Jonna Snedeker and Christi Westbrook

MBA 615 Human Capital and Organizational Behavior

Professor Elizabeth Brumester

Week 11 11/08/2023

The Positive Benefits of Working from Home

Many individuals' work dynamics were changed almost overnight when the global pandemic hit in early 2020. Companies had to scramble to make sure business could continue in a somewhat normal capacity but make sure the lives and well-being of their employees were protected. For most "non-essential" processes the easiest solution was to send as many employees as possible home with a laptop and hope that the service provided, and the company culture would remain the same. This move for businesses was unprecedented and it might take years to learn the true impact of sending thousands of people away from the office.

Now that the pandemic has ended and it is safer for people to return to the office there are some compelling reasons that, if possible, most companies should consider keeping most of their employees working in the comfort of their own home. More flexibility or work-life balance for employees, cost savings for companies, and increased productivity are a few valid points for a company to continue to provide work-from-home options.

Some counterarguments might include a loss of productivity and a loss of connection and employee wellbeing, this might be true for some and minor changes made by companies and a focus on engagement, the positive benefits will be greater than the negative impacts of working from home.

Work-Life Balance - Employee Benefits

Work-life balance can lead to greater job satisfaction which working from home can provide. After the adjustment needed from being sent home, many individuals noticed other areas of life became a little easier, and flexible work options started to become more important. Spillover theory helps explain how job satisfaction and having flexible work arrangements such as virtual and remote work, can be a positive influence on the employee and help a company attract and retain new talent. Spillover theory can help explain this benefit of working from home and that is, "job satisfaction can spill over to family, friends, and work relationships, and positively impact physical and emotional health" (Andrade et al, 2023). Individuals are not wasting valuable time commuting in rush hour traffic and have more time to spend with their family before and after their shift. Childcare is also a huge stress financially for a family and working from home has allowed parents to be able to work while also being able to care for their young children. In a way a company that offers remote working options will be eliminating conflict for their employees which in turn will help a company be more inclusive and promote a culture that is friendly to the changing dynamic that is the current workforce.

When an employee is permitted to work from home, they often have lower levels of stress and higher levels of productivity. Remote employees denied the ability to work from home face the negative impacts of returning to the office which include "increased commute time, work/life balance issues, loss of inclusivity and economic impact as workers must move back to expensive metropolitan areas rather than working from cheaper geographies of their choice" according to Bryan Robinson Ph.D. for Forbes (Robinson, 2023). "Homeworkers reported 25% lower stress levels, 73% said they are healthier working from home, 76% were more loyal to their company and 80% reported better work-life balance" according to Drew Hendricks for Entreprenuer.com (Hendricks, 2014).

Benefits to the Organization

Now that the main threat of the pandemic has passed companies had to face the choice of bringing the entire workforce back into the office, offering a hybrid option where an employee could work from home some of the time but be required to go into office a certain number of days, or let employees continue to work from home permanently. Many companies decided to keep work-from-home options because of the benefits it provided to the company such as increased productivity and employee job satisfaction.

Work-from-home employees have more time to devote to job responsibilities due to the elimination of commute time. Employees working remotely often use fewer sick days and return to work sooner than their in-office counterparts (Church, 2015). A significant proportion of teleworking and hybrid employees (22%) reported increased job satisfaction and tenure with their employer when granted the flexibility to work remotely, as noted by Owl Labs (Robinson, 2022). "A total of 56% of employees cited mental health improvements, better work-life balance and more physical activity" according to Bryan Robinson, Ph.D. Happiness and job satisfaction are achieved when employees' psychological needs are met in the areas of autonomy, competence, and relatedness according to self-determination theory (Yu, 2021).

Despite the assumption that employees, when left to their own devices in their home setting, will fall prey to distractions and lack of focus, this is often found to be untrue. Employees working from home are more productive due to fewer distractions from fellow employees in the workplace and not having a commute which gives them a greater amount of time to devote to work tasks. Work-from-home employees reap greater rewards and often give a greater amount of time and devotion to work tasks with 40% reporting a greater level of productivity when working from home. (Stropoli, 2021). Social Exchange Theory posits that when an employee is treated well by a company, the company will often be treated well by the employee through increased contributions of effort and productivity (Even, 2022). The benefits of teleworking include "no commuting, reduced distraction, work-life balance, and increased work flexibility, creativity, and motivation" according to Kowalski (Kowalski, 2022). Employee satisfaction, paired with a lack of distractions in an office workspace, leads to greater efficiency on the employee's part (Kowalski, 2022). Productivity increases when working from home and creates benefits for both the employer and employee.

Large-scale benefits of transitioning more employees to remote positions include greater efficiency and time spent on work tasks due to time saved from not having to commute, healthier employees due to less exposure to illness, and less stressed employees due to increased job autonomy. Healthier employees save society money based on fewer ailments and visits to doctors, thus leading to a potential decrease in health insurance premiums and less time lost to employee sick days (Church, 2015). Employers enjoy decreased expenses due to the decreased need for leased office space. Additionally, fewer employees working on-site means a lessened impact on the environment and lesser carbon emissions (Stager, 2020). Although a capitalist society and businesses lose money from employees no longer commuting, money saved from working from home allows employees greater cash flow to be infused into the economy. Savings on health and wellness alone are immeasurable.

Theories

According to the self-determination theory, happiness and job satisfaction are achieved when employees' psychological needs are met in the areas of autonomy, competence, and relatedness (Yu, 2021). Additionally, job demands-resources theory posits that the characteristics of a job are divided into employee demands and employer resources. When demands by an employee are met with resources from the employer, high-level job satisfaction is often attained. Studies indicate that demands for remote employees include having a suitable home workspace and job autonomy (Yu, 2021). Remote employees supplied with resources to support autonomy are often competent producers of quality work. A nine-month experiment involving call center employees working remotely showed a 13% increase in productivity attributable to longer log-in times to take calls, reductions in breaks, time off, and sick days taken by remote employees (Bloom, 2015). Employer resources include wellness programs, comfortable work environments with ergonomic furniture, flexibility in options to work from home or in the office, work-life balance, and when employers promote physical activity like walking around periodically throughout the workday. When management trusts employees to carry out tasks and gives them the resources to do so, more often than not, employees deliver.

Social Exchange Theory posits that when an employee is treated well by a company, the company will often be treated well by the employee through increased contributions of effort and productivity (Even, 2022). When an employee feels they are valued by their employer, they will often work in a greater capacity to give back to the company. Remote employees have many advantages from working at home, but they must transition to working remotely in a manner that separates both work and non-workspaces and access to them both during and after work hours. The significance of separating work and non-work areas in an employee's alternate work area is exemplified by boundary theory, which states that the outcome of their telecommuting experience is contingent on the remote employee's capacity to transition into the role and maintain a clear separation between their professional and personal lives (Yu, 2021). When the transition runs smoothly, and both management and the employee agree on role expectations, it prevents accessibility overreach, and in a significant portion of the workforce, leads to greater benefits for both the employer and the employee.

Conclusion

Life as we knew it changed drastically when COVID-19 hit the United States in January 2020 and the pandemic changed the landscape in not only the way we lived but also the way we worked. As businesses felt the brunt of social distancing and mandated closures, American employees prevailed and found a means to keep working. The means that many companies chose were allowing employees to work from home. Many companies were thrust into a position of transitioning to remote work without being given the time to evaluate how it would impact their employees' well-being and levels of productivity. Often businesses have found that what they invest in their employees coincides with what they get back from them as supported by social exchange theory. When businesses believe in their employees and give them autonomy and resources to perform at high levels, they often attain high employee satisfaction and devotion per self-determination theory and jobs demand resource theory.

Lastly, employees and their employers both benefit when the adoption of remote work includes a well-defined transition listing boundaries that separate work life from home life for the employee as noted in boundary theory. "Most employees (88%) agree that the flexibility to work from home or the office has increased their job satisfaction" according to Bryan Robinson Ph.D. (Robinson, 2022) Although it is often assumed that remote workers are less productive and their well-being is impacted, the facts support that most workers appreciate having the choice to telework and deliver quality results when they are given the opportunity by their employer to do so.

References

Andrade, M. S., Westover, J. H., & Cunningham, R. (2023). Work Flexibility and Job Satisfaction: Shifting Workplace Norms. Journal of Management Policy and Practice, 24(2), 15-39. http://ezproxy.bellevue.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/work-flexibility-job-satisfaction-shifting/docview/2831429929/se-2

Bloom, N., Liang, J., Roberts, J., & Ying, Z. J. (2015). DOES WORKING FROM HOME WORK? EVIDENCE FROM A CHINESE EXPERIMENT.The Quarterly Journal of Economics,130(1), 165-218. https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qju032

Church, N. F. (2015). Gauging Perceived Benefits from 'Working from Home' as a Job Benefit.International Journal of Business and Economic Development (IJBED),3(3) http://ezproxy.bellevue.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/gauging-perceived-benefits-working-home-as-job/docview/1815724040/se-2

Even, A. M. (2020, February 24). Social Exchange Theory. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/social-exchange-theory-angela-measles-even#:~:text=Social%20Exchange%20Theory%20is%20a,beliefs%20and%20minimize%20personal%20disadvantages.

Hendricks, Drew. (2014, July 14) "5 Ways Telecommuting Saves Employers Money." Entrepreneur. Retrieved on June 05, 2015, from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/235285.

Kinicki, A. (2020). Organizational Behavior: A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach. McGraw Hill.

Kowalski, G., & lebarska, K. (2022). Remote Working and Work Effectiveness: A Leader Perspective.International journal of environmental research and public health,19(22), 15326. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192215326

Robinson, B. (2023, August 12). Remote Work Might Not Be As Productive As Once Thought, New Studies Show. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanrobinson/2023/08/12/remote-work-might-not-be-as-productive-as-once-thought-new-studies-show/?sh=1eaf14523e7a

Robinson, B. (2022, February 4). 3 New Studies End Debate Over Effectiveness Of Hybrid And Remote Work. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanrobinson/2022/02/04/3-new-studies-end-debate-over-effectiveness-of-hybrid-and-remote-work/?sh=6b09764159b2

Yu, J., & Wu, Y. (2021). The Impact of Enforced Working from Home on Employee Job Satisfaction during COVID-19: An Event System Perspective.International journal of environmental research and public health,18(24), 13207. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182413207

Directions

1. Give feedback on the Position Research Paper. Feel free to critique, question, evaluate, point out biases, ask for peer-reviewed references, point out omissions and errors, suggest additions or deletions, explore OB theory, praise and comment.