International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume VI, Issue VIII, August 2022 | ISSN 2454–6186
The Effects of Work-from-Home Policies on the Morale of Business Process Outsourcing Employees
Luan Joe Carlo Barilli1, Apple Tricia Cablao1, King Ferdinand Delfin1, Michelle Anne Sarol1*, Sheryl Morales5
1Bachelor of Science in Business Administration Major in Human Resource Management & Polytechnic University of the Philippines – Quezon City, Philippines
5Research Management Office, Polytechnic University of the Philippines – Quezon City, Philippines
*Corresponding Author
Abstract: Due to the COVID-19, remote and hybrid working adaptation has become a phenomenon in the Philippines. It became more prevalent during the pandemic, forcing a new work system adaptation. Offering flexibility as the main solution for distance and health safety, most employees were sent to work from home. Their morale is affected by several issues, including their environment, lack of communication and engagement, and work-life balance. This further includes the struggles experienced from equipment ownership and network issues that effect the performance and productivity of employees.
The BPO industry is characterized by high demand and frequent changes, it depends on the needs, current state of the community, or new company policies that may be implemented. This study attempts to determine how remote working in Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) organizations affects corporate management and employees in the long run when it comes to performance, productivity, overall health, balance, and the obstacles and elements that can impact their overall morale. This study also aims to provide a different perspective about company-related work systems, highlighting various changes in handling employees and accomplishing work in the new century.
I. INTRODUCTION
Remote working first appeared in the 1970s when the terms “teleworking” and “flexible working” is created by Jack Niles and Franck Schiff (Chiru, 2017). The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced many challenging working conditions for the business processing outsourcing industry worldwide, especially in the field of human resources, prompting managers to quickly adapt to a new policy of working remotely to assist their workforce in adapting to and coping with radical changes in the increasing demand. Encouraging the employees who previously spent the majority of their time in their company’s physical offices to quickly adapt to remote work settings with employees that can adjust to remote working are having difficulty with the numerous health regulations being followed, the closure of non-essential establishments in the Philippines during the series of lockdowns, and finding an alternative workspace within their residence (Carnevale & Hatak, 2020). Thus, this will cause adjustments in how employees manage and create a boundary between their professional and personal affairs.
Felstead and Henseke (2017) assumed in a previous study that expanding location-independent work is advantageous for businesses and employees. Based on official