Telework: much more than a new way of working

Telework is here to stay and has radically transformed the way people think about work. What might initially have been seen as a simple alternative or a fad has proved to be much more than that. Telework is not just about changing the physical location from which work is done, but involves a series of profound changes in the dynamics of work and how people relate to their jobs.

This is the subject of today’s study by María Jesús Martínez, a member of the Management & e-Learning (MeL) research group, together with Ana Gálvez and Francisco Tirado. The article is entitled “Work–Life Balance, Organizations and Social Sustainability: Analyzing Female Telework in Spain” and was published in the journal Sustainability in 2020.

Methodology

The methodology used in the study was based on a qualitative approach and consisted of data collection through individual interviews and focus groups. A total of 24 individual interviews and 10 focus groups were conducted with a total of 48 participants. All participants were female teleworkers with family responsibilities.

The sample included different professional categories, such as senior and mid-level staff, university professors, technicians, administrative secretaries and translators. Twenty percent of the women studied were full-time teleworkers, while the remaining 80% teleworked between one evening and three days per week.

The individual interviews lasted 45 to 60 minutes and the focus group sessions lasted 2 to 2 hours and 30 minutes. These were conducted in Spanish, in cities such as Alicante, Barcelona, Bilbao and Madrid (Spain).

Conclusions

The paper concludes that telework presents itself as a heterogeneous reality and goes beyond a mere way of working. The research reveals that telework is not limited to two dimensions, one based on technology and the other on work organisation, but hides differences and a variety of problems arising from political, cultural, ethical and everyday aspects.

While telework provides greater flexibility for workers, which was highlighted by several interviewees, it is also evident that its application generates diverse experiences. The successes, failures and misunderstandings in its use are closely related to cultural issues in organisations, which can facilitate or hinder these experiences.

The research findings reveal the existence of two different ecologies of teleworking: life-sustaining ecologies and physical presence-based ecologies. This shows that telework has a wider scope and is not only limited to the work sphere. Women teleworkers in the study indicated that they also use telework as a political tool and as a means of denouncing organisational practices.

In addition, participants noted how successful teleworking in achieving a work-life balance establishes productive harmony between the individual, the organisation and the community. Telework has therefore become a key component of organisational realities that are aligned with social sustainability agendas.

However, it is concluded that telework by itself does not guarantee success in the pursuit of this balance, nor does it automatically promote sustainability. It needs to be supported and promoted in a supportive context, which is directly related to organisational cultures. Changing these cultures to promote telework and the overall sustainability it brings represents one of the major challenges in the knowledge-based economy.

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