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Article
Publication date: 17 October 2022

Zauwiyah Ahmad, Arnifa Asmawi and Siti Zakiah Melatu Samsi

Work-from-home (WFH) arrangement is implemented to enable employees to achieve work–life balance. However, WFH arrangement can be less than ideal. This study developed a WFH

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Abstract

Purpose

Work-from-home (WFH) arrangement is implemented to enable employees to achieve work–life balance. However, WFH arrangement can be less than ideal. This study developed a WFH framework using qualitative data.

Design/methodology/approach

An open-ended survey was conducted and participated by 621 employees. The data were examined using the qualitative content analysis method.

Findings

Work performance and personal well-being have been identified as WFH outcomes, and 12 relevant research propositions have been developed. Constraints to WFH effectiveness include household and organisational factors whilst instrumental and emotional support were identified as the facilitating conditions. Two moderators were also identified: temporal flexibility and commitment orientation.

Research limitations/implications

This study provides a framework that support effective implementation of WFH and similar flexible work arrangements. Managing time, situation, emotions and attitudes are coping strategies used by WFH employees, and the efficacy of these strategies needs further empirical investigation.

Practical implications

Three main factors have been identified as significant in determining WFH effectiveness. Understanding these elements can help managers design solutions to help employees manage work-home boundaries, improving their work performance and well-being.

Originality/value

The Constraints–Coping–Effectiveness WFH framework and research propositions help organisations build WFH guidelines and policies. This study also recognises commitment orientation, which links resources, strategies and outcomes. The inclusion of this variable in future empirical studies could explain the gaps in the current literature.

Article
Publication date: 26 October 2020

Ada Hiu Kan Wong, Joyce Oiwun Cheung and Ziguang Chen

Working-from-home (WFH) practice has been adopted by many companies of a variety of industries in a diverse manner; however, it is not until the recent outbreak of the coronavirus…

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Abstract

Purpose

Working-from-home (WFH) practice has been adopted by many companies of a variety of industries in a diverse manner; however, it is not until the recent outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic WFH gains worldwide popularity. With so many different views out there and based on work–family balance theory, this study aims to find out the factors which affect peoples' WFH effectiveness and whether they want the extended WFH practice when the pandemic crisis is over.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper adopted an online survey approach by posting questionnaires on the university website and different social media channels to collect views from full-time Hong Kong workers who have had WFH experience during the coronavirus outbreak. A total of 1,976 effective responses were collected for the data analysis.

Findings

The findings of this study indicate that WFH effectiveness is improved by personal and family well-being but reduced by environmental and resource constraints. When workers are experiencing higher WFH effectiveness, they have a higher preference for WFH even after the pandemic; the female workers preferred WFH twice per week, while the male workers more often preferred WFH once per week. Finally, workers from the management and the self-employed levels demonstrated a lower preference for WFH, compared to the front-line and middle-grade workers.

Originality/value

This paper fulfils to provide a timely reflection on workers' post-pandemic WFH preference, the factors affecting their WFH effectiveness and the demographic differences inducing to the differentiated preferences.

Details

Asian Education and Development Studies, vol. 10 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-3162

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 April 2022

Dao Le Trang Anh, Quang Thi Thieu Nguyen, Christopher Gan, Tung Duy Thai and Tu-Anh Nguyen

This study explores the impacts of COVID-19's strictest lockdown on Vietnamese citizens' living habits, wellbeing and work-from-home effectiveness.

Abstract

Purpose

This study explores the impacts of COVID-19's strictest lockdown on Vietnamese citizens' living habits, wellbeing and work-from-home effectiveness.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses a survey questionnaire to gather relevant data from Vietnamese adults during the most recent, strictest lockdown in their cities/provinces since July 2021. The study employs ordinal regression and mediation models to examine the effects of the strict lockdown difficulties on the changes in living habits, wellbeing and work effectiveness of Vietnamese respondents.

Findings

The empirical result demonstrates that the strictest lockdown adversely affected the living habits of Vietnamese citizens, thus impacting people's wellbeing. Work-from-home lockdown difficulties led to unexpected health issues that bring produce lower working effectiveness.

Originality/value

This is the first study to investigate the changes in citizens' living habits, health and working conditions in adherence to Vietnam's strictest COVID-19 lockdown. This is also the first study to examine the impacts of lockdown difficulties on human wellbeing with the mediating effect of changes in living habits, and the influence of work-from-home lockdown difficulties on work effectiveness, with the mediating effect of lower wellbeing based on the literature. Our study suggests solutions to improve Vietnamese people's health and working productivity during and after a strict lockdown.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 49 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 May 2022

Navya Kumar, Swati Alok and Sudatta Banerjee

Even after COVID-19 pandemic, several organizations intend extending work-from-home (WFH), to the extent of making it permanent for many. However, WFH's impact on productivity…

Abstract

Purpose

Even after COVID-19 pandemic, several organizations intend extending work-from-home (WFH), to the extent of making it permanent for many. However, WFH's impact on productivity remains uncertain. Therefore, this paper aims to study personal and job factors determining the likelihood of amount of work done at home being same/more vis-à-vis office.

Design/methodology/approach

Employees' basic psychological needs and job crafting tendencies; job-related aspects of task independence, technology resources and supervisory support; and several demographic factors are examined as determinants. Firth logistic regression analysis of data from 301 Indian white-collar employees is performed.

Findings

Demographically, longer exposure to WFH, greater work experience and being a support function worker increased the likelihood of same/greater amount of work done at home. Being a woman or married reduced the likelihood, while being a manufacturing/services worker was non-significant. Among psychological needs, greater needs for autonomy and relatedness decreased and increased the likelihood of same/greater amount of work done at home, respectively. Regarding personal and job resources, job crafting to increase structural job resources and supervisor support increased the likelihood of same/greater amount of work done at home versus office.

Originality/value

This paper adds to the limited India-centric literature on WFH; uniquely examining influences of individual personal attributes on amount of work done by combining job demands-resources (JD-R) model and basic psychological needs theory.

Details

International Journal of Manpower, vol. 44 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7720

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Personnel Review, vol. 51 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0048-3486

Article
Publication date: 30 January 2023

Remya Lathabhavan and Mark D. Griffiths

Working from home (WFH) was one of the major changes that occurred in many organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic. This also led to online training being conducted during this…

Abstract

Purpose

Working from home (WFH) was one of the major changes that occurred in many organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic. This also led to online training being conducted during this WFH period. The present study investigated the role of technology, manager support and peer support on self-efficacy and job outcomes (i.e. training transfer, work engagement and job satisfaction) of employees while WFH.

Design/methodology/approach

The study framework incorporated Bandura's self-efficacy theory. Data were collected from 852 employees in India, and structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data.

Findings

The study found positive relationships between ease of technology use, manager support and peer support on self-efficacy and a negative relationship between self-efficacy and technostress. The study also found significant positive relationships between self-efficacy and training transfer, work engagement and job satisfaction. Moreover, the study also identified the moderating effects of WFH and technical issues in the relationships of self-efficacy with training transfer, work engagement and job satisfaction.

Originality/value

The study is novel in that it extended self-efficacy theory regarding the WFH context with influencers such as technology, managers and peers as organizational factors. It also demonstrated the effectiveness of remote working and online training considering the potential antecedents while WFH. Moreover, the study highlighted the simultaneous role of technology and people (managers and peers) in enhancing job outcomes by increasing self-efficacy among employees.

Details

International Journal of Manpower, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7720

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 December 2020

Vivek Sridhar and Sanjay Bhattacharya

The purpose of this study is to find out the significant factor/s relating to an information technology (IT) employee’s household that determines the job effectiveness of an…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to find out the significant factor/s relating to an information technology (IT) employee’s household that determines the job effectiveness of an employee.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach involves surveying IT employees from across levels of work-experience, companies and cities on household factors that affect their job effectiveness while they work from home and uses discriminant analysis to find out important factor/s that determines if an employee’s job effectiveness remains constant or is better at the workplace that at home.

Findings

The number of elderly staying in the house, age of the eldest member of the household, observable power cuts at home and number of cars owned by individuals were found to be significant factors affecting an IT employees’ job effectiveness.

Originality/value

The study targets a very niche area of the impact of household factors on an IT employee. The findings of this research enable IT organizations from India with insights and enable them to come up with innovative interventions to manage employees on a personalized basis to improve an employees’ job effectiveness and drive organizational effectiveness on a whole, during and post the COVID-19 pandemic.

Details

International Journal of Innovation Science, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-2223

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 June 2022

Zahra Daneshfar, Aswathy Asokan-Ajitha, Piyush Sharma and Ashish Malik

This paper aims to create a better understanding of the challenges posed by work from home (WFH) during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, to investigate the public sentiment toward…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to create a better understanding of the challenges posed by work from home (WFH) during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, to investigate the public sentiment toward this transition, and to develop a conceptual model incorporating the relationships among the factors that influence the effectiveness of WFH.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses netnography method to collect data from the Twitter platform and uses Python programming language, Natural Language Processing techniques and IBM SPSS 26 to conduct sentiment analysis and directed content analysis on the data. The findings are combined with an extensive review of the remote work literature to develop a conceptual model.

Findings

Results show the majority of tweets about WFH during the pandemic are positive and objective with technology and cyber security as the most repeated topics in the tweets. New challenges to WFH during pandemic include future uncertainty, health concerns, home workspaces, self-isolation, lack of recreational activities and support mechanisms. In addition, exhaustion and technostress mediate the relationship between the antecedents and outcomes of WFH during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, the fear of pandemic and coping strategies moderates these relationships.

Originality/value

This paper is one of the first efforts to comprehensively investigate the challenges of WFH during a crisis and to extend the remote work literature by developing a conceptual model incorporating the moderating effects of fear of pandemic and coping strategies. Moreover, it is the first paper to investigate the tweeting behavior of different user types on Twitter who shared posts about WFH during the ongoing pandemic.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 36 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 May 2022

Santanu Mandal, Payel Das, Gayathri V. Menon and R. Amritha

With the emergence of COVID-19 and increased infections, organizations urged their employees to work from home. Furthermore, with the on-going pandemic, employees take measures to…

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Abstract

Purpose

With the emergence of COVID-19 and increased infections, organizations urged their employees to work from home. Furthermore, with the on-going pandemic, employees take measures to ensure individual safety and their families. Hence, work from home culture can result in long-term employee satisfaction. However, no study addresses the development of work from the home culture in an integrated framework. Therefore, the current research explores the role of safety during the pandemic, organizational commitment and employee motivation on work from home culture, which may influence employee satisfaction. Furthermore, job demands and home demands were also evaluated for employee satisfaction.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used existing scales of the factors to develop the measures and collect perceptual responses from employees working from home, supported with a pre-test. The study executed a survey with effective responses from 132 individuals spread across different sectors to validate the hypotheses. The responses were analysed using partial least squares in ADANCO 2.2.

Findings

Findings suggest safety concerns along with organization commitment enhances work from home culture. Such work from home culture enhances employee motivation and employee satisfaction. Furthermore, job demands and home demands also influence employee satisfaction.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors knowledge, the study is the foremost to develop an integrated empirical framework for work from home culture and its antecedents and consequences. The study has several important implications for managers.

Details

Benchmarking: An International Journal, vol. 30 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-5771

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 14 July 2021

May Mei Ling Wong, Ka Hing Lau and Chad Wing Fung Chan

COVID-19 has changed the way we teach and learn, including service-learning (S-L). This study examines the impacts of the work-from-home (WFH) mode on the work performance and…

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Abstract

Purpose

COVID-19 has changed the way we teach and learn, including service-learning (S-L). This study examines the impacts of the work-from-home (WFH) mode on the work performance and learning outcomes of student interns on an eight-week S-L internship programme, and the key factors in terms of its success.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative research methodology is adopted by interviewing nine student interns and four supervisors from three community partner organisations (CPOs) to understand their experiences of how the WFH mode has impacted intern work performance and learning outcomes. Thematic analysis is used for the data analysis.

Findings

The interns uncover a number of negative WFH impacts on the S-L internship, including ineffective communication and management practice, low work efficiency and quality, a lack of task variety and learning opportunities and distractions in the home environment. Furthermore, five critical factors for WFH success are also identified, including prior preparation, effective communication systems, personal motivators at work, the nature of the job in relation to it being suited to the WFH mode, and organisational support.

Originality/value

The study examines impacts on student work performance and learning outcomes in an S-L summer internship programme operating under the WFH mode as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Key success factors and practical recommendations have been developed for enhancing the future success of S-L internships operating under the WFH mode.

Details

Journal of Work-Applied Management, vol. 13 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2205-2062

Keywords

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