title: Do new ways of working foster work engagement?
abstract: Although New Ways of Working (NWW) are increasingly implemented in organizational practice, few studies have addressed its pros and cons for employee outcomes. NWW enable employees to choose when and where to work, while being supported by electronic communication. We examined the effects of NWW on work engagement and exhaustion, and investigated whether communication quality mediated these relationships. The results of a five-day diary study (n= 550) showed that daily use of NWW was positively related to daily engagement and negatively to daily exhaustion due to increased effective and efficient communication. In addition, NWW enhanced connectivity among co-workers, resulting in enhanced daily engagement and reduced exhaustion. However, we also found a positive relationship between NWW and exhaustion, because NWW increased interruptions during the work process. Although some caution is needed, we conclude that NWW have the potential to foster work engagement.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 3000 Rotterdam, the Netherlands. tenbrummelhuis@fsw.eur.nl
authors.forename: Lieke L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: ten Brummelhuis
authors.forename: Arnold B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Bakker
authors.forename: Jørn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hetland
authors.forename: Liesbeth
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Keulemans
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D003142:Communication; D005221:Fatigue / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008499:Medical Records; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D017009:Professional Autonomy; D013685:Telecommunications; D014937:Work / Q000523:psychology*; D017132:Workplace