CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

According to the World Health Organization (W.H.O) COVID-19 situation report 94 (2020), the
COVID-19 pandemic started in a small town named Wuhan in China in December 2019 and,
after a year, spread to other countries all over the world of which Ghana is not an exception.
COVID-19 has spread out to the entire world very quickly. Due to the fast spread of coronavirus,
all the organizations and businesses had to lock down overnight. According to
Worldometers.info, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases (COVID-19) was
176,535,981 as at June 13, 2021 and daily new cases were more than 200 thousand all over the
world. During the COVID-19 outbreak, all the organizations were forced to lock down the
regular working process and start the official work through the digitization process with the help
of technologies. As per new political and social rules, emergency action plans were implemented
like; work from home (İnce, 2020). It was a great challenge for the organization to handle the
impact of the COVID-19 outbreak as well as employees. Now the challenge is employee's safety
and their performance (Carnevale et.al. 2020).

From Ghana’s perspective, COVID-19 hit Ghana a bit late but very badly. Ghana is a small but
developing country with a total population of 31,493,325 approximately (Worldometers.info,
2021). Since the year 2019, Ghana has welcomed hundreds of thousands of people in the name of
the Year of Return. Then the issue of COVID-19 surfaced and as at 6th March 2020, Ghana had
not recorded any cases but the President cautioned the entire nation of taking preventive
measures seriously. On the 11th of March, the President addressed the nation again on the virus
and indicated that all the neighbouring countries have recorded confirmed cases. Then on the
12th March, two confirmed cases involving a Norwegian who worked at the Norway Embassy in
Ghana and a Ghanaian from Turkey were announced by the Health Minister of Ghana.

COVID-19 pandemic also has the potential to disrupt banking performance (Disemadi & Shaleh,
2020), bank operational risk management must be carried out properly to improve the
performance of bank services to customers. Superior innovation performance is needed with a
systematic approach (Nwachukwu, Chladkova & Fadeyi. 2018) and it is necessary to retain

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highly qualified and motivated employees to remain competitive in unstable environments
(Adeola & Adebiyi, 2016). In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, most banking services
remained normal to provide services to customers, to avoid transmission of the virus, customers
could conduct financial transactions through the Bank's electronic channels. Information and
communication technology is changing jobs and organizations (Cascio & Montealegre, 2016),
for banks that use internet banking services and banks that do not use internet banking services
have an influence on the performance of the bank (Margaretha, 2015).

Banking performance is considered to be disrupted by the impact of the spread of the corona
virus (COVID-19). Although it has not been seen until the first quarter of 2020, the performance
of the banking industry is feared to be disrupted throughout 2020 (lampost, 2020). According to
Armstrong & Baron (1998), performance is about how to do work and the results achieved from
the work. Performance is the result of work that has a strong relationship with the organization's
strategic objectives, customer satisfaction and economic contribution. Performance becomes the
foundation for an organization because if there is no performance then the goals of the
organization cannot be achieved. Employee performance significantly influences service quality
(Supit, Tampi & Londa, 2015), Amelia & Rodhiyah (2016) and Virgiawansyah, Utomo &
Rosyid (2019) employees’ performance has a significant effect on customer satisfaction.

By knowing the performance of banking employees, it can be used as an evaluation material for
leaders to determine the level of performance at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. So that the
bank's function as a collector and distributor of public funds and aims to support the
implementation of national development in order to improve the distribution of development and
its results, economic growth and national stability, towards improving the lives of many people,
can still run well.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The rapid rise of COVID-19 cases has led to poor performance in the banking industries. This
could be attributed to the performance of the employees which have been affected by the
restrictions and all changes (social distance, handing washing, hand sanitizing, and wearing of
nose or face mask) which according to ‘new normal’ has been implemented for developing hand
hygiene and safety (Eliza Wong et.al. 2020). Performance is the implementation, by an

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employee, of a job deemed appropriate for him or her in terms of skill and feature at the desired
level. In other words, performance is a concept that shows quantitatively and qualitatively what a
person doing a job has been able to achieve and attain in line with the planned target (Şehitoğlu
and Zehir 2010).

An employee's individual performance in working life is the most important performance

criterion for businesses because a business is only as successful as the performance of its
employee (Tayfun & Çatır, 2013). Employee performance, which is so important for businesses,
contributes to organizational performance. In this context, it is thought that the effects of
COVID-19 that we experience today also creates stress in employees and negatively affects their
performance which also affect the organizational performance of Banks. Therefore, it is upon
this premise that the study seeks to examine the impact of COVID-19 on employees'
performance in the banking industry, specifically at GCB Bank, Koforidua.

1.3 Research Objectives

This research aims at assessing the significant Impact of Covid-19 on Employees’ Performance
in the Service Industry at GCB Bank, Koforidua.

The Specific Objectives are;

1. To identify the strategies adopted by GCB Bank, Koforidua to mitigate the spread of
COVID-19.
2. To examine the level of Employees’ Performance at GCB Bank, Koforidua.
3. To examine the impact of COVID-19 on Employees’ Performance of GCB Bank, Koforidua.

1.4 Research Questions

In order to ascertain the aims of the study, the following research questions are considered; 1.
What strategies are adapted by GCB Bank, Koforidua to curb the spread of COVID-19?
2. What is the level of Employees’ Performance at GCB Bank, Koforidua?
3. What is the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on Employees’ Performance at GCB Bank,
Koforidua?

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1.5 Significance of the Study
In seeking to examine the impacts of the noble COVID-19 on employees' performance at GCB
Bank, Koforidua, the researchers hope that the result will bring benefit to the service industry,
especially, the banking sectors and other external bodies. The outcome of this study will first aim
at providing management of GCB Bank, Koforidua, and other members of the industries with
important and identified variables that are necessary to formulate good policies. Again, it will
help to widen and increase the knowledge of Human Resource Management in general as a field
of study, specifically, on employees’ performance, as well as the expression of human resource
management opinion. In addition, it is envisaged or conceived that the findings from this
research will to a considerable extent, serve as a basis for further research by Human Resource
Experts, Human Resource Personnel, and other Human Resource Agencies or Firms.
Furthermore, it will serve as a source of reference to others who may carry-out similar research.
Finally, the research will also help the researchers to improve their knowledge on employees’
performance in the field of Human Resource Management.

1.6 Limitations of the Study

The researchers are of the view that, due to the various restriction bill passed and endorsed by the
President of the Republic of Ghana to prevent the spread of COVID-19 would; however, limit
the time availability of the study. Again, we are of the view that there would be difficulties in
obtaining information from management due to competition and the fear of divulging such
information to the outside world. It is often usual that employees will normally provide little or
no information to the researchers in compliance with their oath of secrecy which they might have
sworn as a result of employment in the organization.

The research study would have been conducted in other parts of the country but, due to the
following constraints listed above which was encountered by the researchers, it was however,
limited to the Eastern Region, specifically, GCB Bank, Koforidua.

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1.7 Scope/Delimitation of the Study
The scope of this research is wide to the extent that if the researchers are to cover all
geographical areas relating to banks and other service providing companies, completion of the
study would be at risk. This study is therefore limited to Eastern Region, Koforidua, at GCB
bank to be precise.

The researchers chose Koforidua, specifically, GCB bank because of the proximity and
accessibility of information for the study on the Impacts of COVID-19 on Employees'
Performance.

1.8 Organization of the Study

The study has five chapters; hence, these chapters have been elaborated below;

Chapter One; however, looks at the Background of the Study, Statement of the Problem,
Research Objectives, Significance of the Study, Limitation, Scope or Delimitation, and
Organization Study.

Chapter Two; reviews the existing literature on the chosen topic and highlights the opinion of
renowned authors who have already written on the topic.

Chapter Three; deals with the research methodology which explains how data was gathered for
the research study. It also looks at the source of data, population and sample used for the study,
sampling techniques and data collection instruments and data analysis.

Chapter Four; covers the entire analysis of data findings and results. Also SPSS was used to
analyze the data followed by interpretations.

Chapter Five; comprises the entire summary of the findings, conclusion, and recommendations.

CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW

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2.0 Overview
This part of the study provides the literature available on the research topic. It includes the
citation from the previous works and theories done by different researchers. This helps to assist
the research process and gains insight as well as a piece of in-depth knowledge about the subject
and problems that are considered critical to this entire work. The sources of literature, studies,
information, surveys and reports through articles have indeed enlightened and given us, as
researchers’ proper direction to work and move into a consensus. With the help of these reviews,
the most important fact that triggered the researchers’ perspective is that very little has been done
in regards to the impact of Covid-19 on employees’ performance at the workplace in the service
industry. To the researchers’ best knowledge, the current research is the first detailed and
comprehensive study that shows the impacts of Covid-19 on employees’ performance at the
workplace.

2.1 Theoretical Review

Behavior-Based Theory of Safety (ABC model)
The theory considered for this study was The ABC theory of safety. When an individual feels
safe on their various jobs, it creates room for motivating the individual job performance. The
ABC theory of safety (BBS principles) founded on Herbert William Heinrich's research in 1962
spells out that the attitudes, behavior and conditions (ABC) affects employees’ performance.

The theory states that, employees’ behavior is arguably one of the greatest determinants in
workplace safety, especially as employees interact amid a host of varying safety issues. Human
behavior thus plays a huge role in a task performed by an employee. The task can have a
negative and a positive impact on connected to the person doing the specified task. The Behavior
in the workplace is all about emotions such as aggression, happiness, or depression. Negative
workplace behavior, such as workplace COVID-19, is an important work‐related psychosocial
hazard with the potential to contribute to employees ill health; hence, affecting his or her
performance. The condition to follow or consequences are what happens after the behavior. Past
conditions become influencers to future behavior. Most people do not want to suffer the
"consequences" of their behavior. When people understand and believe in the potential
conditions, behavior starts to change. The motivating conditions are different for people. For
others, losing their job, or having a consequence directly impact their social life is more

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important and can lead to behavior change. The point is, we are all motivated differently. So
understanding the motivations for safety in our people becomes important for long-term behavior
change.

In the context of this economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, many working
adults are in danger of losing their jobs or having their salaries cut-off, which may threaten their
mental health (Loureiro et al, 2019). In addition, their work attitudes may also change
accordingly. Some people may be more satisfied with their jobs if their organization has enacted
sound policies, while others may be less satisfied if their salary has been cut-off (Ravid & Malul,
Zultan, 2017). Furthermore, considering the high unemployment rate and economic depression,
people’s turnover intention may decrease even if their income decreases. However, as they
cannot work or exercise as usual, they may not be as engaged in work as before (Giannikis &
Nikandrou, 2013). Your work attitude not only affects how well you do your job, but it also
affects how safe you are when doing it.

Positive people usually perform better in the workplace because they maintain an open mind and
consider the outcome of their behavior. Negative people, on the other hand, complain about
everything, including having to practice safety. The person with the negative work attitude is less
likely to care about the quality of the job she is doing or how she does it. A negative work
attitude can lead to unsafe work habits and accidents. Negative workplace behavior, such as
workplace COVID-19, is an important work‐related psychosocial hazard with the potential to
contribute to employees’ performance. There are several ways to adjust employees with new
changes in organizations. Why does the organization need to adjust employee's reactions to
changes? Because employees will feel stress and their well-being is important for their work
performance. During this COVID-19 pandemic, employees are scared, worried about
coronavirus, work-family issues with work from the home system (Van Dick et.al. 2018).

2.2 Conceptual Review

2.2.1 The Concept of COVID-19
According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2019), Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is
an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered virus. Coronavirus disease, 2019 (COVID19)

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is defined as an illness caused by a novel coronavirus now called severe acute respiratory
syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2; formerly called 2019-nCoV), which was first identified
amid an outbreak of respiratory illness cases in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China.

2.2.2 Origin of COVID-19

According to World Health Organization (WHO), as soon as the first cases of COVID-19 were
reported in late December 2019, investigations were conducted to understand the epidemiology
of COVID-19 and the source of the outbreak. A large proportion of the initial cases in late
December 2019 and early January 2020 had a direct link to the Huanan Wholesale Seafood
Market in Wuhan City, where seafood, wild, and farmed animal species were sold. Many of the
initial patients were stall owners, market employees, or regular visitors to this market.
Environmental samples taken from this market in December 2019 tested positive for SARSCoV-
2. This further suggested that the market in Wuhan City was the source of this outbreak or played
a role in the initial amplification of the outbreak. The market was closed on January 1 st, 2020 and
was cleaned and disinfected.

The virus could have been introduced into the human population from an animal source in the
market or an infected human could have introduced the virus to the market and the virus may
have then been amplified in the market environment. Subsequent investigations into the first
human cases have determined that they had onset of symptoms around December 1 st, 2019.
However, these cases had no direct link to the Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market and they may,
therefore, have been infected in November through contact with earlier undetected cases
(incubation time between the date of exposure and date of symptom onset can be up to 14 days).
Additional studies are ongoing as to whether unrecognized infections in humans may have
happened as early as mid-November 2019.

2.2.3 The Transmission of COVID-19

This section briefly describes possible modes of transmission for SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19).
The transmission, however, includes; Contact and Droplet, Airborne, and Fomite (contaminated
surfaces (WHO, 2019). Infection with SARS-CoV-2 primarily causes respiratory illness ranging
from mild disease to severe disease, and death. However, a certain category of people or patient

8
infected with the virus never develops symptoms as they are popularly referred to as
asymptomatic patients.

2.2.3.1 Contact and Droplet Transmission

Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 can occur through direct, indirect, or close contact with infected
people through infected secretions such as saliva and respiratory secretions or their respiratory
droplets, which are expelled when an infected person coughs, sneezes, talks or sings ( Luo &
Liu, et al., 2020). Respiratory droplets are greater than 5-10 micrometre in diameter whereas
droplets less than 5 micrometres in diameter are referred to as droplet nuclei or aerosols (World
Health Organization, 2014). Respiratory droplet transmission can occur when a person is in close
contact (within 1 metre) with an infected person who has respiratory symptoms (e.g. coughing or
sneezing) or who is talking or singing in these circumstances, respiratory droplets that include
virus can reach the mouth, nose or eyes of a susceptible person and can result in infection.
Indirect contact transmission involving contact of a susceptible host with a contaminated object
or surface may also be possible.

2.2.3.2 Airborne Transmission

Airborne transmission is defined as the spread of an infectious agent caused by the dissemination
of droplet nuclei (aerosols) that remain infectious when suspended in the air over long distances
and time (World Health Organization, 2014). Airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 can occur
during medical procedures that generate aerosols (World Health Organization, 2020). World
Health Organization (WHO), together with the scientific community, has been actively
discussing and evaluating whether SARS-CoV-2 may also spread through aerosols in the absence
of aerosol-generating procedures, particularly in indoor settings with poor ventilation.
The physics of exhaled air and flow physics have generated hypotheses about possible
mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 transmission through aerosols (Morawska & Cao, 2020). These
theories suggested that some respiratory droplets generate microscopic aerosols by evaporating,
and normal breathing and talking results in exhaled aerosols. Thus, a susceptible person could
inhale aerosols and could become infected if the aerosols contain the virus in sufficient quantities
to cause infection within the recipient. However, the proportion of exhaled droplet nuclei or of
respiratory droplets that evaporate to generate aerosols, and the infectious dose of viable

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SARSCoV-2 required to cause infection in another person are not known, but it has been studied
for other respiratory viruses ( Gralton &Tovey et al., 2013).

2.2.3.3 Fomite Transmission

Respiratory secretions or droplets expelled by infected individuals can contaminate surfaces and
objects, creating fomites (contaminated surfaces). Viable SARS-CoV-2 virus can be found on
surfaces for periods ranging from hours to days, depending on the ambient environment
(including temperature and humidity) and the type of surface, in particular at high concentration
in health care facilities where COVID-19 patients are being treated (Guo & Wang et al., 2020).
Therefore, the transmission may also occur indirectly through touching surfaces in the immediate
environment or objects contaminated with virus from an infected person (e.g. stethoscope or
thermometer), followed by touching the mouth, nose, or eyes.

Despite consistent evidence as to SARS-CoV-2 contamination of surfaces and the survival of the
virus on certain surfaces, there are no specific reports which have directly demonstrated fomite
transmission. People who come into contact with potentially infectious surfaces often also have
close contact with the infectious person, making the distinction between the respiratory droplet
and fomite transmission difficult to discern. However, fomite transmission is considered a likely
mode of transmission for SARS-CoV-2, given consistent findings of environmental
contamination in the vicinity of infected cases and the fact that other coronaviruses and
respiratory viruses can transmit this way.

2.2.4 Symptoms of COVID-19

COVID-19 affects different people in different ways (WHO, 2019). Most infected people will
develop mild to moderate illness and recover without hospitalization. The symptoms of
COVID19 infected persons are categorized into three levels, namely most common, less common
and serious symptoms.

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Table 2.1: Symptoms of COVID-19
Most Common
Symptoms Less Common Symptoms Serious Symptoms

Fever Aches and pains Difficulty in breathing or

shortness of breath.

Dry cough Sore throat Chest pain or pressure

Tiredness Diarrhoea Loss of speech or

movement
Conjunctivitis

Headache

Loss of taste or smell

A rash on the skin, or discoloration of fingers

or toes.

Source: Researchers’ own construct, 2021

2.2.5 The Concept of Employee Performance

The review unveils the different approaches used by authors to measure employees’
performance. The first group conceived performance as a totality of the output by the individual
(Şehitoğlu and Zehir, 2010). The second group, however, perceived it as in-role behavior or
expected fulfilment of responsibilities in completing assigned tasks in job descriptions (Chan and
Mak, 2012; Darsana, 2014). The third group also discussed it as in-role behavior or performance
and extra-role performance which holds significant implications for organizational performance
(Borman and Motowidlo, 1993). Employee performance was therefore presented as a
consequence of the total amount of quantitative and qualitative contributions of an individual or a

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group (Chin et al., 2011; Carter et al., 2013). These varying definitions of employees’
performance might be due to the changing nature and expansion of the job performance domain
which is tailored toward flexible definitions of jobs, where jobs are viewed as dynamic and more
interchangeable (Schmidt, 1993).

Employee performance is defined as how an employee fulfils their job duties and executes their
required tasks. It’s also refers to the effectiveness, quality, and efficiency of their output (Lia
Ciner, 2019). The performance also contributes to our assessment of how valuable an employee
is to the organization. Each employee is a serious investment for a company, so the return that
each employee provides must be significant. Employee work performance can be explained as
the outcome of when skill, effort and nature of work condition work together (Rubina et al.,
2008). He further added that the knowledge, abilities, and competencies of the employees and the
degree of effort employees put in their work and the condition of work facilitates employees’
performance. However, management concern for its organization is about the performance of
employees and not about the factors and conditions of work.

2.2.6 Factors Affecting Employees’ Performance

Nickols (2003) outlined the following as factors affecting employees’ performance. These factors
are;
Goal Clarity: People must have in mind a clear picture of any end or goal they are to achieve. If
this picture does not exist, they cannot tell if they are making progress or when they have
completed the task or assignment, let alone if it has been completed properly. Keep the end in
view has been sage advice for almost two thousand years. The time a manager spends in
developing, communicating and clarifying the goals or ends to be achieved is time well spent.

Motivation: It is one thing to be capable of doing something; it is something else altogether to

want to do it. Setting aside the issue of coercion, people generally want to do things for two basic

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reasons: it serves some purpose of their own or it serves someone else’s purpose and they have
accepted something in return for doing whatever it is that someone else wants done.
Selfsatisfaction and incentives; these are the two great motivators.

Mental Models: Absent feedback, people have no choice except to act in ways that are consistent
with internally held views or mental models of what is appropriate or what should work instead
of externally based information about what is and is not actually working. For this reason, it is
worthwhile spending time working with people to identify the mental models they currently use
in situations where feedback is not readily available. In some cases, this will surface mental
models that are inappropriate or inadequate. In other cases, it might surface mental models that
are superior to those held by most people.

Environment: Even if the first three factors are present, performance might not occur if the
environmental conditions are so unsuitable as to present insurmountable barriers to performance.
Most of us can successfully drive our cars on windy days but none of us can drive through a
tornado. In less dramatic terms, missing tools and equipment, competing priorities, a repressive
climate and other factors can interfere with our ability to perform as expected, regardless of our
motives or our repertoire, the presence or absence of feedback and the quality of the mental
models that guide our thinking and actions. In short, the task environment must support the
desired performance; at the very least, it must be manageable (Nickols, 2003).
Lack of or poor performance appraisal system: The absence of, or the poor nature of appraisal is
detrimental to performance. This is so because there would be no performance history or
insufficient data to trace improvements or otherwise. The human inclination to judge without a
structured appraisal system can create serious motivational, ethical and legal problems in the
workplace. Without a planned appraisal system, there is little chance of ensuring that the
employees are aware of performance shortfalls, and the need for training, promotion, etc.

2.2.7 The Effects of COVID-19 on Employees’ Performance

This section briefly describes the effect of COVID-19 on employees’ performance associated
with the degree of effort employees put in their work in regards to their working conditions at the
organization.

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2.2.7.1 Unemployment and Layoffs
As entire industries were shut down due to the COVID-19, tens of millions of people,
specifically in the U.S. alone filed new unemployment claims in early 2020. In addition to losing
income, we know that unemployed individuals may experience a range of stress-related
consequences including depression, anxiety, and physical ailments (Wanberg, 2012). Jahoda's
(1982) latent deprivation model helps explain the negative effects of unemployment on
psychological well-being by acknowledging that employment provides both manifest (e.g.,
income) and latent (e.g., time structure, social contact, sharing of common goals, status, and
activity) benefits. Financial deprivation can be particularly devastating, triggering a spiral of
adversity that can affect the entire family (McKee-Ryan & Maitoza, 2018).

Hopes related to COVID-19 unemployment have centered on an economic recovery by unfolding

fast enough that jobs lost to COVID-19, will largely be regained but that is far from certain. The
broad-based closures associated with COVID-19 have further complicated typical advice for
individuals who are unemployed to develop a routine job search (Wanberg, Ali, & Csillag,
2020). Researchers studying unique features of COVID-19 will want to compare how people
cope and adapt to the shocks entailed by COVID-19 in both the near term for the employer that
let them go and, in the longer term, where the career adaptability of (Klehe et al., 2012) the
willingness and interest to explore new options and future work scenarios might prove to be
increasingly valuable.

In addition to the consequences of unemployment for individuals, there are negative spillover
effects for those who remain employed. Prior research shows that when firms reduce overall
staffing levels, there is a correspondingly lower levels of organizational commitment, job
involvement, and greater stress among survivors (Trevor & Nyberg, 2008). Meta-analytic
evidence finds that the overall reduction in staffing has roughly the same adverse organizational
performance as comparable voluntary turnover (Park & Shaw, 2013). We also know from recent
research that broader economic downturns tend to be associated with a shift towards more
“zerosum” mindsets with a downstream consequence that people become increasingly prone to
misconstrue others as competitors even when they are not (Sirola & Pitesa 2017). Future research

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that examines the mass layoffs entailed by COVID-19 should test the extent to which prior
research holds up in the face of the wide, broad, and abrupt layoffs.

2.2.7.2 Presenteeism
Among those continuing to work in the wake of COVID-19, there is likely to be growth in
presenteeism (i.e., people going to work when ill) (Johns, 2010). Most research on presenteeism
does not distinguish between contagious and non-contagious illness; however, recent studies in
Poland (Mikos et al., 2020) and Australia (Imai et al., 2020) found that approximately 20% of
people diagnosed with the flu did not take sick leave. A meta-analysis of the correlates of
presenteeism (Miraglia & Johns, 2016) suggests two profiles of people who attend work when
ill: (1) people who essentially feel forced to attend due to heavy job demands, including
excessive workload, understaffing, and required overtime and (2) to a lesser extent, people who
are committed to their organization and highly engaged in their work. Knowledge of this prior
research offers helpful avenues for understanding organizational “hotspots” where COVID-19 or
any other contagion might be more likely to occur (e.g., long-term care facilities).

Although comprehensive access to paid sick leave is normal in most industrialized countries, the
variation across jurisdictions in the U.S. where it is not mandated warrants closer attention
(Pichler & Ziebarth, 2017). Independent of policies regarding presenteeism, Dietz, Zacher,
Scheel, Otto, and Rigotti (2020) found that work team members tended to imitate the level of
presenteeism exhibited by their supervisors. Compensation policies should also be reviewed in
this context to help ensure that there are no incentives for co-workers to pressure each other to
attend to work while sick (Kessler, 2017). Notably, for people with jobs that can be done
remotely, research should examine how sickness is navigated in the post-COVID-19 work scape
(e.g., to see if sick days or snow weather days are now expected to be WFH days).

2.2.7.3 Economic Inequality

As a broader cost associated with the pandemic, many analysts expect that inequality will
increase in the wake of COVID-19 just as it has in recent shocks such as the 2008 financial crisis
(Wisman, 2013). Such inequalities are known from past shocks to provide differential resources
and opportunities for individuals to gain employment and promotions while exacerbating

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inequalities in pay and benefits (Bapuji, Ertug & Shaw, 2020). Given prior work showing that
organizational and societal inequalities feed into each other, there are grave reasons to be
concerned that growth in inequality after COVID-19 will contribute to a downward spiral of
negative trends in the workplace in the form of decreased work centrality, and increased burnout,
absenteeism, deviant behaviors, bullying, and turnover (Bapuji et al., 2020). Furthermore, it is
likely that job insecurities post-COVID-19 will motivate greater risk-taking and presenteeism
among low-paid workers that, in turn, may increase public health risks for further spread of the
disease. Therefore, greater organizational investments to minimize inequality should dampen the
negative spiraling; otherwise, it is likely to unfold.

2.2.7.4 Social Distancing and Loneliness

The loss of social connections for those who were laid off and those required to Work-
FromHome (WFH) is a less obvious impact of COVID-19; however, we know from research that
high-quality social interactions such as informal chats among co-workers are essential for mental
and physical health (Mogilner, Whillans & Norton, 2018). Handshakes are another social activity
we know to be valuable (Schroeder et al., 2019) but due to COVID-19, it is no longer possible.
Against this backdrop, both the requirement to Work-From-Home (WFH) and plans to dedensify
workplaces in support of physical distancing are likely to have side effects that include at least
some degree of harm to individuals' mental and physical health (Brooks et al., 2020). More
extreme than the loss of social connections, loneliness is a psychologically painful emotion that
results from people’s subjective feelings that their intimate and social needs are not adequately
met (Cacioppo et al., 2006) and was already considered “an epidemic” (Murthy, 2017) before
COVID-19.

Workplace loneliness has been shown to have strong negative relationships to employees’
affective commitment, affiliative behaviours, and performance (Ozcelik & Barsade, 2018).
Whiles, we noted that virtual communications lack richness, a more negative risk of
communications going online is that misunderstandings in the absence of non-verbal cues are
likely to increase employees’ concerns about being interpersonally rejected, which is a major
trigger for loneliness (Cacioppo et al., 2006). As organizations develop paths forward in the
wake of COVID-19, prior research recommends that workplace loneliness be acknowledged and
addressed as an indicator of employee well-being in HR policies, programs, and practices. Close

16
study of innovations that people started initiating within weeks of mandatory shutdowns (e.g.,
Virtual Happy Hours) would also be valuable for informing future practice as well as research
intended to help prevent loneliness and increase resilience. Such investigations would
complement recent work focused on developing resiliency through experimentally tested
interventions (Williams et al., 2018).

2.2.7.5 Stress and Burnout

The ambiguity and uncertainties affected by COVID-19 have required organizations to act to
protect employee health and well-being. Building upon Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theory
(Bakker & Demerouti, 2017), we can observe that there is variation across and within industries
concerning how COVID-19 has affected both the demands and resources associated with given
jobs and that there is evidence suggesting that working conditions have deteriorated for most
employees, perhaps especially for frontline workers in healthcare. In light of such strains,
COVID-19 has substantially contributed to a greater risk of employees encountering job burnout,
a chronic stress syndrome, including chronic feelings of exhaustion and a distant attitude toward
work (Demerouti et al., 2010). Moreover, the continuous exposure to COVID-19 news fosters
rumination repetitively and passively focusing on symptoms of distress and the possible causes
and consequences of these symptoms (Nolen-Hoeksema et al., 2008). As suggested by studies
showing that people who were exposed to Hurricane Katrina had above baseline stress and
depression symptoms a year after the event (Obradovich et al., 2018), mental health problems
may remain long after a crisis.

To adequately deal with pandemic-specific and generically uncertain job demands, employees
will need resources. To help address this, organizations may use top-down (or may facilitate
bottom-up) interventions to take care of employee health and well-being to restore the balance
between job demands and resources. As a starting point (and part of the reason for our synthesis),
organizations and their leaders need to learn effective sense making and provide means that
preserve employee well-being and performance (Combe & Carrington, 2015) by providing (a)
immediate tangible resources, such as information (e.g., about working from home, prevention of
transmission), employee assistance programs (EAPs), or access to counselling, therapy, and
training; and (b) psychological resources such as feedback, support, and inspiration through

17
regular contact with their employees using video calls. Research that tracks and identifies which
variants of such efforts are most effective will yield benefits beyond the systemic shocks affected
by COVID-19. In addition, future research should determine whether structural efforts to
optimize working conditions via job redesign and job crafting can be as effective now as
compared to pre-COVID-19 (Oprea et al., 2020).

2.2.7.6 Addiction
It is well known that traumatic events such as attacks can precipitate societal shifts in alcohol
consumption (Vlahov et al., 2002), the COVID-19 pandemic is particularly concerning since
massive unemployment and mandatory WFH orders may heighten vulnerabilities and thus
trigger or exacerbate alcohol use disorders (i.e., alcohol abuse or dependence), a diagnosis
applicable to nearly 13% of Americans and 20% of Europeans (Grant et al., 2017). Prior research
has shown that workforce disengagement can be associated with a decrease in alcohol misuse
due to distancing from workplace-based norms to drink (Bamberger & Bacharach, 2014).
However, there is also evidence that proximity to work-based peers and supervisors (which is
largely absent when employees WFH) can provide essential stress-attenuating support in times of
crisis that can prevent alcohol-based coping (Bacharach, Bamberger & Sonnenstuhl, 1996;
Spicer & Miller, 2005). Beyond traditional EAPs, peer assistance programs including
unionsponsored (e.g., AFA's member assistance program), joint labour-management-sponsored
(e.g.,
UAW- Ford ESSP), and employee-initiated (e.g., Google’s Blue-Dot) programs have shown
particular efficacy in times of crisis (Golan, Bacharach & Bamberger, 2010), not only for those
actively employed but for those disengaged from work as well (Bamberger & Bacharach, 2014).

Practitioners can also consider internet-based brief interventions incorporating personalized

norm-feedback (demonstrating, for example, that the individual’s drinking behaviour is excessive
relative to his or her cohort) and textual or video-based insights for addressing the kinds of
negative emotional states potentially driving alcohol-based self-medication since both kinds of
approaches have also demonstrated efficacy (Brendryen et al., 2017). As face-to-face support
becomes scarce with social distancing, such personalized and adaptive virtual technologies may
well offer an important new means to assist those returning to a pandemicadjusted workplace,

18
working from home, or unfortunately forced to search for a new job. We anticipate that research
that further examines complementary innovations might also provide more general help for
researchers focused on helping employees avoid other forms of addiction as well.

2.2.8. How to Measure Employees’ Performance

This section briefly describes the possible measures of employees’ performance associated with
the degree of effort employees put in their work, regardless of work conditions in the
organization.

The most difficult part of the performance appraisal policy is to accurately and objectively
measure the employees’ performance (Bond & Fox, 2007). Measuring the performance covers
the evaluation of the main tasks completed and the accomplishments of the employee in a given
time period in comparison with the goals set at the beginning of the period (Rudman, 2003).
According to Kuvaas (2006), measuring also encompasses the quality of the accomplishments,
the compliance with the desired standards, the costs involved and the time taken in achieving the
results. Bond and Fox (2007) contend that measuring employees’ performance is the basis of
performance appraisal policy and performance management. Accurate and efficient performance
measurement not only forms the basis of an accurate performance review but also gives way to
judging and measuring employee potential (Fletcher & Bailey, 2003).

For the purpose of measuring employees’ performance, different input forms can be used for
taking the feedback from the various sources like the supervisor, peers and the employee
(Markle, 2000). According to Rudman (2003), all the perspectives thus received should be
combined in the appropriate manner and to get an overall, complete view of the employees’
performance. Bond and Fox (2007) stated some suggestions and tips for measuring employees’
performance; hence, these are; organizational outcomes or the achievement of organizational
goals should also be kept in mind; if possible, collect the feedback about the performance of the
employees through multi-point; feedback and self-assessments; and also take note of the skills,
knowledge and competencies and behaviours of the employees that help the organization to
achieve its goals.

19
According to Anderson (2002), for an organization to be effective for its goals, it is very
important to monitor or measure its employees’ performance on a regular basis. Effective
monitoring and measuring also includes providing timely feedback and reviews of the employees
for their work and performance according to the pre-determined goals and solving the problems
faced (Mani, 2002). Rudman (2003) highlights that; timely recognition of the accomplishment
also motivates and helps to improve the performance of employees.

According to Aguinis (2009), measuring the performance of the employees based only on one or
some factors can provide with inaccurate results and leave a bad impression on the employees as
well as the organization. For example, by measuring only the activities in employee’s
performance, an organization might rate most of its employees as outstanding, even when the
organization as a whole might have failed to meet the goals and objectives. Therefore, a balanced
set of measures should be used for measuring the performance of the employees (Kuvaas, 2006).

2.2.9. Strategies Adopted in Managing COVID-19 at the Workplace

This section briefly describes the strategies adopted in managing COVID-19 at the workplace to
maximize the degree of employees’ performance.

2.2.9.1 Work from Home (WFH)

A Gartner (2020) survey of 229 Human Resources (HR) departments showed that approximately
one-half of the companies had more than 80% of their employees working from home during the
early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and estimated substantial long-term increases for remote
work after the pandemic. The need for millions of workers to WFH in response to COVID-19
has accelerated recent remote work trends facilitated by the rise of connectivity and
communication technologies. While “remote work” is a broader category since it can include
Work-From-Anywhere (i.e., not necessarily home), we do know that some professionals who
need to perform complex tasks that require little interaction with peers are more productive if
they WFH (Allen, Cho, & Meier, 2014).

20
Yet as large numbers of workers are forced to work from home, many face challenges due to
fundamental issues such as not having space in one's home to attend to work. Employees who
live with others also face a larger set of challenges than those who live alone since they need to
navigate others' space as well. Employees often find it challenging to maintain boundaries
between work and non-work (Ramarajan & Reid, 2013). The forced confinement of workers
during the COVID-19 pandemic has further complicated this issue. While WFH might sound
appealing if it offers a safe harbor, the absence of separation between one’s work and home and
the lack of commutes to provide a transition between the two domains can become a burden too.
Questions that would benefit from the closer study include: how do our experiences in the work
and non-work domains influence each other, and how do our work and non-work identities
interact when they unfold at home?

One domain that might offer lessons in addition to being increasingly important independently is
the experience of gig workers (i.e., people taking on very-short-term jobs [Ashford, Caza &
Reid, 2018]) since they often Work From Anywhere (e.g., as drivers, shoppers, and delivery
people). Reflective of the gig economy’s expansion before COVID-19 in the US, at least, 20% of
the current workforce are freelance workers (McKinsey & Co, 2016), and that number has been
predicted to grow to 40% by the mid-2020s (Gillespie, 2017). Remarkably, labour economists
estimate that all of the net job growth between 2005 and 2015 was in this sector (Katz & Kruger,
2016). While so-called rideshare companies were shut down as part of the first wave of reactions
to the COVID-19 outbreak, a corresponding boom in various delivery services staffed by gig
workers shows the growth potential of such jobs.

The challenges that gig workers are known to face will sound familiar to those required to WFH
since they include getting and staying organized; managing the heightened emotions associated
with such work; figuring out and maintaining an identity so that those emotions do not disrupt
the productivity upon which their survival depends; coping with loneliness while also seeking
out and maintaining functional relationships that support the work; and, establishing some
semblance of a longer-term career (Ashford et al., 2018). While it would not have been
anticipated before the pandemic, future research into understanding participation and participants
in the gig economy starting with the assumption of economic precarity as a fact of life

21
(Petriglieri, Ashford, & Wrzesniewski, 2019) now appears likely to offer relevance for
understanding WFH.

As with challenges, “best practices” for WFH can also benefit from what we know has been
helpful for gig workers (since they also typically do not work in traditional office settings). Such
practices include actions to generate and maintain connections; actions to focus and inspire their
work; explicit routines that enable the work and provide boundaries between work and home;
and, both a place where the work is performed as well as an underlying purpose for the work that
enables and inspires productivity as circumstances become challenging (Petriglieri et al., 2019).
Future research is also needed that examines patterns in individual cognitive and learning agility,
general proactivity, emotional resilience, and relational skill to better understand and enable
individuals to not only survive in this new world of work but also to thrive (Ashford et al., 2018).
Given the likelihood that COVID-19 will accelerate trends towards WFH to pass the immediate
impacts of the pandemic (Gartner, 2020), it is clear that the variable ways in which people work
outside of traditional workplace settings will warrant growing amounts of attention for both
research and practice. Future research should examine whether and how the COVID-19
quarantines that required millions to work from home affected work productivity, creativity, and
innovation. Given that the quarantine period entailed a literal window into the homes of
coworkers as well as subordinates and superiors, research is also needed to examine the
implications of WFH for topics such as motivation and authenticity at work, particularly when it
becomes normal again to work in co-located workplace settings.

Independent from challenges that individuals can face when WFH, it is also notable that (a) the
reluctance of many employers to adopt WFH before COVID-19 stemmed from a perceived lack
of control that employers would have over employees who were out-of-sight and reach and (b)
there is ample reason to expect that new modes of surveillance will accompany various WFH
arrangements. Indeed, even before COVID-19, employers were adopting and developing
technologies to monitor employees’ whereabouts (e.g., with sociometric sensors) (Bhave, Teo &
Dalal, 2020). Although managing by walking around is not feasible when people are working
remotely, the rapidly expanded usage of video-conferencing has allowed for virtual sight-lines.
Yet these virtual sight-lines are fraught with a risk: they can increase perceived stress through
continuous monitoring and feelings of privacy invasion. There is also evidence that such remote

22
and automated monitoring can increase the centralization of management and (in the absence of
countervailing action) likely contribute to an adverse dampening of creativity among employees
working at lower organizational levels (Nell et al., 2020).

2.2.9.2 Virtual Teams

As Mak and Kozlowski (2019) observed before the pandemic, “Virtual teams are growing in
number and importance.” Rather than assume uniformity in virtual team characteristics, though,
it is valuable to recognize that “team virtuality” is a multi-faceted concept and encompasses
multiple dimensions including the geographical distribution of team members and the relative
amounts of (a) synchronous e-communication (Hoch & Kozlowski, 2014). Indeed, a nuanced
conceptualizing of virtuality as a continuous variable, given that teams are not simply either face-
to-face or virtual has already been developed (Mak & Kozlowski, 2019) and should prove
helpful for future researchers who work to classify the myriad forms of virtual teamwork that
have been thrust on workers via COVID-19. Prior research shows that virtual teamwork tends to
lack the communication richness available to face-to-face teams (Martins, Gilson, & Maynard,
2004) and that traditional teamwork problems such as conflict and coordination can escalate
quickly in virtual teams (Mortensen & Hinds, 2001). Building structural scaffolds to mitigate
conflicts, align teams, and ensure safe and thorough information processing are key
recommendations for virtual teams. For example, prior work has shown the need, especially in
virtual teams to formalize team processes, clarify team goals, and build in structural solutions to
foster psychologically safe discussions (Gibson & Gibbs, 2006; Huang et al., 2002).

Increased team virtuality as a result of COVID-19 may also affect helping and prosocial
behaviour while physical distancing among co-workers may reduce helping behaviours in the
near term, we know that people should be bolder to request help from others since people do tend
to be more willing to help, and give better quality help, than we usually assume (Flynn & Lake,
2008; Newark, Bohns, & Flynn, 2017), perhaps especially during crises. Normal impediments to
requesting help centre on the feeling that it can be uncomfortable, awkward, and embarrassing
(Bohns & Flynn, 2010), but “best practices” in helping can assist help-seekers in overcoming
these psychological barriers by maintaining personal privacy (Cleavenger & Munyon, 2017),

23
reducing stigmatization (Ben-Porath, 2002), and instilling hope that things will get better once
help is received (McDermott, et al., 2017).

As COVID-19 has accelerated the expansion of virtual teams, it will be valuable for researchers
to track and study innovations that may enable such teams to function optimally. For example,
the intersection of remote work with a global crisis brings up questions of how emotions, such as
anxiety and stress, can best be communicated and regulated in the unique setting of virtually
connected work where social and emotional cues are relatively limited (Lindebaum, Geddes, &
Jordan, 2018). On the other hand, prior studies are showing that teams operating online tend to
be more effective at brainstorming than face-to-face teams (DeRosa, Smith, & Hantula, 2007) at
the same time that research focusing on individual performance has shown that remotely
interacting teammates appear to miss the creative benefits that can flow from frequent face-
toface interactions (Allen, Golden, & Shockley, 2015). The rapid growth in virtual teams offers
an opportunity to examine new questions as well as develop interventions to help improve
teamwork in virtual settings and in that pursuit, close attention needs to be paid to the
multidimensional ways in which virtuality varies among remote teams (Mak & Kozlowski,
2019).
2.2.9.3 Virtual Leadership and Management
The role of leaders is to determine organizational outcomes that have a broad impact on
employees at all levels especially clear in the crucible of a crisis and certainly vital in
fundamental ways (Antonakis & Day, 2017). With the COVID-19 crisis requiring millions of
employees across different hierarchical levels to work from home, it is encouraging to note that
leadership can also work well from a distance (Antonakis & Atwater, 2002). Prior research
shows that successful leaders are those skilled to make the right decisions and provide
reassurance through a balanced mix of optimism and realism regarding the future. In other
words, effective leaders strive (at any time) to project vision as a symbolic state of affairs with
which the collective identifies (Antonakis et al., 2016). Additionally, research indicates that the
absence of traditional physical cues of dominance and status in virtual settings (Antonakis &
Atwater, 2002) can foster more participatory relationships.

Research on the effectiveness of leaders during and after the COVID-19 crisis should examine an
array of activities, including the degree to which remote leaders are persuasive if they (a) clearly

24
state their values that will guide institutional actions; (b) understand and openly discuss the
travails and hopes of their organizations; (c) communicate an ambitious vision of the direction
that the unit will head toward; and, (d) demonstrate confidence that strategic goals can be
achieved. These skills are referred to as charisma (Antonakis, et al., 2016; Grabo, Spisak, & Van
Vugt, 2017) and require training and investment. Indeed, crises can bring about changes in
leadership styles (Stoker, Garretsen, & Soudis, 2019); thus, firms can expect to be better
prepared by ensuring they have adequately invested in professional development. In this respect,
future research should estimate if and how organizational commitments to employees’
professional development during the COVID-19 crisis pay later dividends.

Among the more specific leader-subordinate activities that will be important to consider to
COVID-19 is how assessment and appraisal systems will function. For example, without being
able to directly monitor subordinates in the way that office settings allow, there may be a shift to
result from focused assessment, which prior research shows to be generally effective (Pritchard
et al., 2008). Over longer periods, though, working remotely may reduce the opportunities for
subordinates to gain feedback from leaders and prior research suggests that lack of learning
opportunities is associated with lower organizational commitment and higher risk of turnover
(Vandenberghe et al., 2019). In addition, future research should examine how trust can be built
remotely with online interactions so that newcomers are not disadvantaged due to the lack of
face-to-face interactions with their leaders (Dunbar, 2018).

2.2.9.4 COVID-19 Preventive Protocols

The overarching aim of the Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan for COVID-19 (WHO,
2019) is to control COVID-19 by suppressing transmission of the virus and preventing associated
illness and death. To the best of our understanding, the virus primarily spread through contact
and respiratory droplets. Under normal circumstances, the airborne transmission may occur when
aerosol-generating procedures are conducted in health care settings or potentially, in indoor
crowded poorly ventilated settings elsewhere.

To prevent transmission, World Health Organization (WHO) recommended a comprehensive set

of measures, these include;

25
1. Identifying suspected cases as quickly as possible, test, and isolate all cases (infected people)
in appropriate facilities.
2. Identify and quarantine all close contacts of infected people and test those who develop
symptoms so that they can be isolated if they are infected and require care.
3. Use fabric masks in specific situations, for example, in public places where there is
community transmission and where other prevention measures, such as physical distancing,
are not possible. Also, continuous use of a medical mask by health workers and caregivers
working in all clinical areas, during all routine activities throughout the entire shift.
4. Use of contact and droplet precautions by health workers caring for suspected and confirmed
COVID-19 patients, and use of airborne precautions when aerosol-generating procedures are
performed.
5. At all times, practice frequent hand hygiene, physical distancing from others when possible,
and respiratory etiquette; avoid crowded places, close-contact settings and confined and
enclosed spaces with poor ventilation; wear fabric masks when in closed, overcrowded
spaces to protect others; and ensure good environmental ventilation in all closed settings and
appropriate environmental cleaning and disinfection.
2.3 Empirical Review
According to research conducted by Gopala Krishnan & Tortorella (2021), three outcomes are
worth mentioning. First, they have empirically verified three constructs of COVID-19's work
implications; they are (i) job insecurity, (ii) home office environment and (iii) virtual connection.
Their research suggested that as the COVID-19 pandemic is a recent phenomenon, the existence
of clear definitional constructs to base research on is scarce, entailing a fragmented research
field. Hence, a theoretical contribution of their study referred to the identification of three
specific work implications constructs, which were validated by orthogonal components
extraction and complemented previous research indications (Tortorella et al., 2020a). As these
work implications constructs were initially derived from the literature and validated based on
practitioners' perceptions, their identification raises a practical framework anchored on a
theoretical background. Thus, instead of addressing a wide range of work implications from the
COVID-19, which tends to consume unnecessary efforts, these constructs allow focusing on
more common and elementary work implications from Covid-19.

26
Again, their results have shown that the work implications of the COVID-19 pandemic have a
direct impact on employees’ performance, especially when considering the home office
environment. Counterintuitively, working remotely appears to positively influence employees'
performance. Surprisingly, no significant direct effect was found for job insecurity and virtual
connection. The explanation of this result might favor two different theoretical views. On the one
hand, it may indicate that the variation in individual employee's performance is not so vulnerable
to the working condition, relying much more on individual employee's factors, such as
adaptability and intrinsic motivation (Diamantidis and Chatzoglou, 2019). On the other hand, the
effect of COVID-19's work implications on employees' performance may be mitigated when
other organizational factors are properly in place. This view is much aligned with Li et al.’s
(2019) findings, which posed that organizational factors, e.g. leadership and culture, are key to
employees' turnover intention.

Erer, (2020) research on the “Impact of COVID-19 Fear on Employee Performance” also
suggested that, although many measures have been taken to reduce the spread of the virus, these
efforts have failed to a large extent, and the virus continues to spread rapidly all over the world.
As a consequence of this situation, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused great fear and anxiety.
The continuing uncertainty, that is, the lack of an effective method to eradicate the virus, has
increased the severity of the fear and anxiety in question. In this direction, even if people have
not been infected, they continue their lives with the fear of COVID-19, which negatively affects
their psychology, which is reflected in their behaviour. The researcher is with the thought that
people who do not have the opportunity to work from home, especially in business life, are more
exposed to the fear of the COVID-19 outbreak. For this reason, the purpose of her study was to
determine the COVID-19 fear levels of employees who have to commute to work every day and
who have been working together with their colleagues in the same environment for a long time
during this period, and to measure the effect of COVID-19 fear on employees’ performance.

For this purpose, a questionnaire was administered to the employees of bakeries and bakery
product businesses in Konya and the data obtained were analyzed. As a result of the statistical
analysis, it was determined that the employees' fear of COVID-19 was high and that there was a
significant relationship between the fear of COVID-19 and employees’ performance. This is a
negative and moderate level relationship. As a result of the regression analysis, it was determined

27
that the fear of COVID-19 significantly predicted the employees’ performance level. In this
direction, it is possible to say that a 1 unit increase in COVID-19 fear reduces employees’
performance by 0.46 units. In addition, 21% of the variation in employees’ performance was
explained by the fear of COVID-19.

Sasaki Natsu et al (2020) research also suggested that contrary to our initial expectations, the
number of workplace measures taken to respond to COVID‐19 was positively associated with
global fear of COVID‐19. Increased awareness of the risk of COVID‐19 with the kind of
workplace measures implemented may also increase employees' fear and worry about the virus.
It is also possible that companies and organizations whose employees are most worried about
COVID‐19 took more actions against it. However, his findings indicate that the number of
workplace measures was negatively associated with employees' psychological distress and
positively with their performance. It suggests that more intensive implementation of workplace
measures responding to COVID‐19 reduces employees' psychological distress and maintains
their work performance. Concerning each category of measures, only the measures about criteria
and procedure for waiting at home and clinical contact had a significant impact on high job
performance. Providing criteria by employer may allow workers to concentrate on their job.
Although the effects of other individual measures were neither significant nor consistent, having
information about accommodating high‐risk people showed a preferable trend on all outcomes.
Workplace measures responding to COVID‐19 may support and maintain the mental health and
work performance of employees during the COVID‐19 pandemic.

28
2.4 Conceptual Framework
This section briefly describes the analytical tool used to generate a comprehensive understanding
of the phenomenon. This section will; however, brainstorm the field of work visually, to explain
the key concepts or variables and the relationships between them that need to be studied.

29
 Independent Variable

COVID -19

Dependent Variable

Mitigation Strategies Employees’ Performance

Work-From-Home (WFH)

Virtual Teams

Virtual Leadership and Management

COVID -19 Preventive Protocols

Figure 1: Relationship between COVID-19 and Employees’ Performance

Source: Researchers’ own construct, 2021

In the figure above, COVID-19 together with strategies adopted in managing COVID-19 such as
Work-From-Home (WFH), Virtual Teams, Virtual Leadership and Management, and COVID-
19 Preventive Protocols have adverse impact on the level of Employees’ Performance.

CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.0 Introduction
This chapter basically deals with the methodology used by the researcher during the course of the
study. It mainly depicts the data collection method involving both primary and secondary data
sources and method of analyzing data collected. For every research work, there is the need for

30
data. One of the most important features of data is its credibility and reliability. As a result,
research work is dependent on the availability of data and source from which the data was
obtained.

3.1 Research Design

Research design is defined as a broad plot that strategizes the means used in the collection and
analysis of data and this must be harmonized with the objectives of the Study. According to
Trochim (2006) research design can be thought of as the structure of the research; it is the “glue”
that holds all of the elements in a research project together. A descriptive survey design was
adopted for the study. The design was chosen because it provided in-depth data on the topic.

3.2 Population of the Study

The population of the study includes all the employees of the two branches of GCB Bank,
Koforidua. One is opposite Total 2 and the other is at the Linda-Dor plaza near Agartha market.
The population for the study was 80.

3.3 Census
A census technique was adopted for the study. A census is the systematic acquisition and
recording of information about the members of a given population. This design was adopted for
the study by the researchers because the population to be studied is small. The researchers thus,
used all the employees at GCB Bank, Koforidua for the study.

3.4 Data Collection Method

Data was collected from two sources, thus, primary and secondary. The primary data comprises
all statistical data used for the purpose for which they were collected for the study.
Questionnaires were administered to solicit firsthand information and responses. This method
was chosen because the questionnaires provided a great deal of assurance of anonymity to protect
respondents’ identity.

31
The main sources of secondary data were collected from books, journals, publications, articles,
and internal records (brochure) of GCB Bank, and other relevant materials to the study.

3.5 Data Analysis

The researchers used descriptive statistics to analyze the data with the help of the Statistical
Package for Social Sciences (SPSS v22). This was represented in the form of tables, frequencies,
percentages and regression analysis. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS v22) was
used in the analysis of the data collected because it was considered the most suitable for
analyzing the data collected. This was represented by frequency tables. The analysis was
quantitative.

3.6 Organizational Profile

History
GCB Bank Ltd. started in 1953 as the Bank of the Gold Coast to provide banking services to the
emerging nation for socio-economic development. The Bank was to provide special attention to
Ghanaian traders, business people and farmers who could not elicit support from the expatriate
banks. In 1957, when Ghana attained independence, Bank of Ghana was established as the
Central Bank while the Bank of the Gold Coast was renamed Ghana Commercial Bank to focus
solely on commercial banking services. Since then GCB bank branches have been opened across
the length and breadth of the nation tapping the potential of the 16 regions that make Ghana.

The Bank had been wholly government owned until 1996 when under the economic recovery
programme part of the government ownership was divested. Today government ownership stands
at 21.36% while institutional and individual holdings add up to 78.64%. From the one branch of
the 1950s, GCB now has over 150 branches and 11 agencies throughout the country. GCB
abounds in high quality human resources, which stands at 2,101 as at the end of 2009. This is
remarkable when one considers that the Bank started with a staff of 27. Currently there are
professionals of various disciplines who work in tandem to achieve the objectives of the Bank.

32
The growth of the Bank has been synonymous with its customer base. During the first five years
of the Bank's operations, our customers were mainly small Ghanaian traders (now termed SMEs)
and other nationals who were expected to maintain credit balance accounts because the Bank was
then not adequately capitalized. From the small trader as a customer, GCB now has a customer
profile that ranges from salaried workers through small and medium scale entrepreneurs to large
trading concerns, quasi-governmental institutions and corporate customers. GCB provides a wide
range of products and services for the benefit of its customers. From the traditional products of
the Current or Savings Accounts, GCB now offers specialized products and services including
Link2Home for Ghanaians resident abroad, doorstep cash collection, loans and overdrafts.

There are also investment products like treasury bills as well as fixed and call deposits. These are
cut to suit the individual needs of customers. In addition, GCB has taken advantage of an
enhanced information technology system, to introduce Internet Banking (Commernet Plus),
Royal Banking, Smart Pay (Fee Payments), Kudi Nkosuo, GCB Inland Express Money Transfer,
International Money Remittance Payments, GCB Kidistar Account and MasterCard. All these
have been done to increase profits and enhance shareholder value. Today GCB can boast of
being the widest networked Bank in Ghana.

Vision
To be the leading bank in all our markets

Mission
Provide first class banking solutions for our customers and value for all stakeholders
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

4.0 Introduction
This chapter presents details of the research results that presented in light of predetermined
research objectives. Therefore, the analysis of data collected was guided and confined to the
predefined research problem and present objectives. It present and analyze the research data as
well as discuss the study findings.

33
4.1 Research Findings, Presentation and Data Analysis
The researchers studied GCB Bank, Koforidua in assessing the impact of COVID-19 on
employees’ performance. A total of 80 respondents were giving the questionnaires but only 75
questionnaires were returned. Most of the results are presented in percentages, tables and
descriptive form as well as a regression analysis of the impact COVID-19 has on employees’
performance. The findings are based on 94% respondents’ rate. The table below provides
description of the respondents included in the study.

4.2 Personal Data

This aspect was important in obtaining the real picture of respondents, the information of
respondents which examined during the study included gender, age, and level of education.

Table 4.2.1: Gender Distribution of the Respondents

Gender Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent

Valid Male 43 57.3 57.3 57.3

Female 32 42.7 42.7 100.0

Total 75 100.0 100.0

Source: Field Survey, 2021

In table 4.2.1 indicates that, from the total of 75 respondents’ representing 100%, 43 respondents
representing 57.5% are male and 32 respondents representing 42.7% are female from different
backgrounds and ages. This means that the males in working at GCB bank are 14.6% greater
than the females.

Table 4.2.2: Age Distribution of the Respondents

Age Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent

34
 Valid 20-30 36 48.0 48.0 48.0

31-40 29 38.7 38.7 86.7

41-50 7 9.3 9.3 96.0

50 and Above 3 4.0 4.0 100.0

Total 75 100.0 100.0

Source: Field Survey, 2021

As noted in table 4.2.2, out of 75 questionnaires returned, 48% of the respondents were at the age
of 20-30 years, and 38.7% of the respondents were at the age of 31-40 years. Notably, 9.3% of
the respondents were at the age of 41-50 years and 4.0% of the respondents were at the age
above 50 years. Linking to the respondents response, it is interpreted that, employees’
performance tends to increase throughout working life because older people have better
performance than younger people, since, due to a longer career (Mckenna 2000 p. 276); hence,
age have significant relationship with employees’ performance.

Table 4.2.3: Level of Education of the Respondents

Educational
Background Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent

Valid A-level 3 4.0 4.0 4.0

Diploma 3 4.0 4.0 8.0

Degree 54 72.0 72.0 80.0
Master’s Degree 15 20.0 20.0 100.0
Total
75 100.0 100.0

35
Source: Field Survey, 2021

In table 4.2.3 above, it was very important to check the level of education of the respondents.
This is very important in employees’ performance. The finding on table 4.3 shows that 3(4.0%)
respondents had reached the A-level, while 3(4.0%) of respondents are Diploma, 54(72%) of
respondent were Degree meanwhile 15(20.0%) of respondents are Master’s Degree. This finding
implies that the level of education increase the skills required by employees’ performance (Green
& Gallie, 2002); hence, level of education has significant relationship with employees’
performance.

4.3 Frequency Tables and Data Analysis

Objective 1: To Identify the Strategies adopted by GCB Bank, Koforidua to Mitigate the
Spread of COVID-19.

Table 4.3.1: Strategies to Mitigate the Spread of COVID-19

Work-from-home (WFH)

Cumulative
Response Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent

Valid No 60 80.0 80.0 80.0

36
 Yes 15 20.0 20.0 100.0

Total 75 100.0 100.0

Virtual Teams

Valid No 22 29.3 29.3 29.3

Yes 53 70.7 70.7 100.0

Total
75 100.0 100.0

Virtual Leadership and Management

Valid No 34 45.3 45.3 45.3

Yes 41 54.7 54.7 100.0

Total 75 100.0 100.0

COVID-19 Preventive Protocols

Valid Yes 75 100.0 100.0 100.0

No - - -

Total 75 100.0 100.0

Source: Field Survey, 2021

In table 4.3.1 above, respondents were to indicate which of the above strategies they use at the
bank to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19. From their responses, 15 (20%) indicated Yes and
60 (80%) indicating No for Work-from-home. This shows that not all the respondents are
allowed to work from home. 22 (29.3%) of the respondents indicated Yes to the use of virtual
teams whiles 53 (70.7%) indicated No. For Virtual Leadership and Management, 34 (45.3%) of
the respondents indicated Yes and 41 (54.7%) of them indicated No. This shows that comparably
to Work-from-home, Virtual teams, and Virtual Leadership and Management is used by some of
the respondents but not by the entire employees. The COVID-19 Preventive Protocols had 100%
Yes and no percentage for No. This however, signifies that every employee in each department
or section agree to the fact the COVID-19 Preventive Protocols was heavily used by bank. Thus,
the bank heavily uses the COVID-19 Preventive Protocols to mitigate the spread of the virus
37
more than any other indicated strategies. It is a step in the right direction for firms to adapt these
strategies owing to its numerous benefits.

Table 4.3.2: Effectively used COVID-19 Preventive Protocol

Wearing of Face / Nose Mask

Response Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent

Valid Yes 75 100.0 100.0 100.0

No - - -

Use of Hand Sanitizers

Valid Yes 75 100.0 100.0 100.0

No - - -

Social Distancing

38
 Valid Yes 75 100.0 100.0 100.0
No - - -

Washing of Hand

Valid Yes 75 100.0 100.0 100.0

No - - -
Source: Field Survey, 2021

In table 4.3.2 above, respondents were to indicate the most effectively used COVID-19
Preventive Protocol. From their response, all the COVID-19 Preventive Protocol had 100% Yes
from the 75 respondents without a No response. This implies that GCB bank mostly uses the
COVID-19 Preventive Protocol (Wearing of Face / Nose Mask, Use of Hand Sanitizers, Social
Distancing, and Washing of Hand) as their major mitigating strategy due to its efficacy in
minimizing the spread of the virus. This practice is however commendable particularly because it
will help minimize the spread in the bank.

Objective 2: To Examine the Level of Employees’ Performance at GCB Bank, Koforidua.

Table 4.4.1: Overall Job Performance before the COVID-19 Pandemic

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative

Percent
Valid Improvement needed 4 5.3 5.3 5.3

Meets expectations 28 37.3 37.3 42.7

Exceeds expectations 25 33.3 33.3 76.0

Exceptional 18 24.0 24.0 100.0

Total 75 100.0 100.0

Source: Field Survey, 2021

39
In table 4.4.1 above, respondents were to indicate their level of overall job performance before
the COVID-19 pandemic. From their responses, there were No response for Unsatisfactory;
hence, constituting (0.0%), 4(5.3%) of the respondents Needed Improvement in their overall job
performance before COVID-19 and 28(37.3%) Meets Expectations. Furthermore, 25(33.3%)
Exceeded Expectation set by the bank whiles 18(24.0%) were Exceptional in their overall job
performance before COVID-19 pandemic. Based on these responses, it is worth to note that the
overall job performance was commendable and high before the strike of COVID-19 pandemic at
GCB Bank, Koforidua.

40
Table 4. :
4.2 Overall Job Performance after COVID-19 Pandemic

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent

Valid Unsatisfactory 5 6.7 6.7 6.7

Improvement Needed 12 16.0 16.0 22.7

Meets Expectations 25 33.3 33.3 56.0

Exceeds Expectations 30 40.0 40.0 96.0

Exceptional 3 4.0 4.0 100.0

Total 75 100.0 100.0

Source: Field Survey, 2021

In table 4.4.2 above, respondents were to indicate their level of overall job performance after the
COVID-19 pandemic. From their responses, there were 5 responses for Unsatisfactory; hence,
constituting (6.7%), 12(16%) of the respondents Needed Improvement in their overall job
performance after COVID-19 and 25(33.3%) Meets Expectations. Furthermore, 30(40.0%)
Exceeded Expectation set by the bank whiles 3(4.0%) were Exceptional in their overall job
performance after COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, these responses deepen the fact that the
overall job performance after the strike of COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected
performance due to the reduction in job performance at GCB Bank, Koforidua.

41
Table 4. :

4.3 Quality of Performance in regard to Customer Relations

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent

Valid Improvement Needed 12 16.0 16.0 16.0

Meets Expectations 27 36.0 36.0 52.0

Exceeds Expectations 24 32.0 32.0 84.0

Exceptional 12 16.0 16.0 100.0

Total 75 100.0 100.0

Source: Field Survey, 2021

In table 4.4.3 above, respondents were to rate on the quality of performance in regard to customer
relations during COVID-19 pandemic. From their responses, there were No response for
Unsatisfactory; hence, constituting (0.0%), 12(16.0%) of the respondents Needed Improvement
in their overall job performance after COVID-19 and 27(36.0%) Meets Expectations.
Furthermore, 24(32.0%) Exceeded Expectation set by the bank whiles 12(16.0%) were
Exceptional in their quality of performance in regard to customer relations after COVID-19
pandemic at GCB Bank, Koforidua.

42
Table 4. :

4.4 Potential Performance among Co-workers at GCB Bank during COVID-19

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent

Valid Unsatisfactory 5 6.7 6.7 6.7

Improvement Needed 9 12.0 12.0 18.7

Meets Expectations 32 42.7 42.7 61.3

Exceeds Expectations 26 34.7 34.7 96.0

Exceptional 3 4.0 4.0 100.0

Total 75 100.0 100.0

Source: Field Survey, 2021

In table 4.4.4 above, respondents were to rate their potential performance among co-workers
during COVID-19 pandemic. From their responses, there were 5 responses for Unsatisfactory;
hence, constituting (6.7%), 9(12.0%) of the respondents Needed Improvement in their
performance potential among co-workers during COVID-19 and 32(42.7%) Meets Expectations.
Furthermore, 26(34.7%) Exceeded Expectation set by the Bank whiles 3(4.0%) were Exceptional
in their performance potentials among co-workers during COVID-19 pandemic at GCB Bank,
Koforidua.

43
Table 4. :

44
Objective 3: To Examine the Impact of COVID-19 on Employees’ Performance of GCB
Bank, Koforidua.

Table 4.5.1: Model Summary

Change Statistics
R
Squar
Adjusted Std. Error of R Square Sig. F
e
Model R R Square the Estimate Change F Change df1 df2 Change

1 .774a .599 .564 3.264 .599 16.928 6 68 .000

a. Predictors: (Constant), Frequent use of sanitizer and washing hands interrupt the
concentration of work, Virtual leadership and management have impact on work performance,
Social Distancing has impact on work performance, Work-From-Home (WFH) has impact on
employee's work performance, The use of masks during communication affects daily work
outcome, The use of virtual teams during communication affects daily work outcomes.

From table 4.5.1, the R Square has a coefficient of 0.599 or 59.9%, which shows that the model
has a good fitness to support the equation. The R square of 0.599 indicate that COVID-19 has
been able to explain 59.9% of the total variation in the work performance of the workers and for
that matter employees at GCB bank, Koforidua. The remaining 40.1% could be explained by
other variables.

45
Table 4.5.2: ANOVAb
Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.

1 Regression 1082.199 6 180.367 16.928 .000a

Residual 724.521 68 10.655

Total 1806.720 74

a. Predictors: (Constant), Frequent use of sanitizer and washing hands interrupt the concentration
of work, virtual leadership and management have impact on work performance, social distancing
has impact on work performance, Work-From-Home (WFH) has impact on employee's work
performance, the use of masks during communication affects daily work outcome, the use of
virtual teams during communication affects daily work outcomes.

In the analysis of variance, Table 4.5.2 is useful in testing the overall significance of the model.
Based on a significant level of 0.05, it can be seen from the ANOVA Table 4.5.2 that the model
developed is statistically significant since the P-value of 0.000 is less than the significant level of
0.05. This implies that the model should be maintained and used for examining the extent to
which COVID-19 at GCB Bank, Koforidua affect the employees’ performance.

46
Table 4.5.3: Coefficientsa
Unstandardized Standardized
Coefficients Coefficients

Model B Std. Error Beta T Sig.

1 (Constant) 6.659 1.977 3.369 .001

Social Distancing has 2.102 .479 .449 4.392 .000

impact on work
performance.

The use of virtual teams .827 .563 .184 1.471 .146

during communication
affects daily work
outcomes.

Virtual leadership and -.025 .670 -.005 -.037 .970

management have
impact on work
performance.

The use of masks -.136 .436 -.031 -.311 .757

during communication
affects daily work
outcome

Work-From-Home .713 .477 .151 1.495 .139

(WFH) has impact on
employee's work
performance.

Frequent use of
.761 .410 .246 1.858 .068
sanitizer and washing
hands interrupt the
concentration of work.

a. Dependent Variable: Employees’ Performance

47
From table 4.5.3, With respect to whether social distancing has a significant impact on work
performance, the analysis revealed a positive coefficient of 2.102 and statistically significant at
5% with a significance value of 0.00. This shows that there is a positive relationship between
social distancing and work performance. We can deduce that at Koforidua GCB Bank, the
practice of social distancing has a significant impact positively on work performance.

Again, with the use of virtual teams during communication affecting employee’s daily work
outcomes, it had a positive coefficient of 0.827 and statistically insignificant at 5% alpha level,
with a significance figure of 0.146. This implies that there is a positive relationship between the
uses of virtual teams during communication and employee’s daily work outcomes. It can be
deduced that even though the use of virtual teams during communication affects employee’s
daily work outcomes, it does not have significant influence on employee’s performance at GCB
Bank, Koforidua.

Concerning whether virtual leadership and management have a significant impact on work
performance, the result indicates a negative coefficient of -.025 but statistically insignificant at
5%, p=0.970. This means that when virtual leadership and management increases the employee’s
performance will decrease insignificantly hence, virtual leadership and management does not
play a vital role in employee’s performance at GCB Bank, Koforidua.

For the use of face/nose masks during communication and its effects on daily work outcome, the
regression analysis revealed that it has a negative coefficient of -.136 but statistically
insignificant at 5%, p=0.757. This implies that the greater usage of face/nose masks during
communication affects the daily work outcomes of employees but does not have significant
influence on employee’s performance at GCB Bank, Koforidua.

Again, with respect to whether Work-From-Home (WFH) has a significant impact on employee's
work performance, it had a positive coefficient of 0.713 but statistically insignificant at 5% with
a significance figure of 0.139. This means that although employees working from home (WFH)
has an impact on the employee's work performance, it does not have significant influence on
employee’s performance at GCB Bank, Koforidua.

48
Finally, whether the frequent use of hand sanitizer and washing hands interrupt the concentration
of work, it had a positive coefficient of 0.761 and statistically insignificant at 5% with a
significance figure of 0.068. This means that the frequent use of hand sanitizer and washing
hands interrupts and have significant influence on employee’s performance at GCB, Koforidua
but this impact in not significant.

49
 CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.0 Introduction
This chapter summarizes what the researchers has done so far and answered the research
questions stated in the beginning. Summary of findings generated from the research is presented
in this chapter. The researchers discussed the findings of the study and gave propositions for
future research and finally provided some recommendations to the management of the
organization (GCB Bank, Koforidua).

5.1 Summary of findings

The following are the summary of the findings of the study:

Objective 1: To identify the strategies adopted by GCB Bank, Koforidua to mitigate the
spread of COVID-19.
The study revealed that, the organization adopted Work-from-home, the use of virtual teams,
Virtual Leadership and Management, and the COVID-19 Preventive Protocols. Instead of using
Work-from-home, the use of virtual teams, Virtual Leadership and Management strategies
throughout the organization, the study revealed that not all the respondents are allowed to work
from home. Comparably to Work-from-home, Virtual teams and Virtual Leadership and
Management strategies was used by some of the respondents but not by the entire employees.
The study also revealed that the most used mitigation strategy by the entire organization is the
World Health Organization’s COVID-19 preventive protocols (wearing of face / nose mask, use
of hand sanitizers, social distancing and washing of Hand). All the preventive protocols were
effectively used by the organization owing to its numerous benefits as revealed by the study.

50
Objectives 2: To examine the level of Employees’ Performance at GCB Bank, Koforidua.
The further study revealed based on responses that the overall job performance of the
respondents was commendable and high before the strike of COVID-19 pandemic at GCB Bank,
Koforidua. After the strike of COVID-19 pandemic, job performance of some of the respondents
dropped indicating that COVID-19 has an impact on the how well the respondents performed on
their job. Nonetheless, a slight majority of the respondents in the organization were able to
maintain their performance. Majority of the respondents’ current quality of performance in
regards to customer relations and among co-workers in the organization was commendable due
to the strategies the bank adopted in mitigating the spread of COVID-19.

Objective 3: To Examine the Impact of COVID-19 on Employees’ Performance of GCB

Bank, Koforidua.
The study also revealed that COVID-19 spread mitigation strategies had been established and
communicated by the Bank to all employees and there was a relationship between the mitigation
strategies adopted and performance. Overall the study showed that COVID-19 has positive
impact on employees’ performance and the respondents indicated that COVID-19 influences
performance highly. In the nutshell, COVID-19 proved to have a positive impact on performance
of employees.

5.2 Conclusion
The researchers are of the view that COVID-19 comes with a lot of challenges with regards to
safety and performance for both the employee and the organization as a whole. However, it
should not be overlooked that COVID-19 also has its merits or positive effects towards the
employees’ performance and the organization as a whole, as proved in this study; the positive
impacts outweighed the negative. It could therefore be concluded that, every employee would be
comfortable at conducive and safe environment that makes employees to serve for customers”.
The COVID-19 spread mitigation strategies adopted by the bank makes high moral for the
employees to give out their best in terms of service delivery. The service delivery time would be
fast for the branch to make more profit since the turnover rate for servicing customers is high.

51
We deduce in the findings that; The COVID-19 spread mitigation strategies adopted by the bank
had influenced some employees to come to work early, stay longer to work, serve customers
cheerfully with great joy and not in fear. This reduced absenteeism and ensures that the daily
activities of the bank are discharged with ease. As on finding of this study COVID-19
preventive and spread mitigation strategies is strongly correlated with employees’ performance
which is an indication of how important employees perceive safety at GCB bank.

5.3 Recommendations
The study makes the following recommendations:

Objective 1: To identify the strategies adopted by GCB Bank, Koforidua to mitigate the
spread of COVID-19.
The Bank should continue the enforcement of the strategies adopted in the mitigation of the
spread of COVID-19 and any additional strategies to allow a comparative analysis which would
lead to eventual variations which may need redress. Each of the strategies adopted by GCB Bank
has its own strengths and weaknesses and none is able to achieve the purpose of mitigating the
spread of COVID-19 alone, neither is anyone able to evade all of the pitfalls, therefore there is
the need for combination of strategies.

Objectives 2: To examine the level of Employees’ Performance at GCB Bank, Koforidua.

After the strike of COVID-19 pandemic, job performance of some of the respondents dropped
indicating that COVID-19 has aaffected how well those respondents performed on their job. The
bank should therefore support such employees with training on how to respond and adapt to the
“new normal” or changes COVID-19 might have come with. This will help ease fear and job
stress and improve productivity.

52
Objective 3: To Examine the Impact of COVID-19 on Employees’ Performance of GCB
Bank, Koforidua.
Lastly, even though the Bank has been successful in using the strategies it adapted to boost
performance, they should put in more effort to improve upon the continuous effectiveness of its
mitigation strategies to inure to the good of employees’ performance. This is because some of
the respondents demonstrated little faith in some of the strategies and objected that COVID-19
affects their performance negatively.

53
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APPENDIX A
ALL NATIONS UNIVERSITY

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 SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

QUESTIONNAIRE
This questionnaire will enable the researcher’s to collate your views on the topic; ‘The Impact of
COVID-19 on Employees’ Performance in the Banking Industry: A Case of GCB Bank,
Koforidua ’. This research is being done as part of the requirements for the award of Bachelor of
Business Administration in Human Resource Management. You will be contributing
resourcefully to the success of this research by providing objective answers to this questionnaire.
The research is being conducted purely for academic purposes, you are, therefore, assured that
the information you give will be treated confidential.

Please tick where applicable

SECTION A

Personal Data
1. Gender A. Male [ ] B. Female [ ]

2. Age A. 20-30 [ ] B. 31-40 [ ] C. 41-50 [ ] D. 50 and Above [ ]

3. Educational Background A. A-level B. Diploma C. Degree D. Master Degree

E. Others (Please specify) …………………...............
SECTION B

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 Objective One: To identify the Strategies adopted by GCB Bank to mitigate the spread of
COVID-19.

1. Which of the following strategies is (are) your company using to mitigate the spread of COVID-
19 in your organization? (Please tick)

A. Work-from-home [ ]
B. Virtual teams [ ]
C. Virtual leadership and management [ ]
D. COVID-19 Preventive protocols [ ]

2. Which of the COVID-19 Preventive protocols is (are) effectively practiced in your company?
A. Wearing of face/nose mask [ ]
B. Washing of hand [ ]
C. Use of hand sanitizer [ ]
D. Social distancing [ ]
A. Others (Please specify) …………...…………….

OBJECTIVE TWO: To Examine the Level of Employees’ Performance.

Please answer the following questions by ticking/circling a number (1, 2, 3, 4, or 5), which
indicates your level of performance according to the scale below (1- Unsatisfactory (U), 2-

61
Improvement Needed (IN), 3-Meets Expectations (ME), 4-Exceeds Expectations (EE),
5Exceptional (E)). Correct, sincere and rational answers are appreciated.

No. Questions Level of Performance

U IN ME EE E

3 How would you rate your overall job performance before the 1 2 3 4 5
COVID-19 pandemic?

4 How would you rate your overall job performance after 1 2 3 4 5

COVID-19 pandemic?

5 How do you rate yourself in terms of quality of your 1 2 3 4 5

performance in regard to customer relations during COVID-

19?

6 How do you rate yourself in terms of your performance 1 2 3 4 5

potential among coworkers at the bank during COVID-19?

OBJECTIVE THREE: To Examine the Impacts of COVID-19 on Employees Performance.

Please answer the following questions by ticking/circling a number (1, 2, 3, 4, or 5), which
indicates your level of agreement with each statement according to the scale below (1- Strongly
Disagree(SD), 2-Disagree(D), 3-Not Sure(NS), 4-Agree(A), 5-Strongly Agree(SA)). Correct,
sincere and rational answers are appreciated.

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Strongly Disagree Disagree Not Sure Agree Strongly Agree

1 2 3 4 5

Degree
No. Statement
SD D NS A SA

7 COVID-19 has affected the behavior of employees 1 2 3 4 5

during performance of work.

8 1 2 3 4 5
Fear of COVID-19 has impact on the way of
communication.

9 1 2 3 4 5
COVID-19 has impact on daily activities at the
workplace.

10 COVID-19 has an impact on loss of skills. 1 2 3 4 5

11 The reported case of COVID-19 infected es in 1 2 3 4 5

employe your company lowers performance.

12 COVID-19 has impacts on working morale. 1 2 3 4 5

13 Social Distancing has impact on work performance. 1 2 3 4 5

14 fects 1 2 3 4 5
The use of virtual teams during communication af
employee’s daily work outcomes.

15 1 2 3 4 5
Virtual leadership and management have impact on
employee’s work performance.

16 1 2 3 4 5
The use of masks during communication affects
employee’s daily work outcome.

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17 Work from home (WFH) has impact on employee’s work 1 2 3 4 5
performance.

18 1 2 3 4 5
Frequent use of sanitizer and washing hands interrupt the
employee’s concentration of work.

Thank you for your participation!

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