adapted to allow for shorter credit-bearing skill modules in line with the latest trends in technology, because the profession of administrative professionals is mainly skill-based. In addition, owing to the focus of the study on the new world of work, the findings could be related to most occupations.Contribution or value-add: This study contributes to the construction of a future-focused whole-brain model, according to the functional skills, essential skills and emerging skills required for optimal effectiveness of administrative professionals in the future-focused world of work.

scholarly journals Confirming theoretical pay constructs of a variable pay scheme

2013 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sibangilizwe Ncube ◽  
Mark H.R. Bussin ◽  
Lukas De Swardt
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Measurement Instrument ◽  
Critical Success ◽  
Confirmatory Factor ◽  
Variable Pay ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Value Add ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Purposive Sample

Orientation: Return on the investment in variable pay programmes remains controversial because their cost versus contribution cannot be empirically justified. Research purpose: This study validates the findings of the model developed by De Swardt on the factors related to successful variable pay programmes.Motivation for the study: Many organisations blindly implement variable pay programmes without any means to assess the impact these programmes have on the company’s performance. This study was necessary to validate the findings of an existing instrument that validates the contribution of variable pay schemes.Research design, approach and method: The study was conducted using quantitative research. A total of 300 completed questionnaires from a non-purposive sample of 3000 participants in schemes across all South African industries were returned and analysed.Main findings: Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, it was found that the validation instrument developed by De Swardt is still largely valid in evaluating variable pay schemes. The differences between the study and the model were reported.Practical/managerial implications: The study confirmed the robustness of an existing model that enables practitioners to empirically validate the use of variable pay plans. This model assists in the design and implementation of variable pay programmes that meet critical success factors.Contribution/value-add: The study contributed to the development of a measurement instrument that will assess whether a variable pay plan contributes to an organisation’s success.

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