Self‐leadership in the context of part‐time teleworking

Abstract

Summary Employees who work periodically in both a traditional office and home office (part‐time teleworkers) face opportunities and risks related to both working locations. As self‐leadership might play a crucial role in this context, we examined within‐person variations in self‐leadership (self‐reward, self‐punishment, self‐cueing, self‐goal setting, imagining successful performance, and evaluation of beliefs and assumptions) on home days and office days. In a typical workweek, 195 part‐time teleworkers filled out daily surveys (729 days), and we examined the relationship between working location (office and home) and self‐leading behavior as well as the mediating role of autonomy. Finally, we investigated whether self‐leading behavior relates to ego depletion and work satisfaction at the end of the working day. Multilevel analyses revealed that part‐time teleworkers reported higher use of self‐reward, self‐goal setting, and visualization of successful performance on home days than on office days. The association between working location and self‐reward, self‐goal setting, visualization of successful performance, and evaluation of beliefs and assumptions was mediated by autonomy. There were no indirect effects of working location on ego depletion through self‐leadership. However, we found that on home days, part‐time teleworkers were more satisfied with their job at the end of the workday through self‐goal setting.

Let me go to the office! An investigation into the side effects of working from home on work-life balance

“…Work engagement involves a more positive image of work among people who decide to telecommute from home, which is produced by the greater absorption and dedication to job-related commitments (Müller and Niessen, 2019). Enhancing the individual feelings of self-efficacy at work, work engagement is expected to reduce the perception of work-related fatigue and to curtail the side-effects of remotely working from home on emotional and physical exhaustion (van den Heuvel, 2013; Fujimoto et al , 2016).…”

Self-Leadership Among Healthcare Workers: A Mediator for the Effects of Job Autonomy on Work Engagement and Health

“…It is assumed that, if employees are given substantial freedom in their jobs, employees tend to more autonomously define what to do, why to do things, and how to do things while being less dependent on instructions by external leaders (Manz, 1986;Stewart et al, 2011). Moreover, as a result of job autonomy, employees are more dependent on their own cognitive and behavioral self-influencing strategies as the external directions and cues are missing (Alves et al, 2006;Müller and Niessen, 2019). Indeed, Müller and Niessen (2019), in a study among teleworkers, found that on days when employees work from home, they make significantly more use of self-leadership strategies (self-reward, self-goal setting, visualization of successful performance, and evaluation of beliefs and assumptions), which was explained by the perceived job autonomy.…”

“…Moreover, as a result of job autonomy, employees are more dependent on their own cognitive and behavioral self-influencing strategies as the external directions and cues are missing (Alves et al, 2006;Müller and Niessen, 2019). Indeed, Müller and Niessen (2019), in a study among teleworkers, found that on days when employees work from home, they make significantly more use of self-leadership strategies (self-reward, self-goal setting, visualization of successful performance, and evaluation of beliefs and assumptions), which was explained by the perceived job autonomy. Furthermore, some studies found evidence for the moderating influence of job autonomy on the association between self-leadership and job satisfaction (Roberts and Foti, 1998;Ho and Nesbit, 2014) and performance, respectively (Ho and Nesbit, 2014).…”

“…The job demands of healthcare workers can sometimes be challenging, difficult, or boring though the work still needs to be done. Experiencing job autonomy encourages employees to take charge of organizing job demands by using behavioral and cognitive self-leadership strategies (Müller and Niessen, 2019). By using these strategies, healthcare workers experience more control in their work, leading to more work engagement and health even in a highly demanding work environment (Lovelace et al, 2007).…”

E-Leadership and Teleworking in Times of COVID-19 and Beyond: What We Know and Where Do We Go

“…After the outbreak of COVID-19, social distancing, which means a deliberate physical space between individuals, has been adopted as a sound prevention method (Prin and Bartels, 2020) and thus necessitated remote working. In this context, information and communication technologies (ICTs) allow employees to work anytime and almost everywhere (Müller and Niessen, 2019). Moreover, teleworking was imminent, but the pandemic has made it a compulsion.…”