COVID-19 and the New Normal of Organizations and Employees: An Overview

Aarthi Raghavan,Mehmet Akif Demircioglu,Serik Orazgaliyev

doi:10.3390/su132111942

Aarthi Raghavan, Mehmet Akif Demircioglu + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su132111942

Copy DOI

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit organizations and employees in every sector worldwide in unprecedented ways. It became extremely difficult for organizations and employees across sectors to operate under increased mobility restrictions. The pandemic effectively disrupted previous operational models and imbued changes such as telework and digital adoption that are pervasive and may potentially last beyond the pandemic. Amid these circumstances, it was essential to ask how organizations and employees will sustain themselves in the post-COVID-19 ”new normal”. Although so much research is conducted about COVID-19, there is no comprehensive view of the changes at the meso (organizational) and micro (individual) levels. This article aims to explain this using the emergency-learning-institutionalization-new normal (ELIN) framework, which is based on the timeline of the pandemic. The article aims to bring forth the overall trends in how organizations and employees are adapting to the pandemic, the lessons they have learned, and how they will change and adapt in a post-COVID-19 “new normal”. We have analyzed existing policy papers, articles published in business, public administration, nonprofit journals, and other studies to achieve this. We find an increasing trend towards the adoption of telework and digital tools at both meso- and micro-levels. The effective implementation of telework policies and digital transformation plans at the meso-level will ensure the sustainability of organizations and jobs in the new normal. Although these trends vary across sectors and within and across countries, there is an overall increase in the flexibility of organizations and employees in adopting new solutions, making them more open to innovation. The article makes important recommendations for organizations to make these transitions more sustainable in the medium and long term.

Highlights

The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the most unprecedented health crises of the 21st century
Organizations can consider digital open-access resources to help employees bridge their skill gaps faster [176]. Such efforts are likely to enhance employee productivity and make their jobs relevant and sustainable in the long term. This conceptual study analyzes the changes induced by COVID-19 at the meso and micro levels
We have aimed to answer the following research question: How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected organizations and employees at the meso- and micro-levels? The changes are classified based on the emergency-learning-institutionalization-new normal (ELIN) framework, which is derived from the timeline of the pandemic and captures its effects across organizations

Summary

Introduction

The COVID-19 (or Coronavirus Disease 2019) pandemic is one of the most unprecedented health crises of the 21st century. The continuity of services during COVID-19 became challenging across the public sector [6,7,8], private sector [9,10,11,12,13], and non-profit sector [14,15,16]. Even basic services such as healthcare [17], education [18], public administration [8], food delivery [19], and community services [14] were affected.

Objectives

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion