Assessing Employee Engagement in a Post-COVID-19 Workplace Ecosystem

Presenteeism in Non-Academic Staff in a Public University Context: Prevalence, Associated Factors, and Reasons to Work While Sick during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Presenteeism negatively affects worker performance. We aimed to know the prevalence of presenteeism in non-academic university staff, identify health problems and associated factors, as well as explore the reasons that led to presenteeism during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional study was conducted with a convenience sample of 332 non-academic staff. The Portuguese version of the Stanford Presenteeism Scale (SPS-6) was used, and socio-demographic and occupational data were collected. Participants were divided into groups according to the presenteeism cut-off score (no presenteeists, presenteeists with high job performance, presenteeists with low job performance). Multinomial regression was used to identify occupational and demographic characteristics associated with presenteeism. An open question replies analysis made it possible to explore the reasons for going to work while sick. Presenteeism was experienced by 30.1%. Presenteeism with high job performance was not associated with socio-demographic and work factors. Professionals who performed only physical work (OR = 9.4; 95% CI: 1.7; 51.0) and those who conducted hybrid work (OR = 4.1; 95% CI: 1.8; 9.6) showed a higher risk of belonging to the presenteeist group with low job performance. Financial reasons led professionals to work while sick. This study raises the importance of evaluating presenteeism in non-academic staff to create conditions for them to maintain high performance despite presenteeism and to intervene when there is low performance due to presenteeism.

Role of resilient leadership and psychological capital in employee engagement with special reference to COVID-19

Purpose

The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an unseen crisis lately, which has put organizational leadership and employee engagement (EE) to test. Resilient leadership (RL) helps an organization survive and keep employees engaged in the risky environment. Similarly, psychological capital (PsyCap) is known to exert an influence on EE, but PsyCap and EE have not been investigated together during the period of crisis. To address this gap, the present study aims to outline the importance of RL and PsyCap to keep the employees engaged in the information technology (IT) industry.

Design/methodology/approach

In total, 265 samples of IT professionals were collected by using an online survey questionnaire pan India. The collected data was analyzed using regression analysis, structural equation modeling along with bootstrapping technique for mediation analysis and model fit indices analysis.

Findings

The results of the analysis confirm the positive impact of RL on EE and the partial mediation impact of PsyCap on the RL–EE relationship, and the findings exhibit that employees with a higher level of PsyCap contribute favorably to EE during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Originality/value

This study aims to assist IT practitioners in effectively incorporating RL to plan mitigation strategies. EE is an outcome of enhanced PsyCap of employees. To develop necessary skills and coping mechanisms to combat disruptions of such massive outbreaks, RL and PsyCap are crucial.