Right Working Relationships, Psychological Distress and Perceived Organizational Performance While Working From Home: Evidence from Employees in Lagos, Nigeria, during COVID-19

The COVID-19 lockdown of 2020 moved many Nigerian employees into working from home (WFH) for the first time. This study examines how psychological distress experienced while WFH relates to right working relationship (RWR) behaviour, reflected in social support and communication, and to employees’ perceptions of organizational performance. A cross-sectional online survey distributed through snowball sampling in 2021 produced 333 responses, of which 205 came from adult employees working in Lagos State who had worked from home during the pandemic. Study-specific measures were assessed with exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and the hypotheses were tested with structural equation modelling and non-parametric group comparisons. Psychological distress while WFH was negatively associated with RWR behaviour (β = −0.36, p < 0.001) and with perceived organizational performance (β = −0.35, p < 0.001). RWR behaviour was positively associated with perceived organizational performance (β = 0.54, p < 0.001) and partly carried the association between distress and performance (indirect β = −0.19, 95% CI [−0.31, −0.08]). Distress did not differ significantly by gender, age, seniority, job experience or sector. Irregular power supply (66%) and unreliable internet access (55%) were the factors most often reported as affecting job performance. Organizations designing WFH policies in Nigeria should treat employee mental well-being as a performance issue and invest in regular communication, peer and supervisor support, and reliable infrastructure.