The future of work: Unveiling the remote work mix gap impact on individual performance

Abstract

During the COVID-19 lockdowns, most organizations were forced to introduce remote work and now must decide whether and how to integrate this reality as a “new business normal”. Despite the growing significance, limited attention has yet been dedicated to this design of the future work, namely how organizations will rethink and structure themselves and how individuals will respond to such work models. Remote work is not a one-size-fits-all approach, therefore decision making about remote work arrangements needs to be aware of individual preferences and expectations. Thus, this study examines the impact on individual performance of the gap between experienced and preferred work arrangement mixture (remote/office). A conceptual research model is proposed based on theoretical foundations of major antecedents of remote work, namely technostress and psychological response constructs, work-family balance and team resilience theories. To test the model empirically, structural equation modeling is applied using data collected through a survey to 1,070 employees. Based on the findings, the study highlights that individual performance in a remote work setting is mostly influenced by the effectiveness of the work-family balance and that the moderating effect of the gap in remote work arrangement mix can amplify the impact of balance effectiveness and team resilience. The outcome of this work underlines the importance of meaningful and mindful work design, namely by embedding individual’s work arrangement preferences, to foster individual performance and to consolidate remote work as a sustainable future work practice.