Has the Pandemic Changed Employee behavior for the Better?

Has the Pandemic Changed Employee behavior for the Better?

By Catherine Tansey

When the COVID-19 virus struck the world, most of the conversations revolved around when will we return to our normal lives. As time went by, we slowly started to accept that there was no return on those previous times before the pandemic and that there would be a new normal for every aspect of our lives. One of the effects of COVID-19 on employee behavior that the internal and external researchers talk about is productivity. There are many different factors that affect worker productivity such as attitude, personality type, and the level of motivation. It also depends on what kind of industry it belongs to and if the organizations have done enough to improve their work management and employee engagement. One of the industries that did well in a work-from-home setup is those industries in the tech space. Other factors that contribute to increased productivity during a work-from-home setup are the ability to focus, and trust between management and employees. Even though remote setups have increased productivity it is also important to know if the employees are happy in this kind of setup. Based on the survey they did, it shows that 72% of global knowledge workers prefer a hybrid setup which includes work-from-home setup and in-office options. While only 13% would prefer to work from home full-time and only 12% want to return to full-time office environments. Another workplace behavior that has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic is the way businesses recruit and hire employees. Many employees lost their jobs, especially in industries that were impacted by the restrictions of social distancing like retail, hospitality, and events. The recruitment process has been impacted and is more on fully remote interview, hiring, and onboarding processes. All these factors require technology, high-speed internet access, and collaboration tools in order for the remote setup to be successful.

In my experience, I can say that work-from-home setups have many advantages like work-life balance, fewer expenses, little-to-no commute, and we can be more productive if we have motivation. But to achieve all of this it is important to have an excellent internet connection and back at my home country internet connection was terrible that’s why remote setup is not for everybody.

 

Reference

Jean. (2021, February 24). Has the pandemic changed employee behavior for the better?. Workest. https://www.zenefits.com/workest/has-the-pandemic-changed-employee-behavior-for-the-better/