Nomadic, Informal and Mediatised Work Practices: Role of Professional Social Approval and Effects on Quality of Life at Work

Maëlle Périssé,Émilie Vayre,Anne-Marie Vonthron

doi:10.3390/su132212878

Abstract

Several studies have emphasised the effects of perceived social approval in employees’ professional environment (colleagues and managers) on the implementation of remote and mediatised work practices and, more specifically, on their spatial, temporal and material characteristics. The use of information and communication technologies has been identified in the literature not only as affecting the levels felt by employees in terms of their relation to work (organisational commitment and recognition for work accomplished) but also in terms of work-life balance and health (stress and addictions). However, these studies are few in number when it comes to nomadic and informal work practices and rarely address perceived social approval in employees’ professional entourage. We used an empirical study based on a questionnaire survey. The results indicate that employees favour smartphone and laptop use. The effects of perceived social approval in their professional entourage differ according to the technologies used. These uses also have an impact on commitment and recognition, but their effects on employees’ perception of the effects of work life on “non-work” life and on addiction-related behaviours are more nuanced. These findings lead us to discuss the “right to disconnect” and the development of support and supervision schemes for nomadic, informal and mediatised work practices.

Highlights

The increasing use of technologies in the workplace has resulted in changes in the organisation of work activities, which are performed in much more varied and changing locations and temporalities [1,2,3]
This paper investigates the effects of one psychosocial factor on the frequency of a variety of technologies uses within the context of nomadic, informal and mediatised work practices
The aim of our study is to understand the relationship between perceived social approval on the part of the workers’ professional entourage, the uses of technologies mobilised in the context of these practices and the impact of these uses on both the employees’

Summary

Introduction

The increasing use of technologies in the workplace has resulted in changes in the organisation of work activities, which are performed in much more varied and changing locations and temporalities [1,2,3]. French policies adopted in the last decade on the right of employees to telework, combined with notable changes in workspaces, reinforced the emergence of increasingly nomadic work practices enhanced by ICTs. legislation adopted in 2017. The development of the phenomenon both in France and internationally is such that some authors have even referred to the birth of a “nomadic work culture” [7]. The accentuation of these practices in the short and medium term is being further reinforced by the COVID19 pandemic, which has required accelerated expansion, on an unprecedented scale, of ICT-mediatised work “outside the walls” of companies

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