The Moderating Roles of Remote, Hybrid, and Onsite Working on the Relationship between Work Engagement and Organizational Identification during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Flexible working practices have become commonplace due to the emergence of the turbulent environment that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced organizations to change their business models, structures, processes, and policies. In this context, organizations have started to reconfigure work in terms of flexible working practices that enable them to use the full potential of their employees and to provide the conditions for well-being at work and, as a result, competitive sustainability. This study aimed to explore the relationship between dimensions of work engagement, namely, vigor at work, dedication to work, and absorption in work, and organizational identification under the moderating roles of different working practices, namely, remote, hybrid, and onsite working, during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this cross-sectional study, 200 randomly chosen employees from the public insurance industry in Turkey formed the research sample. The results indicate that each dimension of work engagement, namely, vigor at work, dedication to work, and absorption in work, is positively associated with organizational identification. In addition, when the moderation effects of different working practices on this relationship were analyzed, it was apparent that the relationship between an employee’s absorption in their work and organizational identification was weaker in those working onsite, stronger in those working in a hybrid context, and strongest in those working remotely. Therefore, we suggest that work redesign towards remote working practices enhanced positive psychological and behavioral changes in employees, i.e., well-being at work, resulting in a strengthened relationship between absorption in work and organizational identification during the COVID-19 pandemic.