The purpose of this study is to explore public servants’ perspectives on return to office, hybrid work model and digital government. This is done by answering two research…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore public servants’ perspectives on return to office, hybrid work model and digital government. This is done by answering two research questions: what benefits and challenges public servants foresee with return to office and whether hybrid work enables or impedes digital government initiatives.
Design/methodology/approach
This research is designed as a mixed methods study of federal and provincial governments in Canada based on the analysis of Reddit data. Research methods include machine-assisted toxicity and sentiment analysis and manual content analysis to identify emerging themes.
Findings
The findings highlight public servants’ mostly discussed concerns with return to office. Other notable discussion topics include resistance to the hybrid work model and identifying the ways how it would be operationalized. Some supported return to office.
Research limitations/implications
This study’s limitations are related to using Reddit as the data source and user representation on Reddit. The main implications are its contribution to emerging literature on the future of work and digital government.
Practical implications
This study highlights that perspectives of public servants are paramount for development and implementation of transformational initiatives and offers insights for public sector managers on how to incorporate these into practice while improving the efficiency of digital government initiatives and the system.
Originality/value
This study addresses the gap in literature by seeking to understand the perspectives of public servants in a variety of roles as well as implications of transition to hybrid work on digital government and future of work initiatives.
Details
Keywords
Ismail Celik, Muhterem Dindar and Hanni Muukkonen
This study aims to explore Twitter posts of Turkish government agencies and the public under a specific hashtag, #NotHolidayButDistanceEducation, specifically related to online…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore Twitter posts of Turkish government agencies and the public under a specific hashtag, #NotHolidayButDistanceEducation, specifically related to online distance education during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a thematic analysis on 22,547 original tweets posted by 6,970 users during the first month of online distance education in Turkish K-12 schools. Based on like and retweet counts, the study further explored the extent of stakeholders’ engagement with the observed themes.
Findings
The findings showed that government agencies and citizens used Twitter to provide technical and psychological support, appreciate and motivate stakeholders, demonstrate sample distance education activities, share information and offer suggestions about the ongoing online distance education. It was also observed that the hashtag has been used for expressing negative views about online distance education and for political purposes. A positive relationship was found between social media engagement and providing technical support or sharing information for online distance education.
Practical implications
This study highlights the role of social media in providing practical and emotional support to education stakeholders in times of crisis. Thus, governments can use social media to provide evidence-based psychological and physical health support to their citizens during a pandemic. Social media can serve to improve education practices in schools through the interactions between the public and policymakers.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study can be considered unique because it demonstrates the civic use of social media for educational crisis management. This study highlights the influence of social media in educational policy and practice development in the contemporary era.