Work from anywhere, but where? Understanding knowledge workers’ work location selection

The work environment of knowledge workers has been subject to constant change not only due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Shifts in technology, the economy, and society are changing the way we work. In addition to the office, work from home and third places are now available for the completion of tasks. The Covid-19 pandemic globally forced knowledge workers to work from home and thus, enabled employees to gather experiences in working from home, accelerating the development. It can be assumed that many knowledge workers are weighing up their preferred place of work. Previous studies have shown that working from home can have positive effects for companies in the form of productivity improvements. So far, this potential has mainly been shown for the average of the total workforce. Yet, it is not clarified which employees exactly benefit from working from home and which employees should work from the office or from third places. The aim of the study is to identify clusters that have their own work location distribution and to describe these based on personal, work-related, and real estate characteristics. In addition, it is to be examined whether the desire for the specific work location distribution (modal split) promises success. The identification of clusters is carried out using hierarchical cluster analysis including previously identified personal, work-related, and real estate characteristics. The assessment of the results is based on the comparison of the cluster characteristics, the stated preference for work from home, third places, and company office as well as previously identified variables on work success at different work locations. Data from a survey of 1159 knowledge workers in Germany and the U.S. is used. The results of the study provide important information for corporate real estate management and other actors in the real estate industry. They suggest that knowledge workers have developed a good sense of which work location they can successfully work at. Nevertheless, companies must carefully decide which employees could work from home or at third places with regard to the company's success. In addition, the results underline the necessity of upgrading the quality of corporate spaces: On the one hand, to be able to offer suitable workplaces for cooperation and, on the other hand, foster corporate culture through an appropriate real estate portfolio.

Introduction Family focused practice is thought to lead to positive outcomes for all family members. However, there are multiple barriers and enablers in adult mental health services to practitioners undertaking these actions. Aim The aim of this study was to examine the relative importance of worker, workforce and family factors to predict family focused practices (FFPs) in adult mental health services. Method Three hundred and seven adult mental health workers completed a 45 items family focused practice measure of 16 family focused practices. Thesis It was found that worker skill and knowledge about family work and an ability to assess the degree of parental insight into the child's connections to other family members and the community were important predictors of FFP, along with the closely related-worker confidence. While aspects of the worker, workplace and family each contribute to FFPs, this study highlighted the importance of worker skill, knowledge and confidence as central issues for adult mental health workers. Implications for practice Study implications include the need for training in specific FFPs, the provision of time to engage with clients on parenting issues and the need 5 to ensure that there are adequate services for workers to refer family members to.

Orientation: This research evaluates the remuneration preferences of knowledge workers as a retention strategy in an integrated international energy and chemical company, using the WorldatWork Total Rewards Model.Research purpose: Organisations may benefit from understanding their employees’ preferential remuneration benefits, in particular, knowledge workers as a scare skill requiring specific retention strategies.Motivation for the study: To understand the remuneration preferences for the retention of a group of knowledge workers within a large organisation based in South Africa. The research is necessary within organisations in South Africa impacted by scarce skills and a need to attract and retain knowledge workers. If remuneration preferences are not considered as part of retention, there is a risk knowledge workers may leave for preferential opportunities.Research approach/design and method: A total of 199 employees from a group of 1229 voluntarily participated in the survey. An electronic-based questionnaire was developed from the WorldatWork rewards model. The results from the surveys were analysed with descriptive statistics and inferential statistics.Main findings: No significance in reward strategies was found for age, level of performance or number of years of service. There was also no significant difference between the knowledge workers number of years of service and their intention to remain with the organisation. There was a significance in gender for benefits, flexibility and performance development preferences.Practical/managerial implications: The development of retention strategies should consider reward preferences of male and female employees.Contribution/value-add: Knowledge workers’ reward preferences do not differ on demographic variables, except gender. This contradicts some literature in the area.

Knowledge workers’ counterproductive work behaviors (CWB) always cause great loss to enterprises, but it is hard to supervise these behaviors. Based on the analysis of the causes of these behaviors, this paper builds a theoretical model of knowledge workers’ CWB and proposes that knowledge workers’ CWB are influenced by both rational and irrational factors. Regarding contextual factors and individual factors as risk preferences of knowledge workers, this paper establishes an asymmetrical evolutionary game model of enterprise supervision. Then, multiagent modeling simulation is conducted to discuss the effect of both formal and informal constraints on knowledge workers’ CWB and, based on it, the intervention strategies of enterprises are proposed. The simulation results show that the effect of informal constraints is bigger than the effect of formal constraints. The working environment and knowledge workers’ personality traits are the key factors to produce CWB.

By integrating theories of organizational dynamic capabilities and knowledge worker productivity, we explore the linkages between organizational improvisation and digital innovation performance via knowledge worker productivity, with boundary conditions of a firm’s resource constraints in the context of a developing country. We collected data from 308 managers of digital entrepreneurial information technology (IT) firms in Pakistan, a developing country. We found that organizational improvisation positively influences digital innovation performance. This relationship is weaker in firms with high resource constraints. Furthermore, knowledge worker productivity mediates the relationship between organizational improvisation and digital innovation performance. The distinctive characteristics of knowledge workers in the IT sector enable them to maintain productivity by relying on improvisation despite any resource constraints, thereby, enhancing digital innovation performance. This research contributes to the intersection of dynamic capabilities and Drucker’s knowledge worker productivity theories. It explores how organizational improvisation can facilitate improved digital innovation performance despite resource constraints and can build on the productivity level of knowledge workers in developing countries. Our research suggests that investing in knowledge workers facilitates the translation of organizational improvisation to improved digital innovation and mitigates resource constraints’ impact on digital innovation performance in the context of developing economies.

In the modern environment, knowledge worker retention has been described as the most reliable means of ensuring sustainable competitive advantage. On that ground, understanding how to retain knowledge worker has become an inevitable process for companies. Strategic human resource management must be in place and closely involved in every stages during the tenure of employment. It is the best practice for management to recognize who are the knowledge workers inside the organization and to be well-planned for them, thus they will not be burnt out and leave the company. On the other hand, it will create awareness for them to continuously retain in current employment. The importance of retaining knowledge worker was formed into the context of this documentary research. In terms of analysing factors that influences retention level of knowledge worker. It was found from the previous studies that employees’ decision to stay with any given company is reflected on four importance factors which are career development opportunities, recognition and value at work, relationships with supervisor and co-worker, and, salary/bonus/incentive/reward. Positive aspects of these factors will influence their loyalty positively, which will influence overall retention positively. This article will contribute to provide the strategy recommendation of knowledge worker retention to organization. It can be applied to prevent the lose in organization in term of financial and non-financial due to high turnover of knowledge worker. Human resource personnel and supervisors may apply the best practice as recommended in this paper to retain the knowledge worker with current organization. Keywords: knowledge worker, employee retention, sustainable competitive advantage

A joint analysis of residential location, work location and commuting mode choices in Hanoi, Vietnam

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyse the drivers that allow for enhanced personal productivity of knowledge-based workers in Central London focusing on the physical and social environment as well as worker’s individual preferences.Design/methodology/approachA closed-ended questionnaire was sent to employees of eight professional companies (Consultancy, Financial and Media Services) based in Central London. Of the 500 questionnaires sent, 213 were successfully completed and returned, representing a response rate of 42.6 per cent.FindingsThe findings from this trial study show that comfort, convenience, IT connectivity, good design and working to a specific time scale were strong drivers of personal productivity. Knowledge workers prefer a flexible range of office settings that enable both a stimulating open and connected work environment, knowledge sharing, collaboration, as well as quiet concentration locations, free of distractions and noise. It was also found that moves of knowledge workers into open-plan office space (and especially fee earners) is normally met with initial resistance. However, there is normally greater acceptance of open space after experiencing an actual move into open-plan, with benefits improving teamwork and communication being highlighted. The research also stresses that office design considerations need to be closer aligned with knowledge worker’s overall well-being and individual psychological needs.Research limitations/implicationsLimited to Central London offices and self-assessed evaluation of productivity drivers within the knowledge worker’s office environment.Practical implicationsCorporate real estate managers and office occupiers, designers and facilities managers can use the findings as part of their workplace strategy by providing a range of flexible workplaces that allow the knowledge worker a place for greater personal productivity through the provision of a well-designed collaborative office environment alongside private and quiet working spaces. Developers and landlords should also be aware of these requirements when taking their decisions.Originality/valueThis paper focuses specifically on the high-productivity knowledge-based work environment, demonstrating that there is a need to consider the collaborative physical and social environment and the individual preferences of knowledge workers to ensure enhanced personal productivity and well-being within the office. This can be achieved through the provision of a well-designed office space that allows for open, connected and comfortable work environments, as well as opportunities to use dedicated concentration spaces that are free of distraction. It was also shown that hot-desking was unanimously disliked by knowledge workers.

We identify the effects of specific organizational norms, arrangements, and policies regarding uses of social technologies for informal knowledge sharing by consultants. For this study, the term social technologies refers to the fast‐evolving suite of tools such as traditional applications like e‐mail, phone, and instant messenger; emerging social networking platforms (often known as social media) such as blogs and wikis; public social networking sites (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn); and enterprise social networking technologies that are specifically hosted within one organization's computing environment (i.e., Socialtext). Building from structuration theory, the analysis presented focuses on the knowledge practices of consultants related to their uses of social technologies and the ways in which organizational norms and policies influence these practices. A primary contribution of this research is a detailed contextualization of social technology uses by knowledge workers. As many organizations are allowing social media‐enabled knowledge sharing to develop organically, most corporate policy toward these platforms remains defensive, not strategic, limiting opportunities. Implications for uses and expectations of social technologies arising from this research will help organizations craft relevant policies and rules to best support technology‐enabled informal knowledge practices.

Technological progress and developments in the economy and society are constantly changing the way we work. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating the move towards multilocal working: knowledge workers worldwide have been forced to gain experience of working from home. Based on this experience, they are now in a position to weigh up different places of work and articulate desires for the distribution of working time between home workplace, third places and office.Previous studies have shown that working from home can have positive effects for corporates in the form of productivity increases. However, it has so far remained open which employees exactly are successful at different workplaces. The aim of the study is to identify clusters with their own workplace distribution based on personal, work-related and real estate characteristics, and to investigate whether the desire for specific workplace distribution promises success.Identification of the subgroups is done by conducting a hierarchical cluster analysis that includes previously identified personal, work-related and real estate characteristics. The evaluation and interpretation of the cluster solution is based on the desired workplace distribution and identified work success variables. Data from a survey of 2000 German and US knowledge workers is taken into account.The results of the survey suggest that knowledge workers in Germany and the US have developed a good sense of the workplace in which they can work successfully. At the same time, the decision-makers in the corporates have to decide carefully who should work at which workplace with a view to the corporate’s success. It is also clear that as work becomes more multilocational, real estate resources must play an important role in creating a corporate culture and identity.

The way work is physically organized in a society is subject to constant change. While life and work took place in one place before industrialization (First Place), work shifted to the office with a growing proportion of knowledge-intensive activities (Second Place). Due to the Corona-Pandemic, work for many knowledge workers shifted back home quickly. Before COVID-19 work from home was limited to individual cases or to a few days. While some studies have looked at the office real estate factors influencing work success, there are hardly any studies analyzing real estate factors and their effects on work success when working from home. The contact restrictions since March 2020 now allow large-scale examinations of how knowledge workers work from home. The aim of the paper is to identify dependency structures between real estate factors and success factors in working from home. Specifically, the direction and size of the effects of the individual real estate factors on satisfaction and productivity in working from home are quantified. Based on a literature research, important real estate related factors are identified that influence the success of work in general. This is followed by a quantitative survey of knowledge workers in Germany who have already gained experience in working from home. Multivariate analyzes are carried out, focusing on satisfaction and productivity as success factors for work from home. First results, by using mean value comparisons and correlation analyzes, suggest that property-related factors of the home in particular are closely related to the success in working from home. While the office workplace is explicitly developed for the purpose of efficient work, work from home takes place in a location that is not designed for this purpose. The study provides important implications on how future housing should be planned and designed to make working from home sustainable.

Studies investigating the spatial distribution of knowledge workers focus mainly on the factors that draw them to large primary cities. Second-ranked cities have trouble attracting and retaining these workers. We investigated whether there is a difference between the mobility preferences of knowledge workers residing in second-ranked cities and those of their peers in large primary cities. We used a field survey among workers in information and communications technology (ICT) residing in two cities in Israel: Tel Aviv, the leading metropolitan area in terms of innovative products, and Beersheba, the core of the southern periphery that has made great efforts to build a cyber hub. The results show that having a social network in the region in terms of close family, friends, and interactions with other people in the area has a stronger positive influence on the mobility preferences of knowledge workers residing in second-ranked cities, compared to their colleagues from large primary cities. The results acknowledge social networks as an important factor for place-based policies aimed at attracting knowledge workers to second-ranked cities.

The social protection of platform workers is widely recognized as a major political challenge but remains vastly understudied. The few existing investigations focus on social protection coverage and the employment status of platform workers, while their social protection preferences remain a black box to date. In this article, we investigate the social protection preferences of platform workers using a mixed methods design based on an online survey (n = 719) and qualitative in-depth interviews (n = 20) with self-employed platform workers in Germany. While the quantitative data indicate that the vast majority of respondents reject compulsory social insurance contributions for platform workers and favour self-employment over dependent employment, the qualitative interviews reveal three main types of explanations for this regulation aversion in different segments of platform work: The casualization of work in the platform economy, free riding on protection derived from ‘regular’ employment and distrust in established welfare state institutions. Against this background, we discuss challenges for social policies aiming at improving social protection for platform workers.

Remote working has played an increasingly important role in accelerating alternative workplaces. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic emergency demands, this paper seek to demonstrate the resilience of knowledge workers and their ability to work remotely, despite the uneven distribution of enabling infrastructure during the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. The Belief Action Outcome (BAO) model for information systems was used to support the study as this underexplored theory was found to be worthy of further testing in real-world situations. This qualitative study used a range of sources consisting largely of search data from major online journal databases. The findings highlight that knowledge workers can successfully work from alternative workplaces and still deliver the required outputs, despite socio-economic problems such as locational disparities and inequalities in access to technology. The same technologies that empowered knowledge workers to transform their work locations during the COVID-19 crisis, however, are the same to enable certain sectors of society whilst hindering other cohorts residing in under resourced locations. Therefore, the benefits of working remotely cannot favour everyone because of the existing inequalities and disparities. Applying the BAO model in this context implies environmental issues are likely to play a growing important role in future when decisions are made around alternative workplace and adoption of IS/IT systems. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted working patterns and accelerated the trend towards working in alternative workplaces than the traditional office/factory premises, there are notable implications around this shift. The study confirmed the related behaviours, opportunities, and barriers (social systems and organisations), as well as the structures (both societal and organisational) of the BAO model. In addition, certain aspects of both the remote workers’ and organisations’ adoption behaviour were changed to a greater extent and more rapidly because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a contribution, this qualitative study reveals in more detail the yet uncharted remote workers' beliefs.

The transportation system affects all aspects of our daily lives including relatively long-term decisions on work and home location choice and automobile ownership decisions. The interdependency existing among these three decisions jointly influences household mobility and overall travel patterns. Therefore, a dynamic modeling framework that can account for the effects of interdependencies between vehicle transaction behavior and residential and job location choices is highly desirable. These decisions are made in the household level while individuals’ decisions influence the overall outcome; therefore, it is also important to incorporate a group decision making process within such modeling frameworks.This study introduces a dynamic model for vehicle ownership, residential mobility, and employment relocation timing decisions. These decisions are modeled at the individual level and then sequentially aggregated to the household level if it is required. A hazard-based system of equations is formulated and applied in which work location and residential location changes are included as endogenous variables in the vehicle transaction model while other important factors such as land-use and built environment variables, household dynamics, and individuals’ socio-demographics are also considered.