Working from home vs working from office in terms of job performance during the COVID‐19 pandemic crisis: evidence from China

Abstract

Despite being a worldwide disaster, the COVID‐19 pandemic has also provided an opportunity for renewed discussion about the way we work. By contextualizing in the early periods of China's ending of lockdown policy on COVID‐19, this paper offers evidence to respond to an essential discussion in the field of working from home (WFH): In terms of job performance, can WFH replace working from the office (WFO)? The present study compares job performance in terms of quality and productivity between WFH and WFO from 861 Chinese respondents using entropy balance matching, a quasi‐experimental methodology. Results reveal that WFH enhances job performance in terms of job quality but lowers it in terms of job productivity. In addition, the present study aims to capture and empirically measure the variations in fundamental job characteristics in terms of job control and job demand between WFH and WFO by applying the job demand control support model. More specifically, we find that job control items, such as ‘talking right’ and ‘work rate’, and job demand items, such as ‘a long time of intense concentration’ and ‘hecticness of the job’, are vital factors that contribute to how these differences exert influence on employees' performance in the context of the pandemic.

Improving employee outcomes in the remote working context: a time‐lagged study on digital‐oriented training, work‐to‐family conflict and empowering leadership

“…This is because prior studies have mainly studied work–life balance in relation to employee outcomes in the workplace context, not in the remote work setting. But employee outcomes could be shifted due to the impact of working remotely (Nachmias and Hubschmid‐Vierheilig 2021; Qu and Yan 2023). Results‐based administration in the remote context may cause work‐to‐family conflicts, especially for non‐tech employees who are not fully prepared (ILO 2020).…”

Perceived organizational politics, organizational disidentification and counterproductive work behaviour: moderating role of external crisis threats to work

“…As this study details, employees' perceptions of organizational politics can spur their counterproductive work behaviour, and relevant factors explain or trigger this process. Prior research demonstrates that beliefs about highly politicized organizational environments can escalate into counterproductive work activities (Cohen, 2016;Wiltshire et al, 2014), but there is continued need to explicate why (Meisler et al, 2020), as well as to address the timely issue of the potential role of external crisis threats in this process (Hite and McDonald, 2020;Qu and Yan, 2023). Drawing on COR theory, this study predicts that (1) employees' frustrations with self-centred decision-making processes translate into purposeful attempts to damage their company because they feel embarrassed by their organizational membership, and (2) the negative interference of external crisis situations with their work reinforces this translation.…”

“…Preoccupations about life-endangering crises-war, terrorism, natural calamities, the global proliferation of deadly viruses (Green et al, 2010;Haq et al, 2020;Oh and Oetzel, 2022;Qu and Yan, 2023)-have detrimental influences on the quality of people's daily experiences.…”

“…Preoccupations about life-endangering crises – war, terrorism, natural calamities and the global proliferation of deadly viruses (Green et al , 2010; Haq et al , 2020; Oh and Oetzel, 2022; Qu and Yan, 2023) – have detrimental influences on the quality of people’s daily experiences. Because of their worries about such unavoidable crises, people tend to ruminate on imminent hazards to their personal well-being, suffer continuous concerns about the long-term effects on their private lives or develop a general feeling that they are powerless to protect against future threats (De Clercq et al , 2021b; Toker et al , 2015).…”

“…If employees experience strong external threats to their work, then they likely consider organizational climates predicated on favouritism as especially detrimental to the quality of their work functioning, which translates into an even stronger sense of organizational disidentification and then also an even stronger desire to reject the organization, as manifested in counterproductive work behaviours (Lin et al , 2021). External crises have strong, adverse impacts on employees’ personal and professional well-being (Qu and Yan, 2023; Trougakos et al , 2020). Therefore, to deepen understanding of this timely topic, this study theorizes about a possible indirect, detrimental role of work-related suffering from external crises, such that it increases the likelihood that perceptions of organizational politics grow into negative work-related feelings and activities.…”