Having to Work from Home: Basic Needs, Well-Being, and Motivation

Hannah M. Schade, Jan Digutsch, Thomas Kleinsorge and Yan Fan
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Hannah M. Schade: Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Technical University Dortmund, Ardeystr. 67, 44139 Dortmund, Germany
Jan Digutsch: Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Technical University Dortmund, Ardeystr. 67, 44139 Dortmund, Germany
Thomas Kleinsorge: Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Technical University Dortmund, Ardeystr. 67, 44139 Dortmund, Germany
Yan Fan: Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Technical University Dortmund, Ardeystr. 67, 44139 Dortmund, Germany

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 10, 1-18

Abstract: During the COVID-19 pandemic, many employees were asked to start working from home for an extended time. The current study investigated how well employees worked and felt in this novel situation by following n = 199 German employees—56% of them female, 24% with childcare duties—over the course of two working weeks in which they reported once daily on their well-being (PANAS-20, detachment) and motivation (work engagement, flow). Participants reported on organizational and personal resources (emotional exhaustion, emotion regulation, segmentation preference, role clarity, job control, social support). Importantly, they indicated how well their work-related basic needs, i.e., autonomy, competence, and relatedness, were met when working from home and how these needs had been met in the office. Multilevel models of growth showed that work engagement, flow, affect and detachment were on average positive and improving over the two weeks in study. Higher competence need satisfaction predicted better daily work engagement, flow, and affect. In a network model, we explored associations and dynamics between daily variables. Overall, the results suggest that people adapted well to the novel situation, with their motivation and well-being indicators showing adequate levels and increasing trajectories. Avenues for improving work from home are job control and social support.

Keywords: work from home; work-related basic needs; work engagement; well-being at work; adjustment to COVID-19 measures; work in the pandemic (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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