Smart Working and Online Psychological Support During the Covid-19 Pandemic: Work-Family Balance, Well-Being, and Performance

Abstract

"During lockdown and the severe restrictions aimed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, in Italy great consideration has been given to “smart working” (SW). This term refers to a form of work characterized by the absence of time or space restrictions and an organization by phases, cycles, and objectives. The requirements for SW are: work must be carried out electronically; the tools must be adequate; performance must be measurable and focused on objectives; employees must have a suitable place to get their work done. These requirements ensure that the essential objectives of SW are attained: replacing the logic of performing tasks with that of achieving objectives; allowing everyone to manage work actively and autonomously; stimulating more decisive accountability in work, and better performance. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, action-research interventions have been conducted by private and public organizations. The private sector has endeavored to meet the requirements described above. This has not always been the case in the public sector, where largely widespread and indiscriminate use of SW has been made, not always complying with the protocols. However, even within the “emergency” limits of these experiences, SW has generally been accepted. The main advantages reported by employees are time and money saved on travel and food, in addition to improved family life. However, some problems have also emerged. These include the perception of social isolation; difficulty in disconnecting from technology; inadequacy of the tools; inadequate communication with managers. We also found that the health conditions of some “smart workers” have worsened in terms of anxiety, sleep disorders, and emotional symptoms. The data clearly show the complexity of analyses and interventions in relation to the SW phenomenon. The protection of employees’ health, especially in terms of recovery and work-family balance, appears to be particularly complex. In this context, the authors’ experience shows that online psychology has become more significant because it allows to support employees at any time. The literature highlights the growing use of online psychological support also through smartphone apps that provide effective interventions anywhere. Therefore, if, on the one hand, the requirements, objectives, and good practices of SW are to be pursued to limit the critical issues that have arisen, on the other, organizations should provide psychological support to employees even at a distance and by using appropriate technologies."

Smart Working and Well-Being before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review

“…Indeed, the implementation of smart working requires adequate management policies with particular attention to the reorganization of work and personnel management [ 3 , 72 ]. It would be necessary for organizations to utilize human resource management more effectively, implementing a more inclusive and differentiated approach to support employees, and thinking about the workers’ different needs to better balance work and private life [ 30 ].…”

“…Different organizations (i.e., tertiary, education, professional services, public administration) became involved in smart working. Specifically, researchers [ 3 ] sustain that in the public sector, there was a generalized and indiscriminate use of smart working without understanding, really, the requirements to introduce the smart working experience more than in the private sector, that further improved smart working practice.…”

“…Smart working refers to a form of work characterized by the absence of time or space restrictions and an organization by phases, cycles, and objectives [ 3 ].…”

“…Such job conditions include, for example, low work autonomy, too many demands, and lack of social contact and support from colleagues, as is possible during a smart working experience [ 11 ]. In fact, Reference [ 3 ] identifies some essential requirements about smart working, for example, “replacing the logic of performing tasks with achieving objectives, allowing everyone to manage work actively and autonomously that are important to better performance. So, it is then important to understand how individual behavior contributes to workgroup and organizational performance” [ 17 , 18 ] (p. 308).…”

Born or not: A moderated mediation model of the relationship between work-family conflict and female employees' wellbeing based on fertility intention during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…The implementation of flexible work arrangements (FWA) provides opportunities for organizations to reduce staff mobility and promote employee development through work life balance plans (24). During the epidemic, the organization continuously strengthened its online psychological support for employees through the use of communication technology, which was also achieved through smart phone applications that could provide effective intervention functions (25). In addition, the results of a study taking German families as a sample show that various control measures against COVID-19 pose a more common threat to the quality of relationships between couples within the family and the healthy family functions (26).…”