The study is titled ‘Employees’ perception on Covid-19 sources of information: Case of higher institutions of Learning in Buea.” Information during pandemics plays a critical role in employee perception of the sources of that information. Due to current events involving incidents like terrorist attacks, famine, conflicts and now the Coronavirus pandemic, the perceptions of employees’ towards how pandemics are handled from an effective crisis communication perspective in protecting the organization from reputational damage is imperative. This study seeks to investigate employee perception about COVID-19 sources of information. The study employs the quantitative research design with a descriptive method (survey). The questionnaire is used as the instrument for data collection with 365 employees constituting the sampled population. In terms of the theoretical underpinnings of the study uses the Persuasion-Communication theory as it attempts to resolve the issues which emerge as a result of a given crisis (COVID-19). Based on the findings, majority of respondents 191(52.3%) of employees collectively agree as opposed to 47.7% who consider it not an overblown phenomenon. Statistics have equally revealed that majority of respondents 55.3% of employees say they do not feel at risk for the coronavirus, 24.9% strongly disagree that they feel at risk for the coronavirus, while 35.6% feel at risk for the virus, with 23% who neither agree nor disagree that they feel at risk for the coronavirus. To conclude, employees consider coronavirus as an overblown. Thus, institutions should derive a crisis communication prototype that can better address issues of health concerns effectively.

Download Full Text - PDF