Remote work has been of interest to managers since the implementation of new information and communication technologies (ICTs). During the initial period, it was treated as an employee’s privilege or even a luxury and as such it was not a popular practice. The COVID-19 pandemic and the intervening period have changed attitudes toward remote work, as it became a necessity for many organisations. However, in connection with its use, many new, previously unknown problems have arisen, such as: the organisation of remote work, the supervision and monitoring of work performance, and employee support. The present research was conducted using a standardised questionnaire computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) method in May–June 2021 on a population of 248 enterprises, divided into micro, small, medium-sized and large entities. The research data were collected during the COVID-19 pandemic which, on the one hand, provided an exceptional opportunity to fill in the theoretical gaps that were existing in this field; however, on the other hand, it could be burdened with certain flaws due to the context of the pandemic. An enterprise’s attitude to remote work has a positive influence on the efficiency of the remote work, the control of the remote work and the remote work support, with the strongest impact exerted on the last of the factors mentioned. A better attitude to remote work influences, to the largest degree, an enterprise’s support for performing work from remote locations outside of corporate offices. Among the enterprises that were surveyed, the following were most frequently indicated as elements of such support: additional office equipment provided to an employee, remote work training, and the installation of additional computer programs. Financial support was declared by about 11% of the enterprises and it usually took the form of a remote work allowance or funds to cover the costs of purchasing equipment or paying for the Internet.

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Remote Work Efficiency from the Employers’ Perspective—What’s Next?

The COVID-19 pandemic forced organizations across all sectors and sizes to undertake crucial changes in order to remain productive during the emergency. Among these, the shift towards remote working arrangements is still present in our workplaces, impacting employees’ well-being and productivity. This systematic review aims to describe the pandemic’s consequences on work organization by analyzing whether and how the shift towards remote or home-working impacted employees’ productivity, performance, and well-being. Furthermore, it describes the role of individual and organizational factors in determining employees’ adjustment to remote work. Sixty-seven peer-reviewed papers published from 2020 to 2022, written in English, were selected through the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Findings describe how remote working arrangements, the workplace and organizational factors, and the employees’ individual traits and skills impacted employees’ productivity and well-being. Furthermore, they provide a description of the organizational enforcement actions reported in the literature. Managerial and practical implications, such as enforcement actions, team management strategies, and initiatives to promote employees’ physical and mental health, will be discussed in the paper.

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Consequences of COVID-19 on Employees in Remote Working: Challenges, Risks and Opportunities An Evidence-Based Literature Review

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many companies to adopt different work modalities to ensure their operation during this period. In this study, we described and compared working conditions and perceptions among face-to-face workers, teleworkers, and hybrid workers in Ecuador. A cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample of 542 participants, using a self-report survey to assess sociodemographic data, working conditions, and workers’ perceptions. Variables were described and then compared by the Chi-square test, ANOVA, and the Kruskal–Wallis test. The results indicated a higher proportion of on-site workers without higher education and in the public sector compared to the other modalities. At the same time, there was evidence of increased perceived productivity. People in the hybrid modality tended to have more than one job, earning a higher monthly salary, perceiving a decrease in productivity, an increase in daily working hours, and a lower capacity for time management. In addition, most teleworkers reported fair working conditions, a dedicated workspace, and easy adaptation to this work mode. This study builds a more in-depth understanding of how workers perceived their working conditions among work modalities for organizational decision-making because the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic is modifying the ways of working permanently.

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A Comparison of Working Conditions and Workers’ Perceptions among On-Site, Telework, and Hybrid Workers in Ecuador during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic introduced changes in people’s lives that affected their mental health. Our study aimed to explore the level of psychological distress in the academic population during the lockdown period and investigate its association with the new working or studying conditions. The study sample included 9364 students and 2159 employees from five Italian universities from the study IO CONTO 2020. We applied linear regression models to investigate the association between home learning or remote working conditions and psychological distress, separately for students and employees. Psychological distress was assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). In both students and employees, higher levels of distress were significantly associated with study/work–family conflicts, concerns about their future careers, and inadequacy of equipment; in employees, higher levels of distress were significantly associated with a lack of clarity on work objectives. Our results are in line with previous research on the impact of spaces and equipment in remote working/studying from home. Moreover, the study contributes to deepening the association between well-being and telework–family conflict, which in the literature is still equivocal. Practical implications require academic governance to promote sustainable environments both in remote and hybrid work conditions, by referring to a specific management by objectives approach.

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Remote Working and Home Learning: How the Italian Academic Population Dealt with Changes Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown

Daily mobility behaviors, especially in cities with high traffic density, are among the most fundamental drivers of quality of life. Obligatory commuting necessitates individuals sacrificing their time, money, and geographic freedom to ensure their mobility. The personal cost of fatigue, stress, and environmental cost of carbon emissions is likewise substantial. The COVID-19 pandemic led to a widespread shift to telecommuting. The pandemic has permitted an unprecedented opportunity to study Millennials' attitudes towards commuting and telecommuting. A semi-structured interview method was used with Millennial (now the largest percentage of the workforce) white-collar (disproportionately able to do their work remotely) workers living in the megacity of Istanbul to understand how telecommuting has altered consumer commuting habits, values, preferences, and well-being. The results of this study show that Millennial white-collar workers in Istanbul see compulsory commuting as a waste of time, a stress factor, and an unwanted task. The shift towards telecommuting lowered the Millennials' tolerance for traffic and long commutes and reveals willingness for immobility at peak hours and appreciation of spatial independence as a lifestyle that increases quality of life. The need for understanding transport decisions has never been more pressing with the growth of megacities and the climate change crisis. This research has important implications for white-collar employees and their employers, as well as academics and public policy makers, who seek to understand mobility preferences and lifestyles of different generations and the environmental implications in a dynamic environment. © 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Millennials' changing mobility preferences: A telecommuting case in Istanbul

This study used a prospective design to examine the effects of telework satisfaction (time 1) on subjective wellbeing and self-reported performance (time 2) during the COVID-19 lockdown. Data were collected from 111 teleworkers through an online survey the first weeks of strict lockdown in Spain. Telework satisfaction showed positive direct effects on both subjective wellbeing and self-reported performance. Further, subjective wellbeing partially mediated the relationship between telework satisfaction and self-reported performance. Interestingly, employees with children felt less telework satisfaction but higher subjective wellbeing. The novelty of this study is that we evaluate the level of satisfaction with telework using a specific set of items that assess the employees' contentment with diverse telework facets. Given the spreading of telework and the increasing competitiveness of organizations, we discuss practical implications in times of crisis, both present and future. 

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Telework satisfaction, wellbeing and performance in the digital era. Lessons learned during COVID-19 lockdown in Spain

PurposeThis study examines how satisfaction with work-life balance (WLB) in combination with satisfaction with organization's COVID-19 responses (SOCV19R) helps to enhance subjective well-being and performance during the lockdown due to COVID-19.Design/methodology/approachThe data of this time-lagged study were gathered through an online survey with three-waves between March and May 2020 in Spain (N = 167). Hierarchical multiple regression and PROCESS were used to test the hypotheses.FindingsDirect relationships between SOCV19R and subjective well-being and performance were not significant. Instead, SOCV19R increased employees' well-being and performance through a higher satisfaction with WLB (full mediation).Originality/valueThe novelty of this study is the evaluation of SOCV19R as a form of organizational support in times of crisis. This study suggests that a good organizational reaction to face a crisis such as the pandemic, encourages employees' WLB and helps them to boost their well-being and performance. It may be concluded that work-life balance (WLB) in Spain was seen as a luxury in good times and turned out to be a necessity in bad times. The present study recommends practical implications and provides lessons for human resource management for future crises or similar work conditions.

Work-life balance satisfaction in crisis times: from luxury to necessity – The role of organization's responses during COVID-19 lockdown

Abstract Traditional hospitality and tourism literature has underestimated the importance of hotel segment (resort hotels vs. urban hotels) for the effects of emotional-rule dissonance in frontline employees. The present study analyses the relationships among emotion-rule dissonance, work engagement, job satisfaction, and hotel segment through a moderated mediation model. A sample of 131 frontline employees of Spanish hotels completed self-reported measures at two time points. Results revealed that the effect of emotion-rule dissonance on job satisfaction through lower work engagement was only significant in urban hotels, suggesting that emotion-rule dissonance was more harmful for urban hotel employees. This paper provides new insights into the way emotion-rule dissonance decreases job satisfaction and offers advice for managers to enable them to prevent its detrimental impact, particularly in urban hotels.

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Emotion-rule dissonance and job satisfaction: A moderated mediation model of work engagement and hotel segment

ABSTRACT This study analyzes Team Emotional Intelligence (TEI) in project teams in higher education. Specifically, we tested the direct effects of TEI on team satisfaction, as well as the relationship between negative emotions that emerge during teamwork and team satisfaction, and whether this relationship is moderated by TEI. Multilevel analyses were conducted with 76 Spanish undergraduate psychology students nested in 26 teams. Results suggest that one dimension of TEI (‘Other Management’) was positively related to team satisfaction (direct effects). Besides, negative emotions decreased team satisfaction, particularly for teams lacking in TEI, while three dimensions of TEI (‘Own Management’, ‘Other Awareness’, and ‘Other Management’) attenuated the relationship between negative emotions and team satisfaction (moderating effects). These results provide empirical evidence for the positive effect of TEI at the team level on student satisfaction and its protective role against negative emotions. We discuss how universities might enhance the student experience when working in project teams (e.g., receiving educational training in TEI).

Team emotional intelligence buffers the impact of negative emotions on satisfaction with the team: a multilevel study

El objetivo del artículo es presentar el diseño y la evaluación de un taller de prevención y sensibilización contra el acoso sexual. En total 286 estudiantes (224 mujeres y 62 hombres) de distintos grados de la Universidad de las Islas Baleares participaron en el taller y mostraron una alta satisfacción con el taller. 197 participantes incluso dieron la máxima puntuación en todos los 9 ítems del cuestionario de evaluación. Estos resultados animan a impulsar su aplicación en otros estudios y también dentro del marco de formación del personal docente e investigador (PDI) y del personal de administración y servicios (PAS).

Silvia Ortiz-Bonnín

Papers

Telework satisfaction, wellbeing and performance in the digital era. Lessons learned during COVID-19 lockdown in Spain

Work-life balance satisfaction in crisis times: from luxury to necessity – The role of organization's responses during COVID-19 lockdown

Emotion-rule dissonance and job satisfaction: A moderated mediation model of work engagement and hotel segment

Team emotional intelligence buffers the impact of negative emotions on satisfaction with the team: a multilevel study

acoso sexual en las aulas universitarias