ABSTRACT

Purpose

The most recent health crisis, COVID-19, has been the greatest disruptor to society in centuries. This disruption has significantly impacted how business-to-business organizations conduct business. These disruptions may create changes in work-related attitudes and perceptions for business-to-business employees. However, due to the recency of the pandemic, there is a lack of published comparison studies on employee attitudes and perceptions. Specifically, the overarching research question in this study investigates if differences between pre-pandemic and mid-pandemic exist for ten work-related attitudes and perceptions.

Methodology/approach

Quantitative survey data using a Qualtrics panel was collected from currently employed business-to-business salespeople from two different time periods. The first survey of three hundred sixty-one participants was completed pre-pandemic (2018) while the second survey of three hundred five participants was completed mid-pandemic (late-2020). All measures were taken from the extant literature using a seven-point scale.

Findings

Overall, out of ten constructs investigated, five significant differences were identified. Results found that employees mid-pandemic experienced higher levels of organizational support and personal accomplishment than employees pre-pandemic. These employees experienced lower levels of work-family conflict, emotional exhaustion, and turnover intentions mid-pandemic compared to pre-pandemic. No statistically significant differences existed between pre-pandemic and mid-pandemic employees’ attitudes and behaviors for supervisory support, engagement, depersonalization, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment.

Contribution of the article

This is the first study that has compared the impact of a global health crisis on business-to-business salespeople’s job-related attitudes and behaviors. This study is important because it highlights the impact that a health crisis can have on employees within the organization. In a time of great negativity and uncertainty, these results showcase how a pandemic may have also positively impacted organizations, especially as it relates to the sudden adoption of new technologies. For sales organizations, we provide guidance on ways organizations can be successful post-pandemic.

中文翻译：

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在全球健康危机中，企业对企业的员工是否更加投入或倦怠：一项比较研究

摘要

目的

最近的健康危机 COVID-19 是几个世纪以来对社会的最大破坏。这种中断极大地影响了企业对企业组织开展业务的方式。这些中断可能会改变企业对企业员工的工作相关态度和看法。然而，由于大流行的新近，缺乏关于员工态度和看法的已发表比较研究。具体而言，本研究中的首要研究问题调查了大流行前和大流行中期之间是否存在十种与工作相关的态度和看法的差异。

方法论/方法

使用 Qualtrics 面板的定量调查数据是从两个不同时期的当前雇用的企业对企业销售人员那里收集的。对 361 名参与者的第一次调查在大流行前（2018 年）完成，而对 305 名参与者的第二次调查在大流行中期（2020 年末）完成。所有措施均采用七点量表从现有文献中获取。

发现

总体而言，在调查的十个结构中，确定了五个显着差异。结果发现，与大流行前的员工相比，大流行中期的员工经历了更高水平的组织支持和个人成就。与大流行前相比，这些员工在大流行中期经历了较低水平的工作-家庭冲突、情绪衰竭和离职意向。大流行前和大流行中期员工对监督支持、敬业度、人格解体、工作满意度和组织承诺的态度和行为之间没有统计学上的显着差异。

文章投稿

这是第一项比较全球健康危机对企业对企业销售人员与工作相关的态度和行为的影响的研究。这项研究很重要，因为它强调了健康危机对组织内员工的影响。在一个充满负面和不确定性的时代，这些结果展示了大流行如何也可能对组织产生积极影响，尤其是当它与新技术的突然采用有关时。对于销售组织，我们提供有关组织如何在大流行后取得成功的指导。