Search results
1 – 10 of 107Ramin Bashir Khodaparasti and Hooshmand Bagheri Garbollagh
Telecommuting can reduce traffic congestion, energy consumption, prevalence and a death toll of COVID-19 among employees due to less transportation and fewer physical contacts…
Abstract
Purpose
Telecommuting can reduce traffic congestion, energy consumption, prevalence and a death toll of COVID-19 among employees due to less transportation and fewer physical contacts among employees, on the one hand, and efficiently develop their use of information and communications technology, on the other hand. In this regard, the present study aims to explore antecedents and consequences of telecommuting in public organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used a descriptive survey method to collect data. The statistical population includes all employees of government organizations in West Azerbaijan province in 2020, which according to the collected information, their number is equal to 63,079 employees. Based on Cochran's formula, a sample size of 686 people was obtained; stratified random sampling was used to select sampling. The process of calculating the sample volume was such that after referring to the preliminary sample and processing the collected data, the variance of the given answers was approximately 0.446. After obtaining the variance of the data, assuming a maximum acceptable error of 5% and a significance level of 0.05, the Cochran's formula calculated the sample size to be 686 people. In order to collect and measure data for the study, a standard questionnaire and the collected data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.
Findings
Findings indicate that there is no meaningful relationship between the employees' physical job conditions or the quality of their life with telecommuting and that telecommuting does not have a significant effect on their life. However, job burnout, training and telecommuting experience have a significant positive effect on telecommuting, which in turn has a positive and significant effect on job security, job flexibility, organizational performance and overall productivity of employees.
Research limitations/implications
This research is a cross-sectional study, and its data have been collected in a certain period of time, while longitudinal research can provide a richer result. Future research can benefit from the impact of employee isolation and telecommuter organizational commitment.
Originality/value
This study hopes to contribute to the increase of the scientific knowledge in the telecommuting field and to allow organizations to rethink the telecommuting strategies to optimize resources and costs and to improve the organization's productivity without harming the quality of life and well-being of their workers.
Details
Keywords
Ellen Ernst Kossek, Brenda A. Lautsch, Matthew B. Perrigino, Jeffrey H. Greenhaus and Tarani J. Merriweather
Work-life flexibility policies (e.g., flextime, telework, part-time, right-to-disconnect, and leaves) are increasingly important to employers as productivity and well-being…
Abstract
Work-life flexibility policies (e.g., flextime, telework, part-time, right-to-disconnect, and leaves) are increasingly important to employers as productivity and well-being strategies. However, policies have not lived up to their potential. In this chapter, the authors argue for increased research attention to implementation and work-life intersectionality considerations influencing effectiveness. Drawing on a typology that conceptualizes flexibility policies as offering employees control across five dimensions of the work role boundary (temporal, spatial, size, permeability, and continuity), the authors develop a model identifying the multilevel moderators and mechanisms of boundary control shaping relationships between using flexibility and work and home performance. Next, the authors review this model with an intersectional lens. The authors direct scholars’ attention to growing workforce diversity and increased variation in flexibility policy experiences, particularly for individuals with higher work-life intersectionality, which is defined as having multiple intersecting identities (e.g., gender, caregiving, and race), that are stigmatized, and link to having less access to and/or benefits from societal resources to support managing the work-life interface in a social context. Such an intersectional focus would address the important need to shift work-life and flexibility research from variable to person-centered approaches. The authors identify six research considerations on work-life intersectionality in order to illuminate how traditionally assumed work-life relationships need to be revisited to address growing variation in: access, needs, and preferences for work-life flexibility; work and nonwork experiences; and benefits from using flexibility policies. The authors hope that this chapter will spur a conversation on how the work-life interface and flexibility policy processes and outcomes may increasingly differ for individuals with higher work-life intersectionality compared to those with lower work-life intersectionality in the context of organizational and social systems that may perpetuate growing work-life and job inequality.
Details
Keywords
Kristine Shipman, Darrell Norman Burrell and Allison Huff Mac Pherson
The unimagined workplace disturbance caused by the Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, has made many organizations virtual or telework driven workplaces, often without the…
Abstract
Purpose
The unimagined workplace disturbance caused by the Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, has made many organizations virtual or telework driven workplaces, often without the infrastructure and systems in place to support employees facing these sudden workplace changes (Burrell, 2020). Many stressors accompanied this transition, to include lack of childcare, home-school responsibilities and layoffs and business closings. These stressors have perpetuated concerns for the job and financial security for all workers (Fox, 2020), leading some employees to struggle with the work-life balance out of concern for being laid off due to perceived low productivity (Fox, 2020). This study aims to explore those manifestations.
Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative research case study explores the impact COVID-19 induced telework has on their job satisfaction, mental well-being and aspects of organizational commitment to fill a gap in the literature concerning emerging workplace dynamics due to COVID-19 for small real estate businesses in the USA.
Findings
The results of this qualitative research case study provide knowledge and information about the need for small businesses to be resourceful and resilient in the way that they support and engage remote workers. This qualitative research case study explores the impact COVID-19-induced telework has on their job satisfaction, mental well-being and aspects of organizational commitment for small real estate businesses. The analysis of current work-life structures through a qualitative lens provides trends among workers to gain a greater perspective of the current accelerators and barriers to worker success in a COVID-19 teleworking environment.
Originality/value
This qualitative research case study explores the impact COVID-19 induced telework has on their job satisfaction, mental well-being and aspects of organizational commitment to fill a gap in the literature concerning emerging workplace dynamics due to COVID-19 for small real estate businesses. The value of this research is that majority of the participants were African-Americans, which represents a participant group that is highly under researched.
Details
Keywords
Magan Calhoun and Vikkie McCarthy
As public accounting firms continue to leverage technology to retain and recruit employees, options for flexible work arrangements (FWAs) expand. However, offering FWAs may not be…
Abstract
Purpose
As public accounting firms continue to leverage technology to retain and recruit employees, options for flexible work arrangements (FWAs) expand. However, offering FWAs may not be enough. This study aims to investigate the influence of FWAs on perceived peer resentment and turnover intentions in public accounting. A mediation effect of perceived peer resentment between types of FWAs used and turnover intentions is explored.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis is based on survey data collected from a total of 212 respondents currently or recently working in public accounting. Hypotheses have been tested using ordinary least squares regression and the PROCESS macro in SPSS.
Findings
Study findings indicate that the number of types of FWAs used and perceived peer resentment positively influence turnover intentions.
Research limitations/implications
This study explores developments in retaining and recruiting employees when public accounting firms implement FWAs. In particular, it discusses a new potential unintended consequence, perceived peer resentment toward employees using FWAs.
Practical implications
Public accounting firms that seek to retain and recruit top talent must go beyond offering various forms of FWAs if they intend to reduce turnover in their firms. This study provides evidence that peer relationships play a greater role in the turnover intention process when FWAs are used.
Originality/value
This study is among a few which examine the variable perceived peer resentment in relationship to FWAs and its influence on turnover in public accounting firms.
Details
Keywords
Ana Junça Silva and Neuza Coelho
The COVID-19 pandemic forced organizations to adopt telework, many of the organizations without any prior preparation, influencing not only daily organizational routines but also…
Abstract
Purpose
The COVID-19 pandemic forced organizations to adopt telework, many of the organizations without any prior preparation, influencing not only daily organizational routines but also workers' happiness. Happiness is important for organizations because happy and fulfilled workers are a key to achieving organizational success. Organizational culture is a critical factor to implement telework, because that may influence the workers' attitudes toward this model of work and workers' happiness. This study aimed to test the moderating role of organizational culture (clan, adhocracy, market and hierarchical) in the relationship between attitudes toward teleworking and happiness.
Design/methodology/approach
To meet the objectives, the authors collected data from 265 teleworkers.
Findings
The results revealed that only market culture moderated the relationship between attitudes toward teleworking and happiness, such that this relationship became stronger in the presence of a goal-oriented culture. No other dimension of organizational culture significantly moderated the relationship between telework and happiness.
Practical implications
These results prove to be fundamental for a better understanding of organizational and individual factors when organizations want to implement telework as a work arrangement.
Originality/value
Considering the mainstream literature in telework, to the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to date to integrate the moderating role of organizational culture in the relationship between telework and happiness.
Details
Keywords
Yunfei Xing, Yuming He and Justin Z. Zhang
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused significant disruption to the global labor market, resulting in a rapid transition toward remote work, e-commerce and…
Abstract
Purpose
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused significant disruption to the global labor market, resulting in a rapid transition toward remote work, e-commerce and workforce automation. This shift has sparked a considerable amount of public discussion. This study aims to explore the online public's sentiment toward remote work amid the pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on justice theory, this paper examines user-generated content on social media platforms, particularly Twitter, to gain insight into public opinion and discourse surrounding remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Employing content analysis techniques such as sentiment analysis, text clustering and evolutionary analysis, this study aims to identify prevalent topics, temporal patterns and instances of sentiment polarization in tweets.
Findings
Results show that people with positive opinions focus mainly on personal interests, while others focus on the interests of the company and society; people's subjectivities are higher when they express extremely negative or extremely positive emotions. Distributive justice and interactional justice are distinguishable with a high degree of differentiation in the cluster map.
Originality/value
Previous research has inadequately addressed public apprehensions about remote work during emergencies, particularly from a justice-based perspective. This study seeks to fill this gap by examining how justice theory can shed light on the public's views regarding corporate policy-making during emergencies. The results of this study provide valuable insights and guidance for managing public opinion during such events.
Details
Keywords
Mirela Cătălina Türkeş, Aurelia Felicia Stăncioiu, Mihai Cristian Orzan, Mariana Jugănaru, Roxana-Cristina Marinescu and Ion Dănuț Jugănaru
Almost four years after the COVID-19 pandemic, the changes in the labour market and legislation, but also in people's lives, do not stop. At the same time, employees' perceptions…
Abstract
Purpose
Almost four years after the COVID-19 pandemic, the changes in the labour market and legislation, but also in people's lives, do not stop. At the same time, employees' perceptions regarding the change in the legislative and contractual framework, as well as in the working conditions and the use of telework, also change. Therefore, the aim of the paper is to identify the perceptions of employees regarding the use of telework in the post-pandemic period.
Design/methodology/approach
The research was based on a survey carried out on 128 teleworkers in the post-pandemic period. The statistical hypotheses were tested using Kolmogorov–Smirnov and Kruskal–Wallis tests, multiple linear regression and pairwise comparison analysis.
Findings
The results of the study demonstrate that the modification of the legislative and contractual framework and of the working conditions, as well as of the way of using information and communication technology in the post-pandemic era, generates a positive and significant impact on the use of telework by employees. Some of the main advantages valued by teleworkers included the possibility of benefitting from a flexible work schedule and the possibility of reducing transport costs.
Originality/value
The study highlights the need to continuously develop and update labour policies and strategies in line with current and future labour market requirements, considering the implications of telework on the perceptions of employees, so that government organisations and managers who want to protect the rights and interests of teleworkers, aspects of their lives and organise an appropriate work environment manage to do so in order to achieve the expected results.
Details
Keywords
This study aims to explore the benefits and drawbacks of different work models, including hybrid and remote models, as perceived by millennial and Gen Z students in Spain…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the benefits and drawbacks of different work models, including hybrid and remote models, as perceived by millennial and Gen Z students in Spain. Additionally, it seeks to identify ways to promote work engagement in the context of this paradigm shift.
Design/methodology/approach
The study involved 44 undergraduate and graduate students who participated in two classroom discussions on the impact of hybrid and remote work models on well-being. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data.
Findings
The results indicate that students' expectations have significantly shifted, and HR managers need to implement hybrid and remote work models to ensure a balance between long-term employee and organisational interests. Younger generations seek flexibility in work and education to achieve a better quality of life, rather than a 100% remote system.
Originality/value
The growing demand for hybrid and flexible working has the potential to create a paradigm shift in the way we work. This study contributes to the organisational behaviour literature by investigating the factors that organisations and policymakers should consider when implementing work models in response to the pandemic to promote well-being. The practical implications of this study can be useful for organisations and educators seeking to adapt to this changing work landscape.
Details
Keywords
Johan Ingemar Lorentzon, Lazarus Elad Fotoh and Tatenda Mugwira
This paper aims to explore the impacts of remote auditing on auditors’ work and work-life balance.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the impacts of remote auditing on auditors’ work and work-life balance.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper adopted a qualitative online survey approach using open-ended reflections from 98 highly experienced auditors. The survey design aligns with a “Big Q” approach to qualitative data. The reflections were interpreted through the theoretical lens of the social presence theory.
Findings
Auditors underscore that remote auditing has improved their work-life balance since it offers flexibility, greater autonomy and efficient use of time. However, they believe less social contact due to remote auditing can hurt their work.
Research limitations/implications
This study aimed to holistically comprehend the concept of work-life balance in a remote auditing setting. Therefore, the study refrained from making comparisons based on demographic information (e.g. gender, experience and type of audit firm).
Practical implications
The findings highlight the need for adopting flexible work arrangements that prioritise auditors’ well-being. This is critical for making the audit profession attractive and enhancing overall audit quality. Updated regulatory guidance and controls are needed concerning the use of technologies in remote auditing to ensure high-quality audits.
Social implications
The findings of this study can positively reshape public perception of the audit profession. Firstly, enhanced work-life balance can improve audit quality. Secondly, incorporating emerging technologies in auditing can result in society perceiving auditors as adaptive to innovation and technological advancement that has been touted for their potential for enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of audit and audit quality, potentially enhancing societal trust in auditing.
Originality/value
The findings of this study complement the auditing literature that has mainly focused on the traditional work paradigm, requiring in-person presence. The authors identify potential challenges emanating from auditors’ remote work and propose solutions for audit firms to improve work-life balance in a remote work setting.
Details
Keywords
Xiaoni Ren and Hanlin Xu
This study aims to identify and analyse the gains and strains associated with flexible working practices (FWPs) introduced and adopted prior to and during the pandemic and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to identify and analyse the gains and strains associated with flexible working practices (FWPs) introduced and adopted prior to and during the pandemic and consider how these experiences are likely to shape the future of workplace flexibility post-pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study research strategy was adopted to explore the FWPs implemented by a state-owned organisation in the Chinese publishing industry. A mixed data collection method was used. Quantitative data was collected from 50 valid questionnaires, which was followed by 7 qualitative interviews to gain rich insights into the availability and effectiveness of various FWPs and associated benefits and drawbacks.
Findings
While the results confirm positive effects FWPs have on employee engagement and retention and on business continuity and employee well-being during the pandemic, the empirical analysis highlights the performance-driven patterns in use and impacts of some FWPs, which caused concerns and dilemmas. Besides the increasing intense market competition, the changing face of state-owned enterprises and managerial attitudes have been found to have significant effects on the use of FWPs.
Originality/value
This paper has contributed to a better understanding of flexible working in an under-researched setting, reflected in changes before and during the pandemic, offering an insight into the commercialised nature of flexible working in the Chinese context. It has implications for organisations and HR practitioners as they envision future workplace flexibility.
Details