Between-person and within-person effects of telework: a quasi-field experiment

Abstract

ABSTRACT This quasi-experimental study examines the impact of telework on employees’ stress, work-to-home conflict, work engagement and job performance on a between-person and a within-person level. Data were collected in a Belgian company that had launched a pilot telework initiative. Employees in the intervention group (N = 39) were allowed to work from home on at most two days a week whereas employees in the control group (N = 39) were not. To examine changes in person-level outcomes over time, we collected data before telework was introduced (T1) and at the end of the pilot (T2). To examine day-level effects, we collected daily data on 13 consecutive workdays after the onset of the pilot. Multivariate repeated measures MANOVA showed no significant interaction effect between group and measurement occasion, yet univariate analyses showed that employees in the teleworking group had less stress at T2 compared to T1. No univariate differences in work-to-home conflict, work engagement or job performance were found over time. Daily analyses using linear mixed coefficient modelling showed that teleworkers reported lower stress, lower work-to-home conflict, higher work engagement and higher job performance on teleworking days compared to non-teleworking days.