TITLE:
Making Work-from-Home Work in the Public Sector: A Case Study of Mauritius
AUTHORS:
Ramesh Durbarry
KEYWORDS:
Work-from-Home, Transformation, Emerging Technologies, Leading WFH Employees
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Applied Sociology,
Vol.11 No.8,
August
10,
2021
ABSTRACT: Work-from-Home (WFH) is not a new concept; however, its adoption in the public
sector is rather slow. COVID-19 has forced us to find a new way of doing
business, especially during the lockdown in many countries. WFH, or
teleworking, as it is commonly known, has increased significantly with the
advent of technology and improved communication. Its popularity is stronger in
the private sector and less adopted in the public sector, mainly due to the
traditional nature of the service that government delivers. This new pandemic
has called for many governments to transform their way of conducting their
operations using emerging technologies. This paper looks at the benefits and
consequences of working from home. The study also looks at the conditions that
would make working from home effective from the point of view of employees in
the public sector. An online survey was conducted among public officers during
the lockdown period to investigate their perceptions of working from home. The
study found that public officers perceive the risk to catch the virus is the highest when travelling by bus and at their workplace. It is also found
that the support from leaders does have an impact on employee productivity.
Some pre-conditions to make work from home effective are highlighted in this
study to guide managers.