Effects Of Smartworking On Productivity And Personal And Job Wellbeing In A Sample Of Employees Of The University Of L’aquila

Abstract

The widespread use of smart working represents a relevant aspect in the complex context of change linked to the Covid-19 pandemia. Since March 2020, the University of L’Aquila, in order to protect students and employees’ health, has adopted different measures against COVID-19, including the introduction of distance learning for students and smart working for almost all of its employees.
The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of smart working on job productivity and on workers personal and professional well-being.
A questionnaire consisting of 24 multiple-choice questions was sent by mail to all of the workers of the University of L’Aquila. Participation was free and voluntary. The data obtained were processed through software RStudio.
A total 510 workers, 245 men (48%) and 265 women (52%), responded to the questionnaire. The advanced age group was 50-59 years (226 workers). We divided our sample into 3 subgroups, based on the task: teaching staff (247 workers, 48.5%), administrative staff (228 workers, 44.7%) and “other” staff, a miscellaneous subgroup (31 employees, 6.8%). Almost all the employees state they have worked at their home (94.7%), with their own PC (97.2%). In all subgroups, the majority of employees declared they “worked more hours” than usual (70.8% administrative staff, 58.8% teachers, 53.3% “other”) with a statistically significant difference in administrative staff both compared to the other 2 subgroups (p = 0.023; p = 0.032) and reports an “increase in perceived job intensity”, especially among office workers (administrative staff vs teachers; p = 0.012). The most of the office workers believe that smart working has positively impacted on “work efficiency” and “their ability to reach goals in adequate time”, while among teachers, 55% believe that smart working had a negative impact on the relationship with colleagues (vs 30% of administrative staff) and 41% on team working dynamics and efficiency (vs 21% of administrative staff). Regarding the impact of smart working on the different aspects of personal life (dimension investigated by asking workers to report a maximum of 3 out of 8 possible options), most employees stress they were able to “use their time better” (29.9 %), “be more productive at work” (15.8%), “better assist family members in difficulty” (13.9%); only 3.8% indicated “have more free time” and 5.6% “increase trust in the Administration”. The advantages most reported are “reduction of travel times and costs” and “more flexibility and working autonomy” while only a minority of employees, mostly men, reporting having had “more time for themselves”. Among the disadvantages, the most common concern “isolation from the working environment”, “excessive extension of working hours and stress from lack of disconnection”, especially in women and “difficulty of managing work spaces”, especially in men. Overall, almost 70% of the total sample expressed a good degree of satisfaction with the smart working experience, resulting the administrative staff being the most satisfied subgroup. (p <0.05). Office employees are more interested in continuing with this type of work, both with respect to teachers (p = 0.0007) and with respect to “other” staff (0.023).
The recent pandemic emergency has made it necessary new organizational models in the workplace, including the massive use of smart working. This has led to the possibility of exploring the effects of remote work on workers’ well-being, both in professional and personal terms. Our sample appears overall satisfied with the smart working experience. Greater flexibility, reduction in travel costs are the most positive aspects perceived by workers while isolation from the workplace and stress due to lack of disconnection the critical issue reported. Further studies could be useful to focus on the effects of remote work on the employees’ personal and working wellbeing in order to create organizational models that protect the overall wellbeing of workers, while maximizing work efficiency and performance.