Impact of COVID-19 on Employee Behavior: Stress and Coping Mechanism During WFH (Work From Home) Among Service Industry Employees

Abstract

The continuing crisis of Coronavirus-19 disease (COVID-19) has changed our lives considerably; imposing the need for various modifications for organizations and individuals to cope up in this testing time. This study is undertaken to have an insight on how organizations and individuals adapt to these changes and challenges. The impact of coronavirus on human body is well known and more research is underway but what it does to the human behavior and the psychosocial effects are yet to be unraveled. To dive deep into the behavioral consequences of such pandemic, 23 in-depth interviews (Male 12; female 13, average age of 39 years) were conducted with middle level managers in public and private service industry of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Using the Conservation of resource theory (COR), this paper explores the employee’s perception of different types of stressors and examine a variety of coping mechanisms including the type of organizational support provided during this crisis. The findings of the interview suggest that the stress levels were moderate to high among all the participants. The main themes emerged from the interviews were categorized into five; (i) Triggers of stress (ii) Organizational support (iii) Coping strategies & resources (iv) Blurred boundaries during WFH and (v) Positivity in this crisis. The study presents an integrated Stress Model with key triggers, coping strategies (resources), organization support and outcome. The triggers inducing stress includes fear of unknown, ineffective communication at work, lack of clarity and direction, interruptions during WFH resulting in loss of resources like time and energy. All this might disturb employee’s mental health leading to prolonged stress or even psychosomatic diseases. Therefore, it is an important issues which need to be given priority in all organizations. The findings support the notion that there is a dire need for psycho-social support, community support and an effective system of organizational support to sustain employee’s emotional and mental wellbeing. The findings of the study are valuable and have urgent policy implications for devising a special EAP for crisis like COVID-19 and any future cases. Although the lockdown would be gradually eased, organizations need to rethink about different alternatives to work. The need of the hour is to be more agile and flexible to foster creativity and innovation.