ORGANISATIONAL COMMITMENT IN TIMES OF TELEWORKING A qualitative study on the consequences of forced teleworking on the affective-, continuance- and normative commitment of employees

Keywords
No Thumbnail Available
Issue Date
2022-04-08
Language
en
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
In March 2020 the coronavirus entered our country. As a reaction and in order to stop the spread of the virus, the government had to take some measures. One of these measures was that we all had to work from home. In other words: we were in a situation where we were forced to telework. This research is focussed on what this forced telework situation means for the affective-, continuance- and normative commitment of professionals. Affective commitment refers to the emotional attachment of the employee towards the organisation. Continuance commitment has to do with the costs involved when leaving the organisation. Lastly, normative commitment is referred to the feeling of obligation to remain working at the organisation. The research question of this qualitative research is: How does affective-, normative-, and continuance commitment towards the organisation emerge among professionals in times of forced teleworking? Fifteen interviews with professionals who were forced to telework are conducted. Subesequently, these interviews are transcribed and coded. These codes helped to analyse the interviews and drawing conclusions. The overall conclusion is that that all three forms of commitment reduced since the forced teleworking situation. This is, among other reasons, because of less social interaction with colleagues which also results in the disappearance of the bigger picture of what is happening in the organisation. Employees feel a less strong connection with the organisation and a reduced feeling of inclusiveness. Also, more organisations become an option to work for since traveling time is less relevant when choosing an organisation. However, the current labour market also has to be considered when interpreting the results of this research since this also may play a role in the choices and feelings of employees.
Description
Citation
Supervisor
Faculty
Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen