Abstract
Remote working became a widespread business practice during the COVID-19 pandemic as an organizational response to protect employees’ health and maintain business continuity. The aim of this paper is to reveal the role of social support in the relationship among NWHI, NHWI and loneliness, and work engagement and job performance. The study respondents were employees with a remote working status in Serbian companies, and a total of 226 valid surveys were collected. The PLS-SEM approach was deployed to test the hypothesized relationship between named variables. A standard bootstrapping procedure was used to reveal direct and indirect effects among latent variables. Results indicate a strong and positive direct association between social support and work engagement and job performance, while mediation and moderation of the role of social support were mostly confirmed but with some results opposite to what was expected. Social support was not able to buffer a negative home–work interaction and loneliness within remote working. The study offers insight into the role of social support and recommendations for managing the antecedents and consequences of remote working, with the aim to determine a sustainable model for extensive application, not only during the COVID-19 pandemic, but in regular times.
Highlights
Academic Editor: Ioannis NikolaouOn 15 March 2020, a state of emergency was declared in the Republic of Serbia, caused by the crisis subsequently called the COVID-19 pandemic [1], and strict measures aiming to mitigate the spread of the virus and disease were introduced, such as restriction of people’s movements and closure of bars and restaurants, shopping malls, sport activities, etc. [2]
The study investigated the impact of negative work-home interaction, negative homework interaction and loneliness perception on work engagement and job performance in remote workers who are employed in different industries in Serbia during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the mediating-moderating role of social support in the relationship between noted predictors and outcomes related to jobs
Our study found that negative work-home interaction, negative home-work interaction and loneliness were significant predictors of outcomes such as job performance and work engagement
Summary
Academic Editor: Ioannis NikolaouOn 15 March 2020, a state of emergency was declared in the Republic of Serbia, caused by the crisis subsequently called the COVID-19 pandemic [1], and strict measures aiming to mitigate the spread of the virus and disease were introduced, such as restriction of people’s movements and closure of bars and restaurants, shopping malls, sport activities, etc. [2]. In such circumstances, various actions were taken by organizations in order to reduce the risks caused by COVID-19. In line with urgent responses, most organizations were forced to create new business strategies, introduce innovative marketing activities and adopt alternative business models [3]. As well as being a health and social emergency, the current pandemic poses a significant threat for organizations, especially to their business continuity. With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, organizations have been forced to provide adequate responses on such unpredictable events [4]. In order to continue their business activities, provide business continuity and protect their employees, many companies have executed a fast transition process for their employees from regular work in the office to remote working [5]
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