Productivity, Well-Being and Work-Family Conflict in Mandatory Telework during the COVID-19 Pandemic

• SUMMATIVE STATEMENT  Results from an ongoing questionnaire study on telework during the COVID-19 pandemic show that mandatory telework (as opposed to voluntary), but not the extent of telework, is associated with poor well-being and more family-to-work conflict.KEYWORDS: Corona, survey, telecommutingPROBLEM STATEMENT  Most of what is known today about attitudes and preferences regarding telework is based on studies where telework is an available option in certain occupational groups (Allen, et al., 2015). During the COVID-19 pandemic, however, many organizations have implemented telework to an unprecedented extent, with employees being required or strongly recommended to work from home, in order to reduce the spread of the virus and protect people at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19. This means that more employees are now teleworking, and for long periods of time, not by choice, but by necessity. Some of these employees have previous experience of telework, and some have not.When telework is not voluntary, recommendations for how to arrange telework based on previous findings may not apply. Studies of consequences of telework, and whether they differ between voluntary and mandatory telework, may contribute to a better understanding of how recommendations should look, and how they should be implemented.RESEARCH OBJECTIVE/QUESTION The aim of this study is to determine the association between telework practice (i.e., extent of telework, previous experience of telework, and whether telework is mandatory or voluntary) and self-reported productivity, well-being and work-family conflict.METHODOLOGY In an ongoing survey among employees in private and public organizations, an electronic questionnaire was distributed between June and December 2020 to 2859 employees, of which 1157 responded. The questionnaire addressed the extent of telework performed now, whether it was mandatory or voluntary, previous experience of telework, productivity (Haapakangas, et al., 2018), well-being (Winther Topp, et al., 2015), and work-family conflict (Carlson, et al., 2000). It also included questions about satisfaction with IT tools/support and number of work hours per week (actual hours as well as hours according to the employment contract).The questionnaire data have been analyzed using linear regression to determine the association between the extent of telework (in hours/week) and the outcomes productivity, well-being and work-family conflict (i.e., work-to-family conflict and family-to-work conflict). In the regression models, previous experience of telework (≥ 1 year) and whether telework was mandatory were also included as predictors. The analyses were performed with and without adjustment for satisfaction with IT tools/support and actual working hours relative to working hours according to the employment contract.RESULTSThe results showed that the extent of telework had a marginal effect on all outcomes. Employees who had teleworked for less than 1 year reported less work-to-family and family-to-work conflict than employees who had more than 1 year of telework experience. Whether telework was mandatory appeared to have no association with productivity ratings, but mandatory telework was associated with poorer well-being and more family-to-work conflict.When the regression models were adjusted for satisfaction with IT tools/support and actual working hours relative to working hours according to the employment contract, associations between telework practice and outcomes remained largely the same. Satisfaction with IT tools/support had a large effect on productivity, well-being and work-to-family conflict. Working longer hours (i.e., working more hours than according to the employment contract) was associated with increased productivity but also more work-to-family conflict. DISCUSSIONThe association between mandatory telework, poor well-being and more family-to-work conflict could possibly be explained by reduced autonomy at work. When it is not possible to decide when to telework and which work tasks to perform during telework, telework may not offer the opportunities to achieve better work-life balance that voluntary telework does. Reasonably, this effect would be stronger among more experienced teleworkers.CONCLUSIONS  Our findings suggest that the extent of telework performed during the COVID-19 pandemic does not affect self-rated productivity, well-being and work-family conflict. Mandatory telework, however, was associated with poor well-being and more family-to-work conflict, compared to voluntary telework. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThe study was conducted within the research program Flexible Work: Opportunity and Challenge funded by the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (reg. no. 2019-01257) and AFA Insurance (reg. no. 200244). REFERENCESAllen, T.D., Golden, T.D., & Shockley, K.M. (2015). How effective is telecommuting? Assessing the status of our scientific findings. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 16(2), 40–68.Carlson, D.S., Kacmar, K.M., & Williams, L.J. (2000). Construction and initial validation of a multidimensional measure of work–family conflict. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 56, 249-276.Haapakangas, A., Hallman, D.M., Mathiassen, S.E., & Jahncke, H. (2018). Self-rated productivity and employee well-being in activity-based offices: The role of environmental perceptions and workspace use. Building and Environment, 145, 115-124.Winther Topp, C., Dinesen Østergaard, S., Søndergaard, S., & Bech, P. (2015). The WHO-5 Well-Being Index: a systematic review of the literature. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 84(3), 167-176.

Ämnesord

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

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

Nyckelord

Corona

survey

telecommuting

Health-Promoting Work

Hälsofrämjande arbete

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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