Homework Environment Research Articles

Quality of home-work environment and crises: a case study of call center employees

The home-work environment theme has received high attention post-COVID-19 pandemic. This suggested the need to assess the quality of the indoor home-work environment in terms of telecommuters' performance and satisfaction. The study investigated the performance of telecommuters in a call centre of a telecommunications company in Jordan based on the performance assessment data collected before, during, and after the COVID-19 period. A survey was conducted to examine telecommuters' satisfaction with the quality of the indoor home-work environment in the spatial, behavioural and environmental dimensions. A comparative analysis of key performance indicators was conducted. The results affirmed a relationship between indoor home-work environment quality, employee performance and satisfaction. The analysis demonstrated that behavioural and environmental changes could improve the three factors. Thus, recommendations were made to improve telecommuting settings to facilitate health, well-being, and sociocultural sustainability for new and existing housing by designing more resilient housing suites in several industries.

The Impact of Home Work Environment, Team Interaction, and Online Training on Employee Productivity in a Hybrid Work Model in the Indonesian Education Sector

This research examines the impact of the home work environment, team interaction, and online training on employee productivity within the Indonesian education sector operating under a hybrid work model. A quantitative analysis was conducted, involving 160 employees from various roles within educational institutions. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with Partial Least Squares (PLS) 3 software. The findings reveal significant positive relationships between the home work environment, team interaction, online training, and employee productivity. Conducive home work environments, robust team interactions, and effective online training programs emerge as critical factors in enhancing workforce performance in remote and hybrid work settings. The study contributes to a nuanced understanding of contemporary work dynamics and offers practical insights for organizational strategies aimed at fostering productivity in the Indonesian education sector.

Work environment and health of bank employees working from home: Lessons from the COVID‐19 pandemic

AbstractTeleworking in the banking sector has increased considerably as a result of the outbreak of the COVID‐19 pandemic. This work examines the role that home work environment and organisational support for teleworking played in the health of bank employees who were forced to work from their homes during the health emergency. For this, the authors propose and test a structural equation model and a moderated serial mediation model using a sample of 1037 bank employees in Spain, obtained through an online self‐administered survey. The results reveal the direct and indirect effects of home physical conditions on health, mediated by family interference with work and technological overload. The results also show that the organisation's support for teleworking enhances the impact of home physical conditions on family interference and technological overload, also detecting that the indirect effects of physical conditions on health have been conditioned by the organisation's support for teleworking. The study therefore provides a better understanding of the impact of home environment on teleworkers' health and identifies useful strategies to improve the well‐being of bank employees who wish to work from home.

Working from Home vs. In-office post-COVID-19

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has swiftly and drastically transformed our daily lives, including our perception of working-from-home (WFH) practices. Even in a post-pandemic world, employees have shown an ardent desire to retain the benefits of the novel pandemic-induced remote work experience, which challenges managers to reintegrate them into the conventional office setting. This paper aims to assess the advantages and disadvantages of home and office work environments from the viewpoints of employees and employers to identify the optimal future scenario that maximises the benefits to all parties involved. Although our understanding of the optimal balance between remote and office work is limited, the future of work will involve a hybrid approach, combining remote and in-office work. The transition to such an arrangement demands time, creativity, trust, and various other factors from the parties. It also calls for serious mindset shifts and up/reskilling efforts. The review ends with a consideration of future scenarios and industry implications of adopting hybrid work.

Factors associated with poor mental health during mandatory home work: a cross-sectional study in university staff

BackgroundDuring the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, a total lockdown of universities was implemented by the government in Belgium. University staff was required to work at home. The purpose of the study was to identify factors associated with poor mental health in university staff during mandatory home work.MethodsMental well-being of 702 university employees was assessed by need for recovery after work and presence of burnout symptoms. Following factors were considered: personal factors (gender, age), professional status, specific home work environment factors (quiet place to work, taking care of ill or old people, number of children < 12yrs. at home, family member at risk for Covid-19), work-private life balance and worries about long- and short-term work situation. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to calculate the odds ratios for the presence a high need for recovery and burnout symptoms.ResultsThe presence of a high need for recovery and the presence of burnout symptoms were significantly associated with poor work-private life balance (OR 5.14 and 2.80, respectively), no quiet place to work (OR 3.23 and 2.00, respectively) and being worried about long-term work situation (OR’s increasing with increasing degree of worries). Being able to discuss the worries with the supervisor was only significant with a decreased risk of burnout symptoms for the lowest level of discussability with the supervisor. Following factors were not associated with both mental health outcomes: professional status, being worried about short-term work situation, taking care of ill or old people, number of children < 12yrs. at home and having a family member at risk for Covid-19.ConclusionsWhen working at home special attention should be paid to work-private life balance and the presence of a quiet place to work. Additionally, in the case of mandatory home work in university personnel, specific worries about long-term work situation should be tackled. Universities and/or governments should provide measures to ensure an extension of research deadlines and, if applicable, job security.

Working in a smart home environment: examining the impact on productivity, well-being and future use intention

PurposeThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a big impact on organisations globally, leaving organisations with no choice but to adapt to the new reality of remote work to ensure business continuity. Such an unexpected reality created the conditions for testing new applications of smart home technology whilst working from home. Given the potential implications of such applications to improve the working environment, and a lack of research on that front, this paper pursued two objectives. First, the paper explored the impact of smart home applications by examining the factors that could contribute to perceived productivity and well-being whilst working from home. Second, the study investigated the role of productivity and well-being in motivating the intention of remote workers to use smart home technologies in a home-work environment in the future.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopted a cross-sectional research design. For data collection, 528 smart home users working from home during the pandemic were recruited. Collected data were analysed using a structural equation modelling approach.FindingsThe results of the research confirmed that perceived productivity is dependent on service relevance, perceived usefulness, innovativeness, hedonic beliefs and control over environmental conditions. Perceived well-being correlates with task-technology fit, service relevance, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude to smart homes, innovativeness, hedonic beliefs and control over environmental conditions. Intention to work from a smart home-office in the future is dependent on perceived well-being.Originality/valueThe findings of the research contribute to the organisational and smart home literature, by providing missing evidence about the implications of the application of smart home technologies for employees' perceived productivity and well-being. The paper considers the conditions that facilitate better outcomes during remote work and could potentially be used to improve the work environment in offices after the pandemic. Also, the findings inform smart home developers about the features of technology which could improve the developers' application in contexts beyond home settings.

Emotional Wellbeing: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Women Academics in South Africa

After the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic on 11 March 2020, countries around the world responded with state-mandated lockdowns. Emerging data on the adverse psychological impact of the lockdown shows that women as a whole are among the most vulnerable groups. This study explores the specific stressors manifesting for women academics during lockdown and their toll on emotional wellbeing. A qualitative interpretive analysis of responses from 2,029 women academics showed participants experienced frustration, weariness, anxiety, and being overwhelmed as the result of emotional taxation from three sources: home responsibilities, social milieu, and work environment. The work-life merge that occurred during lockdown seemed to have a concertina effect on emotional wellbeing as participants were pressured to manage an inordinate number of responsibilities at once. The specific consequences of the concertina effect found in this study highlight opportunities for the academy to better support the wellbeing of women academics.

Factors associated with retention intention of Registered Nurses in Korean nursing homes.

To identify the factors associated with retention intention among Registered Nurses in South Korean nursing homes. Although nurses are not mandatory personnel, Korean nursing homes employ Registered Nurses. Determining the factors related to Registered Nurses' retention intention is important for their job stability and ensure provision of quality care. This mixed-methods study employed a sequential explanatory design. A self-reported questionnaire survey was conducted between May 1 and July 3, 2019, with 155 Registered Nurses providing direct care from 37 nursing homes. In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with 10 participants from August 1 to September 30, 2019. Data were analyzed using multilevel analysis for quantitative study and thematic analysis for qualitative study. The participants' average age was 48.48 years. Personal factors related to retention intention were Registered Nurses' role, educational level, and job satisfaction. Institutional factors were ownership, number of beds, and working environment. The qualitative study revealed five themes: "Satisfaction with meaningful relationships," "Potential for professional growth," "Nursing service accompanied by emotional labor," "Poor working environments in nursing homes," and "Unprotected nursing expertise." A nursing home's work environment is related to the Registered Nurses' retention intention. Most Registered Nurses in Korea received low wages, lacked access to career management programs, and experienced emotional labor. This study highlighted the personal and institutional factors related to retention intention among Registered Nurses in South Korean nursing homes. A law that designates Registered Nurses as an essential nursing home workforce is required. Further, nursing homes should increase the number of Registered Nurses to improve working conditions and thereby job satisfaction. It is also necessary to foster a working environment that facilitates professional development opportunities and job clarity.

The influence of distractions of the home-work environment on mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic

Previous research showed that office workers are mainly distracted by noise, influencing their mental health. Little investigation has been done into the influence of other workspace characteristics (i.e., temperature, amount of space, visual privacy, adjustability of furniture, wall colours, and workspace cleanliness) on distractions at the office, and even fewer while working from home (WFH). The influence of home-workspace distractions on mental health also received limited attention. This research aims to investigate relationships between home-workspace and personal characteristics, distraction, and mental health while WFH during COVID-19. A path analysis approach was used, to find that, at home, employees were distracted by noise and when having a small desk. Those with a dedicated workroom were less distracted. Distractions mediated most relationships between home-workspace characteristics and mental health, while personal characteristics influenced mental health directly. Employers can use these results to redesign policies regarding home-and-office working to stimulate a healthy work-environment.

Almost a year in: Virtual offices remained an ergonomic trouble spot.

Many individuals continued to work from home even after nearly 9 months since the COVID-19 pandemic started in spring of 2020. To conduct a follow-up survey of the faculty and staff of a large Midwest university to determine whether there had been any changes to their home work environment and health outcomes since a prior survey conducted at the start of the pandemic in spring of 2020. An electronic survey was sent out to all employees, staff, and administration (approximately 10,350 individuals) and was completed by 1,135 individuals. It was found that not much had changed after nearly 9 months of working at home. Faculty and staff continued to primarily use laptops without an external keyboard, monitor or mouse. Few participants reported using chairs with adjustable armrests. These conditions continued to result in high levels of body discomfort (49% neck and head, 45% low back, and 62% upper back and shoulders having moderate to severe pain). If workers are going to continue to work from home, companies will need to accommodate them with more than a laptop, and should include an external keyboard, monitor, and mouse.

Measuring pandemic home-work conditions to determine ergonomic recommendation relevance

BACKGROUND: Computer-intensive office work associations with health challenges may intensify following COVID-19 pandemic-related changes to home-based office work. OBJECTIVE: To determine working conditions, perception and physical elements affecting health after pivoting to full time home-work. METHODS: An online questionnaire addressed physical, productivity, motivation, and work-practice factors. Photos of the worker in their home-work environment showed side and front-back perspectives. RESULTS: Sixteen questionnaires were received, and 12 respondents supplied photos. Home and office workplace differences varied. Ten felt productivity was affected, most often positively. Four noted increased pain or fatigue intensity, particularly in the eyes, neck / head, lower back, and shoulders. Working posture was not optimal; six didn’t use traditional chair-sitting for up to half the day. Forward and backward trunk inclination accounted for at least 10% of the workday for 12 respondents; lateral inclination affected ten and eight had unsupported legs. Fifteen used an adjustable chair, but photos revealed ergonomic recommendations were not consistently followed. Fourteen participants communicated regularly by telephone, eight only for moderate duration and ten using adapted telephone equipment. Half of the ROSA scores were high. CONCLUSIONS: Workers forced into telework during the pandemic experience positive and negative impacts. Postures vary more than in offices, potentially increasing health risk.

Individual and class-level factors for students' management of homework environment: The self-regulation perspective.

The present study investigated the predictive effects of clusters of variables on homework environment management based on the data from 3018 students in Grade 8. These clusters included: background variables, homework characteristics, adult support and monitoring, homework purposes, goal orientations, and contextual control. At the individual level, management of homework environment was significantly related to at least one variable from each of the six clusters. Specifically, it was associated negatively with time spent watching TV, and positively with prior achievement, homework interest, homework quality, family help, teacher feedback, academic purpose, self-regulatory purpose, mastery-approach, and help seeking. Additionally, males managed homework environment less frequently than females. Finally, management of homework environment was positively related to homework quality at the class level.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-021-02596-5.

Associations Among Home Indoor Environmental Quality Factors and Worker Health While Working From Home During COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract The outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 virus forced office workers to conduct their daily work activities from home over an extended period. Given this unique situation, an opportunity emerged to study the satisfaction of office workers with indoor environmental quality (IEQ) factors of their houses where work activities took place and associate these factors with mental and physical health. We designed and administered a questionnaire that was open for 45 days during the COVID-19 pandemic and received valid data from 988 respondents. The results show that low satisfaction with natural lighting, glare, and humidity predicted eye-related symptoms, while low satisfaction with noise was a strong predictor of fatigue or tiredness, headaches or migraines, anxiety, and depression or sadness. Nose- and throat-related symptoms and skin-related symptoms were only uniquely predicted by low satisfaction with humidity. Low satisfaction with glare uniquely predicted an increase in musculoskeletal discomfort. Symptoms related to mental stress, rumination, or worry were predicted by low satisfaction with air quality and noise. Finally, low satisfaction with noise and indoor temperature predicted the prevalence of symptoms related to trouble concentrating, maintaining attention, or focus. Workers with higher income were more satisfied with humidity, air quality, and indoor temperature and had better overall mental health. Older individuals had increased satisfaction with natural lighting, humidity, air quality, noise, and indoor temperature. Findings from this study can inform future design practices that focus on hybrid home-work environments by highlighting the impact of IEQ factors on occupant well-being.

STUDI KUALITATIF KONSEP TELECOMMUTING DI PERGURUAN TINGGI: PENGALAMAN PENGAJARAN DARING DOSEN DI MASA PANDEMI COVID-19

&lt;p&gt;The purpose of this qualitative research is to examine lecturers' understanding of how to experience telecommuting or working from home (WFH) through virtual or online teaching during the Covid-19 pandemic. Respondents for this study were 15 lecturers, who teach online from various private universities in Jakarta, Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi (JABOTABEK). Semi-structured interviews via email and telephone were conducted using purposive sampling technique and content analysis approach. The results of this study illustrate that most of the lecturers (93%) understand the concept of telecommuting, the importance of information technology support and a home work environment to support their virtual or online teaching activities. The study also found several advantages of online teaching experiences such as flexibility, cost reduction and efficiency, work-life balance; and for the disadvantages, namely, lack of socialization for students and interaction between lecturers and students, and lack of infrastructure support, and the last is self-discipline.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Keywords: &lt;/strong&gt;Telecommuting, online teaching, flexibility&lt;strong&gt;.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Spacing out! Manipulating spatial features in mathematical expressions affects performance

The current study explores the effects of physical spacing within mathematical expressions on student performance. A total of 2,152 students in 5th-12th grade were randomly assigned to one of four conditions within an online problem set, with terms in algebraic expressions spaced 1) neutrally, with no spaces in the expression, 2) congruent with the order of precedence through grouping terms, 3) incongruent with the order of precedence, or 4) mixed, a combination of the previous conditions. Results show that students who viewed incongruent problems made more errors and had to solve more problems to complete the assignment than those who viewed congruent or neutrally spaced problems. Additionally, students who viewed problems with mixed spacing had to solve more problems to complete the assignment than students who viewed congruent problems. These findings suggest that viewing expressions with spacing that is incongruent with the order of precedence presents challenges for students. Overall, these results replicate prior research in perceptual learning in a natural homework environment and support the claim that physical spacing between terms does influence student performance on order of precedence problems.

Reciprocal effects between daily situational perceptions and borderline personality symptoms in young adulthood: the role of childhood parenting experiences.

Recent research has emphasized the importance of within-person transactions between situational perceptions and borderline symptomatology. The current study extends current evidence by evaluating a broad range of situational perceptions and their transactions with borderline symptomatology across both private and professional contexts. Additionally, it explores whether early experiences of parental harsh punishment and emotional support during childhood, two well-established etiological factors in developmental theories of borderline symptomatology, influence the effect of daily situation perception in adulthood on borderline symptom presentation. N = 131 young adults (Mage = 20.97, s.d.age = 1.64) completed end-of-day diaries of their borderline symptoms and perceptions of the home and school or work environment for 14 days. During their mid-childhood, reports of maternal strategies of harsh punishment and emotional support were collected. Findings revealed that on the same day, borderline symptoms were associated with more negative and stressful, and less positive perceptions of both the private and professional context. Additionally, borderline symptoms predicted more negative and stressful perceptions of school/work on subsequent days. Finally, while early harsh punishment predicted overall increases in daily borderline symptoms 10 years later, emotionally supportive parenting in childhood predicted decreases in borderline symptom expression in less positive and more stressful contexts. The current study points to the importance of managing BPD symptoms to reduce subsequent negative perceptions of the environment, and also indicates the relevance of exploring adult person-situation processes based on early parenting experiences.

Exploring math anxious parents’ emotional experience surrounding math homework-help

In two separate studies, we examined the relation between parents’ math anxiety and their perceptions of their math homework-helping interactions with their children. Specifically, we surveyed parents of children in Grades 1–6 across North America on the time they spend helping their child with their math homework and the level of confidence, conflict, stress, frustration, and emotionality that they feel during math homework interactions as a function of their math anxiety. As predicted, parents who were higher in math anxiety reported feeling a more negative emotional experience surrounding the homework environment when helping their child with math homework. Understanding this dynamic has important implications for educational practices, especially given the push for parents to be involved in their children’s learning.

Nursing home work environment, care quality, registered nurse burnout and job dissatisfaction

The objective of this cross-sectional study was to examine the relationships between work environment, care quality, registered nurse (RN) burnout, and job dissatisfaction in nursing homes. We linked 2015 RN4CAST-US nurse survey data with LTCfocus and Nursing Home Compare. The sample included 245 Medicare and Medicaid-certified nursing homes in four states, and 674 of their RN employees. Nursing homes with good vs. poor work environments, had 1.8% fewer residents with pressure ulcers (p = .02) and 16 fewer hospitalizations per 100 residents per year (p = .05). They also had lower antipsychotic use, but the difference was not statistically significant. RNs were one-tenth as likely to report job dissatisfaction (p < .001) and one-eighth as likely to exhibit burnout (p < .001) when employed in good vs. poor work environments. These results suggest that the work environment is an important area to target for interventions to improve care quality and nurse retention in nursing homes.

Factors associated with high job satisfaction among care workers in Swiss nursing homes - a cross sectional survey study.

BackgroundWhile the relationship between nurses’ job satisfaction and their work in hospital environments is well known, it remains unclear, which factors are most influential in the nursing home setting. The purpose of this study was to describe job satisfaction among care workers in Swiss nursing homes and to examine its associations with work environment factors, work stressors, and health issues.MethodsThis cross-sectional study used data from a representative national sample of 162 Swiss nursing homes including 4,145 care workers from all educational levels (registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, nursing assistants and aides). Care worker-reported job satisfaction was measured with a single item. Explanatory variables were assessed with established scales, as e.g. the Practice Environment Scale – Nursing Work Index. Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) models were used to examine factors related to job satisfaction.ResultsOverall, 36.2 % of respondents reported high satisfaction with their workplace, while another 50.4 % were rather satisfied. Factors significantly associated with high job satisfaction were supportive leadership (OR = 3.76), better teamwork and resident safety climate (OR = 2.60), a resonant nursing home administrator (OR = 2.30), adequate staffing resources (OR = 1.40), fewer workplace conflicts (OR = .61), less sense of depletion after work (OR = .88), and fewer physical health problems (OR = .91).ConclusionsThe quality of nursing home leadership–at both the unit supervisor and the executive administrator level–was strongly associated with care workers’ job satisfaction. Therefore, recruitment strategies addressing specific profiles for nursing home leaders are needed, followed by ongoing leadership training. Future studies should examine the effects of interventions designed to improve nursing home leadership and work environments on outcomes both for care staff and for residents.

Investigating factors that influence conventional distraction and tech-related distraction in math homework

This study examined high school students' distractions in math homework. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted on the scores of six items regarding conventional and tech-related distractions. Data revealed that conventional and tech-related distractions were empirically distinguishable. Two multilevel models were performed, with each type of distractions as the dependent variable. Both types of distraction were negatively related to four student-level variables (homework effort, homework environment, learning-oriented reasons, and value belief). In addition, both were positively related to three student-level variables (time on videogame, peer-oriented reasons, and time on homework) and one class-level variable (time on homework). Meanwhile, tech-related distraction was positively associated with parent education, whereas conventional distraction was negatively associated with expectancy belief, affective attitude, and grade level.