An Investigation On Work From Home And Its Impact On Productivity In A Shipping Organisation

Narke, Sneha (2022) An Investigation On Work From Home And Its Impact On Productivity In A Shipping Organisation. Masters thesis, Dublin, National College of Ireland.

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Abstract

This report's motive is to explore how work from home influences the productivity levels of employees employed at Omega Shipping. A combined total of 5 contributors employed at the respective business entity took part in virtual interviews which had a semi-structured essence. The responses obtained from these virtual interviews were analysed by importing the data within NVivo software. The analysis was done as per the qualitative thematic data analysis technique. By practicing thematic data analysis, responses obtained from the virtual interviews were analysed and 5 major themes were identified. These themes were: a fading boundary between office and home; problems with time management; stress; resilience and liberty; as well as productivity.

This research realized that owing to the fading boundary that existed between office space and home space the employees who were assigned work from home, abbreviated as WFH, were expected to support the members of their family, and take part in various chores, as they were working from their homes. These chores could be looking after their child or taking the pet out for a walk or some other chore. This fading boundary disturbed the balance that these employees were trying to maintain between their private life and work life. Further, this research realized that WFH made efficient management of employees’ time a problem as making out-of-the-blue plans, procrastination, and amalgamation of private life and work life had an adverse influence on the management of employees’ time, resulting in adversely influencing WFH. This research also realized that stress from the work reached new heights since the employees started WFH. The underlying reasons behind this hike in stress levels were partial engagement in work, dedicating a great deal of time to nonproductive work, continuously working for prolonged periods, along with lack of self-confidence.

The research realized that a major pro of assigning WFH to employees at Omega Shipping was the resilience and liberty that WFH offered. The employees cherished working without worrying about getting monitored by their supervisor, the high degree of convenience as well as the opportunities at their hands to offer support to their respective families. Further, the resilience and liberty that WFH offered favorably influenced the extent to which employees felt satisfied at their job. The research also realized that disturbances at home, variability in engagement to work and inefficient management of the available time adversely influenced the productivity levels of employees.

This report recommends Omega Shipping to train its employees on how to manage their time so that they can maintain a balance between their private life and work life; define official working hours for its workforce so that during WFH, employees work within those hours; offer sessions which address anxiety, depression, and other mental illnesses and ultimately; practice a hybrid working model by leveraging its existing technological capabilities.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > Issues of Labour and Work > Hours of Labour H Social Sciences > Economics > Microeconomics > Production (Economic theory) > Industrial productivity > Labor productivity H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > Issues of Labour and Work > Quality of Work Life / Job Satisfaction H Social Sciences > HE Transportation and Communications > Water Transportation > Shipping H Social Sciences > HF Commerce > Industrial Psychology > Workplace Stress
Divisions:	School of Business > Master of Arts in Human Resource Management
Depositing User:	Clara Chan
Date Deposited:	21 Nov 2022 11:56
Last Modified:	21 Nov 2022 11:56
URI:	https://norma.ncirl.ie/id/eprint/5899

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