Factors Affecting Work Performance During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Empirical Study from Indonesia

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of the principal's democratic leadership style, teacher competency, work discipline, and work environment on teacher performance during the pandemic. Using the proportional random sampling strategy, a sample of 468 respondents consisted of kindergarten teachers, elementary school teachers, junior high school teachers, junior high school teachers, and high school/vocational school teachers. The study revealed that the principal's democratic leadership style, teacher competence, work discipline, and work environment substantially impact teacher performance. However, the principal's democratic leadership style does not affect teacher performance, whereas teacher competence, work discipline, and work environment have a minor impact on teacher performance. Furthermore, during the COVID-19 pandemic, work discipline is the most critical variable influencing teacher performance. The findings of this study suggest that the principal's democratic leadership style, teacher competence, work discipline, and work environment have a positive impact on teacher performance during the pandemic. During the COVID-19 pandemic, work discipline is the most important variable influencing teacher performance. Considering that democratic leadership has no effect on teacher performance and that this leadership style is widely used by school principals in the world of education, it is assumed that there is no effect on teacher performance.

1. Introduction and Research Background

In December 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic made its way to Indonesia and caused significant disruptions to all aspects of life, including the economic, business, government, and education sectors. It quickly became apparent that this pandemic would alter lives and cause devastation as the death toll continued to rise. Globally, 1.6 billion students experienced significant disruption to their education through temporary school closures and an eventual shift to an online learning platform, generally referred to as remote or hybrid learning (Lake, 2020). COVID-19 has forced all sectors, including education, to reevaluate whom and what they value and how they operate. COVID-19 presents a crisis characterized by the abrupt closure of schools and transition to online learning, frequently referred to as remote or, when combined with some face-to-face learning, hybrid learning. What is unprecedented about this crisis is that it is not an isolated or static event experienced by one community at a time but rather a shared event that all are experiencing simultaneously in an ongoing manner. The traditional setting for schools has been abruptly changed and has forced leaders to evaluate their leadership practices, along with school schedules and procedures (Harris, 2020). This crisis can be defined as an adaptive challenge, meaning new learning is required to make changes so that an organization may thrive (Fernandez & Shaw, 2020; Heifetz et al., 2009).

While there is an emerging body of research on COVID-19 and educational leadership (Fernandez & Shaw, 2020; Garbe et al., 2020; Harris, 2020; Harris & Jones, 2020; Netolicky, 2020; Zhao, 2020), more research is still needed to learn about the unprecedented nature of the crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, more research is required to understand what leaders can do to effectively lead their organizations through this change and the new reality of schooling in the United States. The continued need to understand how leaders can best adjust their leadership practices or approaches to help their schools, teachers, and students succeed in a time of uncertainty and change. Leadership process has led to different theoretical approaches throughout the years. Teachers who have a positive outlook typically work under a leadership style they enjoy (Shamaki, 2015). Shamaki (2015) highlighted that in educational leadership, various techniques significantly impact teacher performance and effectiveness in the classroom. The democratic leadership style focuses on teamwork, collaboration, conflict management, and influence. Democratic leaders are willing to distribute responsibilities among team members. Input from all stakeholders is encouraged and valued for decision-making processes. This particular leadership style encompasses various perspectives with an impact on the overall function of an organization through the setting of common goals, visions, and themes (Razak et al., 2015). Although using democracy in organizations seems to be losing popularity, some research shows democracy is one of the most effective, productive, and shared leadership styles utilized (Razak et al., 2015).

During a pandemic, various elements that can be used as indicators of good performance can impact teacher performance. School leadership that can address problems and becomes the captain of organizational entities are just a few of the skills that can be seen. The most popular leadership type at Karmel Foundation schools is democratic leadership. Democratic leadership is a leadership style in which a leader stresses the power of decision-making with the active engagement of participants or subordinates (Ismail, 2018). During a pandemic, democratic leadership takes on a different shape than usual. During the epidemic, all school communication types are conducted through electronic media, such as cellphones. Teachers are expected to have skills in line with evolving to carry out their responsibilities effectively. Online learning activities are carried out in all Indonesian schools, including Karmel Foundation schools, using meeting applications such as Zoom, Google Meet, Skype, and others. Because the ability to conduct online lessons via electronic devices is an essential requirement during a pandemic, teachers’ skills or competencies influence their work, particularly during the pandemic.

Work discipline can be seen in compliance with timeliness implementation of established procedures such as arriving on time, orderly, and regularly. Punctuality can be an issue at school, especially during the pandemic, even though the online learning process can help with work discipline. Given that, in a pandemic, reducing the number of lesson hours in a single day makes the material more challenging to deliver. Good discipline can encourage work enthusiasm and work spirit and support planned goals. Employee performance improves when there is good work discipline. On the other hand, if work discipline is bad (Vipraprastha et al., 2020). A supportive work environment is also required to support effective leadership and high work discipline on teacher performance. A relaxing and peaceful work environment can boost performance in all aspects of an individual’s life. The work environment is ”everything around employees that they can influence when carrying out their duties.” The working environment significantly impacts teacher performance (Lubis, 2020).

The work environment consists of a physical work environment, that is, a work environment with physical dimensions (coloring, spatial planning, cleanliness, lighting), and a non-physical work environment (Salbiyah, 2020). However, there are concerns about the performance of teachers who have not been performing their duties to the best of their abilities. This issue can occur in any region of Indonesia. In reality, there are still teachers who are not disciplined in their learning activities, such as being late in beginning online learning because they believe it is not done face-to-face. Learning materials and materials are still provided in a monotonous and uncreative manner. There are still many teachers who administer and evaluate subpar student evaluations. Problems that arise in Indonesia due to teachers’ less-than-optimal performance in learning activities during the pandemic. Based on data obtained from the Karmel Foundation Office in the staffing section on January 20, 2021, it was discovered that approximately 58 percent of teachers’ performance was still less than optimal in carrying out their duties. During these observations, which took place from April 29 to 30, 2021, it was discovered that there were still issues with teacher performance that were not optimal, resulting in learning activities that were not optimal during the pandemic. It can be seen that ineffective leadership reduces teacher performance during the pandemic. It was also discovered at the Karmel Foundation school that there was a lack of discipline in the work of teachers in the smooth learning process.

The democratic leadership style of the principal has a significant impact on teacher performance. The principal’s leadership style substantially impacts the teacher’s performance situation. Policies, decisions, methods, methods with teachers and their subordinates, and decision-making behavior all impact teacher performance—the better principal’s leadership style, the better the teacher’s version (Sari, 2020). A democratic leadership style involves involving subordinates in every decision-making process as much as possible so that subordinate performance can be measured. Control activities on teacher performance are carried out in an orderly and responsible manner in a democratic leadership style. The principal’s democratic leadership style will then support teachers’ performance in carrying out their duties (Amelia, 2019). The effect of the principal’s democratic leadership style on the performance of junior high school teachers in Palopo City’s Bara subdistrict has a low coefficient of determination.

Based on previous research, it can be concluded that the principal’s democratic leadership style had a significant effect on teacher performance in normal routine conditions without a pandemic at the time the research was conducted (Maharani, 2020). The role of the teacher is to educate, teach, guide, and train students. Educating entails instilling and developing life values, whereas teaching entails developing science and technology and training students to provide and guide skills. This vital role can be seen in the teacher’s task performance (Setyanti, 2020). Quality teachers are built on adequate competencies that a teacher must possess. Good teacher competence will lead to good performance because everything the teacher does requires good competence so that the work does not encounter obstacles and is completed correctly. Teachers must meet the expected competency qualifications according to existing regulations for teaching and learning to be implemented smoothly (Mukhatar, 2020). Additionally, teacher competence has a significant impact on teachers at the Purwobinangun State Elementary School, Sei Binhai District, Langkat Regency (Winata, 2020)

Besides, the principal must maintain good work discipline because teachers who practice work discipline set an excellent example for their students and the community. However, if the teacher has good work discipline, all learning processes conveyed by the teacher can be said to run smoothly (Srisiska, 2021). The learning process will proceed by the provisions if there is good work discipline. Teachers’ work discipline is also closely related to obeying instructions when implementing school regulations in their duties and responsibilities. Disciplined teachers will encourage their students to follow all applicable laws. Teachers who start and end the learning process on time are examples of teachers who have expressed their performance. The effect of work discipline on teacher performance was researched using 45 teachers from private vocational high schools in Cimahi City as respondents. The findings found that work discipline had a significant effect on teacher performance, influencing 19 percent of teacher performance. In comparison, the remaining 81 percent was influenced by other factors not investigated (Utari & Rasto, 2019). But, Ex post facto research with a quantitative approach, sampling with Proportional Cluster Random Sampling, and data analysis with multiple regression analysis are all part of her research. Based on the findings of the research and discussion, it is possible to conclude that partial motivation has a positive influence on teacher performance, work discipline has a minor impact on teacher performance, and there is a significant influence of both motivation and work discipline on the performance of elementary school teachers in Cilacap regency. Efforts to improve motivation and work discipline must be made in tandem to enhance teacher performance (Astuti, 2017).

Improving teachers’ performance in their duties and responsibilities is essential. The work environment encourages the teacher to feel secure and at ease when completing assignments and tasks. The work environment in a school and its surroundings must be considered because a work environment that provides teachers with a sense of security and comfort can improve teacher performance. A good working environment assists teachers in completing their tasks while not impeding their performance. On the other hand, a poor performance environment makes a person hesitant to carry out their responsibilities because they feel insecure and uneasy (Susanti, 2021). An unfavorable work environment necessitates more effort and time to complete tasks and does not promote efficient performance. The working environment for teachers and staff was adequate and conducive. Teachers and administrators at Jakarta Adventist schools were well compensated and performed well. The work environment has a 34.0 percent influence on performance, while other factors influence the remaining 56 percent. Compensation has a 70.0 percent influence on the performance of teachers and staff, while other factors influence 30.0 percent. The work environment and balance have a 34.9 percent influence on performance, while 65.1 percent is affected by outside factors (Notty, 2021). But, the Saturated Sampling technique was used to select 60 people from each of the Kindergarten, Elementary School, Junior, and Senior High School units for this study. The scale of the work environment and the competencies and instruments for evaluating teacher performance from the Ministry of National Education were used to collect data. The data was analyzed using the Analysis of Variance test and the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 25.0 for Windows. The study’s findings show that the work environment does not affect teacher performance as measured by the Kruskal Wallis difference test (Nugraha, 2020).

2. Research Methodology

2.1. Participants

Based on administrative data (employment information system) from the Karmel Diocese of Malang, the population 

of participation is made up of education staff and teachers in Karmel foundation schools, which are divided into kindergarten teachers, elementary school teachers, junior high school teachers, and high school/vocational school teachers, totaling 468 people. The sampling technique of this research is the proportional random sampling technique at the school level. In random sampling, each school in the population has the opportunity to be a sample. Proportional is used to determine the number of models at each school level. The number of pieces studied from 468 people with a precision of 7.5% is 130 people.

2.2. Instruments

There are stages in analyzing descriptive and quantitative research that can reveal research results, such as creating a questionnaire distribution table and analyzing question-naires by calculating the percentage of each variable in the study. Techniques for collecting data are critical in the research process. This is related to research on how researchers collect data by applicable regulations. A data collection method is a method or technique for gathering information through various activities that have been demonstrated to be effective, such as questionnaires, interviews, observations, tests, literature studies, documentation, and others. The researcher used a questionnaire/questionnaire to ask questions about the variables included in the scope of the study. Questionnaires are written and distributed to respondents via Google Forms and alternative answers. The collected data is then analyzed using the SPSS version 24 application by describing the descriptive data that explains the characteristics of the independent variable, specifically the independent variable to the dependent variable. Then, examine the classical assumption test, designed to determine whether or not the research regression model meets the classical assumptions and to test the hypothesis, namely the f test, t-test, and dominant test.

3. Results

Genders, age, years of service, and education are the characteristics of respondents. Male respondents in this study amounted to 48 with a percentage of 36.9 percent, while female respondents amountrateith 63.1 percent. Respondents aged 30–40 years comprised 38 people with a rate of 29%, respondents aged 41–50 years contained 85 people with a percentage of 65%, and respondents aged 51–60 years comprised five people with a rate of 5%. Respondents with a service period of fewer than five years are one person with a percentage of 1%, while respondents with a service period of 5 years to 10 years are 20 people with 1%.

The Pearson correlation was used in this study to determine the relationship between the principal’s democratic leadership style, teacher competence, work discipline, work environment, and teacher performance.

Table 1 depicts the Democratic leadership style of the principal, teacher competency, work discipline, work environment, and teacher performance of teachers in Karmel Foundation schools. Table 1 shows a positive relationship between the principal’s democratic leadership style, teacher competence, work discipline, work environment, and teacher performance. This is due to the principal’s democratic leadership style having a correlation coefficient of 0.343, teacher competence having a correlation coefficient of 0.699, work discipline having a correlation coefficient of 0.734, and the work environment having a correlation coefficient of 0.691. Furthermore, at the 5% significance level, this study determined that the observed relationship between principal democratic leadership style, teacher competence, work discipline, work environment, and teacher performance was statistically significant (p = 0.05). This is because the p-value is less than 0.05. This suggests that improving the principal’s democratic leadership style, teacher Competence, Work Discipline, and Work Environment improves teacher performance and vice versa.

Table 1: Correlation Analysis Results

More research is needed to examine if the principal’s democratic leadership style, teacher competency, work discipline, and work environment all affect teacher performance at Karmel Foundation School of the Diocese of Malang. The multiple linear regression analysis determined whether the independent variables affected the dependent variable. The multiple regression analysis models and an autocorrelation test using the Durbin-Watson (DW) method between principal Democratic leadership style, teacher competency, work discipline, work environment, and teacher performance are shown in Table 2.

Table 2: Model Summary for Family Factors and Educational

The model’s R-value is 0.810, indicating a moderate relationship between the values of the principal’s democratic leadership style, teacher competence, work discipline, and observed and predicted work environment. This simply indicates that the model is a good fit for the data. The obtained R-Square value of 0.641 suggests differences in the principal’s democratic leadership style, teacher competence, work discipline, and work environment factors contribute to 64.1% of the teachers’ performance at the Karmel Foundation School Diocese of Malang.

The adjusted R-Square value shows that simply adding a predictor variable to the regression model raises predictability less than expected. This is probably because the adjusted R-Squared is less than the R-Squared Value. Because its standard error estimate is less than 1.00, the presented model is accurate in its predictions (approximate standard error of 0.72643).

Table 3 shows the DW value of 1.744 and the values of du and dl from the Durbin Watson table, namely, the value of du, is 1.774, the value of dl is 1.6508, and the value of 4-du is 2.226. Then dl < DW < du (1.6508 < 1.744 < 1.744) indicates that there is no conclusion. Further study is needed to find whether regression models simultaneously have statistically significant prediction power. It was established using analysis variance, as shown in Table 3.

Table 3: Durbin Watson (DW) Method and Autocorrelation Test Results

Table 4 shows whether or not all independent variables affect the dependent variable. The results of the Anova calculation obtained information about the calculation of Fount of 55.898 and signed 0.00. In determining the F table, it is necessary to know df one and df 2. It is known that df 1 = 4 (K–1 = 4) and df 2 = 126 (N-df1 = 130 – 4, which is 126). By knowing df one and df 2, the F table is 2.44, resulting in the calculation of F arithmetic > F table, which is 55.898 > 2.44 with a significance level (probability) of 0.00 less than 0.05. It can be concluded that all variables simultaneously affect teacher performance. Table 4 shows whether all the independent variables together influence the dependent variable or not. Table 5 shows whether or not all of the independent variables have a partial (individual) influence on the dependent variable, which is known to influence. Table 5 is the result of T table = 1.979 (N = 130 and df = 125).

Table 4: ANOVA Analysis Results

Table 5: Regression Analysis Results

Table 5 shows the results of the t-test of the principal’s democratic leadership style on teacher performance, having a value of 0.241 and a significant value of 0.810. Then it can be concluded that Account < Table = 0.241 < 1.979. This means that the principal’s democratic leadership style does not affect teacher performance. According to the findings, the correlation coefficient between the principal’s democratic leadership style variable and teacher performance is 0.627, indicating a strong relationship. The significant contribution is 45.15%. Meanwhile, teacher competence in teacher performance has a value of 2, 428 and a significant value of 0.017. So it can be concluded that T_count > T_table = 2.428 > 1.979. This means that teacher competence affects teacher performance. The results of the t-test of work discipline on teacher performance have a value of 4.432 and a significant value of 0.00. So, it can be concluded that T_count > T_table = 4.432 > 1.979. This means that work discipline has an effect on teacher performance. The results of the t-test of the work environment on teacher performance have a value of 3.995 and a significant value of 0.00. So, it can be concluded that T_count > T_table = 3.995 > 1.979. This means that the work environment has an effect on teacher performance. Table 6 represents the dominant test, where the dominant variable can be determined by analyzing the beta coefficient and the largest T_count value. Table 6 shows the dominant variable that produces it.

Table 6: The Dominant Test Results

Table 6 shows that the value of the most outstanding effective contribution of each variable in providing the dominant influence is work discipline by 28%. This indicates that Karmel Foundation teachers are on time when changing classes offline or online, ask for permission if they are absent, and have harmonious relationships with colleagues. With good work discipline, teacher performance in completing tasks and responsibilities improves. Work discipline was identified as the dominant variable in this study, supported by research by [20], who stated that good discipline could encourage work enthusiasm and support the achievement of planned goals. Good teacher performance is the result of good work discipline. Work discipline, on the other hand, results in less-than-optimal employee performance. In this case, compliance can be seen in terms of timeliness and the implementation of established procedures such as arriving on time, in order, and regularly. Punctuality can be an issue at school, especially during the pandemic, even though the online learning process can help with work discipline. Given that, in a pandemic, reducing the number of lesson hours in a single day makes the material more challenging to deliver. Punctuality in completing teaching assignments is critical in the distance learning process.

4. Discussion

Principal democratic leadership style and teacher performance, with a regression coefficient of –0.16. The Democratic Leadership Style of the Principal, negatively influences teacher performance variables. This means that every unit decreases. The democratic leadership style of the principal will improve the performance of Karmel Foundation teachers in the Malang Diocese. The effect of the Principal’s Democratic Leadership Style on teacher performance has a value of 0.241 and a significant value of 0.810. Then it can be concluded that T_count < T_table = 0, 241 < 1, 979. This means that the principal’s democratic leadership style does not affect teacher performance. This result is different from Sari (2020), which states that the principal’s democratic leadership style influences teacher performance. The research shows that the correlation coefficient between the principal’s democratic leadership style variable on teacher performance is 0.627 with a strong relationship level. The big contribution is 45.15%. Dewi (2015) agrees, stating that the principal’s democratic leadership style influences teacher performance. Meanwhile, according to Dewi (2015), the principal’s democratic leadership style does not affect teacher performance. According to the research findings, there is an influence of democratic leadership style on teacher performance. Still, there is no influence of the principal’s democratic leadership style on teacher performance due to various other factors such as influence, decision making, and information delivery. In this study, democratic leadership style has no effect on teacher performance because school principals have always used democratic leadership style in education, so it is assumed that it has no effect.

The regression coefficient of Teacher Competence of 0.366 indicates a positive influence on the teacher performance variable, meaning that every increase of one unit of teacher competence will improve the performance of teachers at the Karmel Diocese Malang Foundation. The influence of teacher competence on teacher performance is 2.428 and has a significant value of 0.017. So, it can be concluded that T_count > T_table = 2.428 > 1.979. This means that teacher competence has an effect on teacher performance. This finding is consistent with Astuti’s (2017) findings, which claim that teacher competency has an effect on teacher performance. According to the findings, the influencing variable has the count of 15, 715 and is at the table of 2, 039. Meanwhile, Mukhtar (2020) stated that teacher competence had a 75.80 % positive and significant effect on teacher performance. According to research findings, there is a significant influence of teacher competence on teacher performance because the teacher’s ability is the foundation for being able to perform the tasks that must be completed. Teachers must have teacher competence because every teacher must have competence in accordance with the provisions set by the government as a method of standardizing the ability of teachers in schools, especially during the pandemic. Teachers must be technologically savvy to carry out their responsibilities effectively. During the pandemic, all schools conduct online learning activities using the meeting application. Because the ability to conduct online lessons via electronic devices is a basic requirement during a pandemic, teachers’ abilities or competencies influence their work.

The work discipline regression coefficient of 0.524 indicates a positive influence on the teacher performance variable, implying that each increase in one Work Discipline unit improves teacher performance at the Karmel Diocese of Malang. This finding is supported by Lestari (2019), who claims that work discipline has a significant impact on teacher performance. The study found that the work discipline variable has a correlation coefficient value of 0.752 and a magnitude of 56.6 %. According to research findings, there is a significant effect of work discipline on teacher performance because it has an impact during the pandemic if work discipline is applied properly. Work discipline was identified as the dominant variable in this study, which was supported by research by Vipraprastha et al. (2020), who stated that good discipline could encourage work enthusiasm and support the achievement of planned goals. A good work ethic results in good teacher performance. Work discipline, on the other hand, leads to subpar employee performance. In this case, compliance is demonstrated by timeliness and the execution of established procedures such as arriving on time, in order, and regularly. Punctuality can be an issue at school, particularly during the pandemic, even though the online learning process can help with work discipline. Considering that, in the event of a pandemic, the reduction in lesson hours in a single day makes the material more difficult to deliver. Punctuality in carrying out teaching assignments is critical in the distance learning process. Personal awareness, including responsibility, and the resulting level of quality of the tasks carried out responsibly by the teacher will produce satisfactory quality for all elements of the institution because they have been adjusted to the standards that have been set during normal conditions and the pandemic.

The work environment regression coefficient of 0.231 indicates a positive influence on the teacher performance variable, indicating that every unit increase in the work environment improves teacher performance at the Karmel Diocese of Malang Foundation. This finding is supported by Sari (2020), who asserts that the work environment has a significant impact on teacher performance. According to his findings, the Work Environment variable has a count of 2.804. Meanwhile, Lubis (2020) claims that the work environment influences teacher performance, citing a Product Moment correlation coefficient (ryx) of 0.617 and a coefficient of determination (ryx2) of 0.380. However, it differs from Nugraha (2020), who claims that the work environment has no effect on the performance of teachers at the Hidayatullah Educational Institution Samarinda. Based on the results of research, it is known that the work environment has a significant effect on teacher performance because during the pandemic it plays an important role. Teachers have a different environment during the pandemic period with an online system where teachers carry out their duties and obligations not at school but outside school.

5. Conclusion

According to the findings of this study, the principal’s democratic leadership style, teacher competence, work discipline, and work environment have a positive impact on teacher performance at the Karmel Diocese of Malang Foundation school during the pandemic. However, the principal’s democratic leadership style 00000has no effect on teacher performance, whereas teacher competence, work discipline, and work environment all have a minor impact on teacher performance at the Karmel Diocese of Malang during the pandemic. During the COVID-19 pandemic, work discipline is the most important variable influencing teacher performance. Considering that democratic leadership has no effect on teacher performance and that this leadership style is widely used by school principals in the world of education, it is assumed that there is no effect on teacher performance. Principals should not only have a democratic leadership style, but also a servant leadership style in which they can share their knowledge and prioritize the needs of teachers in carrying out their duties by providing support and job evaluation when conducting online learning. In-depth research with larger sample size is required to better study the teacher performance during the COVID-19 pandemic.