During the Covid-19 pandemic, remote employees are having more difficulty staying motivated whilst isolated because of factors such as decreased engagement and mental exhaustion. Our blog’s focus is finding ways to keep these people-oriented employees motivated to achieve their goals and keep up productivity.
Caringal-Go, J.F., Teng-Calleja, M., Franco, E.P., Manaois, J.O., & Zantua, R.M.S. (2021). Crisis leadership from the perspective of employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 1-14. DOI: https://doiorg.ezproxy.library.wwu.edu/10.1108/LODJ-07-2020-0284
This article is about finding attributes and behaviors of organization leaders that remote employees found supportive to them during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research method was done through online surveys from 155 workers in the Philippines who’ve been employed by their organizations for six months. The results were grouped into three main themes: attending to the person, taking charge and showing the way forward, and sustaining the spirit.
This article is relevant to our presentation because it teaches current managerial leaders how to be successful with leading remote workers during these troubling times. Through these methods of better leadership, employees will feel ultimately more supported, and this increases their drive and motivation to work remotely.
Chen, I.-S. (2020), “Turning home boredom during the outbreak of COVID-19 into thriving at home and career self-management: the role of online leisure crafting”, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 32(11), 3645-3663. DOI: https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.wwu.edu/10.1108/IJCHM-06-2020-0580
This article draws upon the self-determination theory that when individuals are bored, their boredom will motivate them to set news goals and fulfill their desires. This study takes a a specific look at the effects of online leisure crafting on specific life outcomes like thriving at home. While the study is an interesting addition to our paper, there are many motivational factor and tips within it that will help determine self-reliant ways individuals can stay motivated at home. The study discusses self-determination theory in addition to how employees may adapt career-self management practices through access to the internet while at home during COVID-19 pandemic.
Lee, Y., Tao, W., Li, J.-Y.Q. and Sun, R. (2020), “Enhancing employees’ knowledge sharing through diversity-oriented leadership and strategic internal communication during the COVID-19 outbreak”, Journal of Knowledge Management, 1-24. DOI: https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.wwu.edu/10.1108/JKM-06-2020-0483
This article is about examining the effects of diversity-oriented leadership and strategic internal communication on employees’ knowledge-sharing behavior during a crisis situation, specifically the Covid-19 outbreak. The research for this article was conducted through an online survey with 490 full-time employees in the USA. The survey was done throughout different industry sectors during the outbreak of Covid-19. The results from this study suggest that diversity-oriented leadership is a contributing factor to transparent internal communication during a time of crisis. It has also suggested an increase in employee’s satisfaction of autonomy, competence, and relatedness needs.
Pattnaik, L. and Jena, L.K. (2020), “Mindfulness, remote engagement and employee morale: conceptual analysis to address the “new normal””, International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 1-18. DOI: https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.wwu.edu/10.1108/IJOA-06-2020-2267
This article explores mindfulness, remote engagement, and employee morale during the COVID-19 pandemic. The article addresses how remote workers can feel less engaged, unfocused, and disconnected from their job and organization, which in turn lowers motivation and productivity. It specifically talks about the challenges of employees staying motivated and engaged in their work during the pandemic, and approaches this issue from an employee perspective that focuses on self-reliant ways they can boost their morale and motivation.
Wang, B., Liu, Y., Qian, J., & Parker, S. K. (2021). Achieving effective remote working during the COVID‐19 pandemic: A work design perspective. Applied psychology, 70(1), 16-59. DOI: 10.1111/apps.12290
This article tries to explain what working before and after the pandemic means. The article identifies procrastination, ineffective communication, work-home interference, and loneliness as key challenges for working remotely as it affects individual’s effectiveness and well-being. The article also adds that virtual work characteristics and personal traits also affect effectiveness and well-being indirectly. The article identifies social support and job autonomy to help build individual’s proactive motivation. Lastly, facilitating high quality virtual communication can help ease employee’s stress.
Blog by Audrey Yeo, Roxana Gonzalez Valle, Max Tacher, Bryanna Barry, and Kennedy Werner.