Abstract:
This study evaluates the process of monitoring the performance and productivity of staff working
remotely amid the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 has profound impact on how different institutions operate,
especially on ensuring effective performance management of employees working remotely. Despite all
odds, some workers continue working remotely during these extraordinary circumstances. There is a need to
acknowledge that the world has changed and that these changes could last for some time, and perhaps even
more permanently. A sample of 80 and 10 participants for quantitative and qualitative, respectively, was chosen
to fully represent the staff. The data collection methods included interviews and questionnaires with selected
staff. The Convenience Sampling Method was used to select respondents amongst staff members assigned
to work remotely based on the fact that they were either sharing office with colleagues or had capacity to
work remotely. The questionnaires were physically administered by the Researcher, whereas interviews were
conducted with individual staff. Quantitative data was analysed through SPSS software, and qualitative data
was analysed through themes and coding. The study revealed that some staff members are not ethical when
working from home with minimal supervision. The study also revealed that when staff are not closely monitored,
they tend not to focus and spend some time performing non-work-related activities which negatively
affects the performance and productivity of the institution. The study further revealed that remote working
led to poor quality of reports and missing of deadlines, signifying lack of proper planning.
Description:
Journal articles published in the 6th International Conference on Public Administration and Development Alternatives (IPADA), 06-08 October 2021, Virtual Conference.