SUMMARY OF CONTENTS FOR A DISSERTATION Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Introduction Literature Review Research Methodology Discussion of Findings and Linking to Literature Review...

Open University of Mauritius
IMPACT OF WORK FROM HOME ON PRODUCTIVITY OF EMPLOYEES DURING COVID-19
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SOBEE, Lavnish
Dissertation presented to the Open University of Mauritius
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Human Resource Management and Development
Supervisor:
Date:
© L. Sobee
Dedication
I dedicate this dissertation to my dearest ones, my friends, and my family.
A special thanks and appreciation to my loving wife, Manjula, whose words of encouragement and support have always pushed me to excel in my work and helped me complete this dissertation which is in the best state.
Abstract
COVID-19 changed everything and today organizations need to adopt a model which is a hy
id that is a mix of both work from home and work from the office to be productive, save costs, etc. For this, the organizations need to make sure that the employees are comfortable with working from home and are also produced there. Therefore, to make sure employees are fully efficient a lot of training and other sessions must be organized to enhance employee performance.
Based on past studies it has been concluded that the employees are less efficient in work-from-home setup, they lose focus and stress out more, and there is a work-life imbalance. The study consists of analyzing the impact of work from home on employees during COVID-19. In this respect, an extensive literature review is ca
ied out and various variables such as work from home, employee performance, productivity, collaboration, and work-life balance, were found which were used as an indicator of employee performance during COVID-19.
The study involved a questionnaire-based survey, which was ca
ied out among the banking employees in Mauritius, the questionnaire was distributed among 270 banking employees. It was assured that the questionnaire is distributed in different departments, and
anches and to employees of different levels (front office and back office. The findings from this survey which was captured were then analyzed and the results were displayed using charts, graphs, and tables. To conclude the results of the study, two hypotheses were identified which were then used to analyze, this inferential analysis was ca
ied out using SPSS Version 23.
The findings revealed a lot of things which were different from many of the literature that was reviewed to conduct this study. It was found that employee performance is hampered from working from home during COVID-19, and this employee performance and some of the other factors also led to a work-life imbalance in the employee's life.
Finally, recommendations have been made in line with the respondent's feedback that was obtained during the survey. Also, the recommendation for future study has been to make sure that anybody undertaking similar research in the future has an idea of what areas should be looked at.
Index Terms – Work from home (WFH), Productivity, Communication, Collaboration, Work from Office (WFO), Work-life balance
Declaration of Originality
I hereby declare that this thesis has been composed by myself and has not been presented or accepted in any previous application for a degree. The work, of which this is a record, has been ca
ied out by myself unless otherwise stated and where the work is mine it reflects my personal views and values. All quotations have been distinguished by quotation marks and all sources of information have been acknowledged using references including those on the internet.
I agree that the University has the right to submit my work to the plagiarism detection service Turnitin UK® for originality checks.
Name: SOBEE, Lavnish
Date:
Copyright Statement
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SOBEE, Lavnish
Date:
Acknowledgement
I would like to thank my supervisor, ______________, for the patient guidance, encouragement, and advice he has provided throughout my time as his student.
I must express my gratitude to Manjula, my wife for her continued support and encouragement.
Completing this work would have been more difficult if it was not provided with support from the Open University of Mauritius.
Last but not least, I would like to thank God for his gratitude and blessings in completing this work.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction    12
1.1 Introduction    12
1.2 Background to the problem    13
1.3 Significance of study    13
1.4 Aims of the study    14
1.5 Objectives of the study    14
1.6 Problem statement    14
1.7 Research question    15
1.7.1. Hypothesis 1    15
1.7.2. Hypothesis 2    15
1.8 Format of the study    15
1.9 Conclusion    16
Chapter 2: Literature Review    18
2.1 Introduction    18
2.2 Literature review    18
2.2.1 Work from home (WFH)    18
2.2.2 Employee Performance    18
2.2.3 Challenges faced by the private and government banking organisations during work from home    19
2.2.4 Worker characteristics    21
2.2.5 Work from the home impact the mental and physical health of employees    21
2.3. Conclusion    23
Chapter 3: Research Methodology    24
3.1 Introduction    24
3.2 Rationale for the study    24
3.3 Research design    24
3.3.1 Type of research    24
3.3.2 Target Population    25
3.3.3 Sampling    25
3.3.4 Research instrument    25
3.4 Research process    27
3.4.1 Administration of the questionnaire    27
3.4.2 Collection of the questionnaire    28
3.4.3 Data analysis    28
3.6 Validity and Reliability Test    42
3.7 Hypothesis Test    42
3.7.1 Hypothesis 1    42
3.7.2 Hypothesis 2    43
3.8 Limitation of the study    43
3.9 Elimination of bias    44
3.10 Assumptions    44
3.11 Conclusions    44
Chapter 4: Discussion of Findings and Linking to Literature Review    46
4.1 Introduction    46
4.2 Findings    46
4.3 Links to literature review    47
4.4 Conclusion    48
Chapter 5: Conclusions and recommendations    49
5.1 Introduction    49
5.2 Findings    49
5.2.1 Findings from Literature Review    49
5.2.2 Findings from Primary Research    49
5.2.3 Conclusion    50
5.4 Recommendations    51
5.5 Conclusion    52
References    53
Appendix    58
Appendix 1 – Questionnaire    58
List of Tables
Table 1: Work from home distractions……………………………………………………………...36
Table 2: Activity affecting productivity……………………………………………………………..38
Table 3: Testing Hypothesis 1………………………………………………………………………..42
Table 4: Testing Hypothesis 2………………………………………………………………………..43
List of Figures
Figure 1: Gender Distribution…………………………………………………………………….…29
Figure 2: Age Distribution……………………………………………………………………………29
Figure 3: Work Experience…………………………………………………………………………..30
Figure 4: Educational Qualification Distribution…………………………………………………31
Figure 5: Office Type Distribution by Gender……………………………………………………..32
Figure 6: Distribution by Productivity ……………………………………………………………..32
Figure 7: Duration of work from home……………………………………………………………..33
Figure 8: Training provided………………………………………………………………………….34
Figure 8: Training provided………………………………………………………………………….34
Figure 9: Should work from home be considered ………………………………………………...35
Figure 10: Benefits of WFH……………………………………………………………………….…36
Figure 11: Challenges of WFH………………………………………………………………...........37
Figure 12: Performance tracked…………………………………………………………………….38
Figure 13: Performance rating (Last appraisal)………………………………………………..…39
Figure 14: Performance rating (During COVID appraisal)…………………………………….40
Figure 15: Steps to alleviate the challenges………………………………………………………..41
Figure 16: WFH after COVID……………………………………………………………………….41
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Introduction
Work/Jobs have always been done in an environment which we call ‘Office’, this is where people work, be it sole proprietor or working professional. A sole proprietor is not owned by a company but owned by an individual, but all the other employees do all the work-related activities in a place, i.e., a workplace where all the company’s (where the people are employed) operations take place. This used to be a traditional way of working, but the out
eak of a virus in China which caused the world to pause made the companies shift from their traditional work from office culture to work from home (WFH), not only there was this shift, but the virus also made sure that people take time off their work because it affected everybody.
Several businesses and sectors were not able to do this transition because their main work used to be of being on the field to complete their tasks, but because of government guidelines across the world, this was not possible. But one industry was there which did stand out and it was the Information Technology industry which went miles ahead with the technology to provide and address all the issues of businesses digitally, this made sure that all the businesses that can transition did transition (Galanti, Guideltti, Mazzei, Zappalà, Toscano, 2021)
Though work from home was not appreciated by most employees at the start because this was a big change, gradually this became a norm, but again like every change there are positives and negatives, the positives here were that the employees could work in their comfort, but the negatives were the productivity, though it cannot be said that this was a complete negative because many employees did increase their productivity too in the work from home (WFH) setup.
    This paper titled ‘Impact of work from home (WFH) on the productivity of employees is a comprehensive study to understand the impact the work from home (WFH) shift had on Mauritius bank employees. The banking sector in the country is one of the most important sectors which offers services to all kinds of customers including individuals and businesses. The local banks in the country do business locally and some internationally too, but many of the international banks which are set up in the country do business all over the world.
1.2 Background to the problem
The COCID-19 out
eak was handled by the countries by their government announcing lockdowns to make sure that people stay at home and the virus does not spread, and these lockdowns across the globe made millions of office workers suddenly start working from home. Earlier work from home used to be taken and allowed by the organization in extraordinary circumstances, but after the lockdown, most companies have transitioned into permanent work from home, this is done because the companies can now save on a lot of fixed costs like leasing office spaces, and other things. Also, most employees now have started prefe
ing to work from home (WFH) because it helps them decide where they want to work from.
Though work from home is great for employees and it is becoming the trend, because this requires a lot of solutions to be formulated to perfectly do the work from home, it is dependent upon a lot of things like communication technology (the tools used to communicate with the team and the management) and other tools which is used by employees to complete their work.
Also, it cannot be ignored that work from home (WFH) has
ought a lot of problems too because we have seen that people are not able to manage the workload which was fixed in the office spaces as now the employees do not work at a fixed time, and the other issue which is talked about is productivity which is said to have been affected because of work from home.
1.3 Significance of the study
Work from home (WFH) is great for all the employees at least that is what the various surveys done by most researchers have shown, According to Chen 2020, 95% of the employees were happy about working from home in the year 2021, but this number is going down because the work-life balance which employees used to manage while working from home cannot be managed from work from home (WFH) because in the work from home (WFH) there is no fixed time in which you will work and therefore you have to work when there is a requirement which is causing a lot of misbalance in the life
This study provides insights on whether the work-from-home (WFH) has impacted the performance of employees or not. The study also highlights how work from home (WFH) has both positives and negatives for the employees.
The study also looks at various factors which impacts productivity and what are the steps that are being taken by employees and organization to overcome issues to make work-from-home (WFH) healthier both mentally and physically without affecting productivity.
1.4 Aims of the study
The research aims to find out whether working from home has impacted employees' productivity positively or negatively.
1.5 Objectives of the study
· To identify different factors that have an impact on employee productivity in the work-from-home setup
· To identify whether the flexibility in working affects the productivity of employees
· To identify how the work-life balance in the work-from office setup and work-from setup is different and whether it has an impact on the employee productivity or not
1.6 Problem statement
The work-from-home (WFH) setup which becomes a mandatory thing after the COVID-19 pandemic, different industries have seen the impact of this differently, whereas some industry has seen that employee productivity has reduced due to this. But other companies in other sectors, like Information Technology, have said that productivity has increased.
This study aims to find out the common ground on which the companies and industries measure employee productivity to give a conclusion on its impact of it.
The problem is to see whether the productivity has been hampered or not and if it is hampered what are the different factors that have contributed to the positive or negative impact of work from home (WFH) on the productivity of employees.
1.7 Research question
1.7.1. Hypothesis 1
Null Hypothesis (H0): Does work from home (WFH) not impact employee performance
Alternate Hypothesis (H1): Does work from home (WFH) impact employee performance
1.7.2. Hypothesis 2
Null Hypothesis (H0): Does work from home (WFH) not impact the work-life balance of employees
Alternate Hypothesis (H1): Does work from home (WFH) impact the work-life balance of employees
1.8 Format of the study
The format of the study is as follows:
i. Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 1 provides a
ief on the research that has been undertaken as part of the study. It gives an overview of why the study about the impact of work from home (WFH) on employees is necessary to be conducted
ii. Chapter 2: Literature Review
The literature review, i.e., chapter 2 talks about how the past study has resulted in describing the issue of the impact of work from home (WFH) on employees. Here 25 research papers have been studied to compile a comprehensive literature
iii. Chapter 3: Research Methodology
Chapter 3 is the important chapter which shares the important methods that have been used to undertake the research, starting from the collection of data to the analysis, and calculation of the finding
iv. Chapter 4: Discussion of Findings and Linking it to Literature Review
Chapter 4, the most important part of the paper shows the findings of the study that has been undertaken and the ultimate findings that are found from the research, also we try to link it to the literature, i.e., the research that has already been performed
v. Chapter 5: Conclusion and recommendation
Chapter 5, is where the author talks about the conclusion from the research, and share the recommendation which will be crucial to perform future research on the same topic
1.9 Conclusion
    Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all the companies had to send their employees to work from home (WFH) and this though was a logistical nightmare for many companies, and this was the same for banks in Mauritius whose traditional work model was such that all the banks used to work from the
anches, but due to the pandemic, they had to shift to work from home (WFH). In this study where we try to answer the question of ‘Impact of work from home (WFH) on the productivity of employees is where we investigate the factors that impact the work-life balance and other things in the work from home (WFH) setup. Not only on productivity but across many other areas such as social life, mental health is also getting hampered due to the long hours that the employee has to put in while working from home.
Chapter 2: Literature Review
2.1 Introduction
Literature review tries to answer the question that the cu
ent study is trying to answer by looking at the past research that has been done by various authors to see what the findings of those are to prepare for a perfect base to do the research. Also, the literature which is being covered in this section of the paper is important as it tries to explain all the terms that are important from the research perspective. There is additional importance of the literature review which is that most of the authors who have done research in the past give recommendations and how future research should be done to help the future authors who will be doing the research not do the same mistake that has been done in the past.
2.2 Literature review
2.2.1 Work from home (WFH)
Work from home, particularly known as WFH is a concept that describes that all work-related activities are done from home (remotely) instead of the office (Putri and Amran 2021). The work from home, which is being seen today, i.e., during COVID-19 being widely used is not a concept which is very new to the industry or the world, but this concept has been there since the 20th century when employees used to get to work from home (WFH) in extraordinary circumstances and this work from home (WFH) was considered a privilege. But because employers thought that allowing the employees to work from home.
2.2.2 Employee Performance
    Employee performance is a metric which defines how well is a person performing on the task that has been given to the employee by the employer, or the task that has been undertaken by the employee himself (Diamantidis and Chatzoglou 2018). The employee performance is the metric where the assessment of the employees is done on the parameters like how effectively or ineffectively the employee is working and is performing the work activities that are needed from him by the organization and the team to meet the deadlines or other standards that the organization has defined. Timely achievement of the objectives that have been defined by the employee for himself is the benchmark of employee performance. Employees who are effective meet the deadlines, generate revenue for the organization and help the organization to satisfy the customers at the highest level.
    The COVID-19 pandemic which struck most parts of the world in the middle of march 2020, made the employees of all the organizations go to work from home, but because there are many organizations like banks that provide critical and most important services had to find a way to work efficiently as the work from home setup for them could not work because of many reasons (Davis et al. 2021).
2.2.3 Challenges faced by the private and government banking organisations during work from home
During COVID-19 banks faced the most challenges as most of the activities of a banking organisation cannot be done from home and therefore the bank
anch is needed. But because COVID-19 was rapidly spreading the government across the globe announced a lockdown which caused the banks to close down as well. Let's see what are some of the challenges faced by the banks in Mauritius.
2.2.3.1 No certainty
The COVID-19 virus was new to the world that the world did not witness in the past and therefore it was hard to define when will this end, if the virus did not end the organization will be closed the governments won't be allowed to work from the office, and therefore this created an uncertainty situation. Although some organisations in the financial sector considered it a new era of transformation and adopted an approach to go beyond technological advancement to make the work-from-home model a success (Mauritius: WHO Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard With Vaccination Data, 2022).
2.2.3.2 Working of the organisation
The work from home concept is not new to the world, but still, it is fairly new for the financial organizations that are operating around the globe as they have not changed their way of working, the financial organisations are still following the same paperwork structure which they used decades ago, and this is what they are following in this 21st century which is also called the digital era. The technological challenges for the banking and non-banking organization during COVID-19 were the major ba
ier that
ought these organisations to a standstill when the lockdown was announced. The impossibility of the situation was a sudden lockdown and there was no means for the organizations to digitalize everything in a day or two (COVID-19 and a new resilient infrastructure landscape 2022).
    2.2.3.3 Job satisfaction
    Multiple studies were done during COVID-19 to understand whether the employees are satisfied with this work-from-home concept or not, and the studies indicate various things. One study which was undertaken by a bunch of authors for the Banking Industry in Indonesia found that all the employees are fully satisfied with the work from home, and the work from home increased the productivity of the employees as well (Shinta, Djumarno, Setbo, Env 2020). Similarly, there were many studies across the globe which pointed out similar things, but there were studies which were taken by many authors and there they found that employees are not satisfied with the work from home, and instead of satisfaction they are frustrated as they have to work for longer hours. The findings of the later study were true as well, and the same was found out by the organization that did conduct internal studies, as the work from home created challenges for the organisations (Nemteanu, Dinu, Pop and Dabija 2022).
Overall it can be seen that there were major challenges for the organization to deal with the stress that the work from home
ought to the employees, but at the same time there were other challenges that the organisation had to deal with which as the health of the employees getting impacted because of stress, no social life, long working hours and a shift from the normal lifestyle of the people (Rohilla, Garg and Chandiramani 2022)
2.2.4 Worker characteristics
The worker characteristics play a very important role when trying to figure out the productivity of the employees and before the...