Hybrid Work Arrangements: 2022 AoM Caucus
The COVID-19 environment forced a rapid change in the role of the office in organisational life. Most people have enjoyed the flexibility of remote working, but some have struggled with working conditions and family situations that made remote work more challenging. Technology advances have improved the effectiveness of remote work, and advances will continue in these areas. Overall, employee expectations are changing, and more flexible ways of working will likely represent the future for organisations and remain a standard feature for many roles.
From a research perspective, changes to the working environment as a result of COVID-19 provide a once in a generation opportunity to understand the impact of significant and sudden changes to work environments on people and organisations. Data gathered at this time will allow researchers to develop insights and help shape theory that will support companies' efforts to thrive in a post-COVID environment. Together with an industry partner, we are collecting longitudinal data over the coming two years to answer questions such as "How can we best manage differences in the impact of hybrid work for various employees (e.g., gender, age, caring responsibilities, work responsibilities)?" and "What are the relationships between hybrid work approaches, informal learning networks, and employee perceptions and outcomes?
We imagine that more researchers worldwide are working on similar and/or related topics. Therefore, we are planning to organize a caucus at the 2022 Academy of Management Annual Meeting in Seattle, Washington to learn more from each other and explore ways of collaboration. Please let us know if you would like to join us.
Andrew Dhaenens (a.dhaenens@unsw.edu.au) and Karin Sanders (k.sanders@unsw.edu.au), School of Management & Governance, UNSW Business School, Sydney, Australia
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Karin Sanders
Professor, UNSW Business School
Sydney NSW
k.sanders@unsw.edu.au------------------------------