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Looking for meanings at work: unraveling the implications of smart working on organizational meaningfulness

Looking for meanings at work: unraveling the implications of smart working on organizational... This study aims to shed light on the ambiguous effects of smart working (SW) on work meaningfulness. On the one hand, SW enables people to benefit from greater work flexibility, advancing individual control over organizational activities. On the other hand, it may impair interpersonal exchanges at work, disrupting job meaningfulness. Hence, the implications of SW on work meaningfulness are investigated through the mediating role of interpersonal exchanges at work.Design/methodology/approachThe authors investigate both the direct and indirect effects of SW on employees’ perceived meaningfulness at work. Secondary data come from the sixth European Working Conditions Survey. The study encompasses a sample of 30,932 employees. A mediation model based on ordinary least square regressions and bootstrap sampling is designed to obtain evidence of SW’s implications on meaningfulness at work through the mediating role of interpersonal relationships (IR).FindingsThe research findings suggest that SW triggers a positive sense of the significance of work. However, it negatively affects IR with peers and supervisors, entailing professional and spatial isolation. Impaired IR twists the positive implications of SW on organizational meaningfulness (OM), curtailing the employees’ sense of significance at work.Practical implicationsSW is a double-edged sword. It contributes to the enrichment of OM, enhancing the individual self-determination to shape the spatial context of work. However, its side effects on interpersonal exchanges generate a drift toward organizational meaninglessness. Tailored management interventions intended to sustain IR at work are needed to fit the design of SW arrangements to the employees’ evolving social needs.Originality/valueThe paper pushes forward what is currently known about the implications of SW on OM, examining them through the mediating role of IR at work. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png International Journal of Organizational Analysis Emerald Publishing

Looking for meanings at work: unraveling the implications of smart working on organizational meaningfulness

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Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
© Emerald Publishing Limited
ISSN
1934-8835
eISSN
1934-8835
DOI
10.1108/ijoa-04-2021-2708
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

This study aims to shed light on the ambiguous effects of smart working (SW) on work meaningfulness. On the one hand, SW enables people to benefit from greater work flexibility, advancing individual control over organizational activities. On the other hand, it may impair interpersonal exchanges at work, disrupting job meaningfulness. Hence, the implications of SW on work meaningfulness are investigated through the mediating role of interpersonal exchanges at work.Design/methodology/approachThe authors investigate both the direct and indirect effects of SW on employees’ perceived meaningfulness at work. Secondary data come from the sixth European Working Conditions Survey. The study encompasses a sample of 30,932 employees. A mediation model based on ordinary least square regressions and bootstrap sampling is designed to obtain evidence of SW’s implications on meaningfulness at work through the mediating role of interpersonal relationships (IR).FindingsThe research findings suggest that SW triggers a positive sense of the significance of work. However, it negatively affects IR with peers and supervisors, entailing professional and spatial isolation. Impaired IR twists the positive implications of SW on organizational meaningfulness (OM), curtailing the employees’ sense of significance at work.Practical implicationsSW is a double-edged sword. It contributes to the enrichment of OM, enhancing the individual self-determination to shape the spatial context of work. However, its side effects on interpersonal exchanges generate a drift toward organizational meaninglessness. Tailored management interventions intended to sustain IR at work are needed to fit the design of SW arrangements to the employees’ evolving social needs.Originality/valueThe paper pushes forward what is currently known about the implications of SW on OM, examining them through the mediating role of IR at work.

Journal

International Journal of Organizational Analysis – Emerald Publishing

Published: Apr 10, 2023

Keywords: Interpersonal relationships; Flexible working; Organizational meaningfulness; Meaninglessness; Smart working

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