How Much Digital is Too Much? A Study on Employees’ Hybrid Workplace Preferences

How post-pandemic workplaces will evolve is one challenging decision organizations must consider. Prior studies have explored remote work and digital workplace transformations. However, literature offers only little insight into the status quo of employees\u27 preferences for their future workplace and its consequences. This paper posits that employees\u27 openness to digital change influences hybrid workplace preference. Performance and personal outcome expectations further have a mediating role in this relationship. Finally, hybrid workplace preferences can lead to office resistance and the intention to leave. This paper draws on social cognitive theory and sheds light on the interplay of employees\u27 preferences and potential consequences for businesses. We empirically tested the proposed model with survey data from U.S. employees. Findings show that hybrid settings are critical to attracting talent open to digital change. The contribution to IS literature is manifold and contains implications on how to envision the future workplace successfully

Where is your Office Today? New insights on Employee Behaviour and Social Networks

This is the second of two reports sharing key findings and suggestions for how to approach the challenge of adapting organisations to hybrid and more flexible ways of working. This report focuses on the impact that different work patterns and workplaces have on employees (wellbeing, job satisfaction, performance, interactions), and what this means for organisations and future workplaces. Findings from analysis of employee diaries, surveys and social network analysis are shared. Differences between groups of workers (e.g. new starters, different generations) under different work patterns (e.g. office vs home vs hybrid) and in different office workspaces (e.g. open plan vs social spaces vs private workspaces) are examined. The research data is presented to help managers take evidence based decisions about their work polices and workplaces. Practical guides are included to help both managers and employees understand how they can apply social network principles to support career development, productivity and knowledge sharing. The report concludes with a reflection on the opportunities that the future workplace presents, and ideas for how to implement viable hybrid working

Collaboration between unions in a multi-union, non-exclusive bargaining regime: What can Canada learn from New Zealand?

The Canadian union certification system guarantees workers rights to organise, bargain collectively, and strike only when a majority of co-workers favours unionisation. This contravenes International Labour Organisation standards, in which the freedom to associate is unqualified by majority support. In recent years, the Supreme Court of Canada has drawn on ILO principles to interpret constitutional rights as covering organising and collective bargaining activities related to freedom of association under section 2(d) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. However, it has not as yet ordered Canadian governments to enact labour relations laws consistent with these new constitutional rights. Neither has there been a general call for such legislative change. Instead, many fear that statutory support for non-majority unionism would lead to multi-union representation and intensified inter-union competition, but fail to consider that sharing the workplace might actually promote inter-union cooperation against a common adversary in management. This study addresses this shortcoming by looking at the extent and nature of inter-union collaboration in New Zealand, where non-majority, non-exclusive representation exists already. Collaboration was found to be common, not only over bargaining and lobbying, but also in organising. Implications for Canada are explored

Major Impacts of COVID-19 on the Traditional Office: How Does It Work?

The COVID-19 pandemic upended lives around the world and invariably changed the way that workplaces operate. As managers look toward the future and begin inviting employees to return to the office, they must first recognize and understand the changes they will face before they do so. This paper discusses the two biggest changes to future workplaces: increased availability of hybrid or remote scheduling, and an increased focus and commitment to diversity, equity and inclusivity (DEI) efforts following the Black Lives Matter movement. Many working Americans had not worked from home prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, but they were quickly able to shift to remote work while remaining productive. Additionally, more diverse workforces have been proven to be more successful, though it is still primarily white men who occupy higher executive positions across industries. The COVID-19 pandemic brought to light the fact that people can work from home and still achieve successful career goals, and it also put a spotlight on the inequalities present in management structures. As offices begin to reopen, managers and executives must adjust and implement flexible scheduling and better DEI initiatives in order to create a fairer, more equitable workplace

Uber Effort: The Production of Worker Consent in Online Ride Sharing Platforms

The rise of the online gig economy alters ways of working. Mediated by algorithmically programmed mobile apps, platforms such as Uber and Lyft allow workers to work by driving and completing rides at any time or in any place that the drivers choose. This hybrid form of labor in an online gig economy which combines independent contract work with computer-mediated work differs from traditional manufacturing jobs in both its production activity and production relations. Through nine interviews with Lyft/Uber drivers, I found that workers’ consent, which was first articulated by Michael Burawoy in the context of the manufacturing economy, is still present in the work of the online gig economy in post-industrial capitalism. Workers willingly engage in the on-demand work not only to earn money but also to play a learning game motivated by the ambiguity of the management system, in which process they earn a sense of self-satisfaction and an illusion of autonomous control. This research points to the important role of technology in shaping contemporary labor process and suggests the potential mechanism which produces workers’ consent in technology-driven workplaces

Understanding barriers, enablers, and best practices for creating effective multi-generational digital workspaces

Based on two systematic literature reviews, we contribute to the understanding of multi-generational digital workspaces by consolidating a list of known barriers and enablers in digital workplaces and identifying best practices to mitigate the former and promote the latter. Further, we analyze how these factors are perceived by the different generations X, Y, and Z, which increasingly work together. These findings are important, as companies struggle to create future digital or hybrid workplaces.This work is funded by the FCT—Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P./MCTES through national funds (PIDDAC), within the scope of CISUC R&D Unit—UIDB/00326/2020 or project code UIDP/00326/2020

Post-pandemic office work: Perceived challenges and opportunities for a sustainable work environment

The widespread adoption of remote and hybrid work due to COVID-19 calls for studies that explore the ramifications of these scenarios for office workers from an occupational health and wellbeing perspective. This paper aims to identify the needs and challenges in remote and hybrid work and the potential for a sustainable future work environment. Data collection involved two qualitative studies with a total of 53 participants, who represented employees, staff managers, and service/facility providers at three Swedish public service organisations (primarily healthcare and infrastructure administration). The results describe opportunities and challenges with the adoption of remote and hybrid work from individual, group, and leadership perspectives. The main benefits of remote work were increased flexibility, autonomy, work-life balance and individual performance, while major challenges were social aspects such as lost comradery and isolation. Hybrid work was perceived to provide the best of both worlds of remote and office work, given that employees and managers develop new skills and competencies to adjust to new ways of working. To achieve the expected individual and organisational benefits of hybrid work, employers are expected to provide support and flexibility and re-design the physical and digital workplaces to fit the new and diverse needs of employees

Special Session on Industry 4.0

No abstract available

Creating awareness of kinaesthetic learning using the Experience API: current practices, emerging challenges, possible solutions

We describe our use of the Experience API in preparing blue-collar workers for three frequently arising work contexts, including, for example, the requirement to perform maintenance tasks exactly as specified, consistently, quickly, and without error. We provide some theoretical underpinning for modifying and updating the API to remain useful in near-future training scenarios, such as having a shorter time allowed for kinaesthetic learning experiences than in traditional apprenticeships or training. We propose ways to involve a wide range of stakeholders in appraising the API and ensuring that any enhancements to it, or add-ons, are useful, feasible and compatible with current TEL practices and tools, such as learning-design modelling languages