Workplace Flexibility in the Post Covid-19 Era: Teleworking, the New Normal

Abstract

The evolving nature of work, workforce and environment is the driving force behind the need for more innovative and effective work arrangements in all facets of the economy. Making the work environment more flexible provides workers with what they need to manage both their lives and their jobs which leads to higher productivity. Before the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, workplace flexibility had garnered much attention, fundamentally as a workplace incentive for attracting and retaining talent. Presently, the Covid-19 pandemic has altered flexibility from a mere desirable perquisite to a very influential corporate practice that is expected to endure well after the pandemic. As the number of coronavirus cases increase and more employers commit to the physical-distancing practices that health officials say will help slow the rapid spread of Covid-19, by closure of schools, offices etc. workplace flexibility has become a real-time global innovation. Firms have been made to introduce telework (also known as telecommuting or working from “home”), a form of workplace flexibility on a large scale. Teleworking is the process of working from home with the use of internet, e-mail and telephone or any workable electronic gadget. It is the belief of many scholars and authors that with the aid of digitalization and technological innovation, teleworking has laid to rest some concerns such as there being so few jobs that can be done from home and the fear of lack of control over people. This paper sought to find out the extent the above assertions are true. It equally sought to appraise the effects of teleworking on organizational performance, challenges organizations face as a result of imbibing teleworking. A multi-level teleworking framework, rooted on Socio-technical systems (STS) theory, which looks into the part played by personnel, technical as well as organizational factors and their interplay in telework execution and outcome was used as the theoretical framework of this paper. In-depth library research anchored on analytical discussion was adopted as the methodology for this investigation. The review were analysed in line with the objectives of the study. Finally the investigation made recommendations on the efficacy of teleworking as a trend that can be taken as a new normal without exemption.