Begoña Urien and Amaya Erro-Garcés
The swift and unanticipated integration of telework by European companies due to COVID-19 gave rise to distinct features of telework. These attributes underscore the necessity of…
Abstract
Purpose
The swift and unanticipated integration of telework by European companies due to COVID-19 gave rise to distinct features of telework. These attributes underscore the necessity of analysing its impact on employees’ well-being. This paper explores how telework experiences impact well-being by influencing work–life balance and job satisfaction. Additionally, it investigates whether employee preferences for telework are a contributing factor.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the data provided by the “living, working and COVID-19” e-survey, structural equation models (SEM) were used to test the hypotheses. Specifically, a multiple-mediation approach and path analyses were applied to measure the relationship between the variables under study. The moderating role of preference for telework was also tested.
Findings
Key findings support that telework experience has a positive impact on well-being, both directly and indirectly, particularly via work–life balance. Although preference for telework strengthens the relationship between telework experience and well-being, it does not enhance the predictive power of the mediated model.
Practical implications
These results have important implications from an applied perspective. Human capital departments as well as managers should design telework programmes to create a positive experience since this will ensure a positive influence on the perception of work–life balance, job satisfaction and well-being.
Originality/value
COVID-19 as a sudden environmental constraint forced the implementation of telework without proper planning and training. Thus, how the employees experience this major change in their working conditions has affected their well-being. The present paper contributes to clarifying how the proposed variables relate under such constraints.
Details
Keywords
Amparo Osca, Begoña Urien, Genoveva González‐Camino, M. Dolores Martínez‐Pérez and Nuria Martínez‐Pérez
To analyse the influence of three different types of organisational support (supervisor's and colleagues' support, training, and acknowledgement and rewards) on the implementation…
Abstract
Purpose
To analyse the influence of three different types of organisational support (supervisor's and colleagues' support, training, and acknowledgement and rewards) on the implementation of teamwork systems.
Design/methodology/approach
Main and buffer effects of social support were tested using different subjective (job satisfaction and job involvement) and objective (production and total production management (TPM)) organisational criteria. In the longitudinal study, two sets of data were taken from a sample of workers from car‐manufacturing factories in two consecutive years.
Findings
The three dimensions of support explain 30 per cent of the variance in job satisfaction in time 1(T1) and 11 per cent in time 2 (T2). A total of 50 per cent of job involvement in T1 is due to the supervisor's and colleagues' support, whereas in T2 this influence is not apparent. Social support from supervisor's and colleagues and acknowledgment and rewards explain 10 per cent of the variance of the objective measures (production and TPM).
Research limitations/implications
The objective measures used are similar for the production line as a whole and therefore they do not consider the possible differences in performance between different production line groups.
Practical implications
The importance of social support in organisational settings, in particular in the implementation of working teams. It also emphasises the need to distinguish the different stages of support from colleagues, supervisors or the organisation.
Originality/value
This study indicates that support is an easy and inexpensive means not only to improve the social environment of an employee but also to make an important contribution towards productivity targets.