Telework in public organizations: A systematic review and research agenda
Valentina Mele,
Paolo Belardinelli,
Nicola Bellé
Abstract:After a relatively slow policy and scholarly take‐up, recent developments created the urgency for massive efforts to implement and regulate telework in public organizations. We contribute to this debate through a systematic review of 120 studies across disciplines. Findings from our analysis reveal a few established antecedents of telework, including individual characteristics like family responsibilities and expected productivity, but also organizational aspects like supportive leadership, and contextual feat… Show more
“…Pre‐pandemic literature focuses on individual and organizational benefits, such as job satisfaction, organizational commitment, job performance, turnover, professional isolation, relationship quality with supervisors and colleagues and cost reduction (e.g., Caillier, 2012, 2013; De Vries et al, 2019; Lee and Kim, 2018). In a recent review on telework in public organizations, Mele et al (2023) have shown that telework is associated with a decrease in turnover intention and higher job satisfaction, but also consistently appears to be a predictor of professional isolation, indicating that the impact of teleworking might differ based on individual and organizational characteristics.…”
Section: Literature Review and Hypothesis Developmentmentioning
This study examines person/organization and person/supervisor fit of public administration professionals in the context of hybrid work. A three‐phase study was conducted among 411 public professionals in Quebec. Results show that person/organization and person/supervisor fit have declined over time, and that satisfaction with hybrid work played a role in this decline. Person/organization fit affects intention to stay with the public organization. These results show the importance for public organizations to take employees' needs, values and expectations into account to increase satisfaction with the hybrid work experience and foster the retention of public service employees in a post‐pandemic era.
“…Pre‐pandemic literature focuses on individual and organizational benefits, such as job satisfaction, organizational commitment, job performance, turnover, professional isolation, relationship quality with supervisors and colleagues and cost reduction (e.g., Caillier, 2012, 2013; De Vries et al, 2019; Lee and Kim, 2018). In a recent review on telework in public organizations, Mele et al (2023) have shown that telework is associated with a decrease in turnover intention and higher job satisfaction, but also consistently appears to be a predictor of professional isolation, indicating that the impact of teleworking might differ based on individual and organizational characteristics.…”
Section: Literature Review and Hypothesis Developmentmentioning
This study examines person/organization and person/supervisor fit of public administration professionals in the context of hybrid work. A three‐phase study was conducted among 411 public professionals in Quebec. Results show that person/organization and person/supervisor fit have declined over time, and that satisfaction with hybrid work played a role in this decline. Person/organization fit affects intention to stay with the public organization. These results show the importance for public organizations to take employees' needs, values and expectations into account to increase satisfaction with the hybrid work experience and foster the retention of public service employees in a post‐pandemic era.
“…They then provide a research agenda that extends the predominant focus on attraction by bridging public administration concepts with generic recruitment and selection research, to advance research on public sector hiring. Next, a systematic review by Mele et al (2023) considers telework in public organizations – a topic that received heightened urgency in the throes of the pandemic. They explored the topic by reviewing 120 studies across disciplines to reveal a few established antecedents of telework, including individual characteristics like family responsibilities and expected productivity, but also organizational aspects like supportive leadership, and contextual features like natural disasters.…”
Section: Articles Included In the Special Issuementioning
Literature reviews have become widespread in public administration, especially in the past decade. These reviews typically adopt widely‐accepted approaches with many drawing upon systematized approaches to review in fields like medicine and psychology. Public administration, however, is a professional, design‐oriented discipline, focused on enhancing theory to solve real‐life policy, administrative, and managerial challenges. Recognizing the unique traditions and purposes in public administration scholarship, it is important to take stock of how public administration scholars “do” reviews, with the aim of providing recommendations to rejuvenate the state of the art in reviewing. We present a framework to guide review efforts in public administration centered on purpose (why?), object (what?), subject (who?), community (for whom?) and practices (how?). Next, we present different approaches to doing reviews and how those approaches present different answers to the questions raised above. Finally, we discuss examples of public administration reviews within each approach and conclude with specific recommendations for researchers and practitioners who want to use reviews to rejuvenate public administration.
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