Navigating the virtual frontier: A study on telecommuting

Abstract

Orientation: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic accelerated the adoption of telecommuting (TC), but its effect on the relationship between employee engagement (EE), its dimensions and employee performance (EP) remains unclear.

Research purpose: This study aims to examine the mediating role of TC on the relationship between EE, its dimensions (physical, cognitive and emotional) and EP in virtual work settings.

Motivation for the study: As traditional office-based work dynamics undergo transformation, organisations need to understand the impact of TC on employee outcomes.

Research approach/design and method: This is a quantitative study executed with a positivism philosophy. An online survey using a mix of non-probability sampling techniques yielded 478 complete responses from information and communications technology (ICT) sector employees in South Africa. A range of descriptive and statistical analysis tools, including structural equation modelling, were subsequently employed to interrogate the data and distil empirical findings.

Main findings: The study established that TC does not mediate the relationship between EE and EP. A similar finding was made with respect to TC’s interference with the relationship between EE dimensions and EP.

Practical/managerial implications: The technical nature of ICT work may require collaboration and hands-on interaction not easily facilitated through remote arrangements, potentially diluting the anticipated positive effects of TC on EE, its dimensions and performance. The limitations of virtual work environments in conveying emotional expressions and maintaining emotional bonds remotely may also contribute to the diminished mediating role of TC.

Contribution/value-add: This article addresses the research gap arising from limited existing empirical studies on the mediating role of TC on employee outcomes. In addition, relying on empirical evidence, the study enriches the body of knowledge by contending that TC does not play any mediating role in the context of the links between EE with EP.