Summary
Overall objectives
The COVID-19 crisis brought an abrupt loss of face-to-face interactions for many workers worldwide. One estimate reported that 70% of workers in the U.S. operated remotely at least some of the time in April 2020 (World at Work, 2020). In this context, the overall objectives for the research project were to examine the following research questions:
- When and how has the Covid-19 pandemic and associated loss of face-to-face interactions in the workplace affected employees’ psychological well-being in the short and long run?
- How can organizations foster high-quality social interactions among remote employees? What role can organizations play in supporting employees’ resilience and well-being?
- How and why do employers differ in their crisis responses, and to which extent do their tactics evolve over time?
Main results
To analyze these questions, survey responses were collected from a sample of 3,384 knowledge workers across six European countries (Belgium, The Netherlands, France, Spain, United Kingdom & Germany). The sample was representative of the local labor markets in terms of industry.
Extensive statistical analyses led to relevant insights about how knowledge workers dealt psychologically with the loss of face-to-face interactions during and after the Covid-19 crisis. The examinations also revealed how this impact differed substantially across several relevant employee and employer-level characteristics, and brought insights into one specific approach that can help to reduce negative feelings of grief when facing a loss of face-to-face interaction. More details are provided in the Results section 2.
Our work provides insights into the psychological impact of the Covid-19 crisis – or other major disruptions more broadly – on the emotional wellbeing of knowledge workers. In particular, we
provide evidence that many knowledge workers went through a process of grief as they were confronted with a loss of face-to-face interactions in the workplace. In addition, we offer quantitative insights into the rise of remote work during the Covid-19 crisis (incl. comparisons across countries and industry), and into how Covid-19 impacted employees’ daily work structure and distribution of time spent.
Our research project helped to uncover the nuanced effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the emotional well-being of knowledge workers.
We provide evidence that many knowledge workers went through a process of grief as they were confronted with a loss of face-to-face interactions in the workplace. In general, the process of grief consists of five key stages: denial, anger, depression, exploration, and acceptance. The three first stages relate to negative grieving, while the latter two stages relate to positive grieving.
Our research yielded several noteworthy insights:
- First, when it comes to the loss of face-to-face interactions in the workplace in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, our results indicated that 43% of employees had strong feelings of denial, 35% had strong feelings of anger, 39% had strong feelings of depression, 74% had strong feelings of exploration and 83% had strong feelings of acceptance.
- Second, our analyses revealed significant differences across countries, with Germany and Dutch-speaking Belgium having the lowest proportion of employees with high negative grieving.
- Third, results showed significant differences across firms. Negative grieving was highest in small and young firms, and decreased as organizations were larger or older. One potential explanation is that employee support in smaller and younger firms to deal with the new way of remote working was lower than in larger and older organizations. This would imply that there is an opportunity for younger and smaller firms to learn from their larger/older peers, and is relevant for policy-makers when considering how to support business organizations in these circumstances.
- Fourth, results also showed a difference between male and female CEOs, and between young and older employees. Negative grieving was more likely in firms with a female CEO, and older employees coped better emotionally with loss of work-related face-to-face interactions. This suggests the need for organizations and society to especially support younger workers when faced with work-related disruptions such as the increased need for remote work. Surprisingly, however, younger employees did gain more energy from digital interactions.
- Fifth, supervisors had stronger negative feelings of grief than non-supervisors, suggesting a stronger need for emotional support for the former.
- Finally, results showed that having or finding a routine in daily activities helps to reduce negative feelings of grief. This finding confirms the key role that employers and societal actors may have in supporting employees to find new routines.
In sum, our research has provided a deeper understanding of the emotions that knowledge workers navigated during a pivotal moment in the evolution of work. The insights contribute to a human-centric view of the challenges and opportunities presented by abrupt professional shifts.
Also, they provide guidance to companies, policymakers, and stakeholders towards creating an environment that champions employee well-being in the face of unforeseen challenges.
Impact and outputs
With its focus on the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on the psychological well-being of employees, our project directly touches on the objectives and strategies of STI.
Our work came at a crucial time when the world was undergoing significant shifts in working patterns, specifically due to reduced face-to-face interactions. Using the grief model, characterized by five distinct stages—denial, anger, depression, exploration, and acceptance—we delved into the emotional responses of employees to better understand their adaptability and resilience amidst abrupt professional changes.
The Covid-19 crisis has put a lot of pressure on our society. In the first stage of our project, we have worked towards a number of practical insights and theoretical understanding, focused on how employees have dealt with the loss of face-to-face interactions in the workplace. We have shown how employees went through different stages of grief when dealing with this challenge, and how employers can better support employees going through this process. At its core, the study illuminated the human capacity for resilience and adaptability, even in the face of unparalleled professional upheaval.
One revelation was the particular vulnerability of smaller, younger firms, during these changes. Governments and industry leaders have the opportunity to formulate targeted interventions, providing these businesses with the resources and guidance they need to flourish. Equally significant was the discovery of age- and role-based differences in coping. By understanding these nuances, employers can offer tailored support, ensuring that both younger employees and those in supervisory roles feel valued and understood.
Furthermore, the importance of routine as a stabilizing factor underscores a broader societal lesson about the pivotal role of structure during times of uncertainty. Employers can proactively facilitate the creation of routines for their teams, and governments can emphasize the importance of structured daily activities in their public health communications.
In essence, our findings contribute to a wide academic effort to create a supportive ecosystem where employees can thrive, employers can foster resilient cultures, governments can make informed decisions, and society can emerge stronger from challenges. Insights such as ours, gleaned from a unique moment in the history of work, offer direction for a brighter, more adaptive future.
Our findings were covered in 40+ media outlets across the UK, France, and Belgium, and in IESE Insight.
IESE Insight, no.156. The Big Picture; Teleworking: the new normal? Teletrabajo: ¿la nueva normalidad?
https://media.iese.edu/research/pdfs/74862.pdf https://www.iese.edu/es/insight/articulos/teletrabajo-nueva-normalidad/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-8gZx6w8G8&ab_channel=IESEBusinessSchool
IESE Insight, 2020.
* https://insight.iese.edu/doc.aspx?id=2347&ar=5
Selected media outlets:
* https://phys.org/news/2020-07-lockdown-home-workers-lack-face-to-face.html
* https://www.sdworx.co.uk/en-gb/about-us/press/2020-05-27-coronavirus-forces-nearly-half-british-white-collar-employees-work-home
* https://www.hrsquare.be/fr/nouvelles/avec-le-covid-19-quatre-employes-belges-sur-dix-font-du-teletravail-pour-la-premiere-fois
* https://cdn.uc.assets.prezly.com/a32ae887-2874-4e63-b916-9ce4e749bd96/-/inline/no/whitepaper-wonen-werken-en-mobiliteit-in-2030.pdf
* https://www.rtbf.be/article/coronavirus-1-travailleur-belge-sur-3-confronte-a-un-sentiment-de-tristesse-en-raison-du-teletravail-10524810
* https://www.allesoverhr.nl/nieuws/2-op-de-5-nederlanders-werken-tijdens-coronacrisis-voor-het-eerst-vanuit-huis/
In addition, we are in the process of developing an article that reports our key findings and submit to a scholarly journal.