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The Impacts of Remote Working on Employee Performance
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The Impacts of Remote Working on Employee Performance
Overview of the Research Focus
Remote working also referred to as distance working, represents the practice of functioning away from the workplace or working anywhere rather than commuting to a central place. In recent years, working from home has been increasing considering that most occupations rely heavily on telecommunication and technological systems, and a substantial proportion of the population has reliable internet connections. Therefore, technological advancements and increased digitization play a central role in increasing remote working arrangements. Studies acknowledge that remote working is an integral flexible working arrangement focused on accommodating the individual employees' needs and enhancing performance through organizational commitment and job satisfaction (De Menezes & Kelliher, 2016). Remote working is essential for the employees to exercise significant control over their working arrangements as a framework to support positive attitudes and the overall wellbeing of the employees (De Menezes & Kelliher, 2016). Notably, remote working constructs an environment for negotiating informal and formal arrangements, essential for fulfilling work-life interface. Generally, remote working allows the employees to vary or change the amount to work, time, and location, designed to help them balance their work and non-work lives. As a result, remote working creates a substantial chance to connect teams virtually and become people-centered to ensure productivity and personal fulfillment.
A primary focus in this research entails drawing a connection between remote working and employee performance in larger organizations during the covid-19 pandemic. Notably, employee performance reflects the organizational performance through a mutual relationship between the firm and workforce to elevate each other to full potential. Thus, it is essential to examine a crucial contribution of working out the central office space on the overall morale and quality of work attained.
Statement of the Problem
The problem addressed in this study is the internal disruptions of the business process due to a crisis or new requirement and the need for a response mechanism such as remote working to address such issues as they arise. Substantial evidence confirms that remote working is not a novel concept but gained significant popularity during the covid-19 pandemic. Adisa et al. (2021) acknowledge that the covid-19 pandemic has had overwhelming effects on people's mental and overall wellbeing, considering that a significant proportion lost their jobs and other sources of income due to the businesses' closure, especially in the developed economies. Recent studies acknowledge that the covid-19 pandemic led to a rapidly evolving economic crisis across the globe for both individuals and businesses. Furthermore, with the continuous effects of the pandemic, vulnerable firms and individuals, especially those in the emerging marks, are more likely to face challenges coping with the crisis (International Finance Corporation, 2021).
Risley (2020) confirms that due to the covid-19 pandemic, most organizations were forced to shift their workforce to telework within a short period through the creation and development of team-focused solutions. The study ascertains that developing the organizational workforce amidst the covid-19 pandemic is an integral strategy to adjust and improve the working environment because the job market is difficult but because acquiring a new skill or personnel will cost time (Risley, 2020). It is essential to acknowledge that amidst crises such as the covid-19 pandemic, some businesses end up in closure as an integral approach to alleviating traffic and enhancing safety. As a result, job loss and disruption of organizational operations are possible outcomes. From the business perspective, Gómez et al. (2020) confirm that amidst of covid-19 pandemic, there is a significant requirement for the businesses to set processes to alleviate the organizational impact of covid-19, focused on protecting the interests of the key stakeholders such as communities and employees.
Notably, businesses operating in the current covid-19 pandemic are forced to some extent to allow workers to work in shifts and sometimes lay off the workforce to avoid the issue of excess labor supply than required. Therefore, there is a need to build a business working policy to enhance the firm's response to the covid-19 pandemic effects and ensure the institutional operations are undisrupted. Additionally, organizations need to maximize their productivity and overall organizational performance amidst the pandemics while reducing the need for personnel presence in the workplace. For example, study findings by Franken et al. (2021) confirm that the covid-19 crisis forced the organization into adopting salient strategies such as remote working for the employees and the firm to adapt swiftly to a new normal of novel working arrangements. However, organizations that are not agile enough to address the working environment needs as they arise are more likely to suffer challenges such as work disruptions, stoppages, layoffs, and health-related issues. Johansson et al. (2017) confirm that in the era of digitization, business process reengineering (BPR) is an essential requirement to redesign and rethink the working processes to alleviate costs and support the firm's mission through creativity, innovation, and flexibility in the workspace.
Notably, with the emergence of the pandemic and other disruptive crises, and technological advancements, organizations are at risk of facing significant losses due to rigid working arrangements and escalating costs for risk management. Therefore, addressing such disruptive challenges in the organization requires radical transformation on the organization and working processes to build a new organization based on the emerging needs (Johansson et al., 2017). However, the challenge facing organizations in contemporary crises is getting the workforce into an active engagement or participation in a transformative journey. It is essential to acknowledge that although modern workers are committed to winning against work-related challenges, lack of technical skills is a central challenge hindering firms from integrating into the transforming business environment. Vrontis et al. (2021) confirm that employees and organizations lack a comprehensive understanding of the impacts of using technologies, which constitute an integral element for learning, collaborating, decision-making, flexibility, improving performance, and human resource management. Therefore, considering that organizations and employees are less informed of the transformative approaches for enhancing performance and productivity amidst crisis and other disruptive situations, these firms are likely to suffer from public safety practices associated with business closure and disruption of internal operations. Thus, exploring a response tool to the disruptions of the business is an integral approach to address challenges as they arise.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this quantitative study is to evaluate and measure the impact of remote working on employee performance as an integral tool for addressing disruptions in the organizational process and the rise of new business requirements. This study provides a critical approach to increasing responsiveness to business needs by enhancing efficiency, increasing productivity, and overall flexibility in new business demands. Notably, the findings of this study will provide a background for exploring the resilience mechanism for businesses or organizations in the current covid-19 pandemic and improving performance while adhering to safety guidelines or protocols.
Franken, E., Bentley, T., Shafaei, A., Farr-Wharton, B., Onnis, L., & Omari, M. (2021). Forced flexibility and remote working: Opportunities and challenges in the new normal. Journal of Management & Organization, 27(6), 1131-1149.
Gómez, S. M., Mendoza, O. E. O., Ramírez, J., & Olivas-Luján, M. R. (2020). Stress and myths related to the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on remote work. Management Research: Journal of the Iberoamerican Academy of Management, 18(4), 401-420.
International Finance Corporation. (2021). How firms are responding and adapting during covid-19 and recovery: Opportunities for accelerated inclusion in emerging markets. World Bank.
Johansson, J., Abrahamsson, L., Kåreborn, B. B., Fältholm, Y., Grane, C., & Wykowska, A. (2017). Work and organization in a digital industrial context. management revu, 28(3), 281-297.
Risley, C. (2020). Maintaining performance and employee engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Library Administration, 60(6), 653-659.
Vrontis, D., Christofi, M., Pereira, V., Tarba, S., Makrides, A., & Trichina, E. (2021). Artificial intelligence, robotics, advanced technologies and human resource management: A systematic review. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 1-30.