Exploring Employee Motivational Factors and Strategies During Pandemic: A Case of Telecom Industry Pakistan
The rising trends of employee well-being and talent retention directed organizational attention toward human capital management. Employee motivation has remained a concern for organizations to stay competitive in a dynamic corporate environment. This paper explores employee motivational factors and strategies telecom companies used to encourage their employees' morale and performance during the pandemic (crisis). To provide theoretical support, we used Hertzberg's theoretical framework. We collected the data through in-depth semi-structured interviews with 12 working employees of the telecom sector in Pakistan using a non-probability purposive sampling approach. After achieving data saturation, we transcribed the recorded interviews and generated the themes using the guidelines of Miles et al. (2018). The results suggest that the factors that encouraged employees were financial security, health insurance, job security, teleworking options, work-life balance, supervisor support, career opportunities, recognition, and achievement. Besides, the strategies used by the companies were work-from-home options, helpline centers, and e-learning opportunities. The study is one of the few attempts to address employee well-being and motivation in the context of the telecom sector in Pakistan. The findings of this study provide insights to human resource management specialists in developing talent retention and employee well-being policies during crisis times.