INTRODUCTION:

The Wuhan City of China has become the focal point due to an outbreak of a febrile respiratory disease due to a coronavirus 2019-nCoV. On 31 December 2019, WHO China Country Office was reported that there was an outbreak of pneumonia from unknown cause¹.

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Fever, cough, tiredness, difficulty in breathing, muscle ache and sore throats are the common symptoms of this disease².

The first Indian case of COVID-19 was confirmed on 30 January 2020 in the state of Kerala, when a student from Wuhan, China returned back to his home³. As soon as the number of corona patients reached 563, The Indian government has imposed a nationwide lockdown for 21 days starting from 25 March 2020 to slow down the spread of COVID 19 outbreak⁴.

Even there were closure of most of the commercial and private establishments; however medical, hospitals, banks, grocery shops and essential services were exempted. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi requested all people to work from home to maintain social distancing which is a single way to protect everyone from corona disease. It was banned to stepping out from home. WHO praised this as “tough and timely action”⁵.

On 14 April, India’s Prime Minister extended this countrywide lockdown until 3 May, with conditional relaxations after 20 April for the areas where the spread had been controlled or was minimal and termed as ‘Lockdown 2.0’⁶.

On 1 May, the Indian Government extended this lockdown further by two weeks until 17 May. Under this lockdown 3.0, the Government segregated all the districts into three zones on the basis of spread of the virus—green, red and orange—with relaxations applied accordingly⁷. On 17 May, the National Disaster Management Authority extended the lockdown (lockdown 4.0) till May end⁸.

On 30 May, extension of ongoing lockdown (lockdown 5.0) was declared till 30 June in containment zones, with restart of services in a planned way starting from 8 June. It is phrased as "Unlock 1"⁹.

Still, the curve of corona transmission is increasing day-by-day. As on 16 June there are 344,407 corona virus cases are confirmed in India (out of them 9,921 died and 180,460 recovered)¹⁰. The business organizations are reopened now and following the instructions stated by Central and State government.

Furthermore, it is a tough balancing act for employers to maintain equilibrium between their business goals and human goal during this post lockdown period. Even the essential workers are rebuffing to come to work due to terror of contracting with COVID-19. The business organization must signify the standard health concern as the employees’ legal rights along with their business needs. Hence, there is a need of medium and long term planning to rebalance and reenergize the socio-economic loss caused by this lockdown¹¹.

Conceptual Background:

Work is one of the significant facets of human lives¹². People perform their work to satisfy their needs. They get either monetary return (such as salary, wages and benefits) or non-monetary return (such as appreciation, recognition, and esteem) in exchange of their services. Due to vast changes in work environment, employees’ work expectations also have changed.

The meaning of the work is also changed for the currently younger and highly educated generation who does not signify the work in the same way as their ancestors were doing¹³. Those who are satisfy with their work, having high organizational commitment with greater loyalty. So there is a transformation from money economy to satisfaction economy¹⁴. But today’s employees seek something more than mere job satisfaction i.e. “Workplace Happiness”.

Happiness is a positive state of mind. Happiness is the synonym of the life satisfaction or subjective well-being^15,16. PERMA is an acronym stands for Positive Emotions, Employee Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Accomplishment as the determinants of well-being¹⁷. In simple words, happiness is a feeling which is an outcome of positive acts and happiness at work is the result of five components such as organization, leadership, community, work and most central of all is the employee¹⁸.

In today’s time the business organizations are competing to each other through outperforming on the grounds of providing better product, technologies and services so as to win the survival battle. But the workforce of any organization is the master key to create its own brand for the sake of gaining sustainable competitive advantage and this is possible only through workplace happiness¹⁹.

Satisfaction is what someone thinks about the job while happiness is what he feels about it. It is well said that people don’t leave their jobs, they leave their employers. Hence, despite of putting so many efforts to change the work environment to improve efficiency and effectiveness, an organization should initially recognize the factors which are related with happiness at work²⁰.

There is an increase in the psychological stress in the individuals in this present situation²¹. The business organizations have a single solution of providing a happy and stress-free workplace to retain its talent for improving the productivity²². Less work stress and good working relationships leads to workplace happiness²³. It is also found in the studies that there is a connection between stress and well-being/happiness at work^24,25,26.

Happiness is a transient concept, and it may have different meaning to different people. Workplace happiness also operates in the similar manner, as it is not necessary that the one common thing makes all the persons happy at work. Employees may be different in terms of their work expectations. Motivated employees work harder, better, more productive and stay longer with their organizations as compared to their unmotivated counterparts²⁷. Therefore, this can be phrased as there exist a connection between workplace motivation and workplace happiness²⁸.

Research Gaps:

Most of the studies focused on external factors of workplace happiness²⁹. Various studies have been conducted so far on the key words of this paper such as on workplace stress, workplace happiness, workplace motivation but there is a dearth of any study being conducted which connects all three variables especially in Indian context during this corona virus outbreak period. Hence Conceptual Gap exists.

MATERIAL AND METHODS:

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between workplace stress, workplace motivation and workplace happiness. The study also tries to investigate whether workplace motivation and workplace stress can predict the workplace happiness.

Research Hypotheses:

H₀₁: There is no significant relationship between workplace stress and workplace happiness.

H₀₂: There is no significant relationship between workplace motivation and workplace happiness.

H₀₃: Workplace stress and workplace motivation don’t significantly explain workplace happiness.

Research Design:

This study was designed in accordance with the co-relational research design. These studies are intended to identify the relationships between two or more variables. Such studies have independent and dependent variables, but the effect of independent variable is observed on dependent variable without manipulating the independent variable³⁰.

Sampling:

In this study purposive sampling technique was used where the units that are investigated are based on the judgment of the researcher and enable to answer the research questions. The sample of the study consisted of 113 employees and surveyed through Google forms.

Research Instrument:

The structured questionnaire was used by the researcher to collect primary data for the study. Section A requires the respondents to give detail about employment status, nature of employed organization, gender, total work experience, tenure in current organization, intention to re-join the organization after lockdown.

Section B is composed of work stress parameters such as improper work schedule, poor hygiene, low pay scale, job insecurity, ignorance of safety concerns, lack of medical support, and poor working relationships. Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient calculated for this variable was 0.91.

Section C includes workplace happiness parameters such as flexible work schedule, working relationships, job security, organizational vision & mission, work-life balance, developmental opportunities, fair HR policies, hygiene and cleanliness. Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient calculated for this variable was 0.87.

Section D gathers the information regarding workplace motivation. The parameters undertaken for this were adequate safety measures, fair pay, strong work culture, work autonomy, attractive work station, understanding boss, discipline, recognition and appreciation. Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient calculated for this variable was 0.81.

The parameters for all three variables were chosen on the basis of review of literature related to present research work. Respondents are asked to assign rate these parameters on 5-point Rating Scale.

Data Analysis:

Data were analyzed with SPSS 21.0 software. Pearson correlation analysis and Linear Multiple Regression analysis were used as data analysis techniques.

Results:

Descriptive Statistics:

Out of the total responses received, only 113 found to be valid. Table 1 presents the demographic background of the respondents. Female employees represented only 21.2% of respondents which may be due to non-availability of time to fill questionnaire during lockdown period as they have extra responsibilities to do household work. 62.83% respondents are employed in private sector and were most represented in the survey.

Table 1: Descriptive Statistics for the Demographic Background

Demographic Characteristics

Items

Frequency

Percentage

Gender

Male

Female

78.8%

21.2%

Employed in

Central Government

State Government

Private Sector

Non-profit Organization

Others

4.42%

17.70%

62.83%

3.53%

11.5%

Nature of Employment

Permanent

Contractual

Temporary

87.6%

6.2%

Total work experience

0 to 5 Years

5-10 Years

10-15 Years

15-20 Years

More than 20 Years

12.4 %

8.8%

27.4%

22.1%

29.2%

Work experience with current employer

0 to 5 Years

5-10 Years

10-15 Years

15-20 Years

More than 20 Years

51.3%

23.9%

14.2%

4.4%

6.2%

(Source: Primary Data)

Out of the total responses received, only 113 found to be valid. x Female employees represented only 21.2% of respondents which may be due to non-availability of time to fill questionnaire during lockdown period as they have extra responsibilities to do household work. 62.83% respondents are employed in private sector and were most represented in the survey.

Table 2: Correlations Analysis

		WPS	WPH	WPM
WPS	Pearson Correlation	1	-.938^**	-.032
	Sig. (2-tailed)		.000	.736
	N	113	113	113
WPH	Pearson Correlation	-.938^**	1	.114
	Sig. (2-tailed)	.000		.228
	N	113	113	113
WPM	Pearson Correlation	-.032	.114	1
	Sig. (2-tailed)	.736	.228
	N	113	113	113

**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

(Source: Analysis of Primary data on SPSS)

Table 2 shows the result of the correlation analysis conducted to examine the relationship between workplace stress and workplace happiness, was found to be significant (p<0.05). The Pearson Correlation coefficient value (-0.938) represents the strong and negative relationship between these variables. It means stressful workplace does not give positive feelings to their employees³¹. Thus H₀₁ is rejected and result showed significant relationship between workplace stress and workplace happiness.

Table 3: Model Summary

Model	R	R Square	Adjusted R Square	Std. Error of the Estimate
1	.941^a	.886	.884	.6585

a. Predictors: (Constant), WPM, WPS

(Source: Analysis of Primary data on SPSS)

Though the relationship between workplace motivation and workplace happiness is not found significant (p>0.05), the Pearson correlation coefficient value (0.114) represents positive and weak relationship between the variables. Thus H₀₂ is accepted that means there is no significant relationship between workplace motivation and workplace happiness. It signifies that there are many more things which influences workplace happiness such as job satisfaction, job engagement, stress management, valued social position etc.³²(See Table 2).

The Multiple regression analysis was conducted using the Enter method to determine how Workplace Stress and Workplace Motivation explain the Workplace Happiness selected as the dependent variable. Workplace Stress and Workplace motivation selected as predictor variables, explained the 88.6% of variance related to Workplace happiness selected as the criterion variable (R²=0.886). The model explained 88.4% of the variance for the dependent variable (Adjusted R²=0.884) (See Table 3)

The result demonstrated in Table 4 explains that established model was meaningful (F= 429.231, p< 0.05).

Table 4: One way ANOVA

Model		Sum of Squares	df	Mean Square	F	Sig.
1	Regression	372.279	2	186.140	429.231	.000^b
	Residual	47.702	110	.434
	Total	419.982	112

a. Dependent Variable: WPH

b. Predictors: (Constant), WPM, WPS

(Source: Analysis of Primary data on SPSS)

Workplace Stress (β = - 0.935, p< 0.05), and Workplace Motivation (β=0.084, p<0.05) significantly predicted Workplace happiness. Thus H₀₃ is rejected that means workplace stress and workplace motivation significantly predicts workplace happiness.

Table 5: Coefficients

Model		Unstandardized Coefficients		Standardized Coefficients	t	Sig.
Model		B	Std. Error	Beta	t	Sig.
1	(Constant)	2.647	.515		5.139	.000
	WPS	-1.426	.049	-.935	-29.083	.000
	WPM	.399	.152	.084	2.622	.010

a. Dependent Variable: WPH

(Source: Analysis of Primary data on SPSS)

The Multiple Linear Regression Model established for these three variables can be expressed as

WPH = 2.647 – 1.426 WPS + 0.399 WPM

**Here WPH stands for Workplace Happiness, WPS is Workplace Stress, and WPM is Workplace Motivation

Implications:

The strong negative relationship between workplace stress and workplace happiness is found. In the context of the finding the employers should focus upon stress management techniques such as prayer rooms, meditations, relaxation rooms, flexible working hours etc. to provide them healthy and happy environment for work. This will definitely help the employers to win the heart of their employees.

Motivation is one of the significant factors of workplace happiness³³. Thus it is required to identify what motivates the employees and design the work policies in the same direction so as to create positive feelings for their work.

The result of this empirical study indicates that there workplace stress and workplace motivation significantly predict workplace happiness. Lower the workplace stress and higher the workplace motivation may result into increased level of workplace happiness.

Based on the findings, managers of the organizations can have interventions including work from home facility, safe working environment, clean and hygienic work stations, clear performance expectations, flexi-work time, work-life balance etc. to manage stress of the employees and assess its impact on their performance.

CONCLUSION:

Happiness at workplace can bring about successful outcomes to business organization. Happy employees are more productive and can be engaged more effectively³⁴. Happy employees are likely to be more committed and loyal to their employers³⁵. Changes in the work generations and their work values have made it important to think for providing happiness at workplaces³⁶.

Work motivation also has significant impact on workplace happiness, productivity and satisfaction³⁷. A happy heart always leads to happy brain and happy brain result into better performance³⁸.

Suggestions to Employers/Business Managers:

On the basis of the data collected, business managers are suggested to work upon following grounds to come out from this tough situation:

1. Psychology-related:

· Boost employee morale at this juncture.

· Empathy should be practiced by heart

· Should identify jobs that can be managed from home and shouldn’t force those employees unnecessarily to attend office

· Should treat all the employees with care and compassion

2. Safety-related:

· Should take care of all the safety measures against corona outbreak.

· Should give confidence to employees that their job is safe and would get opportunity to grow with in organization

· Educate all and aware the norms to avoid COVID 19 infection

· Employee's health should be at the top priority.

3. Work-related:

· More emphasis should be given to create a positive work environment.

· Shouldn’t put unreasonable expectation on the employees.

· Should maintain hygiene and cleanliness at work stations.

· Should try to provide work flexibility or work from home if possible.

4. Policy-related:

· There is a need to have a strong exit plan to cope up with this situation.

· Should communicate about COVID-19 policy and its implementation

· Should provide the highest level of support and encouragement to employees.

· Priority should be given to save human life rather than achieving mere business objectives.

· Should design an appropriate lay-off policy and reduce the Cost-to-Company (CTC) by little percentage to support the employees.

Limitations:

While this study suggests significant predictors of workplace happiness, the study does have some limitations. Female employees were underrepresented the study, with 21.2% of the respondents being female and 78.8% being male. As well many respondents were employed in private sector (77.9%).

Scope for future researchers:

Future researchers are suggested to conduct comparative study based on different industrial sectors, professions, levels of management, nature of job and so on. The same study can be replicated on a large sample size.

Workplace spirituality, employee engagement, leadership style and organizational culture could also be added to the study which might influence workplace happiness.

REFERENCES:

1. Hui DS et al. The continuing 2019-nCoV epidemic threat of novel coronaviruses to global health—The latest 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China. International Journal of Infectious Diseases. 2020; 91: 264–266.

2. Mayo Clinic. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) - Symptoms and causes. Available from: URL: https://www.mayoclinic.org/ diseases-conditions/coronavirus/ symptoms- causes/syc-20479963.

3. Ward, Alex. India coronavirus lockdown and its looming crisis, explained. Available from: URL: https://www.vox.com/2020/3 /24/21190868/coronavirus-india-modi-lockdown-kashmir.

4. Gettleman Jeffrey and Schultz Kai. Modi Orders 3-Week Total Lockdown for All 1.3 Billion Indians. The New York Times. Available from: URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/24/ world/asia/india-coronavirus-lockdown.html.

5. The Lancet. India under COVID-19 lockdown. (2020). Available from: URL: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/ PIIS0140-6736(20)30938-7/fulltext.

6. PM Modi announces extension of lockdown till 3 May, economy to open up gradually in lockdown 2.0. Available from: URL: https://www.livemint.com/news/india/pm-modi-announces-extension-of-lockdown-till-3-may-11586839412073.html.

7. 2 More Weeks of Lockdown Starting May 4. Available from: URL: https://www.ndtv.com/video/news/news/2-more-weeks-of-lockdown-starting-may-4-547282.

8. Centre extends nationwide lockdown till May 31, new guidelines issued. Available from: URL: https://www.tribuneindia.com/ news/nation/centre-extends-nationwide-lockdown-till-may-31-new-guidelines-issued-86042.

9. Sharma, Neeta. Unlock1": Malls, Restaurants, and Places Of Worship To Reopen June 8. Available from: URL: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/lockdown-extended-till-june-30-malls-restaurants-can-reopen-from-june-8-except-in-containment-zones-2237910.

10. Data about Coronavirus cases is available from: URL: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/india/.

11. Nicola Maria et al. The socio-economic implications of the corona virus pandemic (COVID-19): A review. International Journal of Surgery. 2020; 78:185-193.

12. Dulk L et al. National context in work-life research: A multi-level cross-national analysis of the adoption of workplace work-life arrangements in Europe. European Management Journal. 2013; Available from: URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/ article/abs/pii/S0263237313000704.

13. Manka, ML. The joy of work. Helsinki: WSOYpro. 2011.

14. Seligman M. Authentic happiness. London: Nicholas Brealey Publishing. 2003

15. Veenhoven R. How universal is happiness? In International differences in wellbeing by Diener E, Helliwell J & Kahneman D (eds.). New York, Oxford University Press, 2010: 328-355.

16. Salerno S. Ignorance of Bliss, Skeptic. 2010; 16 (1):52-59.

17. Seligman Martin (2018): PERMA and the building blocks of well-being, The Journal of Positive Psychology, Available from: URL: https://ppc.sas.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/ permawellbeing.pdf.

18. Manka, ML. The joy of work. Helsinki: WSOYpro. 2011.

19. Kaul Aditi and Sen Chandrani. Engaged Workforce: A Key Ingredient for Happiness at Work. Indian Journal of Psychological Science, 2015; 5 (2): 42-45.

20. Roy Rituparna and Konwar Juthika. Workplace Happiness: A Conceptual Framework. International Journal of Scientific & Technology Research, 2020; 9(1).

21. Kazmi Syed et al. COVID-19 and Lockdown: A Study on the Impact on Mental Health. Available from: URL: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3577515.

22. Downes Jason. Managing and reducing stress in the workplace. Available from: URL: http://hrnews.co.uk/managing-and-reducing-stress-in-the-workplace/.

23. Bean Sara. Good working relationships and less stress are key to workplace happiness. Avilable from: URL: https:// workplaceinsight.net/interpersonal-relationships-and-less-stress-are-key-to-workplace-happiness/

24. Prasad K et al. Effect of Occupational Stress and Remote Working on Psychological Wellbeing of Employees: An Empirical Study during Covid-19 Pandemic with Reference to Information Technology Industry around Hyderabad. Avilable from: URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/ 341778937_Effect_of_occupational_stress_and_remote_working_on_psychological_well-being_of_employees_an_empirical_analysis_during_covid-19_pandemic_concerning_information_technology_industry_in_hyderabad.

25. Naseem Khalida. Job Stress, Happiness and Life Satisfaction: The Moderating Role of Emotional Intelligence Empirical Study in Telecommunication Sector Pakistan. Avilable from: URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323165473_Job_Stress_Happiness_and_Life_Satisfaction_The_Moderating_Role_of_Emotional_Intelligence_Empirical_Study_in_Telecommunication_Sector_Pakistan.

26. Tasnim Zerin. Happiness at Workplace: Building a Conceptual Framework. World Journal of Social Sciences. 2016; 6(2): 62 – 70

27. Kolar Carrie. Workplace Happiness and Employee Motivation. Available from: URL: https://blog.rpoassociation.org/blog/ workplace-happiness-and-employee-motivation

28. Fisher Cynthia D. Happiness at Work. International Journal of Management Reviews, 2010); 12:384–412

29. Tasnim Zerin. Happiness at Workplace: Building a Conceptual Framework. World Journal of Social Sciences. 2016; 6(2): 62 – 70

30. Maheshwari Prateek et al. An empirical approach to consumer buying behavior in Indian automobile sector. Industrial and Commercial Training. 2016; 48:156-162.

31. Bean Sara. Good working relationships and less stress are key to workplace happiness. Available from: URL: https:// workplaceinsight.net/interpersonal-relationships-and-less-stress-are-key-to-workplace-happiness/

32. Tasnim Zerin. Happiness at Workplace: Building a Conceptual Framework. World Journal of Social Sciences. 2016; 6(2): 62 – 70

33. Rao G V et al. A study on Factors of Workplace Happiness. Asian Journal of Management. 2018; 9 (1): 251-260.

34. Boehm J. K. and Lyubomirsky S. Does Happiness promote Career Success ? Journal of Career Assessment. 1991; 20(10):1–16.

35. Andrew S S. S.M.I.L.E.S.: The differentiating Quotient for Happiness at Work. 2011, Available from: URL: https://www.happiestminds.com/whitepapers/smiles-differentiating-quotient-for-happiness-at-work.pdf

36. Suojanen Ilona. Work for your happiness - Theoretical and empirical study defining and measuring happiness at work. Thesis, 2012. Available from: URL: https://www.utupub.fi/ bitstream/handle/10024/84847/gradu2012Suojanen-Ilona.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.

37. Streimikiene D and Grundey D. Life Satisfaction and Happiness–The factors in Work Performance, GUEST EDITORIAL, Economics & Sociology. 2009; 2(1): 9-26.

38. Mohammed, Abdulquddus & Abdul, Quddus. (2019). Workplace Happiness and Positivity: Measurement, Causes and Consequences. Available from: URL: https:// www.researchgate.net/publication/333386417_Workplace_Happiness_and_Positivity_Measurement_Causes_and_Consequences.

Received on 24.06.2020 Modified on 20.07.2020

Asian Journal of Management. 2020;11(4):407-412.

DOI: 10.5958/2321-5763.2020.00062.1