Employees of Lomond Insurance during the Covid-19 Crisis

INTRODUCTION

To analyze the data and meeting the objectives, it is essential to have a good understanding of the research approach and methods. The report will provide the methodological and statistical findings for a quantitative study on employees of an insurance organization during the Covid-19 crisis. As per the case scenario, Lomond Insurance is a large shipping organization, headquartered in Canary Wharf. By considering the impact of Covid-19 on the health of people, the management has decided to offered work from home facility to staff since 2020. After the ease in the limitation and impact of the virus, the management is looking to maintain the work from the office. Now, to analyze the and business dissertation help perception of the employees related to work from home, the survey was designed and distributed to a sample of staff. The outcomes of the survey were combined with HR data and help the management to make a further decision.

QUANTITATIVE APPROACH

Positivism philosophy

For conducting the study, the consideration of philosophy is helpful. Positivism philosophy is used for managing the quantitative data and planning of the study. The major characteristics of positivism philosophy are involving the explanation of aim and prediction related to the study topic as well as empirical observation of the human experience. The positivism philosophy helps gain in-depth information and analyze the statistical data. The major strengths of positivism philosophy are considerations of the set of rules and laws that minimize the room for error and provide more realistic results to satisfied the objectives of the study (Zea, 2015). Apart from this, the weakness of the study is involving changes in the perception of the human according to environment and changes in the emotions. The lack of flexibility and changes in the intellectual level of the participants influence the outcome.

Quantitative research

This kind of research is used for maintaining the structured approach for conducting the study and provides support for managing the numerical data to satisfy the objectives. This type of study is useful for collecting the data from the selected sample and studies the participants' views using the survey (Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill. 2019). For managing the quantitative and collection of data there are different types of methods have been used such as online surveys, questionnaires and online polls. The consideration of the quantitative type of research for the current study is useful for analyzing the perception of Lomond Insurance organization related to the continuation of the work from the home approach. This kind of survey will help to understand the experience, issues and benefits of the existing approach and completing the work of the organization. The major strengths of the quantitative study are experimental design that is allowing the collection of data from trustable sources and analyzing the experience of the individual (Nieuwenhuijsen et al., 2018). Additionally, the consideration of numerical data and the scientific approach helps support the arguments. The weaknesses of quantitative study involve the inaccuracy of statistical data and graphs and based on broader assumptions.

RESEARCH DESIGN

Sampling

The term sampling refers to the selection of participants for collecting the data using the survey method. For selecting an appropriate sample, two types of methods have been used such as probability and non-probability. Probability sampling is used for selecting the sample for the survey from a large population. The major strengths of probability sampling are the development of cluster samples that highly represent the population. The weaknesses of probability sampling are it works for homogenous groups and time-consuming. Apart from this, non-probability sampling is involving different types (Etikan, Musa, and Alkassim, 2016). For the selection of a sample for the current study, convenience sampling is used. By considering this method, 200 employees were selected out of 2500 for the online survey. The questionnaire was distributed among them using the online services and collection of input properly. However, the weaknesses of non-probability sampling involve a lack of theoretical representation and a complete source list.

Data collection

The collection of data is an important approach in the research project. For the collection of data primary or secondary methods are used. The current research is quantitative in nature. Therefore, consideration of the primary approach for the collection of data will be appropriate. To analyze the perception of staff members related to work from home the development and distribution of the questionnaire was cost and time effective (Couper, 2017). By using this type of data collection method, the questionnaire was distributed among the sample through Gmail services. This kind of data collection approach has helped to analyze the different variables and perceptions of employees related to work from home which has supported in decision making of the management.

Data analysis

For the analysis of data collected through the survey method, statistical tests were applied. For the analysis of the perception of staff members about the work from home, the mean value was identified using the SPSS software. T-test has helped to analyze the differences in the variables for maintaining the existing approach of work. It has helped to justify the relationship among the different variables. In addition to this, a Chi-square test was also performed to identify the independents of the variables (Ott, and Longnecker, 2015). Apart from this, the correlation method is also applied for understanding the relationship among the variables and identifying the level of satisfaction of the staff members about the work-from-home approach.

FINDINGS

Addition

According to the analysis of data using the software, it has carried out that 60% of the participants were satisfied with the current approach of working. They are looking to continue work from home as it will helpful for protecting them and their family from the virus. The management will consider the opinion of the staff for further decision making and managing the operational work. The proper investigation related to issues and benefits for an individual the decision making will be easier for the management to continue or restore the office working culture.

Descriptive analysis

The descriptive analysis was conducted considering the data collected from the 200 respondents. The findings of descriptive analysis related to research have shown that most of the participants are happy with the existing approach of working. The findings of descriptive analysis involved the standards value deviation which is 9.46 and the mean value of satisfaction of the staff members is 25.03. The descriptive analysis has also provided the information related to the medium value of the satisfaction and perception of the staff for managing the work from home that is range between 25.00 to 32.00.

T-test

The T-test is used for analyzing the different variables of the study to understand the perception of the staff of the insurance organization. According to the findings of the test, the male and female staff satisfaction for work from the home condition, the outcome is t(197) = 0.544: p = 0.587. Here the P>0.05 shown that there is no significant difference in satisfaction level. Moreover, the test has analyzed the perception of non-manager and manager position employees. According to analysis, the value of t(197) = 1.010: p=.314. Here, the value of P>0.05 that is indicating no significant difference between workers and managers related to managing the work of the organization from home. Apart from this, the T-test is applied for analyzing the satisfaction and perception of the care and no-care staff members. As per the analysis, the value of t(197) = 4.769: p=.000. Here, the value of P < 0.05 and showing a significant difference in the satisfaction level of care responsibility and no-care responsibility staff members of the organization. As per the outcome the work from home satisfaction score is significantly higher for no care compare to care employees.

Correlation

The hypothesis of the study shows that the employers with higher extroversion scores are having lower satisfaction. The Pearson correlation was used for analyzing the association for identifying the Employee Extroversion. According to the analysis of the correlation value of the relations is negatively strong and the score of extroversion staff members is P < 0.05. The analysis has shown that most extroversion staff members are less satisfied with the approach of work from home and vice-versa.

CONCLUSION

According to the analysis of the survey using the qualitative research method, it has carried out that there is not much difference in the satisfaction level of the staff that like work from home and office. Therefore, it can be recommended that management can allow the employees to work from the office who are not able to manage the operational activities from work. This will help to maintain the flow of the organizational work and meet the perception of the staff. The report has also provided information related to research philosophy, data collection and analysis as well as sampling for selecting the participants for managing the study. The findings of the research are based on the results of different tests conducted using the software. One out of three tests related to T has statistically significant results which are for staff members with care responsibility. In addition to this, the correlation has also shown the extroversion value for satisfaction level of the staff for managing the work from home.

REFERENCES

Couper, M. P. (2017). New developments in survey data collection. Annual Review of Sociology, 43, 121-145.

Etikan, I., Musa, S. A., and Alkassim, R. S. (2016). Comparison of convenience sampling and purposive sampling. American journal of theoretical and applied statistics, 5(1), 1-4.

Nieuwenhuijsen, J., de Almeida Correia, G. H., Milakis, D., van Arem, B., and van Daalen, E. (2018). Towards a quantitative method to analyze the long-term innovation diffusion of automated vehicles technology using system dynamics. Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, 86, 300-327.

Ott, R. L., and Longnecker, M. T. (2015). An introduction to statistical methods and data analysis. Cengage Learning.

Saunders, M.N.K., Lewis, P. and Thornhill. A (2019) Research Methods for Business Students (8th edition). Pearson Education. Harlow, UK.

Zea, L. (2015). Positivism in Mexico. University of Texas Press.