Technostress and Employee Performance Nexus During COVID-19: Training and Creative Self-Efficacy as Moderators

Abstract

Technostress, a stressor, has implications for employee's psychological states; however, flexibility like work from home can have positive outcomes, especially for instructors who have to teach and ensure social distance during COVID-19. The present study examined the relationship of technostress and employee performance while taking training and creative self-efficacy as boundary conditions. A sample of 222 university instructors, who worked from home or hybrid (home and workplace) during COVID-19 lockdown, was selected from Pakistan. The responses were recorded using a closed-ended questionnaire. Stepwise linear regression and PROCESS Macro by Hayes (2013) was used to analyze the data. It was revealed that technostress, instead of having adverse effects, had a positive effect on employee's performance and both training and one's creative self-efficacy significantly moderated the relationship. As the main finding, it was revealed that the employees continued to perform well despite the prevalence of technostress. The training and one's creative self-efficacy were useful to control the technostress and maintain the performance of instructors during COVID-19. The university administrators and employees must take technology as a positive tool for performance. The training, along with creative self-efficacy, adds to the working capacity of employees and enhances their performance.