Employee motivation during the time of the crisis in agricultural and forestry organizations: Case study

Abstract

The aim of the paper was to define the effect of the pandemic on employee motivation. Following the questionnaires, the level of motivation in agricultural and forestry organizations before the COVID-19 pandemic in the years 2018–2019 and after the crisis in the years 2020–2021 was defined. The hypotheses were tested using the variance analysis with interactions. The analysed field (financial, social, work, and career-related) was presented by the dependent variable. The categorical independent variables were used to describe the age, gender, and the time before or after the COVID-19 pandemic. A reduction in the level of the requirements in all areas of motivation in terms of age and gender is the result of the study. The needs and requirements of the employees of agricultural and forestry organizations are reduced. The order of importance of the groups stays almost the same. The finding that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has, besides others, effect on human resource management, especially on employee motivation, is considered the main contribution of the study. The results of the study result in enhancing the knowledge about economic development through human resource management at the time of the health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.