Remote and flexible work arrangements: A cross-national study focused on implications for leaders and employees (REMOTE-FLEX)

Project description

The new working life with increased use of remote and flexible work arrangements will become a more enduring practice after the Covid-19 pandemic. Organizations now plan for long-term use of remote and flexible work, and both employers and employees navigate a complex and evolving landscape. Understanding how this new way of organizing work affects employees and leaders (e.g., their motivation, performance, and work-related health) is essential to enable remote and flexible work that is sustainable and productive for organizations and society as a whole. However, several key questions need to be answered to gain a better understanding of the features and experiences of such work arrangements, and their consequences for employees and leaders.

In the current project, we want to explore how individuals and organizations are affected, what new opportunities are created, and how employees and leaders can be supported in a remote or flexible work situation to secure performance and well-being. Thus, the overall aim of the current project is to increase understanding of the opportunities and challenges employees and leaders encounter in remote and flexible work settings to secure work-related health and work performance. Accordingly, we have four research questions in the proposed project:

1. How do various work characteristics of remote and flexible work settings relate to employees’ motivation and, in turn, their work-related health and performance?
2. How does leadership in remote and flexible work settings relate to employees’ motivation and, in turn, their work-related health and performance?
3. Are there cross-national differences in how work characteristics and leadership behaviors relate to employees’ motivation, work-related health, and performance in remote and flexible work settings?
4. What are the main challenges, strategies, and opportunities for leaders in remote work settings and what are their implications for leaders’ motivation, work-related health, and performance?

To explore these relations, the project will be undertaken based on rigorous methodological approaches capturing both employees’ and leaders’ perspectives using a combination of quantitative and qualitative data. Data will be collected in Sweden, Norway, and Lithuania, which allows for analyses of data separately within each country as well as comparisons across the three countries. By highlighting the role of work characteristics and leadership in remote and flexible work settings, we will provide increased insight into conditions of the workplace needed to ensure and facilitate healthy and productive work for employees and leaders.