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1 – 10 of over 4000
Article
Publication date: 26 April 2024

Emmanuel Senior Tenakwah and Chrystie Watson

The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors influencing office occupancy and the broader implications for workplace dynamics in Australia in the post-pandemic era.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors influencing office occupancy and the broader implications for workplace dynamics in Australia in the post-pandemic era.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors draw on industry insights, research data and expert opinions on remote work and office attendance to explain post-pandemic trends.

Findings

The paper finds that average office occupancy reached 71% of pre-pandemic levels in Q3 2023, indicating a significant rebound from earlier downturns. This can be explained by factors such as improved vaccination rates, clearer return-to-office policies by large corporations and a greater understanding of the virus.

Originality/value

This paper offers valuable insights on the implications of physical, hybrid and remote work highlighting the growing recognition of the importance of physical workspace in fostering collaboration, innovation and organisational culture. It also brings together evidence of the impact of flexible options that may support greater social and environmental sustainability.

Details

Strategic HR Review, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1475-4398

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 May 2024

Juman Iqbal, Mohammad Nurul Alam and Hamia Khan

Elucidating on the concrete outline of conservation of resource theory, this study aims to explore the links between work-family conflict and workplace thriving. In particular…

Abstract

Purpose

Elucidating on the concrete outline of conservation of resource theory, this study aims to explore the links between work-family conflict and workplace thriving. In particular, this study has integrated depersonalization as a mediator and tested the moderated mediation effects of intrinsic motivation in work-family conflict and depersonalization relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected using a sample of 357 doctors working across various public hospitals in India over two waves (T1 and T2) and was tested using AMOS and Process Macros.

Findings

Exploration reveals that work-family conflict is negatively associated with workplace thriving. The mediating role of depersonalization in between work-family conflict and workplace thriving was established. Moreover, the moderating role of intrinsic motivation in work-family conflict and workplace thriving via depersonalization was also established.

Originality/value

The present study makes a theoretical addition to the literature by investigating nuances through which work-family conflict relationships and thriving at the workplace can be affected. To date, such a relationship has not been established. The study also extends the role of depersonalization as an underlying mechanism between work-family conflict and workplace thriving, making an imperative contribution. This study also tested the moderating role of intrinsic motivation. Overall, these relationships are novel and have been seldom reported.

Details

International Journal of Conflict Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1044-4068

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 6 May 2024

Neeru Choudhary and Shilpa Jain

This study aims to identify and review research articles to understand the conceptualization of employee engagement (EE) in a remote working environment. Specifically, the aim is…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to identify and review research articles to understand the conceptualization of employee engagement (EE) in a remote working environment. Specifically, the aim is to explore the antecedents impacting remote workers’ engagement.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic literature review was conducted, encompassing empirical studies sourced from EBSCO, Emerald and Gale databases. Studies published in peer-reviewed journals between 2013 and 2023 covering countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) were included. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed to capture the review process.

Findings

A total of 25 empirical studies published across 18 journals were synthesized, with the results being reported in terms of three research objectives. The researchers identified that individual, organizational/job resources and organizational/job demands are the three main antecedents affecting EE in remote working environments.

Research limitations/implications

This study can serve as an important source of information for academics and practitioners as well as postulate new avenues for the future research. While the Job Demands-Resources model remains relevant in specifying demands and resources as antecedents of workforce engagement, technological antecedents gain prominence as additional factors contribute to the engagement of remote workforce.

Originality/value

This article studies the shifting landscape of EE with the rise of remote working and the need to gain a better understanding of how to keep remote workers engaged.

Details

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

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 May 2024

Veena Vohra and Anjni Anand

This paper aims to explore how employees reconceptualized their time and space to order and structure their lives in an unprecedented scenario of nonvoluntary work from home.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore how employees reconceptualized their time and space to order and structure their lives in an unprecedented scenario of nonvoluntary work from home.

Design/methodology/approach

Set in the context of lockdowns due to the pandemic scenario, the study uses a constructivist approach to collect data through in-depth online interviews to understand how employees coped with the challenges emanating in a nonvoluntary work from home situation. The respondents were purposively selected to reflect a diverse pool in terms of gender, familial responsibilities and age/tenure.

Findings

The findings present temporal and spatial themes that provide several insights into how employees made sense of time and space as resources to navigate their challenging work-home roles.

Research limitations/implications

In the present study, the authors found that when boundaries get violated, it does not necessarily manifest in the form of dissatisfaction with one or the other domain. The respondents in the current study show-cased adjustment mechanism to cope with the boundary permeability that happened. They adopted ways in which they could safe-guard their multiple identities in the situation they found themselves in, do justice to the salient roles in their lives, emerge as more empathetic humans and look forward to a brighter and more hopeful future. This opens-up a possibility of studying the theory behind human behavior in crisis-like situations and the degree of acceptance that people show when they find themselves in undesirable-unalterable situations.

Practical implications

A mental reorientation is required on the part of both employees and employers to navigate smoothly in this new “normal” and find more sustainable solutions to the problem if the remote working or hybrid mode of working becomes mainstay. Clear demarcations between work and nonwork time are a key element to ensure proper work schedules for remote workers. Offline meetings and get-togethers can be organized on a periodic basis to facilitate employee interaction and engagement. Participation of employees in key decisions becomes more important in such situations as it makes employees feel more connected with their work space.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the study is original as it is set in a completely unprecedented situation of lockdowns (during the pandemic) that affected the lives of everyone in some way or the other. The findings of the study are unique and insightful, as they help understand the sense-making mechanism adopted by people to successfully navigate through the crisis.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 25 April 2024

Marianne Thejls Ziegler and Christoph Lütge

This study aims to analyse the differences between professional interaction mediated by video conferencing and direct professional interaction. The research identifies diverging…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to analyse the differences between professional interaction mediated by video conferencing and direct professional interaction. The research identifies diverging interests of office workers for the purpose of addressing work ethical and business ethical issues of professional collaboration, competition, and power in future hybrid work models.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on 28 qualitative interviews conducted between November 2020 and June 2021, and through the theoretical lens of phenomenology, the study develops explanatory hypotheses conceptualising four basic intentions of professional interaction and their corresponding preferences for video conferences and working on site.

Findings

The four intentions developed on the basis of the interviews are: the need for physical proximity; the challenge of collective creativity; the will to influence; and control of communication. This conceptual framework qualifies a moral ambivalence of professional interaction. The authors identify a connectivity paradox of professional interaction where the personal dimension remains unarticulated for the purpose of maintaining professionality. This tacit human connectivity is intertwined with latent power relations. This plasticity of both connectivity and power in direct interaction can be diminished by transferring the interaction to video conferencing.

Originality/value

The application of phenomenology to a collection of qualitative interviews has enabled the identification of underlying intention structures and the system in which they affect each other. This research identifies conflicts of interests between workers relative to their different self-perceived abilities to persevere in competitive professional interaction. It is therefore able to address consequences of future hybrid work models at an existential and societal level.

Article
Publication date: 30 April 2024

Dirk De Clercq and Renato Pereira

Drawing on conservation of resources theory, this study aims to examine how employees’ experiences of excessive workloads may direct them away from efforts to share knowledge with…

Abstract

Purpose

Drawing on conservation of resources theory, this study aims to examine how employees’ experiences of excessive workloads may direct them away from efforts to share knowledge with other organizational members, as well as the circumstances in which this process is more or less likely. To untangle the process, the authors predict a mediating role of job dissatisfaction and moderating roles of two complementary resources that help employees cope with failure: resilience as a personal resource and organizational forgiveness as an organizational resource.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey data were gathered from employees of an organization that operates in the construction retail sector. The Process macro provides an empirical test of the moderated mediation dynamic that underpins the proposed conceptual framework.

Findings

The statistical findings affirm that an important channel through which employees’ perceptions that their work demands are unreasonable escalate into a diminished propensity to share knowledge is their lack of enthusiasm about their jobs. Their ability to recover from challenging work situations and their beliefs that the organization does not hold grudges against people who commit mistakes both mitigate this harmful effect.

Practical implications

For organizational practitioners, this research shows that when employees feel frustrated about extreme work pressures, the resource-draining situation may escalate into diminished knowledge sharing, which might inadvertently undermine their ability to receive valuable feedback for dealing with the challenges. From a positive perspective, individual resilience and organizational forgiveness represent resources that can protect employees against this negative spiral.

Originality/value

This study explicates an unexplored harmful effect of strenuous workloads on knowledge sharing, which is explained by employees’ beliefs that their organization fails to provide satisfactory job experiences. This effect also is mitigated to the extent that employees can draw from valuable personal and organizational resources.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 April 2024

Philippe Orsini, Toru Uchida, Remy Magnier-Watanabe, Caroline Benton and Kimihiko Nagata

We empirically assessed the antecedents of subjective well-being at work for French permanent employees.

Abstract

Purpose

We empirically assessed the antecedents of subjective well-being at work for French permanent employees.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology includes qualitative and quantitative data analyses. In the first phase, interviews elicited the antecedents of subjective well-being at work among permanent French employees. In the second phase, a questionnaire survey was used to confirm the relevance of the antecedents uncovered in the first phase.

Findings

We found 14 distinct elements that influence French employees’ subjective well-being at work: corporate culture, job dissonance, relationships with colleagues, achievement, professional development, relationships with superiors, status, workload, perks, feedback, workspace, diversity and pay. Moreover, we identified discrete antecedents for the three components of subjective well-being at work: work achievement and relationships with superiors and colleagues for positive emotions at work, job dissonance and workload for negative emotions at work and organizational culture and professional development for satisfaction with one’s work.

Originality/value

The original contribution of this study is to have unpacked the black box of the antecedents of subjective well-being in the French workplace and to have uncovered discriminant predictors for each of the three components of subjective well-being at work. Furthermore, we specifically linked each of these three components with their most significant antecedents.

Details

Evidence-based HRM: a Global Forum for Empirical Scholarship, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2049-3983

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 April 2024

Raewyn Lesley Hills, Deborah Levy and Barbara Plester

Meetings with colleagues are an essential activity in workplace collaboration. The iterative nature of collaborative work demands spaces that team members can access quickly and…

Abstract

Purpose

Meetings with colleagues are an essential activity in workplace collaboration. The iterative nature of collaborative work demands spaces that team members can access quickly and easily. Creating suitable meeting spaces will become more critical if the hybrid work model continues and the workplace environment becomes the hub for face-to-face collaborative time, learning and training. Workspace and fit-out is expensive so it is crucial that the investment in meeting spaces supports employees’ collaboration activities.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper presents a case study of a corporate organisation undertaken in New Zealand to investigate how employees from two business units use their workspace to collaborate within their own team and across other teams in their organisation. The study uses ethnographic techniques, including participant observation and in-depth face-to-face interviews.

Findings

The findings show that the frequency and nature of small group work in collaboration was underestimated in the initial planning of the new workspace. Although participants found the design and fit-out of the formal meeting rooms supportive of collaborative work, the meeting rooms were in high demand, and it was difficult to find a room at short notice. The breakout spaces were confusing because they lacked key design attributes identified by the participants as conducive to small group work. Design shortfalls together with fit-out features perceived as supportive of collaborative work are identified.

Originality/value

The research reports on employees’ perceptions and experiences across two functionally diverse business units, reflecting their different needs and concerns.

Details

Property Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-7472

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 May 2024

Badreya Al Bloushi, Khalid Mehmood, Fauzia Jabeen and Ahmed Alharmoodi

Drawing upon curiosity drive theory, we examine the effects of epistemic curiosity (EC) on employees' innovative work behavior. Additionally, we explore the potential mediating…

Abstract

Purpose

Drawing upon curiosity drive theory, we examine the effects of epistemic curiosity (EC) on employees' innovative work behavior. Additionally, we explore the potential mediating role of work engagement (WE) and the moderating effects of leader-member exchange (LMX).

Design/methodology/approach

The data were collected from 406 employees employed in public service organizations within the United Arab Emirates. Structural equation modeling was employed as the analytical approach to test the hypotheses.

Findings

The findings of this study indicate that EC is positively related to innovative work behavior. Further, WE mediates the relationship between EC and creative work behavior. Moreover, LMX moderates the indirect effect of WE on the link between EC (interest and deprivation types) and innovative work behavior. The mediating association is stronger when the leader and member’s exchange is high.

Practical implications

This study will assist practitioners of service organizations in focusing their attention on EC to enhance employees' innovative work behavior and achieve optimal performance. Our research extends work on interest and innovative work behavior in an emerging economic context.

Originality/value

Our study suggests that policymakers should embrace the philosophy of curiosity to nurture innovative behavior in the workplace.

Article
Publication date: 6 May 2024

Sabeen Hussain Bhatti, Beata Gavurova, Adeel Ahmed, Maria Rosaria Marcone and Gabriele Santoro

Remote working has brought forward many challenges for employees as the phenomenon is still new for most employees across the globe. Some of these challenges may be addressed by…

Abstract

Purpose

Remote working has brought forward many challenges for employees as the phenomenon is still new for most employees across the globe. Some of these challenges may be addressed by the recent adoption of digital technologies by organizations. In this vein, our study explores the impact of digital platform capability on the creativity of employees through the mediating mechanism of explicit and tacit knowledge sharing.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were gathered from higher education institutes (HEIs) in a developing country, Pakistan which recently saw a major disruption during the Covid-19 pandemic. The proposed hypotheses were tested through Structural Equational Modeling (SEM) and the results confirmed our hypotheses.

Findings

The findings confirmed that the digital platform capabilities impact both tacit and explicit knowledge sharing among these remote employees. Likewise, the results also supported the mediating role of both explicit and tacit knowledge sharing on the creativity of these remote workers.

Originality/value

Our results are significant as they confirm the impact of digitalization on remote workers’ creativity predisposition. We thus advance the academic debate on the problems of knowledge sharing in remote working. We prove that digital capabilities outweigh the challenges created due to new forms of work driven by the pandemic. It further highlights the important areas to focus on while planning human resource policies in the new normal.

Details

Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1367-3270

Keywords

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