Employee Commitment and Its Change in the Aviation Company Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Saarinen, Emilia (2022)
2022
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022052211036
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022052211036
Tiivistelmä
COVID-19 pandemic has affected the travel industry drastically. Traveling stopped and many employees in the industry lost their jobs permanently or temporarily. The industry might not feel safe and steady anymore for working.
The objective of the thesis is to discover how committed and dedicated employees in the aviation industry are to the company they are working for and has the level of commitment changed due to the pandemic. In addition, the aim is to discover how employees, who are working on the aviation industry, have experienced the impact of COVID-19 pandemic and how it has affected their work. The author also hopes to discover how employees see the future of aviation and will they see themselves working in the industry in the future. Research question of this thesis is: “How committed employees are to their organization?”. Sub-questions of the thesis are: “Has the pandemic changed the commitment level somehow?”, and “How employees of the industry see the future of aviation?”.
The theoretical framework of this thesis consists of two chapters. Focus of the first chapter is on employee commitment. The objective of that part is to introduce and explain the concept of employee commitment and its different levels. The second chapter focuses on the general impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the travel industry and especially on aviation, both in Finland and worldwide.
The results of the thesis were conducted using a quantitative research method. The chosen method was a questionnaire, using an online platform called Webropol. The survey was sent to the employees from two different units of the chosen aviation company via email, between weeks 16-18 in April 2022. The target group was approximately 300 employees. The data was collected and analyzed by using a charts and tables from Webropol.
Based on results, the level of the employee commitment of the chosen company is quite good, but it could be better, and there are things that should be improved within the organization. Some employees were very uncommitted. On the other hand, some employees defined themselves very committed to the organization. COVID-19 pandemic has slightly affected the commitment level, but the effects are not as massive as expected. The majority of the employees trust the future of aviation, but they emphasized that the recovery process will take time, especially now, when the Ukrainian war complicates the situation in aviation industry.
The objective of the thesis is to discover how committed and dedicated employees in the aviation industry are to the company they are working for and has the level of commitment changed due to the pandemic. In addition, the aim is to discover how employees, who are working on the aviation industry, have experienced the impact of COVID-19 pandemic and how it has affected their work. The author also hopes to discover how employees see the future of aviation and will they see themselves working in the industry in the future. Research question of this thesis is: “How committed employees are to their organization?”. Sub-questions of the thesis are: “Has the pandemic changed the commitment level somehow?”, and “How employees of the industry see the future of aviation?”.
The theoretical framework of this thesis consists of two chapters. Focus of the first chapter is on employee commitment. The objective of that part is to introduce and explain the concept of employee commitment and its different levels. The second chapter focuses on the general impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the travel industry and especially on aviation, both in Finland and worldwide.
The results of the thesis were conducted using a quantitative research method. The chosen method was a questionnaire, using an online platform called Webropol. The survey was sent to the employees from two different units of the chosen aviation company via email, between weeks 16-18 in April 2022. The target group was approximately 300 employees. The data was collected and analyzed by using a charts and tables from Webropol.
Based on results, the level of the employee commitment of the chosen company is quite good, but it could be better, and there are things that should be improved within the organization. Some employees were very uncommitted. On the other hand, some employees defined themselves very committed to the organization. COVID-19 pandemic has slightly affected the commitment level, but the effects are not as massive as expected. The majority of the employees trust the future of aviation, but they emphasized that the recovery process will take time, especially now, when the Ukrainian war complicates the situation in aviation industry.