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Working From Home During The Covid-19 1
HAS WORKING FROM HOME FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD DURING THE COVID-19
PANDEMIC HAD AN IMPACT ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE: NIGERIAN
BREWERIES PLC
Student’s Name
Course
Professor’s Name
University
City (State)
Date
Working From Home During The Covid-19 2
Abstract
The study aimed to examine how performance has been impacted by employees having to work from home during the pandemic. The case study focused on Nigerian Breweries Ltd. Research involved a mixed analysis where the quantitative survey provided employee perceptions while the qualitative interview focused mainly on an in-depth examination of the performance and underlying reason for the performance. The results clearly showed that the employees struggled to maintain performance during the mandatory lockdowns in the country. Some of the factors that influenced the low performance were lack of preparedness by the firm and distractions that adversely impacted performance. Female employees were the most adversely impacted since they were the primary caregivers of any dependents. However, even males recorded a decline in performance. The recommendation was better infrastructure to help employees learn to be productive even when working from home.
Working From Home During The Covid-19 3
Table of Contents
Abstract
............................................................................................................................................
2
Table of Figures
...............................................................................................................................
5
Chapter 1: Introduction to the Research Topic
................................................................................
6
1.1 Background of the Study
........................................................................................................
6
1.2 Problem Statement
.................................................................................................................
7
1.3 Case Study
..............................................................................................................................
7
1.4 Aim and Objectives
................................................................................................................
8
1.5 Research Questions
................................................................................................................
8
1.6 Rationale of the Study
............................................................................................................
9
1.7 Scope of the Study
.................................................................................................................
9
Chapter 2: Literature Review
.........................................................................................................
10
2.1 Covid-19 Impact on Businesses
...........................................................................................
10
2.2 Social Impact
........................................................................................................................
13
2.3 Benefits of Working from Home
.........................................................................................
14
2.4 Challenges of Telecommuting
.............................................................................................
16
2.5 Factors that Influence Working from Home
........................................................................
19
2.6 Telecommuting in Developing Countries
............................................................................
20
2.7 Framework
...........................................................................................................................
21
Chapter 3: Proposed Methodology
................................................................................................
23
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 4
3.1 Philosophy
............................................................................................................................
24
3.2 Approach
..............................................................................................................................
24
3.3 Methodological choice and Research Design
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25
3.4 Data Collection and Analysis
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25
3.5 Ethical Considerations
.........................................................................................................
26
3.6 Validity and Reliability
........................................................................................................
27
3.7 Study Limitations
.................................................................................................................
28
Chapter 4: Data Analysis
...............................................................................................................
28
4.1 Quantitative Findings
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28
Descriptive Findings
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28
Inferential Findings
................................................................................................................
42
4.2 Qualitative Findings
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43
4.3 Discussion
............................................................................................................................
47
Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendations
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50
5.1 Summary
..............................................................................................................................
50
5.2 Recommendations
................................................................................................................
52
5.3 Future Studies
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52
References
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53
Appendix
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62
Working From Home During The Covid-19 5
Table of Figures
Figure 1: Model of variables
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23
Figure 2: Age
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28
Figure 3: Gender
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29
Figure 4: Education level
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30
Figure 5: Organizational level
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31
Figure 6: Dependents
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32
Figure 7: Working space at home
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32
Figure 8: Impact on production
.....................................................................................................
33
Figure 9: Impact on supply chain
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34
Figure 10: Impact on revenue
........................................................................................................
35
Figure 11: Preparedness to work from home
.................................................................................
35
Figure 12: Access to the right software
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36
Figure 13: Access to the right hardware
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37
Figure 14: Performance change
.....................................................................................................
38
Figure 15: Performance is lower
....................................................................................................
38
Figure 16: Distractions and productivity
.......................................................................................
39
Figure 17: Working Space and Performance
.................................................................................
40
Figure 18: Difficulty in collaboration
............................................................................................
40
Figure 19: Lack of IT equipment
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41
Figure 20: Need for greater investment and equipping staff
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42
Working From Home During The Covid-19 6
Chapter 1: Introduction to the Research Topic
1.1 Background of the Study
Covid-19 has seriously impacted individuals. Already, millions have been infected with hundreds of thousands drying from covid-19. Health morbidity has strain healthcare programs all
over the world. The impact has not been restricted to the healthcare sector. Studies like Baum, Mooney, Robinson, and Sooner (2020) highlight the impact on the tourism sector, while Hollweck and Doucet (2020) highlight the impact on the education sector. Giones et al. (2020) highlights the impact of the pandemic on economies around the world. The substantial impact on
every sector suggests that the effects will be quite lasting.
Working from home is not a novel concept. Several companies have allowed their employees to telecommute fully or partially with mixed results. Kumar and Aithal (2016) noted that working from an office has several disadvantages including formality, rigidity, competition, and sometimes boredom. Working from home or telecommuting seeks to offer a different approach. The article noted that technology had grown substantially to allow employees to collaborate even while working remotely
(Kumar & Aithal, 2016, p. 244)
. Employees who work from home report less stressful environments, less supervision, and in many cases improved efficiency without the rigors of a formal workplace setting. In the past, working from home was only practiced in a handful of companies. However, lockdowns in most countries have forced employees to work from home. Not only does it reduce
the risk of infection, but it also allows the firm to continue its operations (Shareena & Shahid, 2020, par 3). Firms, where employees can telecommute, have been encouraged to adjust their organizational structure to allow as many employees to work from home as possible.
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 7
1.2 Problem Statement
The perception of most people is that working from home is beneficial to employee’s wellbeing and productivity. However, some studies suggest that telecommuting can also have the
opposite effect. Organizations that do not have well-structured telecommuting programs may be less effective than others
(Nakrosiene, et al., 2019, p. 87)
. Some employees tend to be productive when working from home while others are more productive when they work from an office environment (Kramer & Kramer, 2020, par 4). These articles highlight the inconsistency of information on working from home for both employees and their organizations. Non-ergonomic workstations at home can result in physical problems. The employees are also more likely to experience more stress, particularly when there are additional responsibilities. The lack of a work-life balance can lead to mental health challenges
(Bouziri, et al., 2020, p. 509)
. All these are possible problems that organizations are required to navigate. 1.3 Case Study
The organization selected as the case study is Nigerian Breweries PLC. It is the largest brewery in Nigeria. In the country, the company was among the worst hit by the pandemic. Due to the preventative measures such as the lockdowns and social distancing, most drinking establishments in the country stayed unopened. As a result, the demand for drinks in the country went down. This in turn contributed to the firm experiencing financial strain with profitability going down by a substantial margin
(Nigerian Breweries Plc., 2020)
. In addition, employees in the company were impacted by the nationwide lockdowns authorized by the government in response
to covid-19. Many of the employees in non-manufacturing capacity during that time were forced to work from home. The focus of the study is examining their experience.
Working From Home During The Covid-19 8
1.4 Aim and Objectives
The aim is to show that even though studies show that working-from-home can help improve productivity when done for an extended period, it can adversely affect both productivity
and the organizational culture. It also seeks to determine that working-from-home is not the best for all employees given demographic differences or job characteristics. The overall aim can be segmented into an easily understandable objective. a.
Determining whether employee demographics influence their productivity while working
from home during the covid-19 pandemic.
b.
Determining whether the type of job or occupational characteristics influence the productivity of employees working from home during the covid-19 pandemic.
c.
Determining whether working from home for extended periods has adversely impacted the wellbeing of employees during the covid-19 pandemic.
d.
Determining whether teamwork and organizational culture have been adversely impacted by the shift to telecommuting.
1.5 Research Questions
The overall aim can be rewritten as research questions to better highlight the aim of the proposed study. The main research question is:
Has working from home for an extended period during the covid-19 pandemic had an impact on employee performance and what are the moderating factors?
The objectives can also be rewritten as specific research questions that will be answered by the proposed study.
Working From Home During The Covid-19 9
a.
Does an employee’s demographic influence their productivity when working from home during the pandemic?
b.
Does the type of job an employee do influence their productivity when working from home during the pandemic?
c.
Does working from home for extended periods adversely impact the wellbeing of employees?
d.
Has organizational culture and teamwork been adversely impacted by employees working from home?
1.6 Rationale of the Study
The proposed topic aims to show that during extended lockdowns, companies need to find ways to ensure that productivity, ethics, and employee wellbeing does not deteriorate. It will
also show that not all employees are productive when working from home depending on demographics and job-fit. It also aims to show that firms need to develop work-from-home policies to help them transition in the event of another crisis that may force the implementation of lockdowns for extended periods. Many firms were not prepared. As such, they did not have effective telecommuting structures to help their employees transition. The study is also significant since it reviews a novel topic. The world has not been impacted by a pandemic of this
magnitude in modern history. As a result, understanding the impact it has had on firms will contribute to knowledge in the field. 1.7 Scope of the Study
While the topic impacts most companies around the world, the scope will be narrowed to a case study in Nigeria. The employees in the case study selected were forced to work from home after the government movement restrictions and advisories against going to work. Their
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 10
HR organizations encouraged most employees, apart from critical employees, to work from home until the infection rates reduced. Chapter 2: Literature Review
Working from home has become more commonplace in the past decade, resulting in interest on the impact of both practitioners and scholars. Currently, two schools of thought have emerged. The first suggests that the increased flexibility benefits both employees and their organizations. The other assumes that telecommuting has adverse effects on the employee productivity and wellbeing.
2.1 Covid-19 Impact on Businesses
Covid-19 has had a serious adverse impact on the global economy. In specific, businesses
all over the world have been adversely impacted. In specific, many firms have had their business models disrupted. As an illness, covid-19 is easily spread through both fomite and through airborne means. As a result, business models have been adversely affected. Business models will
have to be changed after the pandemic. Sheethraman (2020) state that many business models that
rely on people working in close proximity and thus, there is need to be adjusted and changed. Developing business models that reduce risks need to be adopted. Bierema (2020) suggests HRM
should be advanced to find solutions to readjusting the workforce for after the pandemic. Verma and Gustafson (2020) also believe that the pandemic will be a catalyst that results in both short and long-term innovation to help create resilient models in future. Giones et al. (2020) noted that the exogenous shocks during the pandemic have adversely impacted entrepreneurial actions. Parker (2020) calls for improved efficiency and greater social responsibility after businesses make the transition to another strategy or model. Chesbrough (2020) suggests that firms should
Working From Home During The Covid-19 11
adopt an open innovation perspective as a way of gaining an upper hand in the industry. Once adopted, this can help obtain a new competitive advantage.
Employment has also been greatly impacted. Zhang et al. (2020) review the impact and found that employment stability has substantially declined. There are few opportunities and many of the existing ones have to be readjusted to mitigate the covid-19 impact. Venkatesh (2020) shows that covid-19 has impacted people through job changes, job losses, support, and coping mechanisms. Even working from home impacts employee productivity during extended lockdowns. Caliguiri, De Cirri, Minbaeva, Verbeke, and Zimmerman (2020) also support additional research into virtual collaboration and managing employees in the new normal where a virtual workforce is the best option for most companies. HRM practitioners and scholars are tasked with creating strategies for similar disasters.
Paul and Chowdhury (2020) note that the manufacturing industry is one of the worst-hit industries by pandemic. Manufacturing supply chains have been adversely impacted. Ivanov (2020) calls for the improvement of supply chains to help them become more resilient to long-
term problems similar to covid-19. The supply chains also need to be agile enough to readjust without adverse effects. Van Hoek (2020) suggest that critical stakeholders in supply chains need
to adjust and improve resilience to deal with shortages. They also need to develop emergency response measures to prepare for future issues. Kabadayi, O'connor, and Tuzovic (2020) note that the economic disturbances caused by the pandemic were not only fast-moving but also massive. In particular, the service sector was the most impacted.
Covid-19 has also led to panic buying. Hall, Prayag, Forget, and Dyason (2020) note that consumption displacement has been seen in most economies with individuals stockpiling items they believe will be unavailable in the future. Jallow, Renukappa, and Suresh (2020) note that
Working From Home During The Covid-19 12
lockdowns make it more difficult to manage teams. As a consequence, the infrastructure sector has been adversely impacted since projects have halted. Nicola et al. (2020) also note the increased stockpiling accompanied by shortages in critical goods since manufacturing has reduced. Phillips (2020) suggests that the new normal should be based on improving the wellbeing of everyone at the individual level.
Even the marketing sector has also been impacted. Wang, Hong, Li, and Gao (2020) suggest that most marketing firms are now relying on collaborative strategies to develop new strategies in line with changes in the market and the target demographics. Even pricing of products is changing with information being focused on how the product helps the employee during the pandemic. Ajmal, Helo, and Lassen (2016) notes that business relies on trust-building to help overcome cultural differences. Without intentionally being able to nurture such relationships, businesses would not thrive. Another study by Ajmal, Khan, Hussain, and Helo (2017) also acknowledges the need for social sustainability in business practices to help nurture business trust.
Developing and emerging countries have been the most adversely impacted from an economic perspective. Scheeper and Bogie (2020) note that Uber in Africa was experiencing uncertainty financially during the crisis. The article suggested a business model shift to focus on creating social value particularly during trying times. Kumar et al. (2020) examine the impact in India and they noted that a recession started after the pandemic. It also adversely affected the social aspect due to the loss of employment.
Even the real-estate sector has not been spared. Tanrivermis (2020) notes that rent collection has declined and foreclosures has increased since most people have lost their
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 13
livelihoods. Policies suggested reviving the sector in Turkey were perceived to have no impact because they do not address the true problem of income decline.
Most businesses were unprepared to deal with the pandemic and the restrictions that followed. Those in manufacturing, tourism, and other sectors were the most adversely impacted. Other sectors such as supply chains were disrupted by the lockdowns in most jurisdictions. International and domestic trade have both been adversely impacted. The remaining organization
has been forced to adjust their entire business models. The main problem is that most businesses did not have any plan in place to deal with the pandemic. They did not have any contingencies on how to adjust. Supply chains were not resilient enough, while businesses did not have any strategies to help deal with the problem. 2.2 Social Impact
Social structure has also been impacted by the pandemic. Fritz, Milligan, Rest, and Lin (2020) records that physical events or team building are no longer possible. Instead, the article calls for the adoption of cloud-based infrastructure to be used to create online collaboration and help in teamwork. Another study by Farmaki et al. (2020) also suggests that peer-to-peer platforms need to improve their capacity to help in the methods of accommodating and communication, particularly for international users. Ajmal and Koskinen (2008) suggest the development of team-based organizations to aid in knowledge transfer. The approach would be effective, particularly in project-based firms. Such a model would be more resilient to shocks. Campbell (2020) also recommended that professional online collaboration with other professionals should be encouraged.
Social and ecological rests can be made. Everingham and Chassagne (2020) suggest adopting a Buen Vivir model that focuses on ecological and social development rather than a
Working From Home During The Covid-19 14
financial or economic focus. Such a model benefits the community and small scale businesses creating tourism that benefits everyone. Higgins-Desbiolles (2020) and Romagosa (2020) also call for the restructuring of the tourism model after the pandemic with a focus on ecological and social justice at the centre. Dayrit and Mendoza (2020) recommend for more international good practices as a way of improving social cohesion after the pandemic. Fell et al. (2020) suggest an increased social research to determine a way of restructuring social relationships with individuals
and from a societal perspective.
2.3 Benefits of Working from Home
Working from home has reportedly had substantial benefits on the workforce. A study by
Arntz et al. (2019), noted that employees reported greater life satisfaction when they worked from home. The study also noted that labour market outcomes like productivity and earnings improved in firms that adopted working from home strategies. In particular, the study noted that it helped mitigate the gender pay gap
(Arntz, et al., 2019, p. 13)
. Among parents, men have been predominantly having an advantage over their female counterparts because of family responsibilities. However, Arntz et al. (2019) noted that telecommuting helps reduce the gap. The hourly wages, working hours, and monthly incomes are less diverse when firms introduce telecommuting. From a labour market perspective, it allows women to increase their productivity
and reduce the working days lost due to family responsibilities. When done in the right manner, telecommuting can provide substantial benefits to different individuals. Abrams (2019) notes that telecommuting can have substantial psychological benefits to employees. Some of the benefits include increased morale, creativity, and productivity. The research provides a link between the psychological impact and the creating
full or partial remote working. The research highlighted that firms should try and either
Working From Home During The Covid-19 15
encourage working from home or try and get employees another co-working space away from the main office to reduce monotony or work. The geographical change has numerous psychologically impacts on the employees.
Working from home seems to benefit employees in highly skilled jobs. Morikawa (2020) noted that the frequency and prevalence of working from home increased during the pandemic. A total of 32 percent of the workforce in Japan was predominantly through working from home. The ones that transitioned the best were white-collar, highly educated, and high wage employees (Morikawa, 2020, par 1). Many of them work in medium and large scale firms in major metropolitan areas with infrastructure that supports working from home. Telecommuting has been found to improve workplace engagement. Masuda et al. (2017) noted that firms, where telecommuting is supported, have better engagement between the supervisors and the employees.
The reason for this is the increased socialization through online technologies. Telecommuting can also have health benefits. Henke et al. (2015) noted that the adverse health risks experienced by telecommuters were influenced mainly by the intensity of telecommuting. The study found that employees who did not telecommute experienced greater risk for tobacco use, physical inactivity, alcohol abuse, and obesity. Telecommuting was found to decrease the likelihood of depression as long as the employees telecommuted for more than eight hours a day.
The most comprehensive examination of the factors that influence working from home were by Nicklin et al. (2016) who divided them into societal, organizational and individual reasons. From a societal level, telecommuting is environmentally friendly and it helps to alleviate the stress on infrastructure since less people are using it every day. It is also better for those with disabilities since they are not burdened with going to work. At the organizational
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 16
level, a firm is able to reduce its overheads substantially and attract a greater talent pool that is not restricted by geographical distance. It is also inexpensive and expected to lower the overall turnover. From an individual perspective, telecommuting helps in saving resources that would have been spent on the daily commute. It also helps employees achieve greater autonomy in the workplace that is also associated with higher job satisfaction. It also results in better work-family
balance and lowers the stress of employees. Employees are also able to have flexible living choices.
The study by Sarbu (2018) found that introducing telecommuting can actually help employees reconcile private and professional lives when done in moderation. While most studies
suggest that blurring the boundaries of family and work can be detrimental for mental health, when done in moderation it can actually help reconcile the two and help deal with some work-
family conflicts. Some specific issues that can be resolved include lack of adequate time with family if there are long hours. Telecommuting can lessen the conflict by allowing the employee to enjoy time with family while allotting their own time to work. Another study by Paleti and Vukovic (2017) noted that working from home can help develop an effective activity-time pattern for optimal performance once the employees are sufficiently trained. Employees are able to allot time effectively by ensuring that mandatory tasks are given priority while non-mandatory
time are completed during the day. The study does shed light to the importance of an effective telecommuting system and proper training to ensure that performance does not suffer as employees divide their time between essential and non-essential tasks. 2.4 Challenges of Telecommuting
One of the problems with telecommuting is that productivity is never the same. A comparison of productivity made by Morikawa (2020) found that typically working from home
Working From Home During The Covid-19 17
results in a decline to 60-70 percent of the impact. However, a review of those who started working from home after covid-19 suggests that productivity is even lower going below 60 percent. The findings seem to suggest that working from home almost halves the productivity especially if the employees were not accustomed to working from home before the pandemic. Likewise, another study by Raffaele and Connell (2016) acknowledged that there are both benefits and detriments to working from home (p. 22). One of the disadvantages highlighted is how the experience can detract from the individual’s productivity. It is also only viable in organizations where there is the flexibility to allow the employees to telecommute. The experiences of working from home are also different depending on gender. The study
by Shepherd-Banigan et al. (2016) noted that women are more susceptible to suffering from a poor work-life balance. The main challenge is responsibilities they have especially when they have children. When they work from home, their productivity may drop due to disruptions and additional responsibilities. The study noted that between the 6-24 months after childbirth, working from home results in increased stress due to a poor work-life balance
(Shepherd-Banigan, et al., 2016, p. 106)
. It can even result in depression in many cases. The schedule flexibility, work schedule, and flexibility are moderating factors in the impact that telecommuting has on female employees. Likewise, Glass and Noonan (2016) examined the productivity and found that even though working from home has the same productivity as working in an office, this is sustained only for the first 40 hours
(Glass & Noonan, 2016, p. 234)
. After that, working from home results in lower productivity compared with working in the office. The study also noted that parental status
and gender influence the effectiveness of working from home. Others studies agree that the type of job should be influenced. Golden and Gajendran (2019) conducted an exhaustive study that truly examined the impact factors influencing success
Working From Home During The Covid-19 18
of telecommuting. One of the factors influencing effectiveness is job complexity. The more complex the job done the less likely it is for a firm to maintain success. Another challenge is problem solving in the firm. If problem solving is done using collaborative methods, telecommuting can negatively impact productivity and job performance since it makes problem solving more difficult. Finally, social support is also an important factor. Golden and Gajendran (2019) suggests that individuals who require greater social support perform better in a common working environment as opposed to those who can work independently without social support. Psychology plays a role in effectiveness as well. Telecommuting can also have an impact on career progression. Golden and Eddleston (2020) found that there was an impact on the both career success and progression. The study noted that telecommuters’ salaries were different depending on the amount of face-to-face contact with leaders. Employees who frequented the office were more likely to receive some form on payment. Promotions were also influenced by the amount of work done by the employees. Telecommuters did less work and they were less likely to receive promotions. Apart from the benefits, Nicklin et al. (2016) also noted that there were several pitfalls that negatively impacted organizations and individuals. At the organizational level, one of the main challenges was an increase in expenses in other areas. In specific, IT infrastructure has to be improved to make access to data and services easier for employees who are working from home. It also raised security challenges related to the safety of the organizational network when accessed from non-secure devices while employees are working from home. Firms also experience some decline in control (Nicklin, et al,2016, p. 47). At the individual level, some of the challenges include probable increase in family-work conflict especially when the employee has children or other dependents. Employees may also experience greater stress since they are no
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 19
longer able to unplug from work. Additionally, the social and professional isolation they experience can also negatively impact their career development. It can also result in missed opportunities.
2.5 Factors that Influence Working from Home
Working from home can be influenced by a variety of factors. O'Keefe et al. (2016) examined telecommuting in terms of demographics and fund that employees within the 18-34-
year age bracket were more likely to telecommute than other age groups. The study also noted that males were more willing to telecommute compared to females. The study suggested that women were more comfortable working in the office where there are fewer restrictions compared to males in Dublin. As a result, males more commonly worked part-time or fulltime from home. The findings are corroborated by Lyttelton et al. (2020) who noted that telecommuting can shrink the gender gap in childcare. However, female employees were more infringed by childcare needs compared to males even when both of them were working from home. The study also noted that mothers were more likely to experience depression, loneliness, and anxiety while working from home compared to fathers. However, both genders are adversely
impacted. The results seem to highlight the adverse impact that gender can have on employee performance. Working from home is also influenced by the preparedness of the firm to transition to working from home. Bai et al. (2020) suggest that the type of work done in a firm influences the effectiveness in transitioning to working from home. Firms in service industries that do not rely on human contact have a higher WFH index compared to those that do not. The study also shows
that firms that had a higher WFH index were able to transition more smoothly during the pandemic resulting in lower volatility, high stock prices, and overall better performance
Working From Home During The Covid-19 20
compared to firms that had a low WFH index. Preparedness seems to play a critical role in overall performance of firms when forced to transition to telecommuting. Prior knowledge helps achieve these goals. 2.6 Telecommuting in Developing Countries
Telecommuting is quite different in developing and developed countries. Developed countries seem to have embraced working from home with more than a third of the workforce working fully or partially from home. However, the situation is a lot different in developing countries. Ansong and Boateng (2017) note that West African countries have not adopted the practice and this create a gap in practice for the country. Organizational models used in such countries still rely greatly on employees still working in offices. Similarly, Onyemaechi et al. (2018) also reviewed the impact of telecommuting on employee performance in a Nigerian firm. The findings of the study suggest that in firms that have implemented it, are better able to increase the overall performance. However, these firms must have at least created the framework
beforehand to successfully implement the program. Adopting telecommuting provides firms with
a comparative advantage since they enjoy the benefits of allowing employees to work from home. While firms seemed to struggle maintaining performance in telecommuting, employees seem to have embraced working from home. Ajayi (2020) noted that employees seemed to have adopted the working from home model. Many of them were willing to continue working from home even after the pandemic. Firms in developing countries need to create the right mechanisms that can allow these partial telecommuting so that they are better prepared in future for challenges. Another study by Chang et al. (2020) realises differences that exists in perceptive work productivity due to cultural differences. The study noted that developing regions have not
Working From Home During The Covid-19 21
allocated crucial personal resources or oriented their firms towards working from home. As a result, working from home during the pandemic did not have the same desired impact that it had in regions where the practice had been normalized among employees. The study went on to recommend that future orientation to working from home is important since it will help in improving overall productivity in the future. Firms were also encouraged to design training regiments appropriately to further help employees learn how to be productive when working from home.
2.7 Framework
The problem reviewed in the dissertation is whether working from home during the pandemic has had an adverse impact on employee productivity and wellbeing. Several moderating factors are considered, including employee demographics, type of job, and organizational preparedness for telecommuting. Two specific theories seem relevant to the study based on both the problem statement and the research questions. The theories help provide insight on the themes and variables to be examined as well as an explanation of the results obtained from the study.
The first is contingency theory. Contingency theory suggests that the management of a firm is not based on a specific approach. Instead, internal and external factors influence the firm operates, including the overall performance
(Ghofar & Islam, 2014, p. 14)
. From the case study under review, covid-19 introduced external factors that forced a change in organizational design. The national lockdowns forced employees to work from home rather than the traditional model of working from the office. However, contingency theory also provides insight on internal factors that influence overall operations while working from home. When employees work from home, some factors have a more significant impact on productivity than when working in the
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 22
office. In specific, demographic factors influence how effective the employees are while telecommuting. Gender, dependents, and age are the key demographic factors affecting the firm's
overall performance. Other than demographic characteristics, other internal factors also influence
the performance. Firm preparedness for the transition is another contingent factor that influences the efficacy while working from home. Firms that already have a working-from-home framework are expected to have higher performance than those doing it for the first time. While contingency theory provides an effective theory to explain the study, other theories
can also explain the possible challenges. The resource-based theory posits that resources are allocated influence the competitive advantage and the flexibility to react to change
(Hitt, et al., 2020)
. In the case study, the resources are in two dimensions. One is the human resource. When the human resource is adequately equipped, the performance is high, but the performance decreases when unprepared. The second is the infrastructure that may either be rigid or agile enough to deal with change. Hilt et al. (2020) even notes that most firms fall into most firms' pitfall is focus on short-term survival without considering long-term flexibility. Nigerian Breweries falls into this same trap. First, the employees are well trained to work from offices, but
they are not trained to work remotely, resulting in problems. Second, the infrastructure does not support telecommuting since it is not popular in Nigeria. Both these theories provide an explanation to some extent on the impact that telecommuting due to the covid-19 lockdowns can have on employee performance. The specific variables under consideration are demographic variables like gender, age, job type, and dependents at home. The operational variables are infrastructure to support the telecommuting and adoption of telecommuting practices beforehand.
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 23
Figure 1: Model of variables
Chapter 3: Proposed Methodology
The most appropriate approach to developing a well-structured methodology is by using Saunders et al. (2019)’s research approach that starts from the philosophy to the ethical considerations to be included. The research onion provides insight on the most effective approach to creating an effective methodology. 3.1 Philosophy
The research philosophy can take four different approaches. It can be pragmatic, positivist, based on realism, or interpretivism. While no specific research philosophy can be IT systems
supporting
telecommuting
Infrastructure
Telecommuting
practices in place
Dependents
Employee
performance
Type of job
Demographics
Gender
Age
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 24
considered superior to any other, they use different research approaches that can lead to different results. Positivist philosophy is a naturalistic approach that focuses on quantifiable observations. It is not used in the methodology because it limits research to an empirical approach that does not account the subjective aspect of reality. Interpretivism is the opposite since it focuses on the subjective aspect of reality. However, it is not adopted in the methodology since the study also seeks to consider non-subjective data. A pragmatic philosophy is adopted where the nature of reality can be adjusted according to the study's aim. The reason for this is to provide the flexibility of conducting both quantitative and qualitative studies. As a philosophy, pragmatism provides the flexibility to conduct quantitative and qualitative research, which is the analysis's aim. 3.2 Approach
The approach adopted is either deductive or inductive. The approach adopted in this case is deductive. The justification for this is that the deductive approach allows research questions to be tested based on an existing theory or model. Apart from making the approach deductive, it is also cross-sectional suggesting that the findings will only represent a snapshot of Nigeria Breweries Plc. and the impact that working from home has had on employees during the covid-
19 pandemic. An inductive approach is predominantly used when trying to create a used tentative hypothesis or theory. Since this was not the main aim, the deductive approach is adopted. Likewise, the study focused on an exploratory approach where the aim was examining the impact that the pandemic had on HRM in Nigeria Breweries Ltd. A primary study was chosen rather than relying on secondary data. Since the subject is novel, primary data collection was the most appropriate approach. The benefit of primary collection is that the researcher is able to determine the specific information to be collected. The control over data collection
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 25
prevents error propagation. However, the researcher is tasked with ensuring validity and reliability of the data collected. 3.3 Methodological choice and Research Design
Research methods are subdivided into three broad methods. Quantitative methods involve
the collection and examination of numerical data gathered using empirical means. Its strength is that it allows data collection from a large sample. However, the depth of information gathered is limited since the answers are already predetermined. The second is qualitative methods that focus on the collection of data, mainly through interviews. The sample size is smaller, but the analysis is more difficult because it must be done thematically. It is also time-consuming. While it is common to pick either qualitative or quantitative research, the study seeks to use mixed-
methods. It is an amalgamation of both qualitative and quantitative research methods. The quantitative data is first collected, and then the results are used in creating a qualitative interview. The quantitative part will collect information on general employee perceptions of telecommuting during the pandemic. In contrast, the qualitative segment will collect in-depth information that cannot be gathered using a survey. As such, two research designs will be used. The first is a survey to collect quantitative data. The second is an interview that will collect qualitative information. 3.4 Data Collection and Analysis
Data collection starts by creating a sampling frame of the employees in Nigeria Breweries Plc. who fit the profile. They were employees who were forced to work from home after the government locked down the country. Once the sampling frame was collected, two questionnaires were developed. The survey questionnaire was closed-ended while the interview questionnaire was open-ended. The survey included 105 respondents, while the interview
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 26
gathered information from seven respondents. The survey used simple random sampling of the individuals who responded to the survey while the interview used purposive sampling. The purposive sampling interviewed employees impacted such as women, those in positions where they could provide insight on why performance suffered during the pandemic, the technically savvy and those who are not as well as other individuals of interest. Data analysis of the quantitative results was done using SPSS since the responses were coded using Likert Scales. The interview was analysed using thematic analysis of the transcripts of the results. A third party
collected data due to the travel restrictions because of the pandemic. The questionnaires were sent via email, and the individual was trained on how to collect information without bias through
Zoom. Survey results were collected and entered into SPSS to include labels. Meanwhile, the interview recordings were sent and transcribed by the primary researcher. 3.5 Ethical Considerations
From a deontological perspective, ethics are based on the ethical values of the researcher. In this case, the aim is ensuring that the international ethical considerations for human-based research are adopted. It includes ensuring that there is informed consent obtained from all the participants. Whether it is in the survey or the interview. The confidentiality of the information collected is also guaranteed by ensuring that all records remain anonymous. Finally, no names will be recorded, and the recordings gathered will be destroyed once the transcripts are
created. 3.6 Validity and Reliability
A methodology is measured based on its reliability and validity. Mixed methods research does not have a specific reliability and validity measures. However, it can still be reviewed by examining the quantitative and qualitative segments separately. The quantitative segment is
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 27
mainly descriptive without drawing any causal inferences. The reliability of the findings is determined mainly by the efficacy of the data collection method used. In this case, the survey is reviewed by initially conducting a pilot study. Once the questionnaire is reviewed to ensure that none of the questions is leading, it can be issued without introducing bias. The data is also coded to make it easier for perceptions to be recorded using a Likert Scale in most questions. Once the instrument's reliability for data collection is achieved, the validity is achieved by ensuring that the principles of experimentation are maintained. First, randomization is achieved by using simple random sampling in gathering the survey responses. Second, local control is maintained by collecting information only from the headquarters and those not directly involved in the production that telecommuting cannot do. Finally, replication is achieved by including 105 responses. The qualitative segment also requires reliability and validity. The main factors considered
in qualitative research are credibility, transferability, and trustworthiness. Trustworthiness is determined by the confirmability of the information. In the study, it is achieved by ensuring that the thematic analysis relies on the participants’ narratives rather than any inherent biases the researcher may have. Transferability is achieved using purposive sampling that select specific individuals involved in HR and operational management. The sampling process can be applied to
another organization with almost similar results. Finally, the credibility of the results is achieved by ensuring the interview does not lead the interviewees to respond in a specific way. As a result,
the reliability and validity of the segment are guaranteed. 3.7 Study Limitations
A key limitation of the study is firm choice and how the corporate culture influences working from home. Nigeria had not embraced working from home as much as western
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 28
countries in Europe and North America. As a result, the impact of demographic factors was less significant since no real attempts have been made to introduce telecommuting at any level. Chapter 4: Data Analysis
The analysis involves a qualitative and quantitative review of the findings. The quantitative analysis is graphically represented in pie charts, bar graphs, and tables from SPSS. The aim of the quantitative analysis is providing an overview of perceptions from most of the respondents. On the other hand, the qualitative analysis provides an in-depth overview of the factors influencing working from home in the organization. 4.1 Quantitative Findings
Descriptive Findings
The first part of the analysis is an examination of the demographics of the sample collected. The first variable reviewed was the age distribution of the sample. The table below shows that 55 of the respondents were 26-35 years, 23 others were 36-45 years, 13 were 46-55 years, nine others were 18-25 years, while five others were within 56-65 years. None of them were over 65 years. The age distribution shows that average age of the employees is predominantly youthful that coincides with the Nigerian population. The bar graph below provides a graphical representation.
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 29
Figure 2: Age
The gender distribution of the sample shows a predominantly male population with males
as 69 percent while females are 31 percent of the population. The gender distribution is also a reflection of the Nigerian corporate world that is still predominantly dominated by males, especially at the management level. The pie chart also provides a graphical representation.
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 30
Figure 3: Gender
A review of the education levels shows that the larger proportion, 48 percent, have a Bachelor’s degree while the next largest group, 41 percent, have Master’s degrees. Nine percent of them have high school diploma while one percent of them have PhD. Since the focus is mostly
those who are in non-manufacturing positions, the qualifications are high. The few high-school certificates work as receptionists and assistants. Below, a pie chart provides a graphical representation.
Figure 4: Education level
The survey also queried the participants on the specific level they worked as in the organization. The bulk of them, 41 percent, worked in lower management, while 28 percent worked in middle-management. Nineteen percent of them worked in non-management roles while the remaining eight percent worked in senior management position. The results are expected since the survey was taken in the headquarter where most of those working hold some administrative position in the firm. The pie-charts provides a representation of the findings.
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 31
Figure 5: Organizational level
The survey then examined whether the respondents had dependents at home or not. The results show that 85 percent of respondents have dependents at how while 15 percent others did not have dependents. The reason for this is that most of the respondents are in child rearing age while others are also taking care of elderly parents.
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 32
Figure 6: Dependents
Finally, the survey examined whether the employees had designated workspaces in their homes they could use for working. The results show 83 percent of them did not have any working spaces at home while the remaining 17 percent had some form of working space in their
homes. Figure 7: Working space at home
The study then reviewed perceptions on the impact that covid-19 has had on the core operations of the firm. Nigerian Breweries Ltd. operates in several different areas. The first area is the production of alcoholic drinks. When queries, 63 respondents strongly agreed that there was an impact on production while another 40 simply agreed with the assertion. Only two were neutral as depicted in the bar graph. The results show there is overwhelming agreement that
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 33
production was impacted since manufacturing facilities were closed all over the country to reduce covid-19 transmission according to the guidelines.
Figure 8: Impact on production
The study then examined the impact on the firm’s supply chain. The findings showed that
53 respondents simply agreed while another 51 strongly agreed with the assertion that the supply
chain was adversely impacted by the covid-19 pandemic. Only one was neutral as depicted in the
bar graph. The restrictions on movement around the country had an impact on the logistics and supply chain of the company resulting in the perceptions presented in the findings.
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 34
Figure 9: Impact on supply chain
The questionnaire also queried the perceived impact that the pandemic has had on the revenue. The outcomes show 55 and 48 of the respondents either strongly agreed or simply agreed. The remaining two were neutral as shown in the graph. The outcomes correspond with the decrease in profitability and revenue by the firm due to the covid-19 pandemic.
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 35
Figure 10: Impact on revenue
The next questions focused on the preparedness of the firm to transition to working from home due to the pandemic. The national lockdowns, curfews, and cessation of movement resulted in all employees working from home for afew days. One of the questions asked was the perception of preparedness by the firm to transition to working from home. The respondents seemed to disagree that the firm was adequately prepared to transition the employees to work from home. Findings show that 39 simply disagreed while an additional 35 strongly agreed. The results also show that 29 others were neutral with only two believing that the company was well prepared for employees to telecommute as shown in the following bar chart.
Figure 11: Preparedness to work from home
Working from home is facilitated by the right software to help in communicating. The results show that 33 and 36 either strongly or simply disagreed that the firm had invested in software to help with working from home. Another 29 were neutral while seven agreed with the
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 36
assertion. The perception among the respondents was that the firm did not have the right software in place to help transition to working from home. Figure 12: Access to the right software
The study also examined whether the firm had the right hardware to help with working from home. The results show that 33 and 36 either strongly or simply disagreed that the firm had invested in IT hardware to help with working from home. Another 29 were neutral while seven agreed with the assertion. The perception among the respondents was that the firm did not have the right IT hardware in place to help transition to working from home.
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 37
Figure 13: Access to the right hardware
The questionnaire then focused on information on whether the performance was affected by the shift to working from home. The first query asked the participants whether they felt that their performance remained the same or whether it changed during the pandemic. The outcome found 85 percent of them felt that their performance changed while they were working from home while only 15 percent did not change as shown in the findings that follow.
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 38
Figure 14: Performance change
The next query investigated whether they felt that the performance had declined after shifting to working from home. The results were skewed to the right with 34 and 32 simply or strongly agreeing that performance was lower. There were 31 who were neutral, six who simply disagreed, while two other strongly disagreed as depicted in the bar graph.
Figure 15: Performance is lower
The study then queried whether distractions at home reduce the overall productivity in the workplace. The findings showed that 38 and 32 simply or strongly agreed that distractions at home reduced their productivity rate. There were only five who disagreed to some extent based on the graph while 30 others were neutral. Distractions can adversely impact the productivity of an individual.
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 39
Figure 16: Distractions and productivity
Working from home also means that the employees have to create an area where they can
work. Not all employees can afford a designate working space. The results of the study show that
35 and 29 respondents simply or strongly agreed that the lack of a designated working space had an adverse impact on their performance. Only six disagreed with the statement while 35 others were neutral as shown in the following graph.
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 40
Figure 17: Working Space and Performance
Another aspect examined is whether collaboration while working from home was more difficult. The outcome showed that 36 and 34 participants simply or strongly agreed with the assertion that collaboration while working from home was a lot more difficult. Five others disagreed while 30 of them were neutral as shown in the following bar graph. Since collaboration
influences performance, there seems to be a decline in both while employees were working from home. Figure 18: Difficulty in collaboration
Another factor that can decrease performance is the lack of adequate equipment to support the working from home. The clarification provided was that the focus was on IT support to help streamlining telecommuting. The outcomes show that 34 and 27 respondents strongly or simply agree that lack of equipment or IT infrastructure impacted their performance. Nine of them disagreed to some extent while the remaining 35 were neutral. The findings are indicative that infrastructure is important in maintaining optimal performance while working from home.
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 41
Figure 19: Lack of IT equipment
A descriptive analysis was conducted on the percentage drop in the performance since the
variable is sale rather than ordinal or nominal like the others. The results showed that the mean perceived performance while working from home is 67.05 compared to working from the office. The outcome shows a perceived decline in performance by a third. The range in performance decline is 50-90 percent based on a self-perception as shown in the graph below. Table 1: Descriptive of perceived performance decrease
The final set of questions were on the changes that can be made to improve telecommuting in the firm. First was a review of whether greater investments should be made by the firm to help employees better work from home. The results show that everyone agrees that the firm needs to invest more in supporting working from home. The results align with the
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 42
perceived lack of proper software and hardware. The results are the same when it comes to the perception that the staff need to be better equipped. The outcomes are actually identical with all the respondents agreeing as shown in the two graphs. Figure 20: Need for greater investment and equipping staff
Inferential Findings
The quantitative findings also included an inferential dimension focusing on the perceived performance decline. The variable was a scale variable allowing regression analysis to be conducted with the demographic variables as the independent variables. Unfortunately, the model was not a good fit suggesting that no specific variable influences the perceived rating.
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 43
Table 2: Regression Coefficient Table
An examination of the coefficient table shows that none of the independent variables significantly influence the perception of the drop in performance. However, more information can be drawn from the qualitative interview that provides a more in-depth review of information.
4.2 Qualitative Findings
Analysis of the qualitative findings is done using thematic analysis. The main themes from the responses provided by the interviewees are examined to provide the general perception that senior leaders in the HR field have on performance of employees during the pandemic. The first question queried was whether Nigerian Breweries struggled when shifting employees to working from home once the pandemic hit. The general theme among the interviewees was that the pandemic was an unprecedented situation. The national lockdowns force all employees to work from home including those in non-essential positions. Since the firm did not have prior experience dealing with the situation, there was a difficulty in transitioning many of the core employees to working from home. One of the interviewees noted that some departments had to
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 44
send people once in a while to the office to fulfil some important duties like adjusting the payroll. The second question was what some of the challenges employees faced while they tried to work from home. Thematically, one of the core challenges with working from home was the poor performance among all the employees. Most employees were no longer working the same hours and deliverables declined substantially as a result. Another challenge was problems with supervision since managers were no longer able to monitor what the employees were doing. Meetings were also greatly affected by the limitations of software. Most departments turned to Zoom, but meetings that would take 30 minutes took over an hour as members struggled to share
their ideas while others persistently dealt with distractions. Absenteeism from meetings was also quite common. As a result, most departments underperformed, particularly during the national lockdowns when everyone was forced to work from home. One of the problems highlighted by an interviewee was inability to access corporate servers due to lack of IT access or disruptions that made consolidating and working with data difficult in the accounts departments. One of the interviewees highlighted that most employees did not have designated working areas making it difficult for them to concentrate on tasks away from distractions at home.
The third question the interviewees were asked is whether lack of preparedness was the reason employees struggled working from home. The consensus among the interviewees was an agreement that poor preparation was one of the main challenges. Nigeria Breweries Ltd had not created a working-from-home program. As a result, most of the operations were reliant on employees working from the office. Once the lockdowns started, only stop-gap measures were introduced to at least maintain core operations by requiring employees to work from home. As a result, the success of these initiatives was quite low. Departmental meetings were mainly done
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 45
on Zoom and Skype but most other operations were difficult to do from home. Even employees who had computers struggled to access company systems securely without having to physically go to work to collect data or information. One of the interviewees mentioned IT limitations restricting most employees from working from home effectively.
The fourth question was whether the performance of employees with dependents was worse than those who did not have dependents. The consensus among the interviewees was that employees with dependents struggled to work from home more than those without dependents. One of the interviewees explained that most employees had children who were also at home during the lockdowns. As a result, meetings were always noisy with numerous disruptions. Two others noted that female employees suffered from absenteeism the most since culturally they take
care of others at home. Men also experienced frequent disruptions and their productivity while at
home declined. One of the interviewees stated that a lack of corporate culture resulted in a substantial decline in overall performance. The fifth question queried on the impact that lack of hardware and software had on employee performance while working from home. The general theme of the answers provided was that lack of an effective working from home system resulted in challenges working from home. Not all employees had computers and this meant that some of them could not perform their duties as usual. One of the interviewees highlights how scheduling interviews was difficult because the receptionists who rely on office computers did not have any equipment to use from home. Meetings were not as challenging since employees could use computers or smartphones. However, the problem was compounded when projects had to be reviewed or done. The company did not have any program that could be used to aid in such a collaboration. Access to corporate data was also heavily reliant on the IT department who had access to the databases.
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 46
From both a software and a hardware perspective, the lack of adequate infrastructure impacted overall employee performance during the lockdowns where they had to work from home.
The sixth question queried was on what changes were made to help employees better work from home. Nigerian Breweries made some slight adjustments to help employees better work from home. First, the firm ensured that Zoom could be used for more than the 40-minute limit for the free edition. The measure allowed longer meetings to be conducted. The IT department has also made it easier for critical data to be accessed over the database by key personnel like the finance department. Finally, more laptops have been provided to personnel in critical departments to make it easier to work. The seventh question enquired is whether the firm is prepared for future lockdowns or another pandemic. The theme from the answers provides suggests that even though some improvements have been made by Nigerian Breweries Ltd., the firm is still vulnerable to challenges with working from home. One of the interviewees explained
that working from homes should be done more regularly so that the learning curve is no longer as steep when there is a lockdown in the future. The final question in the interview was the alternative solutions that can be developed to help improve working from home in the company. One of the interviewees suggested that systems should be accessible by the employees from any location to make working from home easier. In specific, information in the database should be accessible without having to rely on IT department to send information. Another proposed change by one of the interviewees was more frequently allowing employees to telecommute. If employees telecommute at least once or twice a week they will learn how to be more efficient while working from home. Another interviewee suggested more training is required to help employees learn how best to collaborate while working from home and completing specific tasks. One interviewee noted that Nigerian
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 47
companies do not allow employees to work from home and that is why many of them struggled during the pandemic. 4.3 Discussion
The study respondents all acknowledge that the pandemic had a negative impact on production, supply chain logistics, and the firm's revenue. The study's findings also suggest that Nigerian Breweries Ltd. had a poor performance during the lockdowns due to the decline in individual employee performance in the shift to telecommuting. The interview was particularly informative since it highlighted the employees' unpreparedness and the firm to transition to working from home. As highlighted, telecommuting is not a common practice in Nigeria. As such, most of the employees did not have any experience working from home. The negatively impacted the overall performance in the firm. The outcome is collaborated by research from Bai et al. (2020) who note firms that had a higher WFH index were able to transition more smoothly during the pandemic resulting in lower volatility, high stock prices, and overall better performance compared to firms that had a low WFH index. At the individual level, employees with dependents seemed to have the worst performance compared to those who did not. Likewise, females performed substantially worse even in this group, suggesting that telecommuting was a greater challenge to them because they are culturally the primary caregivers of dependents in Nigerian society. They experienced greater
disruptions during meetings, and they also had more absenteeism. Literature corroborates this with Lyttelton et al. (2020) highlighting that female employees were more infringed by childcare
needs compared to males even when both of them were working from home. O'Keefe et al. (2016) also noted that women were more comfortable working in the office where there are fewer restrictions than males. Shepherd-Banigan et al. (2016) noted that women are more
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 48
susceptible to suffering from a poor work-life balance. Age also influenced the ease of transitioning to working online. Most older employees struggled to learn new skills, like using computers or accessing online meetings. As a result, they experienced greater challenges when compared with younger employees who learned these skills more easily. The findings are corroborated by O'Keefe et al. (2016), who suggested that employees within the 18-34-year age bracket were more likely to telecommute than older employees.
The problem was not restricted to individual employees. The firm also did not have the right infrastructure to help transition the employees from working from home. In specific, many of the employees did not have the right hardware to help them execute their tasks while working from home. The lack of software also compounded the problem, making it harder for the employees to collaborate. Meetings were mainly done through Zoom. There was also a problem accessing the system since the firm was still reliant on databases that only the IT department members could authorize. As a result, some tasks had to be delayed until after the lockdowns due
to the restrictions. The findings corroborate some of the problems highlighted by Nicklin et al. (2016) who noted that IT infrastructure has to be improved to make access to data and services easier for employees who are working from home. It also raised security challenges related to the
safety of the organizational network when accessed from non-secure devices while employees are working from home.
The outcome of the study also highlighted that telecommuting is something that the firm had not attempted before. As a result, it was ill-equipped. The situation is not isolated. Ansong and Boateng (2017) note that organizational models used in Western countries still rely greatly on employees still working in offices. The lack of practice by organizations to support such systems and employees not developing an effective working from home culture contributed to
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 49
the poor performance in the workplace. Another study by Ajayi (2020) noted that employees are willing to continue working from home even after the pandemic. Chang et al. (2020) also noted that developing regions have not allocated crucial personal resources or oriented their firms towards working from home. It is an opportunity for Nigerian Breweries to gain a competitive advantage by developing telecommuting competencies. Another challenge in the findings was that not all jobs were easy to transition to telecommuting. Some jobs are complicated and require the employee to work in the firm. A study by Golden and Gajendran (2019) reviewed several different factors that influenced job satisfaction. The main ones were job complexity, need for problem-solving, and the need for social support. In the case study, these same factors also seem to impact the efficacy of the transition. Some departments were unable to handle critical tasks until after the lockdowns due to
the nature of the jobs and lack of collaborative or social support. The figure for the overall decrease in productivity revealed an average 33.3 percent decline in performance. Some employees noted their productivity was almost half of what it normally is while working from the office. The figures suggest an overall decline in performance
by a third in conservative estimates. The amounts do not even consider the expected decline in manufacturing and logistics that were more adversely impacted. The figures only consider administrative performance based on the sample. Morikawa corroborates the results (2020) found that typically working from home results in decline to 60-70 percent of the impact. It also suggested that in some areas productivity would decline below 60 percent due to the pandemic.
From a theoretical perspective, contingency theory explains why Nigerian Breweries struggled to maintain performance while working from home. Under the theory, contingent factors influence productivity. An example is external factors like family commitments can result
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 50
in an employee’s performance dropping while telecommuting. The findings further show that demographics and job design also influence these factors. Specifically, gender and age influenced how effectively employees learned how to use the hardware and software required for
telecommuting. Females struggled with balancing responsibilities at home while working at home resulting in greater absenteeism and productivity loss. Other contingent factors include the lack of preparation by the firm to help employees better work from home. Without training, performance sharply declined. The resource-based theory provides insight into the decline in performance. Lack of training by the firm made it more difficult for certain employees to telecommute. The infrastructure was also not suited for the shift to working online, indicating the
need for more resources to be developed. Both male and female employees were distracted by dependents, while older employees were not effective in reducing corporate outcomes. Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendations
5.1 Summary
All the core objectives of the dissertation have been achieved. The first was determining whether employee demographics influence their productivity while working from home during the covid-19 pandemic. The outcomes in relation to genders showed females performed substantially worse even in this group, suggesting that telecommuting was a greater challenge to them because they are culturally the primary caregivers of dependents in Nigerian society. Male employees were also adversely impacted by dependents while working from home. While not as significant as female employees, they also experienced distractions. Age was also a consideration
since older employees in these firms struggled to communicate with others while working from home. The findings are corroborated by numerous past scholarly papers highlighting the impact demographics play in performance while telecommuting.
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 51
The next objective was determining whether the type of job or occupational characteristics influence the productivity of employees working from home during the covid-19 pandemic. The outcomes show that certain types of jobs were more difficult to do while working
from home. In the interview, some of the employees stated that they had to wait to return to the offices to complete them. The outcomes also showed that only those in administrative jobs could continue working from home. Meanwhile, jobs related to production and supply chain logistics were almost brought to a standstill by the pandemic. The literature also seems to support the impact of job characteristics. The third objective was determining whether working from home for extended periods has adversely impacted employees' wellbeing during the covid-19 pandemic. The study's outcome shows that a work-life conflict could arise from balancing the private and professional lives. Women, in particular, struggled while working from home with absenteeism. The literature also supports the findings by highlighting how depression can arise from the lack of separation of work and family life. The final objective was determining whether teamwork and organizational culture have been adversely impacted by the shift to telecommuting. In Nigerian Breweries, one of the main challenges was that employees were forced to face difficulties like collaboration since they did not have an effective communication method. While Zoom was adopted to help reduce this, it was not effective in helping intra-departmental collaboration. It only helped in meetings without offering some system of support. The literature also acknowledged the critical role that social support plays in determining the success of telecommuting. Firms should have a system in place that allows access to information and data remotely to enable employees to work together. IT department should also have systems in place that allow all employees to work in the same way as at home to ensure they did not negatively impact the performance or camaraderie.
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 52
5.2 Recommendations
Several different recommendations can be made to better improve employee performance
in Nigerian Breweries during lockdowns. The first is the creation of infrastructure that supports working from home. Employees did not experience working from home before the pandemic hit,
creating a difficult learning curve. Likewise, the infrastructure in the firm was not developed to support employees working remotely. Greater investment needs to be made. First is the need to improve IT infrastructure to make it easier to access information and data while working from home. Cloud computing is an effective alternative to using databases to support telecommuting. Software like TeamViewer can be used to monitor the productivity of employee while at home. Shared spreadsheets or documents in Google can support collaboration while a corporate Zoom account can be created to help mitigate the challenges. The second recommendation is additional
training for the employees. Telecommuting should be developed as a skill to make employees more productive while working from home. At least twice a month, employees should be allowed to work from home. The benefits are innumerable when done effectively. It can also help the firm gain a competitive advantage. The final recommendation is from a theoretical perspective where specific moderating factors can be examined further to mitigate them truly. 5.3 Future Studies
Several studies can be drawn from this dissertation. First, a comparison with other Nigerian companies can help determine whether Nigerian Breweries could transition more effectively than others. The most appropriate would compare with other firms that already had the framework for telecommuting in their organizational model. Another study should compare the impact of similar firms in developed and developing countries. Common practices influenced
firms during the pandemic. Therefore, developing countries that rarely allow telecommuting
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 53
were impacted differently to developed countries where firms have the framework to support telecommuting.
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 54
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 62
Appendix
Graduation Assignment Questionnaire
Quantitative Questionnaire
To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements? Please tick (
) the box that you feel most appropriate. Section A: Demographics
1.
Age
18-25 years
26-35 years
36-45 years
46-55 years
56-65 years
66 and above
2.
Gender
Male
Female
Other
3.
Education level
High School
Bachelors
Masters
PHD
4.
What level are you in the organization?
Non-management
Lower-level management
Middle-level management
Senior management
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 63
5.
Do you have dependents at home who require your care (Children or the elderly)?
Yes
No
6.
Do you have a designated working space from how where you can work privately away from other members of your household?
Yes
No
Section B: Impact of covid-19 on firm operations
In this section, give an honest opinion of the perceived impact covid-19 has had on Nigerian Breweries Ltd.
7.
Do you think that covid-19 has impacted production in Nigerian Breweries Ltd?
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neither
Agree
Strongly agree
8.
Do you think that covid-19 has impacted Nigerian Breweries Ltd.’s supply chain?
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neither
Agree
Strongly agree
9.
Do you think that covid-19 has impacted Nigerian Breweries Ltd.’s revenue?
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neither
Agree
Strongly agree
Section C: Working from Home
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 64
10. Do you feel that Nigerian Breweries Ltd. Was prepared to have most employees work from home?
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neither
Agree
Strongly agree
11. Did the company have the right software to help employees work from home?
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neither
Agree
Strongly agree
12. Did the company have the right hardware (laptops and computers) to help employees work from home?
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neither
Agree
Strongly agree
Section D: Experience working from home
13. Was your performance working from home the same as working from the office?
Yes
No
14. Performance working from home is lower than when working in the office?
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neither
Agree
Strongly agree
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 65
15. Do the distractions at home reduce your productivity?
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neither
Agree
Strongly agree
16. Does the lack of a designated working space make it harder to maintain performance while working from home?
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neither
Agree
Strongly agree
17. Was collaboration with workmates more difficult when working from home?
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neither
Agree
Strongly agree
18. Did lack of some equipment hamper your effectiveness when working from home?
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neither
Agree
Strongly agree
19. As a percentage how would you rate your performance working from home compared with working from the office?
………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………….
20. Do you think that Nigerian Breweries Ltd should invest in improving how employees work from home in case of another pandemic or lockdown?
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 66
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neither
Agree
Strongly agree
21. Should the company better equip the staff to make it easier to work from home?
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neither
Agree
Strongly agree
Graduation Assignment Questionnaire
Qualitative Questionnaire
1.
Did Nigerian Breweries struggle with shifting employees to working from home after the pandemic?
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
2.
What were some of the challenges with employees working from home?
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 67
3.
Was a lack of preparedness one of the reasons why employees struggled working from home?
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
4.
Did the performance of employees with dependents (like children and elderly) suffer more while working from home?
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
5.
Did a lack of hardware and software impact employee performance while working from home?
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
6.
What changes have been made to improve performance of employees while they work from home?
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
7.
Is the company preferred for another pandemic or future lockdowns due to the current pandemic?
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Working From Home During The Covid-19 68
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
8.
What alternative solutions has the company developed to help deal with future lockdowns
or challenges?
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
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