Working Remotely in the New Normal: Towards a Conceptual Framework for Managing Employee Well-Being

The world of work is currently undergoing a revolution that will fundamentally change the way we live, work and relate to one another. Accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the new normal compels organisations to move to digital modes which allow for remote work. HR scholars anticipate that the future will see more remote-friendly and digital work norms, which will influence employees' well-being. The question is, how should HR professionals manage employee well-being in the new normal? The purpose of this chapter is to contribute towards a conceptual framework for managing the well-being of knowledge workers in the new normal. It was achieved by conducting a systematic review of the existing literature on remote work, its effect on the well-being of knowledge workers and HR initiatives that organisations could adopt to organise and manage remote work in the future. The author anticipates that the conceptual framework will assist HR professionals in developing digital wellness interventions to manage the well-being of remote workers. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

Differential Evolution to Optimize A Long-term Multi-strain Model of COVID-19 in South Africa

A limited number of studies have been conducted to investigate the dynamics of COVID-19 disease spread in South Africa and these existing studies have mostly focussed on mathematical analysis of a relatively short time period near the initial outbreak of COVID-19 in South Africa. The current study therefore attempted to extend on previous studies by applying a Susceptible- Exposed - Infected - Removed (SEIR) disease model to analyse the long-term dynamics of COVID-19 in South Africa, taking into account multiple waves of infection potentially caused by different virus strains. A Differential Evolution (DE) algorithm was used to fit the proposed model to real-world data, and this was done on both a geographically local and global scale to investigate the differences between these two approaches. Results revealed that a local approach provided a more accurate model fit to data than a global approach and that the method proposed in this work could give valuable insights into disease dynamics. © 2022 IEEE.

South African Higher Education Institutions at the Beginning of the Covid-19 Pandemic: Sense-Making and Lessons Learnt

After the unprecedented changes experienced in higher education due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there is a need to integrate initial thoughts and reflective experience to decide on the way forward. This study aimed to reflect on, and make sense of the events related to South African higher education institutions HEIs at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic by using the Cynefin framework. Data from a rapid review of online media at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and a collaborative autoethnography session 1 year since lockdowns were implemented are used to present perspectives for the sense-making process. This offers insights to both ends of the spectrum as it highlights the evolution of processes taking place at multiple levels from government policies to institutional practices, as well as how this impacted on both staff and students. The Cynefin framework demonstrated sense-making efforts in the disordered, to the chaotic, to the complex, then to the complicated and eventually to the simple domain. Each domain ushered in its peculiarities and highlighted the issues ranging from vulnerabilities experienced in the higher education sector, to trying to reconfigure the academic year, to dealing with wicked problems, to eventually relying on expert assistance to navigate the virtual university space. Trying to establish causality in the simple domain proved challenging as the information available during the time was sparse. Despite these challenges, the lessons learnt include the importance of the sense-making process among all academic staff, the significance of collaboration and team efforts and the need to adapt leadership and self-leadership approaches to the changed ways of working in higher education institutions.

Cancer and Covid-19: Collectively catastrophic.

The Covid-19 pandemic has spread rapidly across the globe, resulting in more than 3 million deaths worldwide. The symptoms of Covid-19 are usually mild and non-specific, however in some cases patients may develop acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and systemic inflammation. Individuals with inflammatory or immunocompromising illnesses, such as cancer, are more susceptible to develop ARDS and have higher rates of mortality. This is mediated through an initial hyperstimulated immune response which results in elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and a subsequent cytokine storm. This potentiates positive feedback loops which are unable to be balanced by anti-inflammatory mediators. Therefore, elevated levels of IL-1ß, as a result of NLRP3 inflammasome activation, as well as IL-6 and TNF-α amongst many others, contribute to the progression of various cancer types. Furthermore, Covid-19 progression is associated with the depletion of CD8+ and CD4+ T cells, B cell and natural killer cell numbers. Collectively, a Covid-19-dependent pro-inflammatory profile and immune suppression promotes the optimal microenvironment for tumourigenesis, initiation and immune evasion of malignant cells, tumour progression and metastasis as well as cancer recurrence. There are, however, therapeutic windows of opportunity that may combat both Covid-19 and cancer to improve patient outcomes.