Technostress and Employee Performance Nexus During COVID-19: Training and Creative Self-Efficacy as Moderators

• Published in: Frontiers in psychology Vol. 12; p. 595119
• Main Authors: Saleem, Farida, Malik, Muhammad Imran, Qureshi, Saiqa Saddiqa, Farid, Muhammad Faisal, Qamar, Sabeen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A 13.10.2021
• Subjects: COVID-19; creative self-efficacy; employee performance; Psychology; techno-stress; training; universities
• ISSN: 1664-1078; 1664-1078
• DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.595119

Technostress, a stressor, has implications for employee’s psychological states; however, flexibility like work from home can have positive outcomes, especially for instructors who have to teach and ensure social distance during COVID-19. The present study examined the relationship of technostress and employee performance while taking training and creative self-efficacy as boundary conditions. A sample of 222 university instructors, who worked from home or hybrid (home and workplace) during COVID-19 lockdown, was selected from Pakistan. The responses were recorded using a closed-ended questionnaire. Stepwise linear regression and PROCESS Macro by Hayes (2013) was used to analyze the data. It was revealed that technostress, instead of having adverse effects, had a positive effect on employee’s performance and both training and one’s creative self-efficacy significantly moderated the relationship. As the main finding, it was revealed that the employees continued to perform well despite the prevalence of technostress. The training and one’s creative self-efficacy were useful to control the technostress and maintain the performance of instructors during COVID-19. The university administrators and employees must take technology as a positive tool for performance. The training, along with creative self-efficacy, adds to the working capacity of employees and enhances their performance.