Abstract:Purpose: the paper is an attempt to examine the effect of COVID-19 on workplace adjustments/decentralization. In doing this, teleworking in the new normal was taken as a major focus. Our interest is to find out the nature of workplace adjustments/decentralization that the COVID-19 has brought in the workplace by focusing on teleworking/telecommuting in the new normal. Design/methodology/approach: the paper adopts a descriptive research design and content analysis. The data of the paper are in qualitative and q… Show more
“…Researchers stated important factors during COVID-19 [17][18][19] and it can be highlighted that in this research, the managers interviewed do not present managerial resistance to innovation. They also agree with the literature that appropriate equipment and training is needed to deal with the situation and the rapid changes [20].…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 97%
“…Managing employees and organizations during COVID-19 has changed dramatically [1][2][3][4]. Research has stated six important factors for managing during COVID-19 [17]:…”
Section: Managing During Covid-19mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Trust is often regarded as the "glue" that holds other factors together. Trust between managers, virtual workers, and their colleagues is fundamental to be effective [17]. Trust in institutions (i.e., perceptions of them as competent, honest and benevolent [22,23], helps people manage complexity and is crucial for legitimising decisions made by managers [24][25][26].…”
During COVID-19, the working world has changed inevitably, and many managers experience extreme strain and stress. This study determines how managers cope with the changes during COVID-19 from a positive psychology and salutogenic perspective. It employs a hermeneutical research design and an interpretivist paradigm by using a mixed-method research approach in which managers’ sense of coherence (SOC) is investigated quantitatively through the 29-item Life-Orientation scale and qualitatively through semi-structured interviews. Purposeful and snowball sampling techniques are used. The sample consists of 17 managers. Data were collected in different organizations within South Africa and analysed through content analysis, linking quantitative and qualitative data in a holistic, integrated and complex way. In terms of the quantitative findings, the managers scored at the medium and higher end of the SOC-scale in comprehensibility, followed by manageability and finally meaningfulness. Male managers in the age group 47–57 scored highest. Female and younger managers scored lower on average. Lowest scores in comprehensibility and manageability were scored by a young female manager, while in meaningfulness the oldest male participant scored lowest. The qualitative findings show that high scoring SOC managers apply complex thoughts to the present and future workplace scenario. Individuals with lower SOC scores do not present as much knowledge, complex thinking and argumentation structures during the interview in comprehensibility scores as high scoring SOC managers, yet still acquire resources to manage the workplace (manageability). High meaningfulness scores are associated with creating meaningful workplace interaction (human–human and machine–human), knowledge distribution through technology, impactfulness, experiencing the job as meaningful, including helping others, and achievements. Managers have a complex view of the world and findings show the complex connections of a high/low SOC scores and the managers’ explorations and systemic understanding regarding their managerial world. Conclusions and recommendations for theory and practice are given.
“…Researchers stated important factors during COVID-19 [17][18][19] and it can be highlighted that in this research, the managers interviewed do not present managerial resistance to innovation. They also agree with the literature that appropriate equipment and training is needed to deal with the situation and the rapid changes [20].…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 97%
“…Managing employees and organizations during COVID-19 has changed dramatically [1][2][3][4]. Research has stated six important factors for managing during COVID-19 [17]:…”
Section: Managing During Covid-19mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Trust is often regarded as the "glue" that holds other factors together. Trust between managers, virtual workers, and their colleagues is fundamental to be effective [17]. Trust in institutions (i.e., perceptions of them as competent, honest and benevolent [22,23], helps people manage complexity and is crucial for legitimising decisions made by managers [24][25][26].…”
During COVID-19, the working world has changed inevitably, and many managers experience extreme strain and stress. This study determines how managers cope with the changes during COVID-19 from a positive psychology and salutogenic perspective. It employs a hermeneutical research design and an interpretivist paradigm by using a mixed-method research approach in which managers’ sense of coherence (SOC) is investigated quantitatively through the 29-item Life-Orientation scale and qualitatively through semi-structured interviews. Purposeful and snowball sampling techniques are used. The sample consists of 17 managers. Data were collected in different organizations within South Africa and analysed through content analysis, linking quantitative and qualitative data in a holistic, integrated and complex way. In terms of the quantitative findings, the managers scored at the medium and higher end of the SOC-scale in comprehensibility, followed by manageability and finally meaningfulness. Male managers in the age group 47–57 scored highest. Female and younger managers scored lower on average. Lowest scores in comprehensibility and manageability were scored by a young female manager, while in meaningfulness the oldest male participant scored lowest. The qualitative findings show that high scoring SOC managers apply complex thoughts to the present and future workplace scenario. Individuals with lower SOC scores do not present as much knowledge, complex thinking and argumentation structures during the interview in comprehensibility scores as high scoring SOC managers, yet still acquire resources to manage the workplace (manageability). High meaningfulness scores are associated with creating meaningful workplace interaction (human–human and machine–human), knowledge distribution through technology, impactfulness, experiencing the job as meaningful, including helping others, and achievements. Managers have a complex view of the world and findings show the complex connections of a high/low SOC scores and the managers’ explorations and systemic understanding regarding their managerial world. Conclusions and recommendations for theory and practice are given.
“…By enabling people to work from home, teleworking intrinsically impacts the link between work and non-working jobs, making it more straightforward for one position to overlap with another. Men and women can play these roles relatively differently and hence have various demands in a virtual environment that may lead them to respond differently to employees' telework adjustment variable (Agba, et. al., 2021;Agba, et.…”
Section: Gender As a Moderatormentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The reshaped employee-employer relationship has created a significant avenue for a labour union to play a significant role in the work design aspect, particularly the telework adjustment. In this pandemic environment, finding and understanding what factors influence union members' ability to "adapt" would aid in the establishment of telework solutions (Agba, et. al., 2021).…”
The pandemic catastrophe caused by covid-19 poses unprecedented problems and has farreaching ramifications for how people working life. Digital technologies have been critical in preserving corporate continuity since lockdown tactics drove employees worldwide to telework, frequently leaving them ill-equipped and unprepared. Thus, labour union members as active employees have been forced to adapt to changing work conditions and practices, as articulated in the Theory of Work Adjustment (TWA). This article suggests that gender may be used to moderate the impacts of trade union support and professional isolation on labour union members' telework adjustment during the COVID-19 pandemic. This conceptual paper posits that telework adjustment may be researched by utilising a local union sample. Additionally, this article serves as a conceptual framework for future study by drawing on theoretical and empirical findings from essential works in adjacent domains.
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