The salience of remote leadership: implications for follower self-control and work-life balance

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to examine whether remote work moderates the mediated relationship between leadership behavior (transformational leadership and leader incivility), followers' self-control, and work-life balance.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a three-wave, time lagged study of 338 followers. Drawing on social information processing theory, a moderated mediation model was proposed: it was hypothesized that remote work strengthens the relationship between leadership behavior (transformational leadership and leader incivility), follower self-control, and subsequent work-life balance (moderated mediation). The theoretical model was tested using OLS regression in SPSS.FindingsThe results show that working remotely strengthens the mediated relationships between leadership behavior, self-control, and work-life balance.Practical implicationsOrganizations need to consider the interaction between remote work and leadership. Leader behaviors have a stronger relationship with follower self-control and work-life balance when the frequency of remote work is higher, so it is important to increase transformational leadership and reduce leader incivility in remote contexts. Leadership training programs and respectful workplace initiatives should be considered.Originality/valueThis study demonstrates the importance of leader behaviors for followers' self-control and work-life balance in relation to remote work. This study is the first to examine the boundary condition of remote work in relation to leadership behavior, follower self-control, and work-life balance.

Feeling Supported as a Remote Worker: The Role of Support from Leaders and Colleagues and Job Satisfaction in Promoting Employees’ Work–Life Balance

“…The existing literature on remote work arrangements and their impact on work–life balance suggests that remote working can increase the flexibility of work operations and promote work–life balance [ 21 ]. However, this is only possible when organizations provide adequate support to their employees, encourage them to feel a sense of control, and implement work–life balance strategies [ 22 , 23 ]. Studies have also shown that the joint effect of spousal support at home and coworkers’ support at work greatly contributes to perceived work–life balance [ 4 , 24 ].…”

Work out of office: how and when does employees’ self-control influence their remote work effectiveness?

“…Abundant evidence suggests that individuals with high self-control are better able to manage their thoughts and emotions, effectively inhibit negative behaviors, and exhibit higher job achievement than those with low self-control ( de Ridder et al, 2012 ; Converse et al, 2018 ). Self-control is particularly important in remote work, where employees are far from the control and supervision of managers ( Howe and Menges, 2022 ; Walsh et al, 2023 ). Most existing studies examined the influence of organizational and team factors, such as organizational support ( Makikangas et al, 2022 ), human resource practices ( Li et al, 2023 ), and internal communication ( Dhanesh and Picherit-Duthler, 2021 ), while ignoring the importance of employees’ factors in remote work.…”