Promoting organisational fairness in the era of Covid-19 in the public service: The need for responsible leadership

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has resulted in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) work environment for employees. This environment has created a situation that has brought fairness into the fore, especially with respect to how employees should be managed to ensure that organisations function smoothly. This is more important in the public sector, which has become the focal point for policy development and programme implementation to meet the exigencies of the time. At the same time, ensuring organisational fairness, demands that leadership is conscious about the needs of employees and to treat them fairly. What sort of leadership then is needed in such an environment? The chapter advocates for responsible leadership as better leadership style in enhancing organisational fairness in this environment. © 2022 Kemi Ogunyemi and Adaora I. Onaga. All rights reserved.

Managing employees’ health, safety and anxiety in a pandemic

Purpose: This paper identifies and discusses the strategies adopted by a manufacturing company to manage its national and international employees' anxiety, health and safety with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, to fill a current research gap. Design/methodology/approach: This paper uses the qualitative method to identify the strategies employed by a manufacturing company to manage its employees' anxiety, health and safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thematic analysis of data from fourteen semi-structured interviews is presented. Findings: Results from the data analysed show that five strategies that help manage employees' health, safety and anxiety are - enhanced communication, formulation and enforcement of policies, rules and regulation, education and training, and management commitment. The findings indicate that the implementation of these strategies does not lead to a negative effect and therefore can conclude that there was no cobra effect. Research limitations/implications: Although exploratory and based on one organisation;the findings lay the foundation for future theoretically grounded research on management of employees' health, safety and anxiety. Practical implications: Findings could be the basis for training for managers and also be used to modify the strategies applied in managing employees' anxiety, health and safety. Originality/value: This paper investigates and offers insight into the best strategies to adopt to manage employees' anxiety, safety and health during the COVID-19 pandemic in the manufacturing sector. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.