Hybridkontoret - Det nya svarta? Distansarbetets påverkan på ledarskapet och arbetstillfredsställelsen hos medarbetare

Abstract

Teleworking is an increasing phenomenon among organizations due to technological development, and since the Swedish public health authority declared SARS-CoV-2 a pandemic, remote work has been recommended for Swedish companies. When communication only takes place via digital platforms, an adjustment is required from the companies, managers and employees in the transition. The purpose of this study was to investigate and analyze how employees' job satisfaction has been affected by the abrupt transformation to remote work. Furthermore, the study analyzed whether there was a need for changed leadership in order to maintain the employees' job satisfaction. The empirical material of the study has been collected through qualitative interviews with managers and their employees, at a company that switched to telework during 2020 due to the pandemic. The outcome of the interviews intended to enlighten the changes created by telework, as well as the company's, managers and employees' adaptations to this change. The conclusion is that telework has an individual impact on employees, where job satisfaction factors can both improve and deteriorate as a result of the individual's situation. In general, employees appreciate the benefits of telework, but in terms of the social aspect, there are areas that are not fulfilled during the work of distance hence a hybrid office might be optimal. Leadership opportunities are changed by telework; communication requires distinctness and planning, and continuous adaptation on an individual level is required to maintain job satisfaction among employees.