Business continuity management and employee retention during the COVID-19 crisis

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic (SARS-CoV-2), has shocked the world and elicited feelings of fear and a series of never-ending uncertainties to a lot of people. The risk of contagion is real and measures to mitigate the spread of the virus have affected practically every individual, the running of businesses, services as well as the governments’ interventions towards supporting its citizens. The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the various business continuity strategies adopted by businesses during the COVID-19 crisis with a focus on employee retention/dismissal and plan towards recovery post of COVID-19 crisis. The study intends to discover to what extent the measures and supplements provided by the government, have supported businesses to cope with the COVID-19 crisis. The study also aims to explore the work experience of employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. The researcher adopted a mixed method approach whereby a mix of qualitative and quantitative data was collected and analysed. This method allowed the researcher to contextualise information by obtaining a macro-perspective on the situation from both the employer’s and the employee’s viewpoint. Following the quantitative and the qualitative research, the researcher then triangulated the findings obtained. The researcher obtained quantitative and qualitative information through distributing a survey via social media, entitled: ‘The work experience of employees working in Malta during the COVID-19 crisis’ which was filled by employees working in various industries. Additionally, the researcher obtained further qualitative data by conducting interviews with managers of businesses. One of the major findings of the study was, that during the pandemic, the probability that the job security of employees was impacted negatively, in terms of working hours and employment status, was higher than those respondents who experienced a positive transition in relation to their job security. The study explored which industry sectors were most likely to be impacted. It was determined that the older one is, and the higher the educational level one has, the higher the probability that these employees worked longer hours during the pandemic. Moreover, the study found out that employees who adopted remote working, worked longer hours when compared to the hours before the pandemic. The researcher also sought to find out which sectors had higher probability to experience a salary reduction during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was concluded that those who teleworked had less chance to experience a decrease in salary. Furthermore, certain sectors, particularly the insurance and banking sectors, have reported an increase in productivity due to the increase of number of hours worked through remote working. The study also explored whether the government support was beneficial to the different sectors. From the data obtained it was highlighted that the government support provided, was of utmost importance to the non-financial sectors, while it was not as beneficial to the financial sector. In conclusion, the study has confirmed the importance of having a BCP in place, irrespective of which industry the business operates, and it also confirmed the extensive benefits of remote working, which was the most common strategy adopted during the COVID-19 crisis.