The Effects of Working from Home on Employee Productivity: The Case of Nedbank Zimbabwe.

Abstract

The Covid -19 pandemic brought changes in the workplace. Some of these changes have not been subject to research in order to gather empirical evidence on their effectiveness. The focus of this study was to investigate the effects of working from home (WFH) on employee productivity. A mixed research approach (pragmatism) was used where a sample of 100 employees out of a population of 300 from Nedbank Zimbabwe participated as respondents selected using a purposive sampling technique. Data was collected, presented and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistical methods with the aid of SPSS Version 27. The study found that working from home (WFH) is suitable during times of pandemics as it allows for social distancing and it protects employees by reducing chances of infection. It was established that working from home is not possible for certain categories of employees such as the cleaners and grounds maintenance staff to mention but just a few. The study found that the WFH strategy is effective if employees are availed with appropriate resources such as laptops, smart phones and desktops including enough bandwidth over and above training in teleconferencing skills, e-meetings and other e-management techniques. It was also a finding of this study that employees enjoyed a better work-life balance while working from home and this resulted in increased productivity and an increase in staff morale. WFH minimises pilferage, conflicts, chances of demonstrations and work disruptions. The study noted that WFH made it difficult to supervise staff and ensure that they did not break their employment contracts by taking up multiple employments even with competitors. The study recommended that in order to ameliorate the negative effects of working from home on employee productivity, it should be part of employment contracts to specify what is permissible and not during WFH. It was further recommended that working from home should be made a permanent feature within the banking sector since ICTs have overtaken the traditional methods of operation.