The Influence of Working from Home on Job Performance among Academicians in Kelantan

12, No. 2022, Pg. Abstract This paper discusses the mediating effect of work motivation on the influence of work from home (WFH) and job performance during Covid-19 among academicians in public universities in Kelantan. COVID-19 is a global issue, forcing governments around the world to take action to stop the spread of the deadly virus. Most companies have followed government regulations to work from home. However, the effect of WFH on the job performance of employees remains debatable. The WFH discussion is always related to electronic communication. The main shortcoming of electronic communication is its information richness level, defined as the extent to which a medium of communication can create heterogeneity of information content between different frames of reference. Working from home also creates a feeling of isolation among employees, caused by less interaction among employees and their co-workers, supervisors, and manager. There is little research on this topic from a Malaysian perspective, especially from the perspective of academicians in Kelantan. Hence, this study aims to assess the effect of working from home on job performance and how it affects academicians’ performance by using work motivation as mediating variable. A correlational study is selected for this research. The total population of academicians at five (5) Public Institutions of Higher Education (PIHE) in Kelantan is 2059. 322 academicians will be selected as a sample size using stratified sampling as the sampling technique. The researchers will use the non-experimental research and the instrument is a set of established questionnaires from previous studies. The collected data will be analyzed using SPSS version 20. A new research model will be developed from this study which will contribute significantly to business practitioners’ knowledge, especially for the academicians in Malaysia who need to measure the effectiveness of their WFH policy during the pandemic. It can also serve as a fundamental input for governments and companies to decide whether to promote a WFH policy or seek other alternatives.

COVID-19 outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. Since then, the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted our daily lives, where we see significant and ongoing person-toperson spread in multiple countries around the world (Savić, 2020). Within days of the outbreak, work from home (WFH), until then practiced sporadically by companies and organizations, has become compulsory for the sake of physical and financial survival. To avoid the spread of the virus and protect workers, governments around the world have instructed employers to close their offices and enable employees to work from home and telecommute. It is estimated that more than four out of five people (81 percent) in the global workforce of 3.3 billion are affected by full or partial workplace closures (Savić, 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic has driven boundless physical distancing to curb the spread of the virus. Many organizations have scaled back or ceased operations in the regular workplace because of government-mandated closures and stay-at-home orders, due to concerns for the health of their workers, or a lack of clients (Arora & Srinivasan, 2020). Some employees are able to transition to remote work almost effortlessly. However, some employees believe that performing regular work activities from home is impractical, forcing many workers to become unproductive or hunt for a new job. Investigating the possible and effective home-based work behavior of employees is crucial for evaluating the costs and benefits of virus containment policies and for formulating optimal reopening strategies. The COVID-19 pandemic is a global issue, forcing governments around the world to take action to stop the spread of the virus. One of the actions taken is social distancing policy. As a consequence of this policy, schools, workplaces, tourist attractions, and even some public transportation have been closed indefinitely. Many companies have followed government regulations to work from home. However, the effect of WFH on the job performance of employees remains debatable (Bick, Blandin & Mertens, 2020), thus creating a research gap. Researchers have argued that workers can work from home by utilizing video conference platforms for communication. It can make them feel safe from the risk of contracting the coronavirus. WFH also allows employees to be more adjustable in making appointments and running errands. Furthermore, they do not need to spend time or money on commuting. Office workers who work from home also enjoy increased autonomy. This refers to the extent to which a job allows one to make decisions on how to complete the work. Another benefit of working from home is the chance for employees to modify or choose their workplaces. Arora and Srinivasan (2020) argue that telecommuting will work well when the nature of the job is portable, or it can be done online. Therefore, job performance in a telecommuting environment is heavily affected by the characteristics of the job itself. However, researchers like Ipsen et al (2021) argue that WFH also has disadvantages such as lack of supervision, and therefore the possibility of miscommunication increases. Other disadvantages of WFH are no physical separation between work and personal time, and home may be a boring work environment. These disadvantages can create uncertainty which impacts job satisfaction, and lack of satisfaction can lead to lower performance among employees, as gauged by the company's key performance indicators. It is generally understood that employee performance plays a crucial role in a company's success, and an employee who is satisfied with his or her work performs better than one who is not (Bick et al., 2020). In the public sector, civil servants have done well WFH, and it will definitely be a long-term policy beyond the pandemic (Public Service Department, 2020). Once the Movement Control Order (MCO) was imposed at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020 and people began WFH, the public sector swiftly adapted to this culture. A circular was issued by the Public Service department to improve the public service delivery system and to strike a balance between fulfilling work duties and employee well-being. Ultimately, the department believes that the benefits of WFH far outweigh its challenges (Public Service Department, 2020). WFH has improved staff mental well-being, happiness, and motivation, which resulted from a better work-life balance. The department's main concern is to ensure that WFH will not be misused by civil servants and its implementation will not affect the quality of service delivered. Those who work from home must comply with rules such as remaining at home and being contactable at any time during work hours. WFH can also be seen as a stepping stone towards further digitalizing public service. At present, most ministries and government agencies have embarked on increased digitalization to ensure that more services can be made online. In this study, work motivation is expected to explain the relationship between WFH and job performance. The WFH discussion is always related to electronic communication. Despite its convenience and accessibility in the modern era, many studies (Bick et al., 2020;Susilo, 2020) have shown evidence of its relative flaws when compared to face-to-face communication. The main shortcoming of electronic communication is its information richness level, defined as the extent to which a medium of communication can create heterogeneity of information content between different frames of reference (Nisar et al., 2019). Besides electronic communication, working from home also creates a feeling of isolation among employees. The perception of being isolated is mainly caused by less interaction among employees and their co-workers, supervisors, and manager. Employees may not get recognition and support when needed, and this may lead to employee dissatisfaction, as their social needs cannot be fulfilled by working from home (Bick et al., 2020). Another negative consequence of the WFH policy is a feeling of receiving less recognition for achievements (Susilo, 2020). Workers find it more difficult to exhibit their work ethic and have achievements recognized by their manager when all communication is conducted electronically. The limitation exists because when employees work from home, they usually submit their work when it is ready, but their manager does not see the process involved. Some employees may work overtime, but their work is only judged by the result, not by the difficulties that employees overcame during the process. The last change is work-life balance. When workers work from home, it is nearly impossible for them to separate work from family time, especially during the coronavirus pandemic because all family members are at home and have the freedom to structure their activities. Susilo (2020) contends that when the boundary is blurred, employees are exposed to numerous disturbances by family matters, preventing them from focusing on their work and fulfilling their role in their organization completely. It is also highly probable that family problems can influence their mood at work when everything happens in the same place and time.

Problem Statement
Governments around the world have responded to COVID-19 by implementing the WFH policy to reduce the transmission of the virus from one person to another. People have also been asked to do social distancing in all daily activities. As Malaysia is seriously affected, the government has taken the initiative to implement the WFH policy in the whole country. With the outbreak of COVID-19, WFH arrangements have been implemented globally in sectors where services can be delivered online (Arruda, 2020). Working from home reduces exposure to COVID-19 for staff and the need to commute to workplaces. To reduce the spread of COVID-19, the Malaysian government has urged Malaysians to social distance, and where possible, to conduct activities at home, including learning and working from home (Osman et al., 2020).
As part of the WFH program, HR managers are responsible for providing support for the implementation and supervision of work from home. In line with this requirement, a recommendation to study and work from home was issued by the Minister of Higher Education (Osman et al., 2020). It is required that learning activities in schools and higher learning institutions in the COVID-19 affected areas are to be carried out at home, and academic staff and students are instructed to stay off-campus. As a result of the current COVID-19 outbreak, universities around the world are moving towards online education as campuses are fully or partially closed. Travel bans, campus closures, and social distancing measures have forced university students and staff into their homes for teaching and learning, which has required them to adapt to working and studying remotely. University teaching staff in infected countries and regions are now delivering their lectures online and administrative tasks are being completed online, and meetings are also organized online. In terms of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), the International Association of Universities (IAU) indicated that 67% of HEIs around the world have replaced their classroom with online distance teaching and learning (Ibrahim et al., 2020). Similarly, Afrianty et al (2021) reported that 50% of higher education professionals in universities across the globe have switched some of their scheduled courses online. This number is only set to increase as the coronavirus continues. In a very short time, teaching and administrative staff, management, and students have had to accommodate remote teaching, learning, and administration, and in many cases without prior experience. As mentioned before, the Ministry of Higher Education has instructed that learning activities in schools and higher education institutions in the COVID-19 affected areas to be carried out at home through online distance learning. At the beginning of the pandemic in Malaysia, around March 2020, almost all universities in Malaysia had to switch their activities from offline and on-campus face-to-face delivery to online and remote delivery. Teaching and learning were supported by cloud technology and software that supported program delivery and interaction, such as tutorials and workshops, assessments, and meetings. Lecturers at public institutions of higher learning in Malaysia, particularly in the state of Kelantan, face issues related to job performance. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to examine the influence of WFH on job performance among academicians in public universities in Kelantan in response to COVID-19. The factors are grouped into organizational and individual factors. To the best of the researchers' knowledge, there are a minimal number of published studies involving academician job performance in Kelantan during COVID 19. Organizational factors identified from the literature as being potentially relevant to impacting job performance included IT training, digital infrastructure, and management support. The contribution of this research is that it examines a forced and dramatic change in work routines because of the COVID-19 crisis and the application across the workforce, not to selected individuals. There is a contextual significance behind the research since tertiary education plays a strategic role in Malaysia in terms of employment, training, skills, and development. Finally, since this is an emerging economy context, and while Malaysia is an emerging economy in Southeast Asia, it does have social, religious, and cultural conditions that differ from those found in Western economies, and this contributes to the importance of the study (Osman et al., 2020). The debate about the effectiveness of WFH caused companies to reluctantly implement the program. Therefore, scholars have been motivated to study the benefits of WFH. There are previous studies related to virtual office and telecommuting, such as (Bick et al., 2020;Susilo, 2020). Nevertheless, a WFH policy during the COVID-19 crisis is not the same as telecommuting. The biggest difference is in its limitations on work locations. While telecommuters can work in other comfortable areas such as coffee shops, people can only work in their homes during the pandemic. Thus, they will also be distracted by family matters because isolation does not only affect employees; it affects all family members. The widespread implementation of WFH will allow researchers to gather data from companies that are ready for telecommuting and, more importantly, from companies that are not ready for it and are still struggling to adapt (Sultana et al., 2021). Moreover, there is little research on this topic from a Malaysian perspective, especially from the perspective of academicians in Kelantan. This study aims to assess the effect of working from home on job performance and answer how it affects academicians' performance by using work motivation as mediating variable. Work motivation is mediated in the relationship between WFH and academicians' performance. Motivation is a link in job performance, and various stressors can be an excuse for employees not to be motivated at work. In research conducted by Bastari et al (2020), the reward has a positive and significant and indirect effect on performance through motivation. It can be interpreted that motivation can mediate between the effect of WFH on performance. The new research model will contribute significantly to business practitioners' knowledge, especially for the academicians in Malaysia who need to measure the effectiveness of their WFH policy during the pandemic. It can also serve as a fundamental input for governments and companies to decide whether to promote WFH policies or seek other alternatives. The original contribution of this study lies in its questionnaire that will be adapted to changes caused by COVID-19.

Research Objectives
To achieve the aim of the study, the following objectives are formulated: 1. To investigate the influence of work from home on job performance among academicians at five public higher education institutions in Kelantan.
2. To investigate the mediating role of work motivation in influencing the relationship between work from home and job performance among academicians at five public higher education institutions in Kelantan.

Research Questions
1. To what extent do work from home influence job performance among academicians at five public higher education institutions in Kelantan? 2. To what extent does work motivation mediate the relationship between work from home and job performance among academicians at five public higher education institutions in Kelantan?

Literature Review Job Performance Theory
According to Boyatzis and Boyatzis (2008), the founder of the theory of action and job performance, performance in an organization is influenced by three main factors: individual, organizational environment, and job demand. The first factor is the individual, which consists of the vision, values, philosophy, knowledge, nature, competencies, career path, style, and interests of the workers. The second factor is the organizational environment, which comprises the culture and climate, structure and systems, industrial maturity, strategic position, core competencies, and the greater context. The third factor is the job demand, which consists of duties, functions, and roles of each member of the organization. The theory of action and job performance indicates that the best performance (best fit) can be realized through the components of individual factors, the environment, and the roles and tasks carried out by human resources, including leaders in an organization (Boyatzis, 2008). Value, trait, style, and knowledge supported by the organizational environment can push leaders to fulfill their role in completing tasks and functions aimed towards achieving the best organizational performance. A workforce that has skills and knowledge can influence organizational performance positively. This underpins the theory of this research. The researchers choose work motivation as the factor of job performance while job demands are not considered to fit the context of this research because the work-from-home employees had already been recruited before the policy was imposed. Therefore, there is no change to the employee's job description before and after the policy was imposed.

Work from Home
Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, in his speech on 16 Mac 2020, declared the Movement Control Order (MCO), prohibiting movement and mass assembly nationwide. It was a strategic step taken by the government to prevent the coronavirus outbreak in Malaysia. As a result, the WFH policy was introduced. Since then, the policy has received mixed reactions, especially from employees. Not all jobs are suitable for WFH and some organizations are not ready to implement the WFH system. It is recommended that companies and businesses use some applications to support WFH activities for maximal results. Currently, the WFH policy is a follow-up to the Prime Minister's appeal at a press conference in Putrajaya on 31 May 31 2021, who asked Malaysians to work, study, and worship from home to minimize the spread of COVID-19. According to Service Circular Number 5/2020, Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Zuki Ali states that the WFH order is to lessen the number of individuals having faceto-face contact to curb the COVID-19 infection. All meetings and discussions must be held online through a safe and secure medium (Public Service Department, 2020). In addition, there are prohibitions on face-to-face activities that involve many participants to be postponed or canceled. Previously, a number of private companies in Malaysia also issued a work from home policy. Every organization has its policies, such as dividing two teams that alternately work at home and in the office. Work from home is also applicable for sick employees or those who have just come back from traveling abroad. Employees can also work from home for a few days due to workplace sanitization. Preventative steps that can be taken are grouped into three categories: companies which can temporarily stop all business activities, companies which can temporarily reduce some of their business activities, and companies that cannot halt their business activities, such as those related to health services, food and beverage, and fuel oil (BBM). Since the first positive case of COVID-19 was discovered in Malaysia and COVID-19 has been declared a pandemic by WHO, the government has taken steps to reduce the spreading of COVID-19 by practicing physical distancing. This limitation of social interaction is carried out by issuing policies of study, work, and worship at home. Since March 16, 2020, following the government's appeal, several companies in Malaysia have implemented the WFH policy.

Work Motivation
There are several contributing factors that influence employees' motivation to work. Rewards and recognition and also communication are among the factors identified by previous literature. Rewards and recognition system is an important tool the management can use to channel employees' motivation in desired ways. In other words, reward systems seek to attract people to join the organization to keep them coming to work and motivate them to perform at high levels (Guterresa et al., 2020). Based on a study on the impact of rewards and recognition towards motivation by Saputra, Hayat, Ardyansyah, and Palupiningtyas (2021), managers can provide recognition to employees by having informal talks like asking about their families and other crucial aspects of their personal lives and spending time with them in the form of a combined dinner or other activities. When effective rewards and recognition are practiced within an organization, a favorable working environment is produced that can motivate employees to excel in their performance. Another study from the China University of Geosciences found that money possesses significant motivating power as much as it symbolizes intangible goals like security, power, prestige, and a feeling of accomplishment and success (Aydin & Tiryaki, 2018). In contrast, a previous study conducted by Bakker, Du and Derks (2019) revealed that financial rewards are not the most motivating factor. Several past studies also found that money is not the most important motivator to encourage employees to work. In some instances, managers have found money to have a demotivating or negative effect on employees. Other than rewards and recognition, communication is also one of the motivational factors that can motivate employees to work. Effective communication channels are also used in organizations to enhance the motivation of employees. The purpose of communication is to understand other people better. Managers can also stimulate motivation by giving relevant information, communicating with other employees and showing them a good attitude (Bakker et al., 2019). Positive perceptions around company communications can boost motivation levels among current employees and foster employees' understanding of work (Saputra et al., 2021). Open communication will also make employees feel appreciated by the organization, thus making them loyal to the organization and retaining them. Consequently, this situation will increase the work motivation level among employees (Guterresa et al., 2020).

Work from Home and Job Performance
Previous studies suggest that telecommuting positively affects job performance and is considered the most relevant literature to form a hypothesis for this research. Researchers argue that working from home can create a more flexible work environment because employees feel free to arrange their work schedule and workplace environment (Purwanto et al., 2020). Their personal needs and taste can be fulfilled because they can customize their working area according to their personality (Nisar et al., 2019). A previous study conducted by Kumar et al (2021) also suggests that telecommuting can increase job performance. When employees work from home, they do not need to spend time, money and energy on going to the office or on business trips. They also enjoy not having to wear formal attire during working hours, which allows them a greater match between their work persona and true selves. Telecommuters are less stressed, and therefore, less likely to change jobs leading to lower staff turnover; they are also more satisfied with their daily job activities (Jahanshahi et al., 2020). Moreover, another study suggests that the relationship between telecommuting and job performance is curvilinear, which means its effect will be positive at a lower level of telecommuting (around 15.1 hours per week). However, when employees spend a large among of time telecommuting, their performance can decrease due to social and professional isolation. The curve is flatter for jobs that are highly independent (Nisar et al., 2019). In line with the results of previous studies, this research posits the following hypothesis: H1. Working from home has a positive and significant effect on Job Performance

Work from Home and Work Motivation
When employees work from home, their work motivation is higher because of two primary reasons: productivity and personal life. Employees find it easier to increase their productivity because when they telecommute, they can avoid traffic jams and transportation expenses, and they can even live in a cheaper location such as a suburb, even if it is not close to their office (Moretti et al., 2020). They also have a chance to take care of private affairs during working hours, enabling them to seek higher fulfillment of personal life (Charoensukmongkol & Phungsoonthorn, 2020a). Telecommuters have the ability to modify and customize their own work environment; therefore, it can increase their job performance. Working out of their office can also eliminate the time and cost they need to spend on work. It also creates a feeling of freedom that makes employees feel satisfied, and therefore it affects their job performance (Andriani, 2020). Employees with higher levels of telecommuting tend to have higher work motivation than those who have lower levels of telecommuting. Thus, it can increase their performance (Susilo, 2020). Charoensukmongkol and Phungsoonthorn (2020b) argue that high motivation can assist workers in achieving work satisfaction. There are two types of motivation that exist in a workplace: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation arises from inside the individual and there is no need for stimulation from the company or other people. The individual has their reasons to feel motivated and the factors involved in intrinsic motivation are different. Extrinsic motivation arises outside the individual and requires intervention from a company to stimulate the motivation. This could include a reward, bonus, free lunch, or other incentives. A study by Hamzah et al (2021) revealed that work motivation is strongly correlated with job satisfaction. Furthermore, they also suggest that it is important for companies to understand how to motivate their employees because it can increase employee happiness and job satisfaction, eventually leading to performance gains. In line with the results of previous studies, this research posits the following hypothesis: H2. Work from Home has a positive and significant effect on Work Motivation

Work Motivation and Job Performance
Motivation is one of the factors affecting the performance of employees (Andriani, 2020). Motivation takes the form of the attitude of a worker in coping with situations. Motivation is a circumstance that moves from employees who are directed to attain organizational goals.
It is an effective choice to enhance employees' performance by increasing their motivation for both personal and organizational goals (Sultana et al., 2020). The increase in work motivation of employees is an influential factor in increasing work efficiency and productivity, which is widely understood as a characteristic of good job performance (Arora & Srinivasan, 2020). The positive contribution of work motivation to job performance has also been suggested by Gottlieb, Grobov, and Poschke (2020), who previously examined the effect of work environment and work motivation on performance. According to Gottlieb et al (2020), job satisfaction mediates the effect of work motivation and environment on job performance. Organizational goals have a higher chance of being achieved when employees are highly motivated to do their job. Work motivation is an inner strength that encourages employees to achieve personal and organizational goals (Lindner, 1998). Previous findings have proven that individuals who are motivated in their work will have a positive impact on improving their performance (Guterresa et al., 2021). The importance of motivating civil servants in public organizations has been discussed in previous studies (Huynh, 2021;Saputra et al., 2021). The motivation of public services refers to the motives of employees to do good for others and shape people's welfare (Gottlieb et al., 2020). This also means trust, values, and attitudes that go beyond self-interest and the interests of the organization. Therefore, companies should pay close attention to it. In line with the results of previous studies, this research posits the following hypotheses: H3. Work Motivation has a positive and significant effect on Job Performance H4. Work Motivation mediates the effect of working from home on Job Performance

Sampling Technique
The researcher will fully utilize stratified sampling as the sampling technique for this study. Stratified sampling is suitable when a population possesses a mixed characteristic to ensure that every characteristic is proportionally represented in the sample (Mweshi & Sakyi, 2020). According to Mweshi and Sakyi (2020), stratified sampling is when the population is divided into subgroups (known as strata) by using relevant characteristics, for example, job role, gender, and income. This is supported by Rahi (2017), who explains that stratified random sampling refers to a process whereby each subgroup known as strata is given equal opportunities to be randomly selected. He also emphasizes that stratified random sampling gives equal proportionate representation to each stratum. The calculation for the stratified sampling is shown below.

Sampling Size
According to Taherdoost (2017), the sample size is an important feature of empirical research in that the objective is to produce inferences regarding a particular population from a sample. He later explains that a random sample is required to possess an adequate size in order to generalize from a sample that is random and to avoid any errors in the sampling. Meanwhile, a very small sample size is not a proper representative of the population (Salkind, 2010).
Hence, an appropriate sample size is required for any future research. In contrast, Sekaran (2013) views that a sample size that is too big is not appropriate to be used in a study due to the issues where a particular finding is basically accepted when it is supposed to be rejected. Krejcie and Morgan's (1970)

Research Design
A research design can be defined as the structure of research in which it acts as the "glue" that binds the entire elements of a particular research together (Akhtar, 2016). In the scope of the research design for this study, the researcher will use non-experimental research, which includes descriptive, historical, correlational, and quantitative. As stated by Inaam Akhtar (2016), quantitative research can be defined as a method used for research that aims at obtaining data through open-ended questions and conversations with the intended sample frame. This method aims at establishing not only "what" people think but "how" did they come to that opinion as well as "why" they are thinking like that. Thus, for this study, the researcher intends to use quantitative method for collecting data, utilizing a set of questionnaires to collect the data. Under the non-experimental research, a correlational study is selected. According to Salkind (2018), a correlational study is designed to present indications on how two or more items are connected, the similarities they might share or how good one or more input holds the possibility to predict an output. He also explains how to measure the strength of the relationship by incorporating the numerical index called the correlation coefficient. Hence, a correlational study will be put in focus and adopted to examine the mediating effect of work motivation on the influence of work from home during COVID-19 and job performance among academicians in five Public Institutions of Higher Education (PIHE) in Kelantan.

Instruments
As explained by Salkind (2010), instruments are used by the researcher as measurement tools in order to collect, measure, and analyzed data that are relevant to the study. He also stresses that the instruments used must be able to assist in answering the research aims, objectives, and research questions, as well as proving or disproving the hypothesis of the study. In this study, the instrument that will be used is a set of established questionnaires from previous studies. A meeting will be arranged with the representative from each of the public universities and a discussion will take place to brief them regarding the project. Then, the questionnaire will be constructed by using Google Form and distributed for a certain period at the five Public Institutions of Higher Education (PIHE) in Kelantan. According to Roopa and Rani (2012), a questionnaire can be utilized for any research. This clearly shows the flexibility and usefulness of adopting questionnaires in research, especially this quantitative research at hand.

Data Analysis
The tool used by the researcher to analyze the data collected is Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 20. The researcher will use this tool to perform the analysis and to answer the research questions. Landau and Everitt (2003) state that SPSS can analyze descriptive statistics and correlation will be used to portray and explain the analysis, which includes percentage, frequencies, mean, median, and mode. In addition, SPSS tools software is capable to support and present with the illustration of tables, graphs, and pie charts. Hence, this proves that SPSS is a suitable tool to analyze the data in this study. This is supported by Gogoi (2020), who clearly states that the SPSS program is an actively utilized software for statistical data analysis in the scope of social science.