Work environment transformation in the post COVID-19 based on work values of the future workforce

Unveiling the Exodus: A scoping review of attrition in allied health

BACKGROUND

Efficient utilisation of allied health workforce may help address the predicted shortfall of 18 million health workers estimated by 2030. Knowledge about allied health professionals' attrition, or intention to leave, and factors influencing attrition can assist in developing evidence-informed strategies to mitigate this issue. The review aimed to map attrition and attrition intention rates, and its attributing factors for allied health professions worldwide.

METHODS

Adhering to the PRISMA-ScR guidelines, a comprehensive search was conducted across academic databases (PsycINFO, MEDLINE, Embase, Emcare, CINAHL, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library database) and grey literature (Google, Google Scholar, organisational websites). Two reviewers independently undertook a two-stage screening process along with data extraction using customised data extraction forms. A narrative synthesis was used to synthesise the data.

RESULTS

Thirty-two studies published between 1990 and 2024 were included. Attrition rates ranged from 0.5% to 41% across allied health disciplines. Pharmacists demonstrated the lowest attrition rates, while audiologists reported the highest. Radiographers reported the lowest intent to leave at 7.6%, while occupational therapists showed highest intent to leave, ranging from 10.7% to 74.1%. The analysis revealed three recurring themes contributing to attrition: profession-centric factors (e.g., career progression, job satisfaction, support, and professional growth), systemic-centric factors (e.g., compensation, staffing challenges, clinical practices, patient care, workload), and individual-centric factors (e.g., recognition, the need for change, and burnout).

CONCLUSION

Attrition in allied health remains a significant challenge. Addressing this issue requires a systemic, nuanced, and evidence-based approach, given the complex, interlinked, and multifaceted factors contributing to attrition. The younger workforce, characterized by changing generational values, necessitates innovative thinking, intersectoral collaboration, and the potential for co-created solutions with, for, and by the allied health workforce.

Strategic human resource management practitioners' emotional intelligence and affective organizational commitment in higher education institutions in Georgia during post-COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the global workforce, presenting unprecedented challenges to managers and practitioners of strategic human resource management. Pandemic-influenced changes in the employment relationship highlighting the need for adaptation in order to facilitate a return to pre-pandemic conditions. Crises such as this can have a detrimental effect on employees' psychological contract, which in turn can hinder the organization's ability to thrive in the post-COVID-19 era and impede the development of high commitment levels in the aftermath of the crisis. Emotional intelligence plays an increasingly vital role in effectively navigating the crisis and providing support to employees, while also facilitating the reconstruction of the psychological contract. Therefore, this study aims to explain the role of emotional intelligence of strategic human resource management practitioners on affective organizational commitment and the possible mediating effect of the psychological contract in that relationship. A quantitative study took place in February 2023 among 286 HR directors, HR managers, and HR officers in higher education institutions in Georgia. Partial Least Squares for Structural Equation Modelling was applied for data analysis. The results revealed that the emotional intelligence of strategic human resource management practitioners has a positive impact on the psychological contract and the affective organizational commitment. This study supports the idea that emotional intelligence can transform strategic human resource management practitioners into individuals who engage in people-orientated activities. These activities aim to effectively acquire, utilize, and retain employees within an organization. The study also suggests that emotional intelligence can provide solutions to maintain high employee commitment during times of crisis and in the aftermath of unprecedented situations.

The Mediating Role of Employee Engagement in the Relationship between Flexible Work Arrangements and Turnover Intentions among Highly Educated Employees in the Republic of Serbia

The main objective of this research was to investigate the relationship between flexible working arrangements (FWA) and turnover intentions (TI), as well as the mediation effect of employee engagement (EE) in the relationship between flexible working arrangements and turnover intentions. The main research question is: what is the nature of the effect of flexible working arrangements on employees' turnover intention, and the role of employee engagement in this relationship? The methodology of the paper consists of theoretical (literature review) and empirical parts (field research). The empirical research was performed on a sample of 514 highly educated employees from service sector organizations that operate in the Republic of Serbia. Sample collection lasted from January to October 2022, via Google Forms. The proposed relationships were tested by using the PLS-SEM method, with the application of the SmartPLS software. The main findings of the research are that there are direct positive effects of flexible work arrangements and employee engagement on turnover intentions, and that employee engagement has an indirect effect on the relationship between flexible work arrangements and turnover intentions. A partial mediation was found. Employees who are offered flexible work arrangements decrease their turnover intentions when they are more engaged at work.

Differences in office-based personal space perception between British and Korean populations

We sought to understand how the perception of personal space is influenced by different levels of social density, spatial density, and type of window-view in South Korean and United Kingdom workplaces. We employed virtual reality to simulate shared and single occupancy offices. We obtained personal space estimations using a virtual disc around the participant which could be extended and retracted, inside the simulation, to indicate perceived amount of personal space, and compared this measure to questionnaire-based estimations. We found that in both cultures participants experienced greater perceived personal space (1) when in a sparse rather than dense office and (2) having a view of the city outside the office. However, British, but not Korean, participants had significantly higher personal space estimations in single occupancy offices than in shared offices. These results suggest subtle cross-cultural differences in workplace experience, that could only be investigated using virtual reality.

Ageing workers' mental health during COVID-19: a multilevel observational study on the association with the work environment, perceived workplace safety and individual factors

OBJECTIVES

The stress and anxiety associated with the predisposition of ageing workers to severe COVID-19 illness, once occupationally infected, jeopardise their mental health. This study aimed to investigate the association between individual level, work environment exposure factors and perceived workplace safety with a decline in mental health of ageing workers from different industry sectors.

DESIGN

Observational study, prevalence assessment of survey added to longitudinal cohort data.

SETTING

The Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) from 27 countries in Europe and Israel participating in the COVID-19 survey (summer 2020) and having prepandemic waves' SHARE data.

PARTICIPANTS

Workers aged 50-70 (n=6449) who attended their workplaces at least partially after the pandemic broke out.

PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURE

Perceived decline in mental health compared with preoutbreak status.

RESULTS

Multilevel analyses demonstrated that 24.5% (95% CI 23.5% to 25.5%) of ageing workers in Europe experienced mental health decline associated with national-level self-reported COVID-19 burden. Workplace safety perception was the strongest predictor, as each one-point increase in unsafe perception was associated with 60% of mental health decline (OR=1.6, 95% CI 1.47 to 1.74), explaining 30% of increased reported mental health symptoms of ageing workers. Safety perception mediates the mental health outcomes of the work environment, such as workplace contagion risk and work location. Female gender (OR=1.77, 95% CI 1.55 to 2.02), financial difficulties (OR=1.19, 95% CI 1.1 to 1.28), higher vulnerability index (comorbidities, age >60) (OR=1.11, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.18), pre-existing mental problems (OR=1.78, 95% CI 1.55 to 2.04) and increased national burden of COVID-19 (OR=1.01, 95% CI 1.0 to 1.02) were associated with declines in mental health, whereas exclusively working on-site was protective.

CONCLUSION

Vulnerable subgroups for mental health declines among ageing workers were revealed, which warrant their screening and employers' evaluation of workplace conditions of ageing workers to prevent mental health-related implications. Workplace interventions should aim to reduce work environment influences on infection risk and mental distress.

The future of work post Covid-19: key perceived HR implications of hybrid workplaces in India

Purpose

Human history observed an arduous time fighting the novel infectious respiratory disease Covid-19 coronavirus, which started in Wuhan, China and spread rapidly across the globe in 2020. Economies and the countries including India around the world experienced dismay with nationwide lockdowns and the fear of the unknowing. The unforeseen circumstances enforced immediate transitions in the organizations' work environment through remote working, digital infrastructure, online collaborations and new ways of interaction. The pandemic altered the workplace trajectories in lasting ways as the employees settled into a new routine of working from home more quickly than imagined. Now, as India and many other countries slowly move beyond the crisis, there exists a need to realize the implications of the pandemic on the workplace and articulate the future of work. This article, therefore, investigates the key perceived benefits and the HR implications of the new and emerging concept of hybrid workplaces and presents an HRM framework for their successful adoption in India. The findings may prove crucial in framing new workplace norms and shaping them. Moreover, this research would provide practitioners, policymakers, business leaders and HR professionals insights about the need to review the existing workplaces and successfully roll out hybrid work models in accordance with HR strategies.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology of Systematic Review of Literature (SLR) was adopted to study the key perceived benefits and the HR implications of hybrid workplaces.

Findings

The findings of the study would help business leaders, HR professionals, policymakers and researchers in developing HR policies and approaches for the adoption of the hybrid workplace as they chart the path toward the post-pandemic future.

Research limitations/implications

The study stresses the HR implications of the future of work as the hybrid workplace paradigm evolves. The approach is explorative and would require quantitative validation in different sectors and countries.

Originality/value

The study makes a direct link between the hybrid workplaces and the impetus for the transformation of HR strategies. It also examines the changing role of the human resources (HR) functions and professionals after the pandemic.

The relationship of work engagement with job experience, marital status and having children among flexible workers after the Covid-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about serious consequences in business world practices. Among these, flexible working policies have increased to a great extent. This has resulted in serious problems in the work-life balance. In this context, conditions such as having children and marital status have been important factors that can affect work engagement among flexible workers in the post pandemic era. Therefore, this study investigates the relationship of marital status, job experience and having children with work engagement among white-collar workers who work in flexible hours. Data is collected through surveys from 199 flexible working employees. ANOVA and T-tests were employed to analyze the data. The results indicate that only one of the sub-dimensions of work engagement-namely absorption- changes according to their marital status, and yet, the work engagement is not related to having children. In addition, it is seen that there is a significant relationship between job experience and work engagement.

A Comparison of Working Conditions and Workers' Perceptions among On-Site, Telework, and Hybrid Workers in Ecuador during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many companies to adopt different work modalities to ensure their operation during this period. In this study, we described and compared working conditions and perceptions among face-to-face workers, teleworkers, and hybrid workers in Ecuador. A cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample of 542 participants, using a self-report survey to assess sociodemographic data, working conditions, and workers' perceptions. Variables were described and then compared by the Chi-square test, ANOVA, and the Kruskal-Wallis test. The results indicated a higher proportion of on-site workers without higher education and in the public sector compared to the other modalities. At the same time, there was evidence of increased perceived productivity. People in the hybrid modality tended to have more than one job, earning a higher monthly salary, perceiving a decrease in productivity, an increase in daily working hours, and a lower capacity for time management. In addition, most teleworkers reported fair working conditions, a dedicated workspace, and easy adaptation to this work mode. This study builds a more in-depth understanding of how workers perceived their working conditions among work modalities for organizational decision-making because the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic is modifying the ways of working permanently.

Pandemic transitions: impact on business school campus recruitments

Purpose

This study aims to examine the transitions in hiring criteria by recruiting companies in top ten Quacquarelli Symonds ranked business schools in India during the pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach

Using an exploratory lens, an in-depth semistructured interview was conducted with 20 recruiting companies across industries and roles.

Findings

Content analysis suggests the changing preferences in hiring criteria and identifies six themes that have assumed importance during the pandemic period.

Research limitations/implications

This study has implications for business school participants who need to change their preparation strategy during the placement season.

Practical implications

There is an opportunity for business schools to focus on these two soft skills, namely, self-management with self-discipline and oral and written communication across the platform. However, in the depth and diversity of soft skills training, there is often a shallow coverage of multiple skills. The rather focused approach to developing these two skills may go a long way in preparing work-delivery graduates who could hit the proverbial ground running as the first step into their careers.

Originality/value

This study contributes to hiring managers by suggesting the traits that may assume importance in the new normal where remote or hybrid working context is a necessity.

The role of coworking spaces in the changing landscape of future workplace agility: linking boundary organization theory and organizational development models

Purpose

This study aims to illustrate the potential of coworking spaces as one way to achieve optimal workplace arrangements and corporate real estate (CRE) agility, especially for large organizations. The authors suggest understanding coworking spaces from the boundary organization theory and organizational growth model.

Design/methodology/approach

This study takes a threefold theoretical approach: conducting a literature review and identifying the gaps in coworking studies for large organizations, applying the organizational boundary theory in tandem with organizational growth models in the context of coworking spaces as a part of the workplace ecology and identifying future research agendas for coworking studies.

Findings

This study proposes a conceptual framework of how coworking spaces can be viewed and used as a boundary object throughout the organizational growth phases. Besides, four major future research areas are proposed: case studies and/or empirical evidence of coworking spaces as CRE buffer zones and boundary objects for organizations, coworking space design and different formats of boundary object-infused collaboration, coworking space design and management for its own agility and flexibility and how coworking affects employees’ performance, health and well-being and professional training/mentoring.

Practical implications

For large organizations, there is a clear pressure to rethink CRE to increase workplace agility, flexibility and resilience, much accelerated with the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding the effective use of coworking spaces as a part of CRE portfolios will help enhance corporates’ state and ability to reassess, realign and replan their CRE portfolios.

Originality/value

Many existing studies about coworking spaces are based on observations and self-reported justification at an individual level. Whether and how coworking can benefit companies at an organizational level is largely unstudied and worth more attention. This study illustrates a new theoretical understanding of how coworking spaces can be a part of CRE portfolios and bring potential benefits of inter and intraorganizational collaboration throughout the phases of organizational growth.

Practical recommendations for a post COVID-19 resilient generation Z workforce

PURPOSE: The purpose of this short communication is to provide theoretical considerations that support Human Resources (HR) professionals’ decisions regarding the development of a post COVID-19 pandemic career resilient Generation Z’s workforce. Building on the work of Pataki-Bittó & Kapusy [1] and Pichler, Kohli & Granitz [2], an effort to provide practical recommendations, that align workplace policies and practices with Generation Z’s work values will be made, in order to develop a resilient workforce. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: The authors review literature on Generation Z, namely regarding the factors that shaped their underlying development and consequent work values. Furthermore, literature regarding current organizational policies and practices focused on this generation was reviewed. FINDINGS: Although the recommendations made here allow worker integration and a better person-organization fit, this conceptual framework also suggests that very little is known about this generation, and as such, no one-size-fits-all recommendation exists for managers. It is our understanding that the recommendations set out here must be adapted to each organizational context, and each manager should pay more attention to its content than its form. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: This short communication presents a reflection regarding recommendations, that align workplace policies and practices with Generation Z’s work values, in order to develop a career resilient workforce. It is a work that combines previous works and as such it offers a more encompassing systematization of the latest recommendations regarding this generation.

The Importance of Intergenerational Leadership Praxes and Availability of Key Information for Older Employee Burnout and Engagement in the Context of Firm Size

The main aim of this study was to analyze the effects of availability of key information and intergenerational leadership on burnout divided into physical symptoms of burnout and emotional symptoms of burnout and work engagement regarding the firm size during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The empirical study included 583 older employees in Slovenia who participated in the survey during the COVID-19 pandemic. Structural equation modeling was used to explore the effects between constructs. We analyzed structural paths for the entire sample and for the two groups (small and large companies). According to the results concerning both groups, the impact of the availability of key information on emotional burnout is negative only for small companies. Contrary to that the negative impact of intergenerational leadership on emotional burnout is much stronger in large companies. Concerning the impact of physical burnout on emotional burnout, the positive impact of physical burnout exists in both types of companies but is stronger in small companies. The findings will contribute to a clearer picture and the adoption of further measures to prevent burnout in the workplace and increase work engagement concerning the firm size, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Telework and Mental Health during COVID-19

COVID-19 has come to change societal organization. Due to lockdowns, work typologies have been rethought and telework has gained strength. However, the impact of the constant use of information and communication technologies on the mental health of workers needs to be considered. We aimed to investigate the impact of different work conditions on mental health, to which end we disseminated an online questionnaire during lockdowns to assess imagined surveillance, mobile maintenance expectation, communication overload, feelings of entrapment, depression, anxiety, stress, and flourishing in four groups (employed in telework, employed on-site, employed in layoff, and unemployed). We computed mean comparisons and serial mediations. We show that depression and anxiety were more prevalent in women; parents flourished more than people without children; and people with a higher level of education feel more entrapment. Crucially, we show that telework was associated with imagined surveillance and communication overload, which mediated the association with mobile maintenance expectations and entrapment (which was exacerbated by parenthood), impacting mental health and the quality of life. However, this was also partially observed in the remaining work conditions. Finally, flourishing worked as a protector against mental health issues in all work conditions. We discuss this given the massification of digital migration.

Generation Z Within the Workforce and in the Workplace: A Bibliometric Analysis

This article aims to improve the knowledge on Generation Z as employees within workforce and in the workplace, as well as on the main thematic trends that drive the research on the topic. To this end, and using bibliometric techniques, a sample of 102 publications on this subject from Web of Science between 2009 and 2020 is analyzed. Research discusses the most published and most cited authors and journals to have a broad view of the context of the subject. Later, through a longitudinal view, the study mainly focuses on analyzing the evolution of thematic clusters, to assess the progress of the themes, as well as the network around the principal motor cluster of each period. The obtained results suggest a hardly developed topic, which started to draw attention in 2018, while still having a wide margin for growth. The core of research on the topic has evolved around “Generation-Z” “generations,” “workplace,” “management” and “attitudes,” “leadership,” “career,” or “learning-teaching-education,” although a low keyword stability among periods was noted. There is a need for further development on a variety of aspects regarding this generation and the labor market, as the study shows a clear orientation toward management and generational diversity within the workplace.

Exploring ways to study the workplace design in a small knowledge work company

Purpose

This study aims to find ways to bridge the gap between workplace design and research. Exploring the design process from general design aims to site-specific design makes the process visible to support workplace design research.

Design/methodology/approach

Participatory design methods were used to understand employees’ needs and preferences in work-related situations to support the design process. The design process was divided into three phases. The office was temporarily refurbished for the intervention study, and evaluation data was collected with qualitative methods.

Findings

Participatory design-generated data revealed typical knowledge work needs, such as the need for privacy, interaction, exposure and preferences for the atmosphere in the workspaces during different situations. The authors identified the following key points to obtain design data: design aims, affordance design and site-specific multidimensional design. An intervention study in a small organisation revealed that lack of activity-supporting spaces created undesirable overlaps for focused work, collaborative work and client communication.

Research limitations/implications

The findings of this paper are explorative and limited to a small knowledge work company. The present approach identifies valuable data collection points in different design phases of workplace design processes. Sharing knowledge from practice to research and vice versa could inform research and improve workplace design.

Originality/value

This study makes the workplace design phases more visible. It supports finding new ways to study the connection between the user-needs and workplaces; and understanding how different design solutions impact workplace experiences, such as satisfaction. This study also brings focus to understanding the versatile needs of small organisations and their workplace design.