Presenter Information

Emma VosikaFollow

Department

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Dept. of Psychology

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

Early in the pandemic, employees transitioned to remote work to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Though social distancing and other coronavirus related mandates have begun to subside, some employers are continuing to allow their employees flexibility in their work arrangements. This continued flexibility appears to be the “new normal” of how we work (Weideman & Hofmeyr, 2020). As a result, the question arises as to whether flexible workers feel engaged and connected to their organizations. To illustrate perceived engagement in flexible work arrangements, a sample of 258 participants was recruited through social media and student participation system SONA. Examples of flexible work arrangements identified included working entirely from home (telecommuting), coming into the office a few days a month (hybrid), working traditional hours in less than 5 workdays (compressed work schedules) or working hours during core business hours with variation in start and end times (flexible scheduling; Society of Human Resources Management, 2015). Analyses included basic mean differences and descriptives of perceived engagement via the Flexible Work Arrangement Engagement scale (FWAE; Bish & Vosika, 2022). Results indicated that perceived engagement had a significant difference between those that currently, previously, and have not experienced working in flexible work arrangements. More specifically, those that currently work in flexible work arrangements significantly differed in perceived engagement than those that have never experienced flexible work arrangements. Zooming into the differences between types of flexible arrangements, we see slightly higher average perceived engagement in compressed work weeks and flexible scheduling. Based on findings, it appears that individuals have a moderately strong perception of engagement in most forms of flexible work arrangements. This is consistent with recent research showing positive influences of flexible work arrangements on employee engagement and other employee related outcomes (e.g., wellbeing and productivity; Weideman & Hofmeyr, 2020).

Date

October 2022

Subject

Industrial and organizational psychology

Document Type

posters

Language

English

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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Perceived Engagement in Flexible Work Arrangements

Early in the pandemic, employees transitioned to remote work to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Though social distancing and other coronavirus related mandates have begun to subside, some employers are continuing to allow their employees flexibility in their work arrangements. This continued flexibility appears to be the “new normal” of how we work (Weideman & Hofmeyr, 2020). As a result, the question arises as to whether flexible workers feel engaged and connected to their organizations. To illustrate perceived engagement in flexible work arrangements, a sample of 258 participants was recruited through social media and student participation system SONA. Examples of flexible work arrangements identified included working entirely from home (telecommuting), coming into the office a few days a month (hybrid), working traditional hours in less than 5 workdays (compressed work schedules) or working hours during core business hours with variation in start and end times (flexible scheduling; Society of Human Resources Management, 2015). Analyses included basic mean differences and descriptives of perceived engagement via the Flexible Work Arrangement Engagement scale (FWAE; Bish & Vosika, 2022). Results indicated that perceived engagement had a significant difference between those that currently, previously, and have not experienced working in flexible work arrangements. More specifically, those that currently work in flexible work arrangements significantly differed in perceived engagement than those that have never experienced flexible work arrangements. Zooming into the differences between types of flexible arrangements, we see slightly higher average perceived engagement in compressed work weeks and flexible scheduling. Based on findings, it appears that individuals have a moderately strong perception of engagement in most forms of flexible work arrangements. This is consistent with recent research showing positive influences of flexible work arrangements on employee engagement and other employee related outcomes (e.g., wellbeing and productivity; Weideman & Hofmeyr, 2020).