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New ways of working have rapidly increased in organizations, promising employees a better control over their work time, space, and more autonomy. The present study analyzes the relationship between new ways of working and employee engagement and productivity.

A survey was conducted to evaluate organizational practices developed based on flexible schemes and the relevance of employee engagement for better productivity based on digital tools. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.

New ways of work requires an integration of workspaces' design, social interaction, and individual wellness. Organizations need to recognize how employees' trust, commitment, and passion are fundamental to face current and future changes. Flexibility in time and space and digital tools for work are critical.

A personalization of organizational practices to support individual well-being and flexible and hybrid schemes of work are needed. Developing policies collaboratively to work together respectfully in a hybrid environment is necessary.

Hybrid work format is allowing women to balance career and childcare, reducing the wage gap with men. The green imperative has also played a role reducing the amount of carbon monoxide produced via commuter.

The present study exposes how organizational practices must ensure employee well-being and autonomy to perform their tasks. In this regard, employees need to be recognized as individuals, physically and mentally. Attempting to force a one-size-fit-all solution can have detrimental effects on the workforce, particularly on women, people of lower socioeconomic status, and people in less advanced economies. Personalization requests empowerment and democratization at work.

Based on the principle of equality, individuals with disabilities have the right to equal job opportunities and career advancements and to actively participate in the economy like other members of society. This study aims to provide an integrated description of discriminatory occupational practices and behaviours that individuals with disabilities face. This study followed the descriptive analytical approach to achieve the objectives. A questionnaire was used for data collection purposes.

The target population for this study was male and female employees with disabilities working in the Jordanian Government sector for the years 2019–2022 in all governorates of Jordan. The sample method used was purposive-convenient random sampling, and the size of the sample valid for statistical analysis was n = 1,043. Using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (v26), a number of statistical tests were conducted to infer the features of the researched phenomenon.

This study found an overall moderate level (mean = 2.76) of practices and behaviours of job discrimination against individuals with disabilities in the Jordanian public sector. All proposed practices and behaviours were at moderate levels of agreement, with the highest discriminatory behaviours being in the areas of training and learning opportunities (2.88), followed by job performance evaluation (2.84), work leave and vacation (2.75), integration and social participation (2.74), career advancement and promotion (2.73) and, last, the distribution of tasks and responsibilities (2.61). Furthermore, it was found that there are significant differences in the levels of discriminatory practices and behaviours towards people with physical disabilities, individuals with visual impairments and psychological disabilities, new employees at work and those with a low level of education. In addition, employees at higher administrative levels (manager, deputy/assistant manager and head of department/division) and workers in the southern and central governorates are exposed to the highest levels of discrimination.

Lack of data: There is often a lack of reliable and comprehensive data on employees with disabilities, making it difficult for researchers to accurately study and understand the experiences of this population. Stigma and discrimination: People with disabilities often face stigma and discrimination, which can make it challenging for researchers to engage with them and collect accurate information.

Moreover, it was found that the main agencies to which cases of discriminatory practices towards individuals with disabilities working in the Jordanian public sector are reported are the direct managers/supervisors (n = 381), the ministry to which the institution/department belongs (n = 278) and the Higher Council for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (n = 261).

Supporting social inclusion: Employment can provide a sense of purpose, identity and social inclusion for people with disabilities, which can have a positive impact on their disabilities and overall quality of life. Improving diversity and inclusion: The inclusion of employees with disabilities can contribute to a more diverse and inclusive workplace, where all employees feel valued and respected.

This study found that discriminatory practices against employees with disabilities in the Jordanian public sector were largely because of a lack of awareness of reporting mechanisms and negative attitudes towards individuals with disabilities. This study proposes solutions such as raising awareness among non-disabled employees, implementing penalties for discriminatory behaviour and updating legislation for the rights of individuals with disabilities.

In the quest for better construction workforce management, this chapter explored the background of workforce management and related theories, models, and practices. Through a review, the chapter provided meaning to the concept of construction and workforce management. The chapter concluded that while the construction industry worldwide is important to the economic growth of the countries where it operates, the industry’s management of its workforce is challenged by several problems. These problems include the nature of the industry, skill shortage, unhealthy working environment, and poor image of the industry, among others. Also, while the construction industry is rich in diversity, this has been a major source of problems for workforce management. The chapter further revealed that to improve workforce management and attain better-performing construction organisations, careful recruitment, effective training, providing a safe working environment, putting policies to promote diversity, and ensuring innovativeness, among others, are essential.

This paper explores flexible working practices (FWPs) and takes a critical view that argues a need to consider not only access to digital technological resources but also the vast array of factors that constrain one’s ability to use technology for its intended benefits, as constituting the digital divide post-COVID-19 lockdown.

Using a critical evaluation of the extant literature, we engage in a conceptual undertaking to develop theoretical propositions that form the basis for future empirical undertakings. To theoretically ground the arguments raised, we deploy the ontological lens of actor-network theory to illuminate the socio-technical dimensions of the digital divide in light of FWPs.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the need to adopt socially distanced work practices has become a reality for many organisations. We find that the adoption of FWPs, enabled by digital technologies, simultaneously signals hidden inequalities. We also develop a conceptual framework which depicts user responses in different technology environments that can either be limiting or enabling for individuals’ work productivity.

With regards to the digital divide, attention has often focused on access to digital technologies, as the term “digital divide” portrays. The implication is that the array of factors and resources that individuals are heterogeneously networked to, which also constitute the digital divide, is often taken for granted. We take a different ontological view that brings to the fore other factors at play within an individual’s network of relations.

本文擬探索彈性工作安排,並以批判性的觀點、去論證當我們探討2019冠狀病毒病封鎖解除後的數字鴻溝究竟是由什麼組成時,我們必須考慮數字技術資源的使用權限,以及關注各個有關的因素,因這些因素限制了我們從應用技術獲得預期效益的能力。

我們對現存文獻作批判性的評價,藉此參與一項概念性的工作,以便能建立可以成為將來實證性工作基礎的理論命題;為使提出的論點能得到理論上的依據,我們使用行動者網絡理論的本體論鏡頭,去闡明鑒於彈性工作安排的數字鴻溝的各個社會技術維度。

由於2019冠狀病毒病大爆發的關係,許多機構和組織都因實際情況而需採用保持社交距離的工作安排。我們發現、當我們採用有賴數字技術的發展而成行的彈性工作安排時,我們同時也會使不為人知的不平等狀況浮現出來;我們也注意到、不同的技術環境會限制個人的工作生產力,又或相反地助其建立工作生產力;就此,我們建立了一個可以描繪就這些不同的技術環境、用戶會如何回應的概念框架。

就數字鴻溝而言,人們的關注總放在數字技術使用權限的差異上,就如數字鴻溝這個術語所塑造的形象一樣。這種關注可能帶來的影響是即使有不同的因素和資源、即使個人會以各種形式與不同的因素和資源聯繫起來,而這些因素和資源構成了數字鴻溝,人們卻把這些因素和資源視為理所當然。我們採用不同的本體論觀點,希望藉此使個人關係網絡內起著作用的其它因素能突顯出來、免被忽視。

Work environments are undergoing a transition and COVID-19 accelerated this change. Prior studies have associated various physical, digital and social work environment elements with occupational well-being. However, holistic approaches to the social work environment to compare the effects of the different elements have received less attention. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship of various social work environment elements with hybrid worker well-being. The findings help organizations design their work environments and cultures for the post-COVID era.

The study builds on a quantitative survey with 1,057 respondents. The respondents were randomly selected, the answers were anonymous and the results were based on regression analysis.

The analysis indicated that working methods and practices, leadership and management practices, organizational communality and social interaction associate with hybrid worker well-being. Organizational values, reward systems and organizational structures yield no association with hybrid worker well-being.

The value of this paper is in that it investigates elements of the social work environment, presents a research model that examines the relationship of social work environment elements with hybrid worker well-being and provides new empirical data on their implications in a comparative manner.

Interrelationships among some common factors of human resource (HR) management and quality management are still unexplored. Changes in work patterns due to the Covid-19 pandemic have aroused interest in some of these factors, such as working-hours, work pressure, work–life balance practices, job satisfaction. The purpose of this study is to explore the interrelationships among such factors. Specifically, the influence of work hours, work pressure, job rotation and work–life balance on job satisfaction is evaluated both directly and under the mediating influence of working conditions.

A questionnaire-based survey was conducted in Indonesia among diversified organisations. A total of 432 responses were gathered, and they were examined using hypothesis testing and partial least square based structural equation modelling.

The study confirms the statistically proven impact of work pressure, job rotations and work–life-balance practices on working conditions. Job rotations, work–life balance practices and working conditions directly influenced job satisfaction. Work pressure did not influence job satisfaction directly, but it significantly influenced working conditions, which eventually affected job satisfaction. Working hours neither affected working conditions nor job satisfaction in a significant manner.

Covid-19 necessitated working from home, which is a peculiar work–life balance situation. The findings are helpful for organisations in planning strategies related to work–life-balance, working hours, multi-skilling, working conditions and other quality of work life factors in both regular working conditions and under Covid-19 conditions.

The proven influence of work pressure and work–life-balance practices may result in the formation of informal organisations, social groups and increased social networking. As working hours are not diagnosed as an influencing factor for job satisfaction, organisations may think about increasing them, affecting the social fabric of the working community.

Previously unexplored interrelationships among various quality of work life factors are established. Under Covid-19 circumstances, factors such as working hours, work–life-balance and work pressure are investigated in a novel manner. The factors and their interrelationships are important to both quality management professionals and HR professionals.

This paper aims to examine the learning gained from the evolving adjustment experiences of co-workers in moving to home-based working during the COVID-19 pandemic and the influence of these experiences on re-adjusting to return to co-working.

Results of a longitudinal qualitative study are reported where a group of co-workers were interviewed on three occasions between 2019 and 2022. Experiences are analysed alongside the adjustment to the remote work model using a boundary management lens.

The main adjustment experiences were in work location, temporal structures, professional and social interactions, and a new adjustment area was identified around family role commitment that emerged in the home-based setting. Boundary management practices were temporal, behavioural, spatial and object-related and evolved with the unfolding of adjustment experiences. A return to using co-working spaces was driven by the need for social interaction and spatial boundaries but affected by the requirement for increased privacy.

This paper will help workplace managers to understand adjustment experiences and develop facilities that will support a positive shared working environment not fulfilled through home-based working.

Although many workers abruptly transitioned to home-based working during the pandemic, this research considers those who would normally choose to work in a community-centred working environment rather than being home-based. As such, their experience of adjustment is of greater interest, particularly in terms of their expectations for shared working spaces.

Drawing on goal-setting theory and team effectiveness theory, the study aims to examine the impact of agile taskwork and agile teamwork on team performance. In addition, it investigates the mediating effect of project commitment on the impact of agile taskwork and agile teamwork on team performance. Furthermore, the study also tests the moderating role of career level on the impact of agile taskwork and agile teamwork on team performance.

Survey data were collected from 563 employees working in 290 information technology (IT) companies in India using a self-reporting structured questionnaire. Partial least squares path modeling was used to test the hypothesized model, and the Process macro was used to test the moderating effect.

The results show that agile taskwork and agile teamwork positively affect team performance and project commitment, and project commitment positively impacts team performance. Furthermore, project commitment fully mediates the relationship between agile taskwork and team performance and partially mediates the relationship between agile teamwork and team performance. Furthermore, the career level negatively moderates the impact of agile taskwork and agile teamwork on team performance.

The study shows the importance of agile work practices and project commitment to enhance team performance. Thus, the study provides managers with two strategies to improve their team performance.

There is a scarcity of research examining the distinct effects of agile taskwork and agile teamwork on team performance and the mediating role of project commitment in these relationships. Furthermore, as per the empirical evidence, no previous research has empirically examined the moderating role of career level in the agile taskwork-team performance and agile teamwork-team performance relationships.

This paper aims to explore the impact of COVID-19 on office space in Johannesburg. This study further explores the role of changing work practices in the office sector in South Africa because of the pandemic and its impact on future office space use planning and management.

To understand the footprints that the COVID-19 pandemic has left on the office space market in Johannesburg, this study uses semi-structured interviews, which were administered to corporate office users, and a thematic analysis was adopted to understand the views, perspectives and expectations of office users.

The study showed that space users perceive COVID-19-induced remote working as having benefits, opportunities and challenges. A notable shift in office space utilization has emerged, with employees increasingly opting for roles that permit remote work. This newfound flexibility, accommodating both on-site and remote work, often makes working from home more appealing than traditional office environments that may no longer align with users’ preferences for office spaces.

The study is limited to Johannesburg, South Africa, and may not apply to other African markets. Ten in-depth interviews were conducted, and analysis and results were deduced; this may be considered a limitation of this study.

The pandemic’s impact has brought about irreversible changes, compelling policymakers and business leaders to strategize and prepare. This proactive stance aims to prevent avoidable challenges for employees and companies during future pandemics. A thoughtful approach to the post-pandemic world can usher positive changes in the office and property sector. This includes the coexistence of both remote work and on-site working models.

This paper provides valuable insight into some of the outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa that are essential for future office space use planning and management. The insights from this study extend the literature and provide novel knowledge based on an office sector in the “global south.”