Prof. Theo Bastiaens

Keynote COVID-19 and the workplace: The good, the bad, and the ugly

COVID-19’s impacts on workers and workplaces across the globe have been dramatic. This broad review of prior research rooted in work and organizational psychology is intended to make sense of the implications for employees, teams, and work organizations.

Parallel Session 1: Dealing with COVID-19 and other crises: A JD-R perspective

This presentation uses Job Demands–Resources (JD–R) theory to understand how organizations and their employees can deal with COVID-19 and other crises in the workplace. The presentation will depart from the crisis management and sensemaking literature. Consequently it will zoom in on the process through which jobs and employees are influenced by macro factors (i.e., the pandemic, crises in general), and discuss how leaders may cope with the crisis by engaging themselves in a process through which they manage the internal and external demands and resources.

Parallel Session 2: COVID-19 and working from home

This session will address research on practices, (dis)advantages and challenges when working from home during COVID-19.

Parallel Session 3: COVID-19 and adaptabilty

In this interactive session Van Dam’s Adaptability model will be discussed. Questions involve what we can(not) learn from our current responses and adaptability during the COVID-19 pandemic. Can this be captured in a (possibly modified) model?

Parallel Session 4: Leadership in times of crisis

Based on a web-survey among 2845 respondents in Belgium at the start of the second corona wave (July 2020), two issues are analysed. First, did the Corona crisis affect the job characteristics of those at work, when looking at the basic Karasek dimensions (workload, autonomy, social support)? Second, did the crisis affect the perception of job insecurity at two levels: personal and at the national level?

Parallel Session 5: Work related changes due to COVID-19: impact on job characteristics and (national level) insecurity

Based on a web-survey among 2845 respondents in Belgium at the start of the second corona wave (July 2020), two issues are analysed. First, did the Corona crisis affect the job characteristics of those at work, when looking at the basic Karasek dimensions (workload, autonomy, social support)? Second, did the crisis affect the perception of job insecurity at two levels: personal and at the national level?

Parallel Session 6: Well-being of employees during the 1st months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Flanders: a diary study

We conducted a longitudinal study to examine the well-being of Dutch-speaking employees in the Belgian region of Flanders during the first part of the Corona-pandemic. Data about factors related to work and individual well-being were collected on 13 measurement times between March 20 and August 4, and reached 641 unique respondents.

Dr. Marijntje Zijen
Prof. Maria Peeters