Effects of a participative workplace intervention on work strategies and expectations of availability among office-based employees with flexible work arrangements

• Background: Flexible work arrangements (FWA) are common, but knowledge on how to organize flexible work to reduce negative consequences and preserve positive aspects is currently sparse, which hampers organizational initiatives.  Purpose: This study aimed at determining the extent to which work strategies, work-related ICT use outside regular working hours (i.e., use of laptop, tablet, or smartphone, to handle information and facilitate communication), productivity, expectations of availability, and clarity of expectations about availability, had changed among office-based employees with FWA two and four months after a participative two-step workplace intervention.Methods: An intervention group (n=97) was compared to a control group working as usual (n=70). The intervention, initiated and approved by the top management of the organization, included individual education intended to change work strategies, and workshops developing common rules and routines for FWA within the work group.Results: Participants were satisfied with the intervention and reported larger changes than the control group in work strategies. No statistically significant effects were, however, found on ICT use, productivity, or expectations of availability.Conclusions: This participative workplace intervention was successful in changing employees work strategies but may not be effective in influencing ICT use outside regular working hours, productivity, expectations of availability, and clarity of expectations about availability.

Subject headings

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Arbetsmedicin och miljömedicin (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Occupational Health and Environmental Health (hsv//eng)

Keyword

digitalization

work control

intervention

participative

work strategies

Flexibelt arbete

Flexibelt arbete

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)