COVID-19 and Its Impact on the Psychological Contract of Employers and Employees

COVID-19 and Its Impact on the Psychological Contract of Employers and Employees

Vincent Cassar, Neil Conway, Katarzyna Tracz-Krupa, Sylwia Przytula, Reuben Navarro
Copyright: © 2022 |Pages: 18
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-9840-5.ch014
OnDemand:
(Individual Chapters)
Available
$37.50
Current Special Offers
No Current Special Offers
TOTAL SAVINGS: $37.50

Abstract

COVID-19 has disturbed employment relationships. Twenty employers and 20 employees were interviewed to gain early insights into how the pandemic affected their psychological contract. Results suggested that both parties had divergent expectations of what each party should expect in the current scenario, and both reported intense, often negative, emotions about their current state. While no specific breaches of explicit promises were reported, employees reported violation of implicit beliefs relating to their needs for security. In addition, both parties' expectations differed about their future PC. Employees expected a deal that considers needs for security whereas employers emphasized business continuity by minimizing costs. Such incongruent current and future obligations between the parties suggest trust will be required to negotiate the employment relationship through the crisis. HRM practitioners will have a definite role to play by providing and initiating arrangements that will reconcile both parties' needs to ensure stable employment relationships for mutual benefits.
Chapter Preview
Top

The Context Under Study

An appreciation of the context helps us to capture factors that are either new or unexpected (Johns, 2018). Context is also a boundary feature of theory and theory is best placed within a set of defined parameters conditioned by context. For example Bacharach (1989) remarks about the need to evaluate the use of theory within its defined time and space and this implies that our general understanding of the dynamics underlying the PC in these momentous circumstances may need fine tuning to help us understand what is going on in the process. The current context has placed an unprecedently high level of stress on businesses, employers and employees alike. Certain aspects that are critical to the survival of this business relationship have been threatened and the COVID-19 situation has given rise to major contextual and employment changes. These include the way teams and employees have had to maintain contact, the shift to virtual meetings, the challenging and troubling times to maintain employment and deal effectively with future concerns, issues arising from IT security as businesses moved to more telework practices, and maintaining ongoing relationships with customers. These changes were massive, and quick.

Key Terms in this Chapter

Pandemic: The occurrence and prevalence of a contagious disease whose outbreak spreads globally.

Employment Relationship: The link that exists between employers and employees when an employee performs work or services under certain conditions in return for remuneration and other benefits.

Trust: A Psychological state comprising the intention to accept vulnerability based upon positive expectations of the intension or behavior of another.

Psychological Contract: The perceived exchange relationship of the underlying beliefs of the obligations and inducements between employer and employee.

Employment Needs: Salient elements and characteristics that are present in one’s employment or that one seeks to find in one’s employment and which enable an employee to fulfil his/her aspirations.

Mutuality: The level of agreement in the perceived or actual sharing of commitments between two parties in a relationship.

Complete Chapter List

Search this Book:
Reset