The relationship between the changed HR practices due to the COVID-19
pandemic and employee performance in terms of employee ability, motivation and
opportunity
Word count: 2994
Grade: 7
, Introduction
Over the past few months, the coronavirus (COVID-19) was a big game changer in the
world. Many governments had to implement measures in order to minimise the impact of the
virus. Businesses were not allowed to open their doors and many people had to work from home
and online. All contact has to be kept to a minimum and work related contact occurs mostly
online. This necessitated adjustments to HR practices may have affected employee performance.
Employee performance is defined as the level of commitment and involvement of an employee
towards their organisation and its values (Anitha, 2014). This performance contributes to the
value of an employee to the organisation (Jiang et al., 2012).
Employee performance is a core issue in Human Resource Management (HRM) as HR
practices are directly linked to the performance of the organisation (Wright, Gardner, Moynihan
& Allen, 2005). Because of this, our research will focus on the employee performance and how
the firm adapts their HR practices to the new situation resulting from COVID-19, to uphold their
organisational performance. The AMO model by Jiang et al. (2012) will be used in order to get
more insights on the influence of the HRM practices on the employee performance.
The AMO framework states that ability, motivation and opportunity influence
performance. It is used to explain the complex relationship between HR practices and
performance (Kellner, Cafferkey & Townsend, 2019). With the help of HR practices, employee
and organisation performance should increase. Ability is concerned with performing and relates
to the necessary knowledge, skills, and aptitudes. Motivation is the willingness to do the job.
Finally, opportunity is focused on the organisational support needed for undertaking actions or
changes related to work structure and its environment. The exact division of influence of the
three concepts on performance is unknown and its influence on performance depends on the set
of HRM practices (Boxall & Purcell, 2016).
In this research, the focus will be on training and development (T&D) influencing ability,
performance management (PM) influencing motivation, and job design (JD) influencing
opportunity. This leads us to the following research question .
What is the relationship between the changed HR practices due to the COVID-19
pandemic and the employee performance in terms of employee ability, motivation and
opportunity?
2
, We will attempt to answer this question through the medium of the Dutch health
insurance company VGZ.
Theoretical background
The AMO framework as developed by Applebaum and Berg (2000) and expanded by
Jiang et al., (2012) which can be seen below in figure 1,will be used to analyse the changes under
COVID-19. This model explains how HR practices can improve performance, through
increasing ability, motivation and opportunity (Marin-Garcia & Tomas, 2016).
Figure 1: Relationship among HR practices within human resource systems
The highly contagious and deadly nature of COVID-19 makes it necessary to keep
contact to a minimum, with seemingly no aspect of work unaffected (Arora & Suri, 2020).
Working from home has become obligated in many professions and most contact is limited to
online interactions. Although all HR practices may have experienced some change, we expect
certain practices to be affected more than others. Three policies were chosen to explain further:
T&D, PM and JD. Other practices offer less opportunity for research or have been put on hold
entirely in some companies, for example recruitment and selection (The Guardian, 2020)..
3
pandemic and employee performance in terms of employee ability, motivation and
opportunity
Word count: 2994
Grade: 7
, Introduction
Over the past few months, the coronavirus (COVID-19) was a big game changer in the
world. Many governments had to implement measures in order to minimise the impact of the
virus. Businesses were not allowed to open their doors and many people had to work from home
and online. All contact has to be kept to a minimum and work related contact occurs mostly
online. This necessitated adjustments to HR practices may have affected employee performance.
Employee performance is defined as the level of commitment and involvement of an employee
towards their organisation and its values (Anitha, 2014). This performance contributes to the
value of an employee to the organisation (Jiang et al., 2012).
Employee performance is a core issue in Human Resource Management (HRM) as HR
practices are directly linked to the performance of the organisation (Wright, Gardner, Moynihan
& Allen, 2005). Because of this, our research will focus on the employee performance and how
the firm adapts their HR practices to the new situation resulting from COVID-19, to uphold their
organisational performance. The AMO model by Jiang et al. (2012) will be used in order to get
more insights on the influence of the HRM practices on the employee performance.
The AMO framework states that ability, motivation and opportunity influence
performance. It is used to explain the complex relationship between HR practices and
performance (Kellner, Cafferkey & Townsend, 2019). With the help of HR practices, employee
and organisation performance should increase. Ability is concerned with performing and relates
to the necessary knowledge, skills, and aptitudes. Motivation is the willingness to do the job.
Finally, opportunity is focused on the organisational support needed for undertaking actions or
changes related to work structure and its environment. The exact division of influence of the
three concepts on performance is unknown and its influence on performance depends on the set
of HRM practices (Boxall & Purcell, 2016).
In this research, the focus will be on training and development (T&D) influencing ability,
performance management (PM) influencing motivation, and job design (JD) influencing
opportunity. This leads us to the following research question .
What is the relationship between the changed HR practices due to the COVID-19
pandemic and the employee performance in terms of employee ability, motivation and
opportunity?
2
, We will attempt to answer this question through the medium of the Dutch health
insurance company VGZ.
Theoretical background
The AMO framework as developed by Applebaum and Berg (2000) and expanded by
Jiang et al., (2012) which can be seen below in figure 1,will be used to analyse the changes under
COVID-19. This model explains how HR practices can improve performance, through
increasing ability, motivation and opportunity (Marin-Garcia & Tomas, 2016).
Figure 1: Relationship among HR practices within human resource systems
The highly contagious and deadly nature of COVID-19 makes it necessary to keep
contact to a minimum, with seemingly no aspect of work unaffected (Arora & Suri, 2020).
Working from home has become obligated in many professions and most contact is limited to
online interactions. Although all HR practices may have experienced some change, we expect
certain practices to be affected more than others. Three policies were chosen to explain further:
T&D, PM and JD. Other practices offer less opportunity for research or have been put on hold
entirely in some companies, for example recruitment and selection (The Guardian, 2020)..
3
