PSY FPX 5201 Assessment 5

The Effect of Remote Work on Isolation, Quit Rate, and Job Satisfaction

The COVID-19 pandemic forced companies to manage their employees at home to sustain their employees’ health and well-being while work did not stop in the lockdown period. Many workers still appreciate fully participating in remote or mixed work, being present in the office some days (Türkeș et al., 2022). Working remotely may lead to loneliness, an increased rate of leaving, and reduced job satisfaction due to increased stress (Morán et al., 2023).

As most organizations are yet to return to the office, it is critical that study outcomes define the impact of employees’ physical, environmental, and psychosocial factors on the mental well-being of the individual. This systematic review will define the impact of working from home on organizational, environmental, psychosocial, and physical factors on individuals’ physical and mental well-being. Online retrieval of peer-reviewed literature in Capella University’s library database in the last 5 years utilizing the following keywords: telework, work-from-home, remote work, employee quit rate, employee stress, and employee mental health.

The purpose of this research idea paper is to propose a study to determine the effect of telework on the level of job satisfaction, level of isolation, and changes in quit rates between employees and those who work in a typical office setting alone. This systematic review should be of value to future research since it will have a better understanding of how telework harms or benefits employees’ welfare.

Theoretical Orientation for the Research Concept

My research question has a theoretical framework behind it that is the job demands-resources (JD-R) model (Nasharudin et al., 2020). Nasharudin et al. (2020) summarized that the JD-R model confirms that burnout and stress are widespread whenever there are high job demands with limited job positives. Similarly, effective job positives have the ability to counteract influences of high-level job difficulties as well as to enhance motivation and commitment (Nasharudin et al., 2020). This concept can also be applied in industrial organizational psychology to improve employee satisfaction and mental health by identifying issues among groups, such as remote workers, so that leadership can develop solutions to improve the work environment (Baker et al., 2017).

It includes positive and negative motivational processes, thus allowing decision-makers to adjust existing strategies to guarantee employee well-being and performance while working from home. Other theories can also be used to examine the effect of working from home on individuals, including the social cognitive theory (Locke, 1987), the Campbell theory of job performance (Koopmans et al., 2011), and the human relations theory (Omodan et al., 2020).

Review of the Literature

There has been a shift over the past two years from the physical environment where workers perform their work (Türkes et al., 2022). Short (2022) ascertained that technology has increased the number of working areas available to most workers, especially since and after the global pandemic (COVID-19). New work patterns provide workers and employers with many advantages, such as work location and scheduling flexibility, but with the rapid adjustments and large number of workers who opted to work remotely during the pandemic, it is essential that one understands the effects of the changes on the health of the workers.

Before the pandemic, only 3.6% of U.S. workers worked from home, and only 5.4% of European workers reported teleworking full-time, with a sharp increase to 70% of workers in the U.S. during the pandemic (Beckel, 2022). For the purposes of this study, work-from-home, telework, remote work, and other terminologies used in various studies are assumed to be synonymous.

PSY FPX 5201 Assessment 5: The Effect of Remote Work on Isolation, Quit Rate, and Job Satisfaction 

This review aims at establishing and summarizing studies that reflect the relationship between working from home and workers’ extent of isolation, quit rate, and job satisfaction through an exploratory analysis of mental health-related coping mechanisms and satisfaction with telework, occupational health psychology, and organizational culture and leadership styles. Past studies focusing on working at home have paid significant attention to work outcomes such as the performance impact of workers who read emails away from office working hours (Belkin et al., 2020). Professionals and employers ought to understand the impact of an individual’s physical and mental well-being that can be caused by working at home, as working from home suddenly shot up.

Knowledge gaps are apparent in current studies regarding satisfaction, intent to quit, and solitude. While homework has the potential to increase job satisfaction due to increased autonomy, work-life imbalance may also occur (Andrade et al., 2023). Telework, in part, leads to or erodes workers’ well-being and the need for quality teleworking environments for employees (Crawford et al., 2022). The COVID-19 work pressures are different from post-COVID pressures due to confinement, inadequate resources, increased anxiety, and social and economic losses (Crawford et al., 2022).

Short (2022) found that organizational culture is responsible and relevant to employee satisfaction. More information is needed in order to understand how to create a virtual corporate culture when teleworking is put into practice. Research has otherwise established that work characteristics such as autonomy, social support, and participation in decision-making affect employees’ psychological processes, e.g., motivation and satisfaction (Beckerl et al., 2022).

Synthesis of the Research Findings

In the last 3 years, working from home, or telework, has increased suddenly and quickly because of the pandemic (COVID-19). When COVID-19 broke out, businesses were forced to suddenly shift how they work (Contreras et al., 2020). Working from home was soon to be implemented; however, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the implementation to be done within a matter of days or weeks instead of years. This abrupt shift influenced the way organizations operate and employer-employee relationships (Contreras et al., 2020).

This systematic review estimates the impact of teleworking or remote working on employee well-being. Crawford et al. (2022) observe that homeworking employees who were also tasked with helping children with school homework showed deteriorating well-being. Studies on teleworking and forecasting employee health behavior have only recently been done (Beckel, 2022). There are broad discrepancies between findings in studies, with some discovering that telework results in relationship conflicts and other studies discovering significant or insignificant conflicts in the same relationships (Crawford et al., 2022).

PSY FPX 5201 Assessment 5: The Effect of Remote Work on Isolation, Quit Rate, and Job Satisfaction 

The idea that employees are always on call due to increased flexibility and technology must be managed by employees and organizations to reduce potential harm to employees’ well-being, especially when working remotely (Belkin, 2020). Reducing negative impacts on workers’ well-being is central to improving satisfaction levels while reducing quit rates and loneliness (Parent et al., 2023).

The use of telework has been supported by research showing that telework improves employees’ job performance and job satisfaction, reduces work pressure, and lessens the probability of quitting (Contreras et al., 2020). Not all literature has found the outcome equal in all teleworking situations. Contreras et al. (2020) summed up that desired outcomes linked with telework are generally found among organizations that favor managerial, peer, and technical support to the employees. Several studies have identified the physical and social changes workers experience when moving from office to telework (Beckel et al., 2022; Contreras et al., 2020; Lamarche et al., 2023). The current study will investigate the variables of home working that reduce job satisfaction and increase the employees’ quit rate and loneliness.

Critique of the Literature

Much of the homework research investigates work performance, rather than employee well-being (Belkin, 2020). Telework probably has an impact on job satisfaction, but further research must investigate the size of the teleworking impact on employee satisfaction and the turnover rate (Contreras et al., 2020). Potential adverse consequences of home working stem from a lack of adequate social and managerial support (Contreras et al., 2020). Remote work combined with high job demands is likely to lead to burnout and affect job performance (Contreras et al., 2020).

Recommendations for Future Research

Future research must address the limitations of existing studies by having employee well-being as a primary outcome rather than an ancillary outcome (Crawford et al., 2022). Furthermore, research must examine the different types of telework to identify the most suitable arrangement for maximizing employee satisfaction and reducing the quit rate (Contreras et al., 2020). Companies must develop practices and policies that enhance employee well-being and prevent negative effects of telework (Contreras et al., 2020).

Conclusion

The rushed shift to telework due to the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened sensitivity towards its contribution to employee welfare. Telework might improve job satisfaction and reduce employee turnover rates, but it may also generate feelings of isolation and increase levels of tension when telework is enabled by high levels of demands at work as well as low managerial and co-worker support. Future studies need to make employee well-being a top outcome and investigate the optimal telework setup for optimum benefit-maximizing and minimizing adverse effects.

PSY FPX 5201 Assessment 5: The Effect of Remote Work on Isolation, Quit Rate, and Job Satisfaction 

Lamarche, C., Jones, S. B., Bergeron, J., & Lavoie-Tremblay, M. (2023). Work and health-related predictors of retirement timing and satisfaction among Canadian nurses. Journal of Nursing Management, 31(3), 773-783.

Morán, C., Castro, B., & Uriarte, A. (2023). The role of e-leadership and social support in reducing teleworker stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Business Research, 174, 54-63.

Nasharudin, M. N., Shariff, M. &. M., Rashid, N. M., & Abdul Hamid, K. B. (2020). Job demand-resource (JD-R) model: A conceptual framework towards job satisfaction among academic librarians. Malaysian Journal of Library & Information Science, 25(3), 115-128.

Omodan, T. O., Adeyemi, B. A., & Adeleke, T. S. (2020). Social climate, work adjustment, and psychological well-being of primary health care workers in a Nigerian setting. The International Journal of Health Planning and Management, 35(1), 202-217.

Parent-Lamarche, A., Marchand, A., Biron, C., & Desmarais, J. (2023). Work interruptions and recovery: A daily diary study. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 32(1), 15-29.

Short, M. E. (2022). Working at home during the COVID-19 pandemic: Investigating organizational culture as a moderator between outcomes. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 128, 103674.

Türkeș, A., Semercioğlu, M. G., & Akgöz, A. (2022). The role of workplace bullying on work alienation and its mediation effect via work-family conflict. Current Psychology, 1-11.