Exploring the linkage between workplace precaution measures, covid-19 fear and job performance: The moderating effect of academic competence

Naveed Iqbal Chaudhry; Samma Faiz Rasool; Masooma Raza; Hana Mhelska; Fazal Ur Rehman

doi:10.1007/s12144-023-04728-5

Exploring the linkage between workplace precaution measures, covid-19 fear and job performance: The moderating effect of academic competence

Curr Psychol. 2023 May 10:1-20. doi: 10.1007/s12144-023-04728-5. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Naveed Iqbal Chaudhry¹, Samma Faiz Rasool^{2

3}, Masooma Raza¹, Hana Mhelska³, Fazal Ur Rehman⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Business Administration, University of the Punjab, Gujranwala Campus, Lahore, Pakistan.
² College of Business Administration, Al Yamamah University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Management, Faculty of Informatics and Management, University of Hradec Králové, 50003 Hradec Králové, Czech Republic.
⁴ Science and Research Centre, Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Pardubice, 53210 Pardubice, Czech Republic.

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) has created emerging mental health challenges around the world. Like other countries, Pakistan is also confronted with covid-19 calamities. The aim of the study is to examine the impacts of workplace measures (WM) on the job performance (JP) and covid-19 fears (CF) along with the moderating role of academic competence (AC) based on the organizational support theory (OST) and job demand and resources (JDR) theory. A quantitative approach was applied to collect data from 333 banking employees in Gujranwala (Pakistan), and the hypothesis were tested via structural equation modeling using SPSS and AMOS. The study findings indicate that workplace measures significantly affect covid-19 fears except for individual preventive measures (IPM). Similarly, workplace measures significantly impact on job performance apart from information about the pandemic (IAP). Moreover, academic competence insignificantly moderates between workplace measures and covid-19 fears, but a significant moderation is found between information about pandemic (IAP) and covid-19 fears. Meanwhile, academic competence significantly moderates between workplace measures and job performance instead of a relationship between information about pandemic and job performance. However, this study was limited only to the banking sector of Pakistan. So, it will open the doors for future researchers to investigate other cultural contexts and sectors. This research gives a holistic understanding of workplace measures and contributes to the body of knowledge by enlightening the moderating role of academic competence in the banking sector of Pakistan. These useful insights would enable practitioners and policy makers to develop more efficient strategies and workplace measures to enhance job performance and reduce the fears of covid-19 among employees.

Keywords: Academic competence; Covid-19 fear; Job performance; Workplace measures.

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