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COVID-19 pandemic: the impact on the Napa Valley wine industry workers

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COVID-19 pandemic: the impact on the Napa Valley wine industry workers

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Content COVID-19 Pandemic: The Impact on the Napa Valley Wine Industry Workers
by
Lyn Kelly
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
May 2023
Copyright 2023 Lyn Kelly

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Acknowledgments
First and foremost, I am deeply grateful to my husband, son, mom, and aunt for their
unwavering, unconditional love, support, and belief in me. None of my accomplishments in life
would have been possible without each of you, past and present. I thank you, and I love you!
I would like to express my sincere gratitude for the support offered by my work family.
Your flexibility and insightfulness have helped at every stage of the process, and for that, I thank
you from the bottom of my heart.
Special thanks to the girls: What can I say? You never doubted that this could be
accomplished from the first day it was mentioned. Cheers!
I would like to extend my sincere thanks to my proofreader for that second pair of eyes
and for your insightful comments and suggestions.
This dissertation would have remained a dream had it not been for my study group. May
the Red Robe Society live on forever and the friendships last a lifetime.
I am indebted to some exceptional professors, Dr. Wilcox and Dr. Datta. Your passion
and support are something I will never forget. And all we needed to do was “Trust the Process.”
Dr. Adibe and Dr. Hirabayashi, thank you for your ongoing support and guidance. You truly help
make dreams a reality.

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Table of Contents
Acknowledgments........................................................................................................................... ii
List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. v
List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ vi
Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... vii
COVID-19 Pandemic: The Impact on the Napa Valley Wine Industry Workers ........................... 1
Context and Background of the Problem ............................................................................ 1
Importance of the Study ...................................................................................................... 3
Overview of Theoretical Framework and Methodology .................................................... 4
Literature Review................................................................................................................ 4
Well-Being Definition ............................................................................................ 5
Impact on Well-Being ............................................................................................. 7
Pandemic-Related Studies ...................................................................................... 7
Engagement................................................................................................. 9
Retention ................................................................................................... 11
Job Satisfaction ......................................................................................... 14
Stress ......................................................................................................... 16
Remote Work ............................................................................................ 18
Fatigue....................................................................................................... 21
Burnout ..................................................................................................... 22
Employee Effectiveness ............................................................................ 25
Leadership Support ................................................................................... 26
Organizational Culture & Strategy ........................................................... 28
Conceptual Framework ..................................................................................................... 30
Methodology ..................................................................................................................... 32
Research Setting.................................................................................................... 32
The Researcher...................................................................................................... 33
Data Sources ............................................................................................. 33
Validity and Reliability ......................................................................................... 39
Findings......................................................................................................................................... 40
Research Question 1: How have burnout, emotional exhaustion, and fatigue
impacted beliefs about employee effectiveness throughout the COVID-19
pandemic? ............................................................................................................. 41
Employee Effectiveness ............................................................................ 41
Burnout ..................................................................................................... 44
Emotional Exhaustion and Fatigue ........................................................... 45
Job Change ................................................................................................ 48
Research Question 2: What, if any, specific strategies have organizations and
leaders implemented that support the well-being of their employees during the
COVID-19 pandemic? .......................................................................................... 50
Leadership Support ................................................................................... 50
Organizational Strategy ............................................................................ 52
Employee Well-Being ............................................................................... 55
Recommendations ............................................................................................................. 57
Discussion of Findings .......................................................................................... 57
Recommendations for Practice ............................................................................. 63

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Limitations and Delimitations ............................................................................... 68
Recommendations for Future Research ................................................................ 69
Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 70
References ..................................................................................................................................... 71
Appendix A: Interview Protocol Guide ........................................................................................ 97
Appendix B: The Researcher ........................................................................................................ 99
Appendix C: Ethics ..................................................................................................................... 100
Appendix D: Protocols ................................................................................................................ 101
Screening Questions.................................................................................................................... 101
Appendix E: Codes ..................................................................................................................... 102
Appendix F: Definitions ............................................................................................................. 103

v
List of Tables
Table 1. Gender Demographics .................................................................................................... 35
Table 2. Ages of Participants ........................................................................................................ 35
Table 3. Years of Experience ........................................................................................................ 36
Table 4. Ethnicity .......................................................................................................................... 37
Table 5. Department...................................................................................................................... 38

vi
List of Figures
Figure 1: Conceptual Framework 32

vii
Abstract
The study’s purpose was to examine the COVID-19 impact on Napa Valley wine
industry employees and their experiences with burnout, emotional exhaustion, and job
effectiveness. The study further examined organizational strategies and leadership support that
positively or negatively impacted the employee’s well-being. The qualitative research design
involved two data collection methods: an online questionnaire to gather job-related criteria
screening and demographic information and semistructured interviews. Participants were 17
Napa Valley wine industry employees employed during the 2020-2022 calendar years.
Interviews were conducted remotely and recorded using Zoom (Version 5.11.10). The study
found the COVID-19 pandemic amplified pre-existing organizational dissatisfaction, with
several participants quitting their jobs without another job lined up. Employee burnout and
emotional exhaustion did not seem to impact perceived job effectiveness, even though burnout
and emotional exhaustion were present. Recommendations for practice include organizations
needing to address pandemic plans to improve communication and establish subject matter
experts to cascade regulations and requirements. Leadership support needs to increase
communication with their employees and establish check-ins to make sure they are meeting the
needs of their teams. Employees want to fundamentally believe that their organization and
leaders care about them.

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COVID-19 Pandemic: The Impact on the Napa Valley Wine Industry Workers
This study addressed the problem of the coronavirus (COVID-19) caused by severe acute
respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the impact on people’s lives and overall
well-being. The COVID-19 pandemic created high levels of occupational stress in organizations,
leading to negative effects on employee well-being; this large-scale social and economic change
has transformed the current organizational culture (Spicer, 2020). This study sought to examine
the effect of COVID-19 on employee well-being the Napa Valley wine industry.
Context and Background of the Problem
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused high levels of occupational stress in organizations,
negatively impacting employee well-being. The COVID-19 pandemic was a surprise to many
businesses, including the Napa Valley wine industry, and most wine industry businesses in Napa
Valley have not experienced a challenge like this before.
The Napa Valley wine industry is located in Napa County, one of the first counties
established in California in 1849 (Churchill, 2021). Napa Valley is an agricultural community
that moved to commercial vineyards in the mid to late 1800s (ABC Fine Wine & Spirits, 2021).
Tai et al. (2021) examined organizational and leadership practices implemented during
the COVID-19 pandemic that positively impacted the well-being of employees. This study
expands on Tai et al.’s work as it narrows the field of study to one specific geographical location
and industry. Organizational leaders and employees can benefit from the findings of this work, as
there are currently no COVID-19 related studies specific to the Napa Valley wine industry. This
study contributes to closing that gap.
California had the most wineries operating in the United States (10,472), as of January
2020, with 4,613 (Coyne, 2020). The COVID epidemic, unsurprisingly, has caused the wine
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industry to reevaluate the fundamentals of how they operate (Abramsky, 2021). At one of the
busiest periods of the year for Napa Valley agriculture, harvest, COVID-19 had a significant
impact on the agricultural workforce and the need to balance the demand for adequate, quick
testing with the necessity to keep a consistent labor force (Klobas, 2020). Napa’s unemployment
rate increased to 16% at the beginning of the COVID shutdown. Recent economic impact studies
predict COVID-19 will have a direct economic impact of between $5.9 billion and $8.6 billion in
2020 on California’s agricultural industry. According to preliminary Economic Development
Department (EDD) data, the number of jobs in the agriculture industry nationwide decreased by
2.4 million (13.4%) in April 2020 (Klobas, 2020). Numerous new personnel who have never
worked in the wine industry have been hired because of the pandemic, causing a high turnover
rate among winery staff (Abramsky, 2021). The COVID-19 pandemic has brought devastating
effects on both human life and economic development. The International Organization of Vine
and Wine (OIV) predicted wine consumption, along with average pricing, sales margins, and
employee retention, would drastically decline in the near future (Vergamini et al., 2021).
Even though wine is one of the most commonly consumed beverages globally (Gutiérrez-
Escobar et al., 2021), the pandemic has impacted the wine business, with worldwide wine
revenues falling by 14% in 2020 (Lu, 2020). Other problems, such as the devastation caused by
climate change and the emergence of bushfires in several of the world’s vital wine-producing
regions, are occurring alongside the devastating impacts of the pandemic on the wine sector
(Marco-Lajara et al., 2021). As a result, while the French area of Burgundy enjoyed its earliest
harvest season in history in 2020, California had four of the five largest fires in the last two
decades, and Australia’s 2019–2020 bushfire season was the country’s fifth deadliest in history
(Canavati et al., 2020). The impact of disruptive changes in the business environment’s external
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and internal conditions on winery strategies and their effects on performance reflects policy
needs to ease the sector’s continuous suffering (Vergamini et al., 2021).
The Australian wine sector has suffered from the crisis, with bushfires directly destroying
and smoke tainting vines and wineries in some locations. In addition, social isolation responses
to COVID-19 have reduced on-premise wine consumption. The bushfires, along with four
months of severe disruption due to the pandemic, lowered national economic welfare by $105
billion (Wittwer, 2020). France dominates the fine wine market, with Bordeaux and Burgundy
accounting for about half (50%) and a quarter (20%) of all fine wine sales in 2019; however, due
to the COVID-19 pandemic, the fine wine market in France may suffer significant consequences
(Cardebat, 2020).
The research questions for this study were
1. How have burnout, emotional exhaustion, and fatigue impacted beliefs about
employee effectiveness throughout the COVID-19 pandemic?
2. What, if any, specific strategies have organizations and leaders implemented that
support the well-being of their employees during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Importance of the Study
The importance of the study is the focus on employee well-being of the Napa Valley
wine industry employees during COVID-19. The reason this is important is that the pandemic
that shut the world down in 2020 revealed many gaps and opportunities for business leaders to
debrief and understand what worked well and what did not work well from an employee well-
being perspective. By focusing on this topic now, the lived experiences are still fresh in mind,
and organizations can benefit from having a study like this to capture those lived experiences in a
4

written document. Additionally, this study is significant because it can prepare the Napa Valley
wine industry for future business disruptions.
Overview of Theoretical Framework and Methodology
Social cognitive theory (SCT), which describes human behavior through environmental,
personal, and behavioral factors, is the theoretical framework used to examine this problem of
practice (Bandura, 1988). The research looked at the effects of COVID-19 on wine industry
employees and how the pandemic has affected their well-being. As a result, the pandemic setting
may be viewed as an environmental trigger that affects people’s personal and behavioral
processes, demonstrating how people respond to change and the impact on their well-being,
stress, and fatigue (Kursan Milakovi, 2021).
The approach to this study is a qualitative, phenomenological study. Through interviews,
the lived experiences will be analyzed to evaluate burnout, perceived stress, and pandemic
experiences and perceptions of employees who worked in the Napa Valley wine industry during
the COVID-19 pandemic between 2020 and 2021. The approach and design of this study are
well suited to explore the impact of the pandemic on wine industry employees.
Literature Review
COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2, has impacted people’s lives and overall well-being
(Zach, 2021). In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has created high levels of occupational stress
in organizations, leading to a negative impact on employee well-being. This large-scale social
and economic change has transformed organizational culture (Spicer, 2020).
This section includes a review of relevant research and a conceptual framework used to
collect data. First, the literature review explores how the COVID-19 pandemic has created high
levels of occupational stress in organizations, leading to a negative impact on employee well-
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being in the Napa Valley wine industry. It also examines organizational and leadership practices
implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic that impacted the well-being of employees.
Additionally, the review turns to Bandura’s (1986) SCT conceptual framework, following the
general research literature. This literature review supports this study and demonstrates where it
fills a gap and extends the research literature.
Well-Being Definition
Well-being has been a topic of discussion for decades, even before the COVID-19
pandemic. The history of employee well-being has emerged as employers found when they
create a better work environment that tends to the well-being of their employees, they can save
on healthcare costs and increase productivity. Mistry (2018) explained even as early as 1879, the
Pullman Company incorporated an athletic program into their workplace, and in 1926, Ford
Motor Company introduced the 40-hour work week to encourage work-life balance and increase
staff output. In the 19th and 20th centuries, employees demanded safer working conditions to
reduce the risk of illness, injury, and death while at work. Masi (2011) explained another tool
that emerged in the 19th and 20th centuries was the employee assistance plan (EAP), which
resulted from employers grasping the importance of helping their employees with everyday
challenges.
In the 21st century, it is not uncommon to see companies offer rewards and incentives for
employee wellness. The evolution of modern wellness programs has progressed from offering
fruit and biomedical screenings one week a year to companies providing free access to fitness
centers (some onsite), wellness coaches, and wellness experts who help employees thrive
mentally and physically (Mistry, 2018). According to Jones et al. (2019), there are more than 50
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million workers covered by workplace wellness programs in the United States. The intention is
to improve well-being, increase productivity, and reduce medical spending.
There are several definitions of well-being, and all point to an individual’s physical,
social, and mental well-being (De Simone, 2014). Wellness refers to a state of complete well-
being in mental, physical, and social aspects. It may also be defined as the daily practice of
healthy habits to reach psychological and physical health outcomes, enabling an individual to
thrive, not merely survive. Although there is more than one definition of well-being, the
researcher used the following definition: Well-being is an overall evaluation that individuals
make of their lives, in all essential aspects, often called subjective well-being (Diener et al.,
2009). Well-being also means being active in the process of making choices about one’s desire to
lead a healthy and fulfilling life. Emerson (1985) and Felce and Perry (1995) believed well-being
stems from individuals’ perceptions of their current situations and aspirations. In a recent study,
Ryan et al. (2021) recommended starting with the World Health Organization’s (WHOb)
definition of health as the presence of physical and psychological health and the absence of
disease (Sharp, 1947) to define employee well-being. According to Malhotra (2006), well-being
refers to a person's or a group's status in a certain environment; it could be a social, economic,
financial, or psychological state. According to Page and Vella-Brodrick (2009), employee well-
being is made up of three essential elements: (a) psychological well-being, (b) workplace well-
being, and (c) subjective well-being. The readiness of an employer to support optional activities,
such as work-from-home days, safety training, and leave policies, demonstrates the
organization’s dedication to putting effort and resources into promoting well-being (Subramony
et al., 2022). Companies have developed work-life balance initiatives to provide their staff with a
healthy working environment, such as gym subscriptions (Haridas et al., n.d.).
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Impact on Well-Being
A monumental study was conducted by Jones et al. (2019), who sought to answer two
questions. The first was to investigate the type of employees who use wellness programs. The
second was to understand the causal effects of workplace wellness programs specifically related
to employee productivity, health behaviors, medical spending, and well-being. They recruited
4,834 participants for their 2-year comprehensive study and found most employees participating
in the wellness program were those who made more money and had fewer health problems than
those that did not participate in the wellness program. The scholars also found the wellness
program increased screening rates; however, it did not have any effect on employee productivity,
health behaviors, or medical spending. Jones et al. (2019) reported, “Monetary incentives can
promote exercise” (p. 1,788) and exercise promotes a person’s healthy well-being; however,
employees that can benefit the most (i.e., people who smoke or are in poor health) were not
interested in participating, regardless of monetary incentives.
Pandemic-Related Studies
In this section, several studies are used to demonstrate the impact of the COVID-19
pandemic on well-being. Most research was conducted with hotel staff or healthcare workers.
There has not been any research on the pandemic and the wine industry in Napa Valley.
Therefore, this study will contribute to filling that gap.
While the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are still being determined, there
is little doubt that many people’s well-being has, or will have changed due to the pandemic
(Malinen et al., 2020). Isolation periods can affect the well-being of individuals (Taylor, 2019),
and some individuals have a greater risk of mental health issues that will also affect their well-
being (Reardon et al., 2019). COVID-19 has continued to disrupt the lives of individuals and has
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severe consequences for their health and well-being; however, Grawitch et al. (2020) confirmed
no differences between five countries (i.e., Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and
the United States) regarding the negative health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on well-
being. The pandemic has led to lessons about the importance of well-being, balancing work and
home responsibilities, maintaining a routine, and seeking support when needed (Brazeau et al.,
2020). During the COVID-19 pandemic, essential workers have had higher levels of impact on
their well-being due to their increased work demands, lack of personal protective equipment, fear
of contracting the virus, and fear of spreading it to others (Benhamou & Piedra, 2020).
Social distancing, work-from-home orders, travel restrictions, and temporary closures of
businesses have negatively impacted employee well-being by causing stress, anxiety, and
depression (WHO, 2020b). Bufquin et al. (2021) stated the pandemic has led to job losses,
affecting many employees’ well-being because they lost their livelihoods. Bufquin et al. also
revealed employees who continued to work in various industries after their colleagues had been
laid off suffered high levels of drug use, psychological distress, and alcohol use. Furthermore,
many workers reported insomnia, anxiety, grief, or depression. Additionally, 25.67% of medical
staff reported post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to COVID-19.
Employee wellness entails physical and mental fitness. Employees’ mental health and
physical wellness should be any organization’s priority. Occupational stress has been on the rise
due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, companies should invest in resources to ensure
employees remain healthy and acquire needed support (Otenyo & Smith, 2017). In addition,
many people have lost their jobs due to restructuring and salary cuts, affecting many employees.
Therefore, companies have used various employee well-being strategies to ensure productivity,
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among other benefits. When employees are motivated, there is generally an increase in
productivity, which positively impacts profitability.
Choi et al. (2021) conducted an 11-week study with 353,340 Korean participants who
took a daily survey to measure their well-being. Life satisfaction and life meaning and positive
and negative effects were examined in the survey. Their findings confirmed participants’ well-
being declined more in geographical areas with more COVID-19 cases. The daily survey
spanned the dates of January 20, 2020, through April 7, 2020. The researchers also found that
while well-being declined prior to the announcement of the worldwide pandemic in March, well-
being improved faster; however, after the announcement, the recovery period took longer for
well-being to improve. The scholars also found that well-being differed based on age and gender;
whereas, females and younger people showed more changes in their well-being than males and
older people (Choi et al., 2021).
There is a gap in the research on pandemic-related studies in the wine industry. This
section provides a sampling of studies related to the COVID-19 pandemic on topics related to
employee wellness, such as job satisfaction, employee engagement, retention, and occupational
stress.
Engagement
Engagement has been a catch phrase with companies for more than three decades. It is
believed that the concept of employee engagement started in 1990 by Kahn. In his article, Kahn
(1990) wrote of a belief that a person could use “varying degrees of their selves, physically,
cognitively, and emotionally, in work role performances, which has implications for both their
work and experiences” (p. 692). Kahn (1990) found the terms personal engagement and personal
disengagement inferred to how people “bring in or leave out their personal selves during work
10

role performances” (p. 694). Kahn (1990) defined “personal engagement as the harnessing of
organization members selves to their work roles,” explaining that an engagement employee
“expresses themselves physically, cognitively, and emotionally during work performances” (p.
694). Kahn (1990) defined “personal disengagement as uncoupling of selves from work roles”
and explained a disengaged employee will “withdraw and defend themselves physically,
cognitively, or emotionally during work role performances” (p. 694).
Gallup has tracked employee engagement since 2000. Heger (2020) reported 26% of
employees were engaged in 2000. Thirty-six percent were engaged on March 9, 2020; however,
that number dropped to 31% by June 1, 2020. Although the number was steadily increasing prior
to the pandemic, the number continues to fall years after the announcement of the worldwide
pandemic. Harter (2022b) reported the most recent survey included 14,705 employees. Of those
surveyed, healthcare workers and managers showed the largest decline in engagement. In this
same report, Harter (2022b) reported Gallup found
a sharp drop in the percentage of employees who strongly agree that their employer cares
about their overall well-being. Employee engagement is foundational to improving the
well-being and resilience of a workforce because it contains elements of communication,
caring, development, involvement, and collaboration. These elements set the stage for
developing trust – which opens the door for addressing overall well-being. (p. 9)
Rising COVID-19 cases have impacted employee engagement, depending on the
individual’s age, and leader support is crucial (Reinwald et al., 2021). Employee engagement
drives employee performance, achievement, and consistent annual improvement (Adhitama &
Riyanto, 2020). Adhitama and Riyanto (2020) stated engagement is not simply a phrase, and
there is evidence that engagement directly connects to an organization’s overall achievement.
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Organizations can improve the quality of employee performance through the management of
human resources (Riyanto et al., 2017). According to Adhitama and Riyanto, employee
engagement is an essential issue in any organization. As defined by Kahn (1990) and Truss et al.
(2006), employee engagement is a passion for work and a mental state. The COVID-19 pandemic
has increased human resource management challenges with engaging employees effectively
(Ahmed et al., 2020). Ahmed et al. (2020) showed employee engagement has had a significant
and positive impact on organizational performance and challenges human resource managers to
help the organization go virtual.
The COVID-19 pandemic may have caused many organizations to drop employee
engagement. According to Ahmed et al. (2020), human resource managers should establish new
ways of engaging their employees through consistent communication, knowledge, and
information-sharing practices. Ahmed et al. surveyed 400 faculty members of institutions of
higher learning to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on employee engagement
and the challenges faced by human resource managers in maintaining employee engagement.
The results indicated human resource managers employed more means of engaging their
employees than they did before the pandemic. The findings also revealed a positive correlation
between employee engagement and organizational performance.
Retention
Retaining talent is of major concern for employers because of the cost involved with
recruiting and training a new employee. According to Charaba (2022), the cost to replace an
employee varies by position; however, it could cost six to nine months of a manager’s salary to
replace them and possibly 100% to 150% of a technical employee’s salary to replace them. The
cost of losing an employee, also known as turnover or attrition, can include cultural impact,
12

customer service and errors, impact on employee morale, lost engagement, lost institutional
knowledge, lost productivity, onboarding costs, recruitment costs, and training costs. Exit costs
are also involved, and these costs include “recruiting, interviewing, hiring, orientation and
training, lost productivity, potential customer dissatisfaction, reduced or lost business,
administrative costs, and lost experience” (Charaba, 2022, para. 16).
The phrase quiet quitting became popular in 2022 after Creely 2022 coined the phrase in
a career coach video. The concept occurs when an employee does the bare minimum at work. It
is also a “rejection of the idea that work has to take over your life and that you, as an employee,
should be going above and beyond in your role” (Foster, 2022, para. 2). Gallup has reported that
at least half of the American workforce, if not more, consists of quiet quitters and that the
phenomenon is similar to being a disengaged employee (Harter, 2022a).
The Great Resignation is a phrase referring to the magnitude of people leaving their jobs.
The MIT Sloan Management Review analyzed data from 34 million workers in the United States
who left their jobs. There were 24 million Americans who left between April and September
2021, an all-time record. Sull et al. (2022) reported employees in the apparel retail business left
at more than three times the rate of those working with the airlines, health systems, or home
health care. They also found workers left Tesla three times more than workers left Ford, and
workers left SpaceX three times more than workers left Boeing. According to Sull et al., the
main predictors for the Great Resignation were toxic corporate culture, job insecurity and
reorganization, high levels of innovation, failure to recognize employee performance, and poor
response to COVID-19.
The Great Reshuffle is another phrase that has emerged since the pandemic of 2020.
Meister (2022) explained, “While more than 4.4 million Americans quit their jobs in February,
13

more than half of the workers who quit are switching their occupation or field of work, rather
than leaving the labor force altogether” (para. 1). According to Microsoft and the 2022 Work
Trend Index, which includes 31,000 participants in 31 countries, there are five trends that have
emerged since the pandemic (Bohan et al. 2022). First, 51% of employees stated they are willing
to prioritize their health and well-being over their work. As a result, 52% of Generation Y and
Generation Z employees are considering a change in their employment, also known as a
reshuffle. The second trend that emerged in the study is that 54% of managers believe their
leaders are out of touch with the expectations of their employees, causing managers to feel like
they are in a no-win situation. Third, 28% of employers had created team agreements defining
the “new normal” and the expectation of when and why to commute to the office instead of
working from home. The fourth trend was flexible work. The study revealed meeting time
increased 252%, chats increased by 32%, and the average number of hours a person worked
during the week and on the weekend also increased. The final trend was the rebuilding of social
capital, especially with a hybrid or remote work model. More than 40% of leaders indicated
relationship building was their greatest challenge.
The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged employee retention in many organizations.
According to Elsafty and Ragheb (2020), every organization’s role is to satisfy its employees’
needs ethically and professionally. One way to do this is retaining employees, even amidst tough
times created by the pandemic. Elsafty and Ragheb found the pandemic impacted the world’s
economy and challenged employee retention. They revealed the pandemic increased employee
layoffs in multiple positions, challenging employee wellness. Those who lost their jobs suffered
stress and mental health-related illnesses due to lost livelihoods. The pandemic also caused
14

employee absences due to the restrictions to curb the pandemic’s spread. All these factors zeroed
in on employees’ mental health and impacted their wellness negatively (Wen et al., 2020).
Job Satisfaction
Locke (1976) defined job satisfaction as “a pleasurable or positive emotional state
resulting from the appraisal of one’s job or job experiences” (p. 1,300). The concept of job
satisfaction is a well-researched and well-established topic (Rainey, 2014). One popular
quantitative instrument used to measure job satisfaction is the Minnesota Satisfaction
Questionnaire (MSQ; Lester & Bishop, 2000). The instrument measures 20 constructs, including
ability use, achievement, activity, advancement, authority, company policies and procedures,
compensation, coworkers, creativity, independence, moral values, recognition, responsibility,
security, social service, social status, supervision–technical, supervision–human relations,
variety, and working conditions. These constructs provide a glimpse into the depth of the job
satisfaction concept whereby the satisfaction of an employee is the outcome of a work-related
expectation.
Previous research on job satisfaction in the wine industry includes a study by Gil and
Mataveli (2017). Their research included 230 participants from the Rioja wine sector of Spain.
Their findings revealed organizational size, the educational level of the employee, group learning
and training, and the learning process were all related to job satisfaction. Specifically, they found
the learning process played a major role in job satisfaction. The variables of organizational size
and employee educational achievement mediated the relationship between group learning and
training and job satisfaction.
Regel et al. (2020) conducted a quality study with the wine industry to evaluate job
satisfaction with 16 employees of Austrian and German wineries. The results showed one main
15

factor to job satisfaction in the wine industry was a personal interest in wine and the positive
image of the industry itself. Other aspects impacting job satisfaction for the participants included
attachment to the final product, career advancement, development of the company, equipment
and confidence to invest, freedom to decide and participate, gender equality, position and
promotion opportunities, relation to colleagues and staff, relation to supervisors, success
recognition, the company philosophy, and the wine quality. Regel et al. found one reason for
dissatisfaction was working hours pertaining to compatibility with family and job.
Prior to the pandemic, Hobbs et al. (2018) conducted a study of 611 Napa Valley
vineyard workers was conducted to assess the relationship between job satisfaction and turnover.
Hobbs et al. reported the primary workforce had been Mexican migrant workers; however, there
was a labor shortage of migrant workers coming into the United States, which repositioned the
human resource model to three options: (a) use of machines to assist or replace human labor, (b)
use a new labor source, namely women and H2-A guest workers, and (c) boost retention of the
current workforce with an increase in job satisfaction. The study found workers were satisfied
with their jobs in agricultural work; however, they were dissatisfied with their commutes and the
consequences of their work on their health.
The COVID-19 pandemic posed several challenges to employee stability in organizations
because employees feared being fired. Although most companies did not lay off their workers,
employee job satisfaction decreased significantly (Laszcz-Davis, 2020). Leadership was the best
way to ensure employees’ job satisfaction. Approximately 75% of participants in Almohtaseb et
al.’s (2021) study reported being satisfied with how their leaders assigned them tasks to maintain
team spirit amidst COVID-19 challenges. Almohtaseb et al. demonstrated a strong relationship
between leadership and job satisfaction, even in the pandemic’s wake. Although the pandemic
16

negatively impacted employees by reducing their job satisfaction, leaders could transform their
leadership styles and help employees cope with the changes in their environment (Long et al.,
2014).
Stress
According to Melling (2016), the phenomenon of workplace stress was not recognized by
the scientific and medical community until 1940. Melling recorded a 1974 conversation between
the chief psychologist at the Department of Employment and the Medical Research Council
about mental stress in industry and psychological well-being at work. The topic had not been
researched empirically up until that time.
Fast forward a few decades, and the Britain Health and Safety Executive reported
between 2006 and 2007, an estimated “13.8 million working days were lost to work-related
stress” (Melling, 2016, para. 1). Cohen et al. (1978) conducted a study “of an apparent outbreak
of contagious psychogenic illness at an electronics plan in which approximately 50 females
reported a variety of subjective nonspecific symptoms” (p. 10). The study included 89 completed
questionnaires: 81 female and eight male respondents. The findings indicated the highest levels
of perceived stress were due to personal lifestyle, supervisory style, and working conditions.
To demonstrate the advancement in stress research, Tamakloe (2018) conducted a study
to understand the relationship between a person’s spirituality and workplace stress. Tamakloe
used the Workplace Stress Scale to determine if prayer fulfillment, universality, and
connectedness were related to mitigating workplace stress. The study included 105 healthcare
workers in the United States. A similar article was published by Jeanguenat and Dror (2018),
who promoted the use of mindfulness tools to reduce stress and enhance employee well-being.
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The COVID-19 pandemic, which began in December 2019, has wreaked havoc, with
severe ramifications for physical and emotional health. Apart from the disease’s physical effects,
individuals all around the world have experienced increased anxiety and stress because of
financial hardship, social isolation, quarantining, and stay-at-home orders (Hetkamp et al., 2020;
Li et al., 2020; McGinty et al., 2020; Pierce et al., 2020).
Employees spend almost half of their lives performing work-related activities. Job stress
is one of the most significant catalysts of ill health and can foster emotions in an organization
(Kim et al., 2022). COVID-19 and the global changes the pandemic has caused will continue to
be a significant source of stress and impact mental and physical health (Hagger et al., 2020).
Hagger et al. stated the social effects of isolation measures and shortages of food and household
goods present additional stressors and long-term health effects.
Employees working in the tourism industry were the most stressed employees in all
sectors surveyed (Kim et al., 2022). COVID-19-induced stress can have significant strategic
implications for tourism and hospitality organizations due to the lack of personal protective
equipment (Kang et al., 2021). Travel bans to stop COVID-19 outbreaks have also caused
additional stress (Widodo et al., 2021).
The COVID-19 pandemic changed the sources of occupational stressors in several ways.
For hotel industry employees, perceptions of occupational stressors differed from prepandemic
perceptions (Edgecliffe-Johnson, 2020). Wong et al. (2021) noted the COVID-19 pandemic
forced hotels to lay off workers, send employees on unpaid leave or early retirement, reduce their
welfare benefits, and alter their working positions or shifts. Such changes negatively impacted
employees, causing them anxiety and to be fearful about their future (Radic et al., 2020). For this
reason, many employees reported stress-related complaints during the onset of the pandemic and
18

the implementation of measures to reduce its spread. Workers who were laid off suffered high-
stress levels due to loss of livelihood and the challenge of finding tasks to occupy their days.
They worked on assigned tasks each day, and the job loss made them idle for many days,
heightening stress levels for hotel industry workers (Dartey-Baah et al., 2020).
Hospitality industry workers suffered significantly because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Yu et al. (2021) stated because hospitality workers interact with clients from local and
international markets, they are exposed to COVID-19, so they are more at risk of contracting the
illness, which is why more stringent measures need to be put in place to deal with the pandemic,
including business closures. Additionally, Yu et al. found COVID-19 created work-related stress,
directly impacting employee mental health and well-being. Such stress affects employees’
general performances at work and in their family and social lives. Yu et al. demonstrated an
inverse relationship between COVID-19 induced stress and employee wellness.
Occupation stress entails psychological stress originating from the workplace and occurs
when the employees feel unsupported, affecting the work output (Ekienabor, 2016). Many
companies incur losses due to occupational stress, and the COVID-19 pandemic has increased
the chances of occupational stress, which negatively impacts employee well-being (Ekienabor,
2016). Stressors are ordinary every day in the work environment, and the faster the individual
adapts to the environment, the lesser the impacts (Brown et al., 2019).
Remote Work
Bloom (2020) wrote, “Working from home (WFH) is dominating our lives. If you
haven’t experienced the phenomenon directly, you’ve undoubtedly heard all about it, as U.S.
media coverage of working from home jumped 12,000% since January” (p. 10). Bloom
conducted a study with 2,500 Americans between the ages of 20 and 64. Eligible criteria
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required participants to have worked full-time in 2019 and to have earned more than $20,000.
Their study found 42% of their participants were working from home full-time, 33% were not
working, and 26% were working on-site where their business was. Most of the on-site employees
were considered essential service workers.
According to Hornsby (2022), the phenomenon of working remotely was made possible
by personal computers and the internet. In the early 2000s, some employees were afforded the
opportunity to work from home. As a result, companies found their employees to have a better
quality of life, were more productive, and could reduce commuting time, thus cutting down on
expenses at home and in the office. Gallup estimated more than 70 million Americans can work
remotely (Wigert & Agrawal, 2022). Wigert and Agrawal (2022) described “the great global
work-from-home experiment” (p. 3) in reference to the way of work created by the COVID-19
pandemic. The WHO’s announcement on March 11, 2020a, for “countries to take a whole-of-
government, whole-of-society approach, built around a comprehensive strategy to prevent
infections” (p. 5) stirred leaders around the globe to shut the doors to all workplaces, schools,
and nonessential buildings immediately. Without notice, schools were shut down. Students,
parents, and teachers were scrambling to have an adequate computer and internet access to
continue teaching with as little disruption as possible. Workplaces were forced to shut their doors
too, leaving employees and employers to figure it out. Some organizations that had business
continuity plans in place were already familiar with virtual private networks (VPNs), while
others had never invested in the infrastructure needed to allow their employees to work remotely.
Price Waterhouse Cooper (PwC) surveyed 1,200 office workers and 133 executives in
November and December 2020 to learn if they would consider allowing employees to work
remotely long-term or if there was a need to bring them back to the office full-time (Caglar et al.
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2021). Their survey found most were open-minded with the possibility of working remotely in
the future but could comprehend abandoning office space entirely. They also found employees
were more productive in December 2020 survey than they were in June 2020.
McKinsey and Company’s American Opportunity Survey included 25,000 Americans
(Dua et al., 2022). They reported that regardless of the job type or the industry, 58% of
Americans could work from home at least one day a week, and 35% can work from home five
days a week. They also found when afforded the opportunity to work from home, 87% of
Americans accepted the opportunity to stay home.
The world has shifted to remote working, wherever feasible, due to the COVID-19
pandemic. The abrupt shift from in-person to remote or virtual modes of work can influence
employee engagement (Ajibade et al., 2021; Yang et al., 2021). The severity of the pandemic and
the speed with which companies had to adapt provided important lessons (Nyberg et al., 2021).
People, work procedures, and working arrangements play roles in many organizational
difficulties (Mayer, 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic has altered how businesses view working
from home and its benefits (Farooq & Sultana, 2021). Employees have found it challenging to
learn and communicate new information across the company due to the effects of remote work
(Yang et al., 2021).
The COVID-19 pandemic provided an environment where people should work from
home to limit the pandemic spread, increasing the chances of individuals developing occupation-
related stress (Wong et al., 2021). The employees have faced the challenge of increased
supervision from the employer to ensure that they are fulfilling their assigned roles, resulting in
additional work pressure and increased occupational stress (Eichenauer et al., 2021).
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Fatigue
Phillips (2015) posited the word fatigue had not been properly used nor defined. Phillips
(2015) explained, “Definitions to date have tended to consider individual aspects of dimensions
of fatigue, and by doing so have failed to capture the wholeness of the concept of fatigue” (p.
54). Phillips (2015) found the word defined as “a need for rest” or “extreme tiredness arising
from mental or physical effort” (p. 49). Phillips (2015) also found definitions using the words
“exertion,” “exhaustion,” or “impairment” (p. 49). Phillips (2015) categorized the definitions as
subjective, physiological, or performance-based. In short, the scholar proposed the following
definition for the construct of fatigue:
Fatigue is a suboptimal psychophysiological condition caused by exertion. The degree
and dimensional character of the condition depends on the form, dynamics and context of
exertion. The context of exertion is described by the value and meaning of performance
to the individual; rest and sleep history; circadian effects; psychosocial factors spanning
work and home life; individual traits; diet; health, fitness and other individual states; and
environmental conditions. The fatigue condition results in changes in strategies or
resource use such that original levels of mental processing or physical activity are
maintained or reduced. (p. 53)
The COVID-19 outbreak was initially reported in Wuhan, China, and spread across the
country and abroad. The WHO designated the COVID-19 outbreak a significant worldwide
public health emergency on January 30, 2020 (Anon, 2020). The term fatigue has been used to
characterize people’s natural predisposition for boredom with regulations and guidelines they
must follow to prevent the development of COVID-19 (Michie et al., 2020). Compared to
individuals who live with someone, people who live alone have higher levels of loneliness and
22

fatigue (Bartoszek et al., 2020). Emotional exhaustion also increased anxiety symptoms and
caused long-term psychological suffering among frontline employees (Vilbert, 2021).
Burnout
Fatigue is a major symptom of burnout, but burnout is not only explained by fatigue.
Instead, burnout is defined as a psychological syndrome involving a “prolonged response to
chronic emotional and interpersonal stressors on the job” (Maslach, 1982, p. 108). Maslach et al.
(2001) explained the word burnout was first used in Graham Greene’s 1961 novel, A Burn-Out
Case. The word burnout was used regularly beginning in the 1970s when human service workers
and researchers began to investigate the phenomenon. In the early days, as with most new
phenomena, there was not an agreed-on definition of the word burnout because it was a “very
slippery concept” (Maslach et al., 2001, p. 402).
Initial articles on the topic of burnout were written by Freudenberger (1975) and Maslach
(1976). In 1981, Maslach and Jackson created the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), which is
the gold standard of quantitative assessments used to measure the concept of burnout. There are
five variations of the survey including MBI: Human Services (MBI–HSS), MBI: Educators
(MBI–ES), MBI: General Survey (MBI–GS), MBI: Students (MBI–GS [S]), and the MBI:
Medical Personnel (MBI–HSS [MP]). All variations are multidimensional. The MBI-GS and the
MBI–GS (S) both measure exhaustion, cynicism, and professional efficacy. The other three
instruments measure emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal
accomplishment.
Of the three dimensions of burnout, exhaustion is the most commonly reported and most
often analyzed dimension. Maslach et al. (2001) cautioned focusing only on exhaustion as “if
one were to look at burnout out of context, and simply focus on the individual exhaustion
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component, one would lose sight of the phenomenon entirely” (p. 403). Exhaustion prompts a
person to separate from their work to cope with the overload. Depersonalization (also referred to
as cynicism) puts distance between the employee and their customer. Becoming insensitive to
their needs and seeing the customer as a number instead of a person is another coping
mechanism to work overload. Maslach et al. (2001) explained, “The lack of efficacy seems to
arise more clearly from a lack of relevant resources, whereas exhaustion and cynicism emerge
from the presence of work overload and social conflict” (p. 403).
To date, no empirical research on burnout and the wine industry or burnout and Napa
Valley has been located; however, the MBI was used in Egypt to assess the level of burnout in
the agricultural extension organization. Mostafa (2004) conducted a study with 150 supervisors.
Hawary (2013) extended Mostafa’s study by examining 80 extension workers in Egypt. Both
articles appear to be the only investigations of burnout among agricultural workers; however, the
articles are challenging to read due to language barriers. This study on employee well-being and
burnout in Napa Valley will add to the field of research as it is the only study done in the wine
industry and the only one done in Napa Valley known to date.
Burnout is a significant issue associated with the pandemic among many employees.
Chor et al. (2020) conducted a study to determine the impacts of COVID-19 on healthcare staff
and the level of burnout associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and related illnesses. They
used the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) to measure burnout among healthcare workers
and found more than 50% of respondents suffered moderate to severe burnout. Chor et al.
surveyed 337 healthcare workers between 21 and 30 years of age. Personal burnout among
employees generated a mean score of 49.2 on the CBI scale, with nurses reporting more burnout
than doctors. Nurses worked extra hours to handle the numerous emergency cases linked to the
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COVID-19 pandemic. Because most departments had additional staff to cope with the surging
number of COVID-19 cases, Chor et al. anticipated nurses’ burnout would increase when the
deployed staff relocated to their original workstations. The increase in burnout among healthcare
workers was primarily associated with the number of patients who needed medical attention due
to COVID-19-related complications or the standard medical cases before the novel coronavirus.
Burnout negatively impacted employee wellness. Work-related stress and long working
hours affected employees’ physical, social, and mental health in many healthcare organizations.
According to Heger (2020), 28% of full-time employees said they were burned out at work very
often or always. A further 48% said they were burned out on occasion. Most full-time employees
suffer burnout on the job at some point.
Individuals who are burned out are emotionally tired, feel pessimistic about their jobs, are
absent from work more frequently, have workplace accidents, and suffer from physical and
mental disorders (Gabriel & Aguinis, 2022). Burnout is caused by ongoing stress at work or
outside of work (Spagnoli et al., 2020). A new normal resulted from the COVID-19 epidemic.
To ensure sustainability, lockdown measures required everyone to stay at home and compelled
enterprises to fully embrace flexible work alternatives (Attieh, 2022). Due to the blending of
personal and professional lives, there is a substantial chance that working remotely can cause
employee burnout (Hoffman et al., 2020). Therefore, when schools are closed due to the
COVID-19 epidemic and people are forced to set up information technology tools at home
without much notice, the transition to remote work may be very distressing (Hoffman et al.,
2020). Stress and burnout have a conflict between job and other obligations, such as family, as
critical causes (Allgood et al., 2022).
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Employee Effectiveness
Defining employee effectiveness prepandemic was already challenging; defining it
during and postpandemic continues to remain a challenge. What it means to be effective for one
employee in one department of one company may look different from what looks effective for
another employee in a different department or a different company; however, there are some
measures of effectiveness that hold true for most employees. According to Conrad (2018),
“There’s no one-size-fits-all solution for measuring employee effectiveness. It’s more of an art
than a science, and is an ongoing process of learning and iterating for both you and your
employees” (p. 27). Conrad’s first recommendation for measuring employee effectiveness is to
define what effectiveness means for the employees in the organization by starting with the
overall goals of the company. Tate (2022) claimed effective employees anticipate the needs of
their teams, bring solutions instead of problems, are accessible and responsive, have nonanxious
presences, recognize when they are close to burnout and proactively rest, have servants’ hearts,
and know how to prioritize.
Rossi et al. (2006) stated employee effectiveness is challenging to define and harder to
quantify. Effectiveness, in its broadest sense, is the totality of a worker's contributions to a
company; however, according to Rossi et al., employee effectiveness is a much more
comprehensive and multifaceted idea than performance and is distinguished between in-role
tasks and extra-role contextual actions. Harrison et al. (2006) defined employee effectiveness
with additional criteria encompassing an employee’s contributions to an organization. These
broad-based criteria include basic performance, up and beyond the performance of regular duties,
and withdrawal behaviors, including lateness, absence, and turnover. Each of these
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constructs are important to the success of an organization, and in total, they provide a
comprehensive picture of employee effectiveness.
The Berlin School of Business and Innovation (2019) defined employee effectiveness as
“the ability to achieve set goals, which should be directly proportional to that of an organization”
(para 1). Lawrence (2019) explained being an effective employee would indicate a lack of need
for management; however, not all workplaces are full of effective employees. Lawrence
explained effective employees are mentally sharp. They arrive able and willing to work. They
can effectively communicate and have strong interpersonal skills. They work well with others.
They also have integrity and work with honesty and reliability.
Leadership Support
There are texts on leadership to support teachers (i.e., Berkovich & Eyal, 2020), nurses
(i.e., Villacorte et al., 2021), and students (i.e., Farini & Scollan, 2021). Jansen et al. (2016)
conducted a study of supportive leadership behaviors with 87 teams from 37 pharmaceutical and
high-tech firms. They found team cohesion was positively related to team ambidexterity;
however, team efficacy was not related to team ambidexterity.
Jansen et al. (2016) hypothesized, “Organizational-level supportive leadership moderates
the relationship between team-level cohesion and team-level ambidexterity in such a way that
this positive effect becomes stronger as organizational-level supportive leadership increases” (p.
946) and “organizational-level supportive leadership moderates the relationship between team-
level efficacy and team-level ambidexterity in such a way that this positive effect becomes
weaker as organizational-level supportive leadership increases” (Jansen et al., 2016, p. 946).
These hypotheses were both supported with evidence that supportive leadership can act as a
double-edged sword. The scholars found supportive leadership “improves the effectiveness of
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team cohesion yet decreases the impact of team efficacy on the emergence of team
ambidexterity” (Jansen et al., 2016, p. 958). An ambidextrous team refers to one that engages in
exploration while simultaneously engaging in exploitation, such as a product development team
that forges ahead with new product creation and balances the need to fine-tune existing
knowledge.
O’Reilly and Tushman (2004) explained an ambidextrous organization is one where
leaders “must constantly look backward, attending to the products and processes of the past,
while also gazing forward, preparing for the innovations that will define the future” (p. 1).
O’Reilly and Tushman (2004) stated, “This mental balancing act can be one of the toughest of all
managerial challenges” (p. 2).
The COVID-19 crisis has served as a timely reminder of the crucial role that leaders and
leadership play in addressing unforeseen occurrences that pose a threat to the continued
existence of organizations around the world (Lagowska et al., 2020). According to the literature,
a leader’s capacity to receive information, take action on it, and persuade people inside their
organization is a significant factor in how successful they are in times of crisis (Bundy et al.,
2017). Leaders must therefore address internal views of the crisis in their businesses to manage
employees' expectations and emotions effectively and to ensure cohesion in action and effective
communication. In this regard, optimism, prompt and open communication, and outspoken
employee defense and support are all recommended (Bundy et al., 2017). Evidence has
demonstrated that to create a culture of open communication, freedom from fear, and ongoing
learning, strong, effective, and resilient leadership is necessary (Obrien et al., 2021). As a crucial
component of supporting employees and crisis management, frequent and explicit
communication between the leader and employees has a beneficial effect on the company’s
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performance, fostering relative safety at work and the personal circumstances of their employees
(Stefan & Nazarov, 2020). In addition, leaders must communicate with all stakeholders in a
clear, thorough, and flexible manner using a variety of channels, and they must be flexible
enough to learn from and grow as a result of the crisis (Stefan & Nazarov, 2020).
Organizational Culture & Strategy
The saying “culture eats strategy for breakfast” (Engel, 2018, p.1) is attributed to Peter
Drucker, who contributed greatly to modern business practices. This quote has been reframed by
many successful business leaders, such as John O’Brien at Porter Novelli Media, who said,
“Culture eats strategy for breakfast, but culture gets its appetite from purpose” (Axelrad, n.d., p.
1). Mark Fields, former Ford Motor Company CEO, said “Organizational culture eats strategy
for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. So don’t leave it unattended” (Rick, n.d., p. 1). Louis V.
Gerstner, Jr., former IBM CEO, said, “The thing I have learned at IBM is that culture is
everything” (Harvard Business School Working Knowledge, n.d., p. 1).
Edgar Schein said, “Managing culture is one of the most important tasks a leader can do”
(Svobodatt, n.d., p. 1). Organizational culture is based on artifacts, beliefs, collective
consciousness, collective programming, common sets of values, consensus, control systems,
environment, norms, organizational structures, rituals and ceremonies, stories, symbols,
underlying shared assumptions, and values (Simoneaux & Stroud, 2014). The culture of a
company is reflected in its dress code, how they treat its employees and customers, the company
logo, and its business hours (Dean, 2019). Without a healthy culture, the strategic plan of an
organization will be difficult to execute.
Notter (2022) explained it takes time for a culture change. In one example, Notter
described a transformation that took 12 months for an organization to completely change its
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culture, and that change required terminating the entire management team. Notter found any time
between two years and eight years is an appropriate benchmark for changing the culture of an
organization. The key is to constantly manage the culture so it is conducive to optimal employee
effectiveness and successful strategic plans.
According to Kaplan and Norton (1996), managing the business strategy requires
bringing the right people together to first develop the plan. When organizations have plans
developed by leaders that are not executing the plan, the plan will fall flat. It is important to
include key stakeholders in the strategic planning process. Kaplan and Norton documented that a
successful strategy requires communication and education programs, goal-setting programs, and
reward system linkage.
Organizations committed to the needs of employees and organizations that have a defined
purpose and values can bring individuals and teams together in times of crisis (Chesak et al.,
2020). Furthermore, Chesak et al. (2020) recommended three comprehensive organizational
strategies: (a) organizational resilience, (b) peer support and stress management programs, and
(c) leadership alignment of overall organizational strategies and goals. Organizations must share
clear and accurate information and help support decision-making for their employees (Rawlins,
2008). When employees are given accurate information, it can help reduce anxiety, rumors, and
uncertainty (Li et al., 2021). COVID-19 has transformed how employees work, and
organizations have had to transform to accommodate this new way of working (Collings et al.,
2021). Organizational strategies keep employees engaged at work during emergencies. These
strategies include maintaining an emphasis on the company’s core principles, giving support to
employees during difficult times, soliciting feedback, and maintaining effective and clear
communication during these periods (Jones et al., 2019).
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Conceptual Framework
Bandura developed SCT in the 1960s. Bandura (2001) argued learning happens in a
social context and involves the interaction of the environment, behavior, and individual. The
prominent feature of the theory is the emphasis on the impact of society and its external and
internal reinforcement to explain how society regulates people’s behavior through control and
reinforcement to achieve a set goal, which can be maintained over time. According to SCT, three
forces impact personality development: (a) environment: learning, (b) cognitive: mental
processes such as perceiving, attending, thinking, language, and remembering), and (c)
behaviors: skills, practice, self-efficacy. For a person to analyze, understand, organize, and apply
knowledge, each of these domains interact (LaMorte, 2019). Other essential components of the
theory are self-efficacy, behavioral capability, observational learning, and reinforcements. This
framework reinforces that humans rarely learn new behaviors by academics alone (Bandura,
2001).
The SCT addresses sociostructural and personal health issues. Altering the behaviors of
the social systems that have overall adverse health effects, rather than only changing the habits of
people, is required for a complete approach to improved health (Bandura, 1996). Badura (1996)
stated to succeed in the health field, new institutions for health promotion, new risk-reduction
mechanisms, and a greater focus on health policy efforts are required. As a result, people’s
beliefs in their collective power to effect social change play an important part in policy and
public health approaches to health promotion and illness prevention (Bandura, 1996).
To encourage learning and incorporate reciprocal interactions between the teacher and
students in personal, behavioral, and environmental aspects, Bandura’s SCT serves as the
conceptual framework for this study. In 1971, Bandura coined the term social learning theory.
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Bandura modified the name to SCT because he realized learning only happens through cognitive
decisions and consciousness of the choices we make as learners (Bandura, 1991). Modeling and
observational learning are used to learn behaviors from the environment, but the learner decides
whether to act on the behaviors taught (Bandura, 1989, 1991; McLeod, 2016). Bandura coined
the term SCT to describe how a child learns behavior by observing how others behave and then
deciding to accept or reject these behaviors as their own.
For this study, I apply Bandura’s SCT to the effects of COVID-19 on wine industry
employees and their health. The conceptual framework is shown in Figure 1. This study seeks to
explore how the COVID-19 pandemic, organizations, leaders, and employees interrelate and
self-regulate. Furthermore, the study focuses on the areas of well-being, stress, burnout, and
emotional exhaustion, as related to SCT’s three forces that impact personality development: (a)
environment, (b) personal, and (c) behavior.
Social cognitive theory is widely used in health behavior work (Baranowski et al., 2002).
The individual, their environment, and their behaviors are intertwined, as described in SCT. All
three factors dynamically and reciprocally interact with one another to establish the basis for
behavior and potential treatments to change behaviors (Bandura, 1977, 1986, 2001). The impact
of the COVID-19 pandemic on an individual, their behavior, and their environment will be
examined in this conceptual framework, as shown in Figure 1.
Self-efficacy is a key concept in SCT, and it refers to a person’s belief in their ability to
do a specific behavior when confronted with a variety of circumstances or variables (Laranjo,
2016). Wellness, stress, burnout, and fatigue are all variables that can have different outcomes
based on an individual, their environment, and their behavior. This study examines the impact of
32

COVID-19 on well-being, stress, burnout, and fatigue and how they affect individuals, their
environments, and their behaviors.

Figure 1
Conceptual Framework

Methodology
The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to evaluate burnout,
perceived stress, and pandemic experiences and perceptions of employees in the Napa Valley
wine industry in 2020–2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Research Setting
The setting is the Napa Valley wine industry located in Northern California. As of 2020,
there were 138,572 residents in Napa County (U.S. Census Bureau, 2020) and 40,000 wine
33

industry employees (Napa Vitners, 2020). The sampling criteria for the wine industry employees
is that they are 18 years old or older and worked during the 2020-2022 calendar years.
The Researcher
The paradigm of inquiry for this problem of practice is pragmatism. The pragmatic
worldview incorporates concepts in specific contexts with applications and solutions to practical
problems (Creswell & Creswell, 2018; Saunders et al., 2019). As the researcher is in a leadership
role of one wine industry company in Napa Valley, she did not include participants from her
workplace to reduce the risk of bias. Additionally, as the researcher is a biracial woman, there
may be imbalances perceived by participants of other genders and ethnicities, as shown in
Appendix B.
Data Sources
The data sources were an online questionnaire to gather industry-related criteria and
demographic information and semi-structured interviews of 17 Napa Valley wine industry
employees. Individual interviews are appropriate as this study aimed to understand burnout,
perceived stress, and pandemic experiences and perceptions during the COVID-19 pandemic in
the Napa Valley wine industry. The data was sourced from semistructured interviews. The
individual interviews were conducted and transcribed. See Appendix C for ethics.
Participants. The target population included all employees who worked in the wine
industry in Napa Valley during the pandemic. The research project included 17 Napa Valley
wine industry employees who worked during the COVID-19 pandemic between 2020 and 2022.
Participants worked in various departments in the Napa Valley wine industry, such as finance,
sales, marketing, production, and winemaking. Participants provided insight into burnout,
34

perceived stress, pandemic experiences, and perceptions at the department and employee levels.
The following criteria were used to select participants:
● Participants were employed during the COVID pandemic between 2020 and 2022.
● Participants worked in the Napa Valley wine industry.
● Participants were 18 years of age or older.
● Participants did not work at the same company where the researcher is employed.
● Participants had worked in their positions for at least 90 days.
In a qualitative study, it is essential to define the characteristics of participants to
ensure the study’s research criteria are met (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). The goal of the
research study was to evaluate factors that affect wine industry employees.
The research project used nonprobability convenience sampling, with an invitation to
Napa Valley wine industry employees to participate in the study (Creswell & Creswell, 2018;
Pazzaglia et al., 2016). According to Patton (2002), there is not an agreed-on rule used to
determine the minimum sample size for qualitative studies. Patton explained the minimum
sample size depends on what the researcher wants to know, what is at stake, what will be useful,
what will be credible, and what can be accomplished based on the time and resources available.
A target of 12 to 15 participants was set, and the study began once the first participant
volunteered. In total, there were 17 participants. Once saturation was met, the data collection
concluded. Theoretical saturation occurs when no new information is revealed by new
participants.
Table 1 provides the gender demographics of the sample. Table 2 provides the
participants’ ages. Table 3 outlines years of experience in the Napa Valley wine industry. Table
4 provides ethnicity numbers and the percent of the sample. Table 5 provides departments.
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Table 1
Gender Demographics
Gender n Percent
Male 1 5.88%
Female 15 88.23%
Did not answer 1 5.88%
Total 17 100%

Table 2
Ages of Participants
Age Range n Percent
25-35 3 17.64%
36-45 4 23.53%
46-55 6 35.29%
56-65 3 17.65%
Did not answer 1 5.88%
Total 17 100%

Instrumentation. In qualitative research, the researcher is the instrument (Hammersley
& Atkinson, 2019). The researcher uses their own intellect and sensory organs throughout the
interview and coding process. Through the facilitation of semistructured interviews, the
researcher acts as the instrument to provide a safe space for conversations to take place. The
information discussed is then converted into phenomenological representations and interpreted
36

(Turato, 2005). Throughout the facilitation of the interviews, the researcher must turn their
interests “toward the search for the meaning of things” (Turner, 2005, p. 5), such as the
phenomena that was under study in this dissertation. In doing so, the researcher approaches the
participants unequivocally in their natural settings. Although the researcher works in the Napa
Valley wine industry, she approached this study as a researcher and not as a colleague, peer,
subordinate, or leader. The interview protocol was developed as a thematic group in conjunction
with the dissertation chair. There were 15 questions in the interview protocol and seven
demographic screening questions (see Appendix D). The interview questions were developed as
a collaborative process with key stakeholders. See Appendix D for protocols.

Table 3
Years of Experience
Years of experience n Percent
0-10 3 17.64%
11-20 8 47.06%
21-30 4 23.53%
31-40 1 5.88%
Did not answer 1 5.88%
Total 17 100%

Data Collection Procedures. The research design was qualitative, which is an approach
involving thick and rich descriptions. Moustakas (1994) wrote, “[the] empirical
phenomenological approach involves a return to the experience to obtain comprehensive
descriptions that provide the basis for a reflective structural analysis that portrays the essence of
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the experience” (p. 13). Prior to data collection, IRB approval was received. Participants were
recruited via snowball convenience sampling, where employees willing to participate
recommended other participants who met the requirements of the study. The participants were
wine industry employees based on willingness to participate and referrals. The interviews were
conducted via Zoom. The data was stored on an external hard drive. Interview transcripts were
coded, and that coded information was used as the data source for this study.

Table 4
Ethnicity
Race/Ethnicity n Percent
Black or African American 1 5.88%
Hispanic or Latin X 2 11.76%
White or Caucasian 11 64.71%
Other 2 11.76%
Did not answer 1 5.88%
Total 17 100

Moustakas (1994) explained phenomenological research methods aim “to determine what
an experience means for the persons who have had the experience and could provide a
comprehensive description of it” (p. 13). Phenomenology is considered “philosophy without
presuppositions” and enables the researcher to describe the lived experiences of the participants
(Creswell, 2007, pp. 58–59). The collection of data involved an invitation to Napa Valley wine
industry employees to participate in the study. Data were collected using semistructured
interviews with 17 Napa Valley wine industry employees who volunteered to participate.
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Table 5
Department
Department n Percent
Marketing 5 29.41%
Human resources 4 23.53%
Direct to consumer 2 11.76%
Legal 3 17.65%
Winemaking/viticulture 2 11.76%
Did not answer 1 5.88%
Total 17 100%

Data Analysis. The researcher used Braun and Clarke’s (2006) phases for thematic
analysis. The first step was for the researcher to familiarize herself with the data, which involved
transcribing the recorded data through the Zoom transcription option and writing down initial
ideas. The second step was generating initial codes. This step included the use of Atlas.ti
(Version 22X) to code interesting features from the transcripts. The third step was to search for
themes. This step involved a high-level overview of the codes from Step 2 to look for categories
and themes. The fourth step was to review the themes. This step involved refining the themes
and generating a thematic map. The fifth step was defining and naming themes, which included
continuing to analyze the themes from previous steps to refine the names of each theme. The
final step was producing the report, which included a narrative of the lived experiences from all
Napa Valley wine industry participants about the impact of COVID-19 on their well-being.
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Validity and Reliability
The researcher aimed for this study to be valid and reliable. Validity involves the
accuracy, credibility, and trustworthiness of the study (Creswell, 2009). One strategy includes
clarifying potential bias. The researcher identified she holds a leadership position at one
organization in the wine industry of Napa Valley. To mitigate this bias, she did not include
participants from her workplace. The researcher also refrained from interjecting her own opinion
or experience into the interview process.
Another strategy is to spend time in the field. The researcher lived through the COVID-
19 experience in the Napa Valley wine industry. Although she did not include participants from
her workplace, she is familiar with the culture and climate of this industry in this specific
location. Additionally, another strategy used in this study is to use peer debriefing. Peer
debriefing involves including a colleague familiar with the data to review the information. The
researcher had access to academic peers and worked with her thematic team to strive for the best
possible study. She also had access to subject matter experts in Napa Valley and consulted them
for advice. The final validation strategy is to use an external auditor, someone not familiar with
the study or the industry. The researcher worked with a third party to fulfill this external auditor
strategy. The researcher strove to use multiple strategies in her study as the goal was to improve
validity as much as possible.
Reliability of a qualitative study refers to using a consistent scientific approach that is
replicable. This phenological study adhered to the rigorous techniques outlined by Moustakas
(1994) while incorporating the data analytics steps provided by Braun and Clarke (2006). To
incorporate the SCT concepts of behavior, environment, and personal, the researcher used a
40

coding process to code to those three dimensions specifically in addition to using a basic coding
process to examine themes that naturally emerged.
Findings
This study focused on the well-being of employees in Napa Valley during the COVID-19
pandemic. The problem of practice was that the COVID-19 pandemic had created high levels of
occupational stress among wine industry employees, negatively impacting employee well-being.
Up until this study, there was no other study found to assess the impact of COVID-19 on wine
industry employees in Napa Valley. The purpose of the study was to look at organizational and
leadership strategies used during the COVID-19 epidemic that had a beneficial effect on workers
in the Napa Valley wine industry. The study’s goal was to comprehend employees’ burnout
experiences and perceptions of the links between burnout and job performance. The study
focused on effectiveness, burnout, emotional exhaustion, organizational strategy, leadership
support, well-being, and job change. The findings of this study, as presented below, will aid the
wine industry in managing employee well-being during future business disruptions, such as a
worldwide pandemic.
The research design was qualitative, an investigative approach in which words have been
used as data to discern how people understand, make meaning of their experiences, and reveal
themes in participant experiences, stories, and perspectives (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The
qualitative research method seemed to be the best approach to this study since this was a new
phenomenon that had not been experienced before. The study was initiated during the second
quarter of 2022, approximately two years following the March 2020 nationwide stay-at-home
lockdown orders (CDC, 2022). The timing of this study lends to the validity of the findings as it
is still fresh in their minds, and enough time has passed for them to have retrospect in knowing
41

what happened with the wine industry employees during COVID-19 and what worked and what
did not work during to support well-being during this difficult time.
The data collection process included an interview protocol designed to determine
participant beliefs, feelings, and perceptions about the study’s research questions. The findings
were organized by research questions and divided into common themes in each research
question. The research questions for the study were addressed by themes that emerged during the
data analytics process, which are discussed with direct quotes from participants who had their
identities hidden. Using a name pattern that started with the word Dissertation and ended with a
whole number, participants’ identities were kept confidential.
Research Question 1: How have burnout, emotional exhaustion, and fatigue impacted
beliefs about employee effectiveness throughout the COVID-19 pandemic?
To answer Research Question 1, there were 49 codes related to burnout, 18 emotional
exhaustion, and fatigue codes, as shown in Appendix E. There were also 23 codes specific to
employee effectiveness during the pandemic, also shown in Appendix E. The overall themes for
this first research question are (a) effectiveness, (b) burnout, (c) emotional exhaustion, and (d)
fatigue.
Employee Effectiveness
The comprehensive and multifaceted aspects of employee effectiveness were found in
this study. As shown below, employees discussed various aspects of employee effectiveness
during their time working throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in Napa Valley. All but three
participants felt their effectiveness was increased during the pandemic.
During the interviews, several participants reflected on their work effectiveness during
the COVID- 19 pandemic. Some participants shared how they felt their effectiveness during the
42

pandemic was similar to their prepandemic effectiveness. Participant 6 explained that in some
ways, she felt more effective because the work-life balance was better. She stated,
I would say now, I’m a lot more effective. I feel like I’m getting a lot more done in a
shorter span of time. I went back into the office for the first time two weeks ago. And of
course, you know, the first day back, it is very distracting and whatnot. But it made me
reflect on my time in the office and I realize how distracted I would get even with just my
coworker sitting next to me.
Similarly, Participant 16 explained that she was more effective because of the reduced travel
time:
When you knock out that I was commuting an hour and a half each direction, some days.
So, I feel like work feels more natural now. You know, I still work, and I probably work
more hours, but it feels better because I am able to fit in certain things, and it helps with
that balance. And so, in some ways, in a lot of ways, I would say I am more effective
postpandemic or during the pandemic than I was before.
Participant 14 stated working in a winery described how working remotely enabled her to
manage her time better. While this professional thought that was good, she also stated she would
lose track of time and work longer hours:
I think there were a lot of pros and cons, and when you say pandemic, to me, means
working remotely. I find myself being able to manage my time better well. I work longer
hours during the pandemic because of being remote, and I don’t necessarily look at the
time. When I look at the clock, and it’s 6:30. And you know, I should have been done
with work, like, half an hour ago. But I do not realize it. But also, I get things done much
43

quicker because I am able to focus. I’m in the zone now on my own in the office, and I
can just work very in a very productive way.
Participant 11 stated she was more effective by only going into the office once a week: “I
think I am more effective. I think I just am more productive. Staying home. Going into the office
once a week. I think it is more relaxing.”
Participant 13 stated she was more effective when managing the pandemic crisis:
I would say moderately affected, nothing major dropped during this time. You know, but
I certainly was not performing that the normal part of my job to the best of my ability, but
I would say because it did fall on me to manage everything through this crisis. I was a
miracle worker. I was, like, so effective. You know, we made it through I think it was
about six and a half months before any of our employees or their family members first
contracted COVID.
Overall, only three participants interviewed mentioned their effectiveness was down
during the pandemic Participant 2, Participant 4, and Participant 14. Participant 4 stated the
pandemic dramatically changed their business model to a focus on direct-to-consumer and online
wine sales. With that type of pivot, there was a learning curve that caused them to feel less
effective in their job for a period of time; however, the new business model of direct-to-
consumer and online wine sales is one that will continue postpandemic. Without the COVID-19
pandemic, this business model may not have been recognized as quickly. Wine industry
professionals had to go as fast as they could to capitalize on people being at home and wanting to
order wine delivered straight to their doorstep.
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Burnout
While the majority of the participants felt more effective, burnout was experienced by all
but one participant. One Napa Valley wine industry worker, Participant 10, mentioned how her
burnout has been “up and down a little bit” and stated, “In the beginning, it was kind of nice to
be able to work from home and to not have to commute.” Then, the experience changed: “I
would say being remote, I experienced the most burnout.” By contrast, fellow Participant 1
viewed burnout in a different organization as an impactful situation: “I would say I was so
burned out that I had to ask the person I was reporting to at the time to take time off, like,
without any plan, but just because I needed to unplug.”
The majority of the participants interviewed stated they had experienced some level of
burnout. Participant 5 classified her burnout as “pretty significant, to the point where Monday
morning had a level of depression of oh my god, I have to start this work week in this hell hole.”
She said, “I was working with no support and having nightmares, I would say it was impacting
my sleep, impacting my attitude and then how that would resonate to my family.” Participant 6
stated,
I would say I was feeling some burnout, especially at the beginning. I was not used to
working from home, and that was a huge change. For me, I was not set up for working
from home for the first, I would say, three months I didn’t even have a desk and was
trying to work sitting on my bed.
Participant 8 stated,
I would say my level of burnout personally was at an all-time high. So essentially, my
work office became my home office, which became I just worked. I did not want to cook.
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I did not want to clean, and I did not want to do dishes. I did not want to garden, and I felt
personally that it was awful. I just felt like I was living in a cave.
Only one member interviewed, Participant 9, mentioned he had no burnout during the
pandemic. He stated, “The ebb and flow of business was the same during the pandemic. I
continued to push myself and did not feel any burnout related to the pandemic.”
Emotional Exhaustion and Fatigue
During the interviews, several participants reflected on their emotional exhaustion and
fatigue during the COVID- 19 pandemic. Participant 3 shared that her experiences with
emotional exhaustion “was a different level of exhaustion and stress. Because it was so intense
and so overwhelmingly demanding for me it took a serious toll on me.” She explained it was not
calm or stable, and there were periods where there were no changes for a few days, enabling her
to "catch my breath.” She stated,
It was a huge emotional roller coaster, in the beginning. It was a serious crisis, and I
needed to figure out how to keep employees safe and their families safe. Every fiber of
my being was focused on that. I would keep the news on in the background from six in
the morning until 11 at night. That was emotionally depressing and exhausting in and of
itself. Healthcare and trying to understand everything going on with CDC and with Cal
OSHA [the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration] for workplace
regulations and trying to piece it all together to make a plan, again to keep everyone safe
and their families safe. Keeping up with everything without a plan was a different level of
stress and exhaustion.
Similarly, Participant 13 explained she fried herself emotionally, physically, and mentally during
the pandemic. She said,
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I am a [human resources] professional. My job is to keep the business healthy, and I am a
very business minded person. But I am also very people caring. I understand when tough
decisions need to be made or things need to be done that are difficult, but I have a way of
doing it for employees in a very kind, compassionate, empathetic way. So, I just have this
heart and genuine care for employees. So, because of who I am personally, I took this
seriously and felt such a sense of responsibility. I would give my last ounce of energy and
I fried myself, emotionally, physically, and mentally, trying to keep everybody safe and
their families safe as well.
Participant 3 said her emotional exhaustion was impacted by always putting everyone else first.
While this professional thought the strategy was good because she was a caring person, she
related it to being a mom and always putting her kids first:
I am one of those people who will put other people ahead of myself. And so, while I was
fighting with every fiber of my being to help everyone else take care of everyone else, I
was not taking care of myself. So, it took a really big hit on my physical and mental
health. Through this because I was trying so hard to take care of everybody else.
Participant 14 stated she had a level of stress and exhaustion that she had never
experienced before:
I have always been in roles that are stressful with a lot of work, but I could feel my
mental and physical health deteriorate rapidly during the pandemic. From a physical
level, I started to have chronic back pain to the point I could not sit down. I could not lay
down because my back was so strained, and which is probably due to the stress I was
under which I am still recovering. I am not back to normal, and I am still suffering.
Participant 7 stated she had a high level of emotional exhaustion and fatigue:
47

I would say I had a high level of emotional exhaustion and fatigue. I was able to work
through it and work toward my own internal system of how I needed to monitor it and
when I needed to not be overcome by it. What is important to me is a high level of
communication. It was just really hard to not have communication. I think a lot of us
have just really worked on a lot of personal awareness because we have all changed.
Participant 3 stated she could not emotionally process anything anymore and lost the
ability to survive:
I think I lost the ability to survive. Not sure of the right word, but recognize and feel
emotions, honestly after a while, because it was just too much. I think I was in a sort of
shutdown coping mode because the work could not stop. There were still things to do, but
I just could not do them. I could not emotionally process it anymore. So, you know, I
definitely hit a wall where I was just existing. I was just kind of numb. I was worn down,
thinking about how I can continue. It was impacting my sleep and not sleeping, while
having nightmares. Just deflated morale.
Participant 11 stated she felt like emotional exhaustion caused her to feel a bit numb to
the whole pandemic situation:
Trying to keep a level head, I would try to look at it from the outside and not look at it
too much on a personal level. I feel like I was trying to talk myself out of the emotional
piece of it and try to get the best answer for everybody. Just with the facts and the logic
behind everything. There were times when there was frustration because of the changes
that were constantly happening and no one main point of contact. And so emotionally, I
feel like sometimes we just were, like, really? Another change? Like, how many more
times are we gonna go through different iterations of having addressed this problem? I
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feel like there was just a lot of fluctuation in feelings and figuring out how I could best
react to things as they were coming through.
Only two participantsmentioned they did not have emotional exhaustion (participants 10
and 17). Participant 10 stated the pandemic focus was on her kids not being in school: “The kids
were not in school, and that was very isolating for them and very isolating for me as a parent
because, you know, trying to work full time, homeschool, and meet their emotional needs as
well.”
Job Change
During the interviews, five participants reflected on their need to leave their
organizations during the COVID- 19 pandemic. They did not have alternative employers lined up
and did not have money in savings to support themselves or their families, yet they knew that
they had to make a change. Participant 3 shared how she felt and the reason for her job change:
Well, clearly enough, that a year and a half into it I decided to completely quit my job
without having the next job. I would say the burnout was quite consistent for the first
year and a half of the pandemic. I would say, for me, personally, what made the change
was me making the mental decision. Like, I have got to find another solution, and I must
leave this organization.
Similarly, Participant 2 explained,
Emotions were extremely high, and as executives, that was part of our job: to deal with
emotions. But I noticed that we were getting sicker more often, and we could not even
take time off to be sick. You just had to keep going, and at the end of the 2-year period
the burnout was pretty high, and I had to leave without another job.
Participant 15 described why she had to change jobs:
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I would say, from being someone who was used to being on the road and then going
back, I did go back to my old job, after maternity leave for about three weeks. And then I
took a new role in the company because I saw what the future held for my old job, and I
didn’t want to be part of that.
Participant 1 stated she had a lot of stress during the pandemic:
I was in a full-time relationship at the time, which put a lot of stress on the relationship as
well. We ended up breaking up. I felt that I did not have any time for me because of the
extra hours at work. I did not have any immediate family close by and did not have a lot
of close friends. I crashed and left my job. I did not care and chose not to work for nearly
five months, just to recover from a body and mental health perspective. I was lucky that I
could financially do that. A lot of people cannot.
Participant 5 said she was happy to move into an executive assistant role:
I am now an executive assistant. I felt like that was the best move for me at the time.
Looking at another job because I, again, had burnout, and I was not interested in doing
social events, as I had done before.
In total, five participants mentioned they left their jobs during the pandemic without having other
jobs lined up. The reasons were burnout, emotional exhaustion, and a change of job duties.
In summary, most participants felt as if they had some type of emotional exhaustion
during the pandemic. Compared to all but one participant having burnout during the pandemic.
All but three participants interviewed felt they were effective with their work performance
during the pandemic.
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Research Question 2: What, if any, specific strategies have organizations and leaders
implemented that support the well-being of their employees during the COVID-19
pandemic?
The second research question was, what, if any, specific strategies have organizations
and leaders implemented that support the well-being of their employees during the COVID-19
pandemic. To answer Research Question 2, there were 30 codes related to organizational
strategy, 18 codes related to leadership support, 20 codes related to employee well-being, and 10
codes related to job change, as shown in Appendix E. The overall themes for this second
research question are (a) leadership support, (b) organizational strategy, (c) employee well-being,
and (d) job change.
Leadership Support
During the interviews, several participants reflected on support, or lack thereof, from
their leadership team during the COVID- 19 pandemic. Participant 1 shared how she felt her
biggest contributor to burnout was a lack of support from her direct manager and the leadership
team: “It is obviously not a priority to the executive leadership team that people are suffering and
leaving.” She explained, “It was a lack of organizational awareness and good communication, or
actually, I think they were aware, it just wasn’t a priority.” She stated, “To make sure that people
were supported and felt supported and recognized for just the really challenging situation
everyone was in.” Similarly, Participant 17 in the Napa Valley wine industry explained,
“Leadership expectations were not clear. Looking back, they were very disorganized as to what
they wanted. There were a lot of changes in terms of them trying to react and align as leaders.”
51

Participant 5 described leadership support from her direct supervisor and how it impacted
people in general. While this professional thought the support could be improved, she also stated
she was not the only one who had this concern:
My supervisor personally did not do anything to support his people. He is not a people
person. He does not really care about people and did not appreciate or understand the sort
of toll that this pandemic was putting on not just me but others in his department. There
was no concern or understanding or care about what it was doing to people in general. So
yeah, my supervisor did not think.
Participant 6 stated she felt leadership did not care enough to make changes:
It is challenging to be in an environment where you feel like the vice president of human
resources and the chief executive officer did not care enough to make any changes.
So ultimately, just did not feel very well supported or felt that there were no good
organizational plans or resources in place to support the organization’s challenges with
the craziness of the pandemic.
Participant 6 also wanted more communication and conversations about the pandemic
crisis:
I wish there were more conversations and communication about the pandemic plan. I was
one of those people who had a parent that is very immunocompromised. I was doing all
his grocery shopping and wiping down all the groceries outside of his house. It was
stressful, and I just wish that there were more open conversations about, you know, how
are you doing? Being empathetic to everyone’s situation.
Four participants (Participant 1, Participant 7, Participant 15, Participant 16) mentioned
they felt like they had leadership support during the pandemic, and Participant 1 stated she:
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could think of some examples where her manager helps with my talk, every time that
there was a change in the CDC guidelines. I can really think of certain times we were
trying to address somebody testing positive, or somebody being in contact, and I would
get a little bit overwhelmed. I had a lot of conversations with my manager about finding
better ways to be able to tackle it and really get down to the facts and figure out the best
way.
Organizational Strategy
During the pandemic, it was sometimes difficult to give timely and accurate information
because of the quickly emerging pandemic and directives from multiple sources; however, the
participants of this study noted how engaged they were, even to the point of considering
themselves more effective during the pandemic than prior to the outbreak of COVID-19. The
participants discussed the importance of maintaining organizational and leadership support
during this period of crisis. This finding will be discussed in the recommendation section about a
communication plan, wellness plan, and crisis management plan (CMP) to enhance
organizational and leadership support.
While the study did not measure organizational resilience, the participants discussed the
importance of support from peers and the leaders of the organization. Some commented on the
variety of ways their leaders helped them manage stress. Participant 12 mentioned how her
company did campaigns throughout the pandemic to focus on wellness programs to reduce stress
and have a healthy lifestyle. Participant 6 stated her company implemented meditation and yoga
sessions; however, none of the participants talked about overall organizational strategies, core
principles, or goals specifically. Instead, they discussed their performance and effectiveness.
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During the interviews, several participants reflected on strategies that their organizations
had during the COVID- 19 pandemic. Participant 16 shared how she felt her organization had a
great strategy for implementing helpful videos. She explained they had videos for exercise and
nutrition and to keep the team informed of CDC decisions and how they affected the company.
She stated, “The company was very good with communication and similar to having town halls
before now the company was doing videos to keep us informed.” Similarly, Participant 13, an
employee in human resources, explained,
The organization did so many things. First of all, we kept everyone on the payroll as
active employees, we had regular check-ins and well-being check-ins. We encourage
creativity. We encouraged people to support in different ways, if they were so inclined,
and we allowed people to take more personal days. People we given stipends to support
their local communities. It was a very high level of support for the employees.
Participant 8 described how the organization issued laptops to any and all employees who
could work at home:
I thought issuing laptops was excellent. And not making everybody come into the office.
And then afterward, the company, as a whole, left it up to the department heads to
determine whether they wanted their employees to be back in the office. You know,
whether it is one day a week, two days a week, full time, or if they decided, hey, you
know what? This job can be done 100% remote, and I am not having my employees
come back. I thought that was great.
Participant 5 stated her organization focused on making resources available:
We had a lot of resources. We have a whole health and safety committee. In the middle
of the pandemic, my organization hired someone specifically to manage all things
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COVID. So, we had a direct resource person that handled employees dealing with the
effects of COVID, whether it be you personally getting COVID, being in contact with
COVID, or you are around a high-risk person. We had a lot of great resources available
to us.
Another wine industry professional, Participant 12, stated her organization made resources
available to help employees manage the pandemic:
We had resources available for employees who wanted to learn more about the virus and
what was going on in their geographic area. We had a large population of people that had
to continue to work in the office and some of our population can work from home. We
provided vaccination opportunities for folks who wanted them. We did not require them,
but we let them know that their health and safety were our priority. We had regular town
hall meetings, where people can join to learn about what was happening, not just with the
pandemic but also any changes in policy within the company as a result, where they
could ask questions.
Five participants (Participant 3, Participant 4, Participant 6, Participant 14, and
Participant 17) mentioned their organizations did not implement any new initiatives to reduce the
effects of the pandemic on the employees, and Participant 1 stated she felt her organization
pretended to care about the employees:
You know, at some point, it is painfully obvious when most of the executives are doing
nothing, particularly our CEO, which is whom I report to. You know, it is becoming
noticeable that there is a big vacancy, this big absence. The organization could have done
anything, and that would have been an improvement.
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Employee Well-Being
Employee well-being was broadly discussed with items such as manager check-ins,
encouraging everyone to share their feelings, being allowed to take a break when needed, and
having someone to listen. The results of this study found that participants could have managed
their well-being by having extra time in their day, avoiding a commute. As an example, some
employees travel at least 1.5 hours each way to and from work daily. This extra time allowed
them to spend more time on their well-being by walking, exercising, or spending time with
family. During the interviews, several participants reflected on employee well-being at their
organizations during the COVID- 19 pandemic. Participant 1 shared how she felt her
organization would have found a way to make some more personal touch points, such as asking
if employees had any needs. She explained in some ways she felt that compared to other
organizations, her organization could have done more. She stated, “I feel like something as
simple as stating everyone can leave two hours early on Friday, just to take a minute to regroup
and decompress, would have been effective. I would have appreciated a little more personal
attention.” Similarly, another participant explained,
I really feel like my organization hasn’t really done anything to keep a positive culture
within the company during the pandemic. Everything is remote, and they aren’t focused
on our well-being. A lot of the team are moving and living in different states, but there
was nothing really bringing us together in a way that made us feel part of a team. We
were all kind of line working in isolation in a silo. At no point did the company show us
appreciation or any support.
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Participant 10 suggested her company do something formal, such as a survey, to understand real-
life situations. While this professional understood this was an unprecedented situation, she felt
there were a lot of gaps in understanding:
So, instead of giving me another huge project, when I had a person out on maternity
leave, the organization could have asked how I would have suggested we handle the
project. I basically had to say, “My son is home from school during the day, and I work
next to him. These are the times that would work best for me.” It just would have been
nice to have them observe these things. Taking a survey about our well-being and what
we needed to make things run smoother would have helped.
Participant 3 stated it would have been helpful if she were not the only person doing the
work:
I think that if I were not the only one tracking all of this information that it could have
been more of a group effort. Because it always felt like I was singled out and asked all of
the questions. If I had 20 new issues come up in a day, it was all up to me and to make
sure that I was providing the right paperwork to the individual, tracking their hours, and
getting back to their supervisor. If the work could have been shared, I would have felt
better.
Participant 11 stated she had to rely on herself when managing her well-being during the
pandemic crisis:
To be completely honest, myself, directly, was the only person that was worried about
my well-being. I knew how to get a vaccine if I wanted one. And I knew I could get a
counselor if I needed one. And I could talk to my boss if I was feeling overwhelmed. But
other than that, there was no other outreach or strategy that touched me directly.
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Seven participants mentioned their organizations did a good job with employee well-
being. Participant 8 stated her organization really tried and viewed well-being on a case-by-case
basis, and they were very understanding. They understood that people had to take care of their
children and added an additional day off each year as a mental health day.
In summary, participants talked more about the lack of strategies that impacted their well-
being during the pandemic. Several shared ways their manager listened or checked on them, yet
many shared how they were burned out or emotionally exhausted. Leading to the conclusion that
there is more work to be done to develop strategies for future similar events.
Recommendations
The recommendations are organized into five sections: (a) discussion,
(b) recommendations for practice, (c) limitations and delimitations, (d) recommendations for
future research, and (e) a conclusion.
Discussion of Findings
Two research questions were associated with the study. The first research question was
How have burnout, emotional exhaustion, and fatigue impacted beliefs about employee
effectiveness throughout the COVID-19 pandemic? The findings for Research Question 1 fell
into three categories (a) effectiveness, (b) burnout, and (c) emotional exhaustion and fatigue. The
following two themes were identified as contributing to beliefs about the positive impact on
employee effectiveness: (a) more employee effectiveness due to the ability to work during
normal commute time and (b) the ability to work longer hours from home. The following three
themes were identified as contributing to employee burnout: (a) working from home and the
isolation of being alone, (b) working with no support, and (c) working during the pandemic
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without any real lived pandemic experience. Issues relevant to all three themes tended to result in
increased employee burnout.
The second research question was What specific strategies have organizations and leaders
implemented that supported employee well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic? The findings
fell into two categories: (a) organizational strategies and (b) leadership support. Specifically,
employees needed increased effective communication and implementation of an effective
pandemic plan with clear communication for leader expectations and supervisor check-ins and
support. The conceptual framework for the study was based on SCT (Bandura, 1986), which
provided an interactive perspective with an environment-person-behavior lens into the Napa
Valley wine industry burnout since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The
environmental factors that emerged from the data include (a) unstable CDC regulations and
industry guidance, (b) essential worker status under agricultural order, (c) remote work and
remote school considerations, and (d) wine industry labor shortage. Each of the environmental
factors reveals key areas to examine in the future.
The personal factors that emerged from the data include (a) employee well-being, despite
the stress of CDC regulations and industry guidance, (b) impact on employee effectiveness
during the COVID-19 pandemic, and (c) employee feeling of control during the COVID-19
pandemic. Each of the person's factors reveals critical areas to examine in the future. The
behavioral factors that emerged from the data include (a) employee behaviors influenced by
emotional exhaustion and (b) employee behaviors influenced by burnout. Each of the behavioral
factors reveals major areas to examine in the future. The following recommendations provide
direction for future practical and theoretical considerations.
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Bandura’s SCT provided the backdrop for this study, where learning happens in a social
context and involves the interaction of the environment, behavior, and individual. The COVID-
19 pandemic was a time of immediate action, urgent change, and crisis intervention that took
place at a rate of speed few, if any, employees had ever experienced. As discussed in the
literature review section, culture and strategy played an important role in employee well-being
and employee effectiveness. Organizations that had cultural dimensions that supported
employees could pivot faster and with less stress. Whereby employees in organizations with
cultural roadblocks emerged as frustrated, and many quit without another job lined up.
Existing literature offered several recommendations, as shown below, and overall, the
findings of this study reinforced that organizations committed to the needs of employees and
organizations that have adefined plan, purpose, and values can bring individuals and teams
together in times of crisis (Chesak et al., 2020). Furthermore, the findings of this dissertation
align with Chesak (2020) and lead to the recommendation of two of Chesak’s three
comprehensive organizational strategies: organizational resilience by having a strategic plan and
stress management programs, with leadership alignment of overall organizational strategies and
goals. Organizations must share clear and accurate information and help support decision-
making for their employees (Rawlins, 2008). When employees are given accurate information, it
can reduce anxiety, rumors, and uncertainty (Li et al., 2021). COVID-19 has transformed how
employees work, and organizations have had to transform to accommodate this new way of
working (Collings et al., 2021). Organizational strategies keep employees engaged at work
during emergencies. These strategies include maintaining an emphasis on the company's core
principles, giving support to employees during difficult times, soliciting feedback, and
maintaining effective and clear communication during these periods (Jones et al., 2019).
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The COVID-19 crisis has served as a timely reminder of the crucial role that leaders and
leadership play in addressing unforeseen occurrences that pose a threat to the continued
existence of organizations around the world (Lagowska et al., 2020). Participants in this study
commented on the lack of leadership support during the pandemic, with one explaining, “It is
obviously not a priority to the executive leadership team that people are suffering and leaving.”
Participants talked about the lack of organizational awareness, the lack of good communication,
the lack of planning, and the lack of care and concern for people in general.
According to the literature, a leader's capacity to receive information, take action on it,
and persuade people inside their organization is a significant factor in how successful they are in
times of crisis (Bundy et al., 2017). Leaders must therefore address internal views of the crisis in
their businesses to manage employees' expectations and emotions effectively and to ensure
cohesion in action and effective communication. In this regard, optimism, prompt and open
communication, and outspoken employee defense and support are all recommended (Bundy et
al., 2017). Evidence has demonstrated that to create a culture of open communication, freedom
from fear, and ongoing learning, strong, effective, and resilient leadership is necessary (Obrien et
al., 2021).
As a crucial component of supporting employees and crisis management, frequent and
explicit communication between the leader and employees has a beneficial effect on the
company's performance, fostering relative safety at work and the personal circumstances of their
employees (Stefan & Nazarov, 2020). In addition, leaders must communicate with all
stakeholders in a clear, thorough, and flexible manner using a variety of channels, and they must
be flexible enough to learn from and grow because of the crisis (Stefan & Nazarov, 2020).
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The literature has shown communication was key. Jones (2019) stated that leaders need
to know how to communicate to all stakeholders with transparency, clarity, accuracy, speed, and
conciseness. Participants of the study echoed these recommendations from the literature in
saying that their leaders were honest and communicated in ways that let them know they did not
have all of the answers, but they worked together to figure things out as quickly as possible. The
participants were empowered to do their job with steps taken prior to the pandemic, where
leaders had cultivated a culture of community, a sense of belongingness, and an environment
where open communication was invited. This organizational culture helped the employees have
less fear and anxiety, which enabled them to be more engaged and productive.
Employee effectiveness was an interesting finding in this study, as more than 80% of the
participants believed they were more effective as an employee during the COVID-19 pandemic
than they were prior to the pandemic. Rossi et al. (2006) stated that employee effectiveness is
challenging to define and harder to quantify. Effectiveness, in its broadest sense, is the totality of
a worker’s contributions to a company; however, according to Rossi (2006), employee
effectiveness is a much more comprehensive and multifaceted idea than performance and is
distinguished between in-role tasks and extra-role contextual actions. Harrison et al. (2006)
defined employee effectiveness with additional criteria encompassing an employee's
contributions to an organization. These broad-based criteria include basic performance, up and
beyond the performance of regular duties, and withdrawal behaviors, including lateness, absence,
and turnover. Each of these constructs are important to the success of an organization, and in
total, they provide a comprehensive picture of employee effectiveness (Harrison et al., 2006).
In total, 16 of the 17 participants experienced some level of burnout during the COVID-
19 pandemic. Individuals who are burned out are emotionally tired, feel pessimistic about their
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jobs, are absent from work more frequently, have workplace accidents, and suffer from physical
and mental disorders (Gabriel & Aguinis, 2022). Burnout is caused by ongoing stress at work or
outside of work (Spagnoli et al., 2020). A new normal resulted from the COVID-19 epidemic.
To ensure sustainability, lockdown measures required everyone to stay at home and compelled
enterprises to fully embrace flexible work alternatives (Attieh, 2022). Due to the blending of
personal and professional lives, there is a substantial chance that working remotely can cause
employee burnout (Hoffman et al., 2020). Therefore, when schools were closed due to the
COVID-19 epidemic and people were forced to set up information technology tools at home
without much notice, the transition to remote was distressing (Hoffman et al., 2020). Stress and
burnout have a conflict between job and other obligations, such as family, as critical causes
(Allgood et al., 2022). This study found Napa Valley employees were burned out and
emotionally tired. Some commented about their work-life balance and trying to manage while
also teaching their children at home. Several participants noted how they experienced burnout
during the pandemic.
Another interesting finding from this study is the confusion between the words
exhaustion and fatigue. Phillips (2015) posited the word fatigue had not been properly used nor
defined. Phillips (2015) explained the definitions to date have “tended to consider individual
aspects of dimensions of fatigue, and by doing so have failed to capture the wholeness of the
concept of fatigue” (p. 54). This phenomenon was confirmed with the study of 17 Napa Valley
employees where the words are used interchangeably, and synonyms are used in lieu of the
words fatigue or exhaustion.
Emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and cynicism are the three elements that define
burnout. Emotional exhaustion represents the stress dimension of burnout among these three
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dimensions. Numerous studies have shed light on the negative effects of emotional tiredness at
the level of the individual, the team, and the organization (Opoku et al., 2021). According to
Huls (2020), one definition of emotional exhaustion is “a state of emotional, mental, and
physical tiredness brought on by extreme and protracted stress” (p. 2). When workers are in this
position, it can result in subpar performance and negative client experiences (Huls, 2020).
This study confirmed more work can be done to improve employee well-being. Although
employees forged new ways to address their own needs, they were not all supported by their
organization in their time of need. Eliminating their daily commute offered extra time in their
day to focus on their own needs and those of their family; however, clearly defined expectations
for time could prevent employees from working longer hours and differentiating between work
time and at home time. According to Malhotra (2006), well-being refers to a person’s or a
group’s status in a certain environment; it could be a social, economic, financial, or
psychological state. Page and Vella-Brodrick (2009) proposed employee well-being is made up
of three essential elements: (a) psychological well-being, (b) workplace well-being, and (c)
subjective well-being. The readiness of an employer to support optional activities like work-
from-home days, safety training, and leave policies demonstrates the organization's dedication to
putting effort and resources into promoting well-being (Subramony et al., 2022). Companies
have developed work-life balance initiatives to provide their staff with a healthy working
environment, such as gym subscriptions (Haridas et al., n.d.).
Recommendations for Practice
The findings of this study provide the following three recommendations for practice for small wine
businesses in Napa Valley. First, a CMP for small businesses in the Napa Valley wine industry needs to provide
direction for employees to know what to do in a crisis situation. Second, participants felt like communication from
their workplace was not clear and supportive. A communication plan needs to be developed for small businesses in
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the Napa Valley wine industry. Third, employees need more support and focus on their well-being, especially during
times of crisis.
Recommendation 1: Develop a Crisis Management Plan. A CMP for small businesses
in the Napa Valley wine industry needs to provide direction for employees to know what to do in
a crisis situation. A crisis refers to “a sudden and unexpected event that threatens to disrupt an
organization's operations and poses both a financial and a reputational threat” (Coombs, 2007, p
271). Corporate crises can be extremely harmful because they undermine customer confidence,
diminish brand value, endanger objectives, put pressure on management by giving them little
time to react, and even result in business failure (Hermann, 1963; Lerbinger, 2012; Penrose,
2000). Research suggests small companies are more vulnerable to crises because they are less
prepared, have fewer resources, have relatively weaker market positions, and depend more on
local and governmental entities (Herbane, 2013; Hong & Jeong, 2006; Runyan, 2006). During or
following crisis events, small- and medium-sized firms may experience financial loss, decreased
sales volume, an inability to satisfy contract requirements, cash flow issues, employee
reductions, and even closure. Crises can also stress out victims and managers of small- and
medium-sized firms emotionally and psychologically (Doern, 2016; Ferris et al., 2007; Leung et
al., 2005). Small businesses are highly susceptible to outside dangers (Doern et al., 2019;
Herbane, 2013, 2019). Compared to large and established organizations, such firms, particularly
younger ones, are more likely to fail (Davidson & Gordon, 2016; May & Lixl, 2019). Small
businesses can be less prepared for a sudden disaster like COVID-19. Herbane (2013) asserted a
small firm’s crisis management should be focused on specific crisis events, such as crises
relating to information technology, along with a strong belief in the firm’s capacity to prepare for
such crises. Additionally, when many sorts of disruptions brought on by a crisis, such as
COVID-19, occur simultaneously, firm-specific resources are likely to be further scattered
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(Osiyevskyy et al., 2020), limiting the action potential. Small businesses have a limited grasp of
crisis management, and research is typically undertaken by large or international corporations
(Coombs & Laufer, 2018; Herbane, 2010). Crisis management encompasses all processes that
any individual or organization, or even a country has in place to face any unforeseen, unexpected
event that may have an adverse impact on the operations and outcomes. Hence, it comprises
steps and various actions in place to assess all the factors that generated this uncertain situation,
such as the COVID-19 pandemic (Park, 2021). A CMP is a process by which an organization
adopts strategies to deal with a disruptive and unexpected event that threatens to harm the
organization or its stakeholders (Fink, 2013).
The stakeholders for a CMP would be the Napa Valley wine industry, organizations in
the industry, and employees of those organizations. There cannot be one without the other;
however, they each have their own needs. For example, the plan could include a brainstorming
session about the wine industry. If another COVID-like event takes place, the industry could be
impacted in many ways, such as a labor shortage. The plan will be developed to mitigate those
specific risks. This labor shortage could also be seen in the individual organizations that make up
the wine industry; however, this issue may be impacted by managers or leaders and how they
handle the crisis and the care of their staff. The plan can take these possibilities into
consideration to make sure the organizational impact is limited.
Employees are also impacted by shortages. Employees must work harder to cover for
missing staff. The plan must have protocols for retaining talent, taking care of the staff, and
reducing turnover. The results of the qualitative data analysis indicated participants managed on
their own throughout the COVID-19 pandemic with little to no support from their leaders.
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There was not a well-defined CMP prior to the pandemic, and employees commented on
the lack of communication, and the amount of frustration they had that could have been
mitigated by such a plan. A CMP would help all key stakeholders know how to manage their
day-to-day work and prioritize accordingly. Therefore, a solution to improve the crisis
management response in Napa Valley is to implement a CMP. A CMP is considered a basic form
of a standard operating process that an organization needs to protect the organization and the
employees. Coombs (2021) stated it is the employer’s responsibility to provide a safe work
environment that is free of known dangers. Developing and maintaining a CMP will help
employees feel more protected and know where and who to go to for certain situations. A
thorough investigation of the COVID-19 work phenomenon in Napa Valley should reveal
additional issues outside of employee well-being and burnout that need to be addressed in the
CMP. Coombs (2021) found organizations are developing procedures and protocols to protect
essential workers. A CMP should be developed in the wine industry, specifically in Napa Valley,
to reduce risk and increase employee health and well-being.
Recommendation 2: Create a Communication Plan. Participants felt like
communication from their workplace was not clear and supportive. A communication plan needs
to be developed for small businesses in the Napa Valley wine industry. The COVID-19
pandemic has caused organizations and executive teams to engage in various crisis management
communications (Durst & Henschel, 2021). Additionally, Durst and Henschel (2021) stated that
in the COVID-19 context, the communications challenge for organizations is further heightened
by communication channels clogged with unremitting news, commentary, posts, and imagery of
the pandemic. The conventional crisis communication script does not apply readily to a
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resurgent, global-scale crisis like COVID-19. The pandemic’s persistence and recurrence
underscore the need for a nimble communications strategy.
Small business owners experienced a communication crisis because of the COVID-19
pandemic (Sullivan et al., n.d.). Additionally, according to Sullivan et al. (n.d.), it was up to
individual business owners to decide how and when to update their status messages. A stay-at-
home government directive negated the value of face-to-face interactions, a dependable
cornerstone of small enterprises’ communication (Reddy & Gupta, 2020). Word-of-mouth
advertising was unsuccessful since customers opted to shop online instead of leaving their
houses because of safety concerns (Wahba, 2020). Small business owners found voicemail and
telephone calls were useful ways to communicate their situation during the pandemic. Despite its
declining popularity, this kind of communication still gives business owners a means of direct
communication (Nestor & Thompson, 2019).
Recommendation 3: Focus on Employee Well-Being. Employees need more support
and focus on their well-being, especially during times of crisis. A well-being plan needs to be
developed for small businesses in the Napa Valley wine industry. This study found employees
needed more support. There were many moving parts, such as CDC guidelines and specific
agricultural employee expectations. The evolving directives, along with employees working from
home while also parenting children schooling from home, caused implications to employee well-
being. If given priority, the health of employees in small businesses can eventually boost the
performance of the sector (Maziriri et al., 2019). Employee mental health is ignored, particularly
in small- and medium-sized businesses (Nguyen & Sawang, 2016). According to Attridge
(2022), data show the bulk of businesses in the United States (94.5%) are small businesses,
defined as those with fewer than 50 employees. 52.4 million people are employed at these small
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businesses, over 40% of all private sector workers. Small business owners also deal with heavy
dependency from suppliers, clients, and coworkers that reduces autonomy and affects stress
levels and well-being, making it difficult for them to balance work-family enhancement and
social support (Otto et al., 2020). Small company activities have been substantially connected
with state-level limitations over the course of the epidemic; when restrictions have been more
rigorous, a greater proportion of small businesses have had significantly decreased levels of
operations (Dore & Mach, 2022).
Limitations and Delimitations
Limitations are things outside of the researcher’s control. Limitations of this study
include the amount of time that has elapsed since the inception of the COVID-19 pandemic. As
time passes, the facts may not be as sharply remembered as they were during the pandemic in
2020 and 2021.
An additional limitation of this study was access to participants that had lived
experiences related to this study. Due to quiet quitting, the Great Resignation, and the Great
Reshuffle, many employees have left their jobs in the wine industry entirely, or they have
assumed other positions (Wine Industry Advisor, 2022). There are several limitations to the
study. There is an employee shortage currently in the Napa Valley wine industry. More than a
million people who may have been employed died as a result of the pandemic, making the labor
market even more competitive and increasing turnover and labor expenses compared to before
the pandemic (Wine Industry Advisor, 2022), as the COVID-19 pandemic has many people
working from home or not working at all. When working from home is not an option, such as
with manual labor in the wine industry, employees are scarce. Those employees who do show up
69

are working long hours to cover for their coworkers who did not show up. This employee
shortage was expected to be a limitation of this problem of practice.
Delimitations of this study include the things in the researcher’s control. This study
focused on wine industry employees in Napa Valley. The researcher did not include participants
in other industries or other geographic locations. This decision limits the generalization of the
findings to other groups of people. Delimitations can be as broad as selecting the problem of
practice itself to narrowing the scope of the study to the chosen population. For example, if a
company is located in Napa Valley, the results may not be generalized to other industries.
Recommendations for Future Research
Academic research should be done on organizations that have CMPs and organizations
that do not have CMPs to understand the impact that CMPs have had on organizations during the
COVID-19 pandemic. As stated by Coombs (2012), all crises cannot be prevented, so
organizations need to be prepared for the crisis. In addition, research should be done on
organizations that are developing CMPs to determine the approach being used and to evaluate
precrisis, crisis, and postcrisis processes. Because of this delimitation, it is recommended this
study be replicated with other industries and other populations to understand how their lived
experiences impacted employee well-being.
More research is needed to understand the differences between emotional exhaustion and
fatigue. Phillips (2015) suggested the word fatigue has not been properly used or defined.
Participants also struggled with differentiating between emotional exhaustion and fatigue.
Additional research is also needed to replicate this study with other groups of people and
other industries. The external validity of this study is limited due to the focus on Napa Valley
employees during COVID-19. Therefore, the results cannot be generalized to other industries or
70

locations. It is recommended similar studies be done in the wine industry in places such as
Australia and France to understand if they experienced the same well-being and burnout as the
participants in Napa Valley. Furthermore, additional research with other industries could help to
extend the field of study beyond the wine industry.
Conclusion
This study is significant because it investigated employee voices about their lived
experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic and because it can prepare the Napa Valley wine
industry for future business disruptions. The participants provided pertinent information about
their effectiveness and burnout during the pandemic and disclosed ways their leaders helped or
neglected their needs. The study further looked at leadership support and organizational
strategies that negatively or positively impacted employee well-being among Napa Valley wine
industry employees.
The COVID-19 pandemic amplified organizational dissatisfaction, with several
participants quitting their jobs without another job lined up. Employee burnout and emotional
exhaustion did not seem to impact job effectiveness in terms of employee perception, even
though burnout and emotional exhaustion were present.
Organizations need to address pandemic plans to improve communication and establish subject
matter experts to cascade regulations and requirements. Leadership support needs to increase
communication with their employees and establish check-ins to make sure they are meeting the
needs of their teams. Employees want to fundamentally believe their organization and leaders
care about them. This study reinforces the need for a CMP, communication plan, and well-being
plan for organizations in the Napa Valley wine industry.

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97

Appendix A: Interview Protocol Guide
Say: The following questions focus on you, individually as a wine industry associate,
since March 2020, the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, unless otherwise indicated.
1. How would you describe the last 22 to 23 months have been for you as a wine
industry employee?
2. To what degree do you feel you have had sufficient resources to meet your job
demands?
3. How have resource levels contributed to your feelings about your job effectiveness?
4. How have resource levels contributed to your working relationships with team
members?
Say: The World Health Organization defines burnout as a syndrome resulting from
chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed, characterized by three
dimensions: feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; increased mental distance from one's job,
or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one's career; and reduced professional efficacy.
5. How would you describe your level of burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic?
6. How would you say your levels of burnout have changed over time throughout the
pandemic?
a. What about your emotional exhaustion and fatigue?
7. Describe the primary personal and professional contributors to your feelings of
burnout?
8. How effective do you think you have been as an employee during the pandemic?
9. How effective do you think you have been as an employee during the pandemic
compared to before the pandemic?
98

10. How much autonomy or control do you feel you’ve had over your work during the
Pandemic?
11. To what extent do you feel your burnout contributed to your effectiveness during the
pandemic?
Say: The following questions focus on the strategies implemented by organizations and
leaders that supported the well-being of their employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.
12. How did your organization address employee well-being during the pandemic?
13. Were there strategies that your organization implemented that you felt positively
supported your well-being during the pandemic?
a. If so, what were they?
14. Were there things your immediate or other direct supervisors did that particularly
addressed your well-being, including your feelings of burnout?
a. What were they?
b. How did it affect your sense of well-being?
15. How could your organization or supervisors have better supported your well-being
during the pandemic?

99

Appendix B: The Researcher
As the researcher, I have worked in the Napa Valley wine industry for a combined total
of nine years in two different organizations. I have an in-depth broad-based knowledge of the
industry and my current organization. Given my leadership role in my current organization, I will
not allow any current employees to participate in my research study to minimize any sense of
retaliation or influence towards participant answers.

100

Appendix C: Ethics
Researchers must ensure several ethical practices when conducting research (Glesne,
2011). Before conducting research, the researcher will submit the proposal to the University of
Southern California (USC) Institutional Review Board (IRB). The IRB review process ensures
researchers use appropriate measures to minimize potential risks to participants (Creswell &
Creswell, 2018). The general principles of the APA Ethics Code also include Beneficence and
Nonmaleficence, Fidelity and Responsibility, Integrity, Justice, Respect for People's Rights, and
Dignity. When conducting a study, researchers should demonstrate beneficence, protecting
participants from harm, and safeguarding participant privacy whenever possible (Merriam &
Tisdell, 2016). Participants should have informed consent, including voluntary participation and
the flexibility to withdraw from the study without penalty at any time (Creswell & Creswell,
2018; Glesne, 2011). The researcher will provide participants with these important voluntary
options for this study. Additionally, the study will not include compensation for participants
given perceived reciprocity of favors or commitments (Glesne, 2011).

101

Appendix D: Protocols
Screening Questions
Question Options
1. How do you identify your gender? Male ___
Female ___
Nonbinary ___
Prefer Not to Disclose ___
2. How do you identify your race or
ethnicity? Check all that apply.
Asian or Pacific Islander ___
Black or African American ___
Hispanic or LatinX ___
Middle Eastern ___
Native American or Alaska Native ___
White or Caucasian ___
Other ______
Prefer Not to Disclose___
3. What is your age range? 25-35 ___
36-45 ___
46-55 ___
56-65 ___
66-75 ___
76-85 ___
4. What area of the Napa Valley wine
industry do you work in?
Department (please describe) ___
Job Title (please describe) ___

5. How many years of wine experience do
you have?
01-10 ___
11-20 ___
21-30 ___
31-40 ___
41-50 ___
6. Did you work in the Napa Valley wine
industry during the 2020, 2021, and 2022
calendar years?
Yes____
No____
7. Would you like to move forward with the
study? Preferred email address
Yes___
No____

102

Appendix E: Codes
Name Number of times used
Autonomy / control no 3
Autonomy/control yes 15
Burnout into effectiveness no 5
Burnout into effectiveness yes 9
Effective during pandemic yes 23
Effective no 6
Effective yes 25
Job change yes 5
Organization support well-being 15
Pandemic 1
Q1 burnout - yes 49
Q1 burnout levels decrease 2
Q1 burnout no 8
Q1 emotional exhaustion no 3
Q1 emotional exhaustion yes 18
Q1 employee well-being yes 3
Q1 employee well-being no 2
Q1 fatigue no 0
Q1 fatigue yes 0
Q2 leadership support no 13
Q2 leadership support yes 5
Q2 organizational strategies no 15
Q2 organizational strategies yes 15
Recommendations 2
Relationships 9
Resources during the pandemic
no 13
Resources during the pandemic
yes 24
Supervisor org better support 7
Wine industry emp 12

103

Appendix F: Definitions
Burnout or emotional exhaustion encompasses three components: (a) emotional and
physical exhaustion, (b) lowered work productivity, and (c) depersonalization (Perlman &
Hartman, 1982). Emotional exhaustion (burnout), resulting from emotional labor and emotional
exhaustion, affects an individual’s job performance in organizational commitment and job
satisfaction (Moon & Hur, 2011).
SARS-CoV-2 is the causative agent of the novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19. It is
transmitted between humans via respiratory droplets, produced when an infected individual
talks, sneezes, or coughs (McArthur et al., 2020).
Fatigue is self-recognized state in which an individual experiences an overwhelming
sustained sense of exhaustion and decreased physical and mental work capacity is not relieved by
rest (Aaronson et al., 1999).
A pandemic occurs when an extensive epidemic occurs over an extensive area, usually
affecting a large proportion of the population in severity, disease movement, high attack rates,
and infectiousness (Morens et al., 2009).
Individuals might feel stressed when they do not have the time to perform the tasks they
want to achieve in a given period. The perception is usually triggered by a set of reactions that
may indicate that a person is stressed (Lupien, 2013).
Well-being is centered on a person’s state of equilibrium or balance that can be affected
by life events or challenges (Dodge et al., 2012).

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Asset Metadata

Creator Kelly, Lyn (author)

Core Title COVID-19 pandemic: the impact on the Napa Valley wine industry workers

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Organizational Change and Leadership (On Line)

Degree Conferral Date 2023-05

Publication Date 01/20/2023

Defense Date 11/29/2022

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

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