Knowledge Exchange as a Factor Shaping Employee Relations in Remote Work

Abstract

It is difficult to overestimate the benefits of positive employee relations, as they relate to individual, team and organisational aspects. Good relations between employees are reflected in effective communication, higher work efficiency, employee commitment, but also in a higher job satisfaction. Such relationships in the organisation also show respect, trust, and the willingness to cooperate among employees, which foster knowledge sharing. Employers whose employees work remotely are often faced with the problem of how to shape an organisational culture of openness, built on positive employee relations, encouraging the sharing of knowledge with colleagues.
 The empirical part of the study was prepared on the basis of the results of a survey conducted at the turn of 2021/2022 among young people, representatives of generation Z, living in the Silesian voivodeship in Poland.
 The results of the conducted research show that young people from generation Z negatively evaluate the impact of remote work on relations with both colleagues and superiors. Moreover, according to the respondents, the remote work interferes with building emotional ties and also limits mutual support in difficult situations and may lead to a feeling of social isolation. Although the respondents believed that remote work allows a quick exchange of information and promotes the exchange of knowledge between employees, they were reluctant to work remotely in the future (they preferred hybrid or stationary work).