Impression of COVID-19 Pandemic on Healthcare Employees: Analyzing the Moderating Effect of Perceived Organizational Support

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to analyze the moderating role of Perceived Organizational Support (POS) on the relationship among Job Stress (JS) and Job Burnout (JB) as well as Job Stress and Organizational Commitment (OC) under the pandemic situation. The direct relationship of Job Stress with Job Burnout and Organizational Commitment was also analyzed. Methodology: The study has been conducted on the 260 healthcare professionals (171 doctors & 89 medical support staff) of five well-established leading private hospitals of Lahore, a major city of Pakistan where diversity meets contemporary dynamics. An adopted questionnaire was utilized to collect the data from within working masse. To examine the relationship among the considered variable, regression as well as correlation analysis was deployed. After due analysis, it was found that JS is positively related to JB and it relates negatively with the OC. However, findings also revealed that POS does not moderate any of the relationships i.e., those of JS with OC & JB. Findings: The findings suggested that the pandemic situation proved to be stressful for the healthcare employees so as it led to burnout among them and reduced their commitment towards the organization. And that this stress due to pandemic situation was so that perceived support of employees from their organization could not alter their commitment in favor of the organization and also could not prevent the stress to reach the level of burnout among employees. Implications: The study offers practical implications to the managers. The burden on the shoulders of a manager is much more than he understands, constantly maintaining the balance between stress and encouragement is the ultimate duty of the manager. Along with managing the projects meeting the deadline with effectiveness, saving employees from the wear and tear mentally and physically is something of prime important enlisted in a manager’s duty.  In theoretical sense, the study also has its implications in the field of management as well as pandemic situations.