Script :
“Good morning everyone,
Today, we are meeting, as planned, to talk about the complex but no less exciting subject, which is the subjective experience of telework. Indeed, this new organisation of work is increasingly recurrent in today’s society, especially since the dramatic events of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, although telework has become an accepted solution for many employees around the world in order to facilitate and allow the continuation of the economic activity, it would be interesting to look back at previous scientific research that has searched to better understand the subjective experience of telework activities and finally the individual feelings of the population towards this new work organisation.
So, ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to the Scientific Mind Podcast !
Jingle : Today, the subjective experience of telework
So, first of all, the recurring aspect that comes up in many scientific articles and that’s also found in lay speech is that for the majority of individuals, there are advantages and benefits to carrying out its professional activity at home, but there are also deleterious and negative aspects. And it’s true, we can easily suppose that when we are not going to the workplace and we are working from home, it means we don’t have to spend an hour travelling on a crowded metro. However, at the same time, this virtual workplace may not satisfy us because we would prefer to socialise with our colleagues face to face rather than through a computer screen. Then, many authors looked at the benefits and costs this trigger, if I may say so. And, in 2019, Emily Vayre also included these results in one of her articles. For the positive aspects, she cites a reduction in work interruptions and distraction, a sufficient rest time to recover after work, which consequently increases concentration, productivity and efficiency. Other studies show that teleworking increases the sense of control over one’s time in relation to the task, and increases the sense of autonomy, motivation, and many others. On the other hand, the disadvantages include, for example, a rise in the weekly working, a feeling of being left out, a feeling of intensified effort and also a feeling of higher occupational risks, particularly in relation to the less frequent breaks taken during the day at home. In addition, various authors have looked at teleworker wellbeing and have chosen to understand whether there are any factors that might moderate this connection. Thus, in 2016, Bentley and his colleagues demonstrated that It was necessary to consider the individual’s perception of soc io-organisational support and support specific to telework, because it has an influence on the perception of job satisfaction and on the psychological strains felt. The results they present support the fact that both forms of support will reduce psychological strain and increase job satisfaction. Conversely, if an employee experiences a lack of social support, this will lead to a lack of social interaction and a feeling of social isolation, which will contribute to reduce satisfaction and increase tension. Then, there is an aspect I find important to share with you : the socio-organisational support will have a greater influence on well-being for low intensity teleworkers, compared to higher intensity ones. And, it’s assumed this is because teleworkers who are used to it and who work a lot from home have already developed a high level of satisfaction because they are already familiar with the advantages and benefits of this organisation.
Finally, it seems difficult to talk about telework without addressing the effects of the digital dimension, enabled by the rise of new information and communication technologies. Apart from the practicality of these technologies, which in some cases have made it possible to adapt professional activity quickly and without too much hassles, this can lead to a real virtual invasion of domestic space. We can think in particular of teachers, faced with the distress of their pupils during the Covid-19 pandemic partly linked to the remoteness of the physical sites, who were led to provide additional emotional support, sometimes to the detriment of family and personal time. And then, some people may develop a sense of heightened pressure, constant vigilance and the feeling of being watched 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all of this enabled by professional social networks.
We’re now coming to the end of this podcast, I thank you for taking the time to listen to me, and if we could keep one conclusion of what I have talked about it’s there are still a lot of misunderstandings and aspects to be explored in order to better understand and support the well-being of the employees in front of telework. Also, this work organisation may be adapted to some people, while it’s not for others. And above all, telework can be employed, but it’s necessary that favourable conditions are in place.”
Bibliography
Bentley, T., Teo, S., McLeod, L., Tan, F., Bosua, R., & Gloet, M. (2016). The role of organisational support in teleworker wellbeing : A socio-technical systems approach. Applied Ergonomics, 52, 207‑215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2015.07.019
Charalampous, M., Grant, C. A., Tramontano, C., & Michailidis, E. (2018). Systematically reviewing remote e-workers’ well-being at work : a multidimensional approach. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 28(1), 51‑73. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359432x.2018.1541886
Robert, V., & Vandenberghe, C. (2021). L’anxiété liée à la COVID-19 : une analyse de ses effets en milieu de travail. Psychologie du Travail et des Organisations, 27(1), 3‑16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pto.2021.01.005
Sigahi, T. F. A. C., Kawasaki, B. C., Bolis, I., & Morioka, S. N. (2021). A systematic review on the impacts of Covid‐19 on work : Contributions and a path forward from the perspectives of ergonomics and psychodynamics of work. Human Factors and Ergonomics in Manufacturing & Service Industries, 31(4), 375‑388. https://doi.org/10.1002/hfm.20889
Vayre, M. (2019). Les incidences du télétravail sur le travailleur dans les domaines professionnel, familial et social. Le travail humain, 82(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.3917/th.821.0001