February 23, 2023
New Research: Measuring Quality of Experience of People Working From Home
Take a look at this Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science (JTiBS) article examining how we measure the quality of the working from home (WFH) experience. This recently published study by Federici and colleagues acknowledges the likely expansion of opportunities to work from home following the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, it acknowledges the heterogeneity of WFH systems and need for modalities of measuring experience within WFH settings.
Current Landscape of WFH
The study focuses on working situations where “employees work outside of the office via a form of technology in their own adaptable space.” WFH practices are thought to reduce employee workload by allowing increased flexibility, reducing company costs related to physical infrastructure, and have been shown to increase workforce productivity. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, WFH was less commonly practiced with some stigma about WFH practices. Since the pandemic, when many individuals were required to adapt to a WFH format, research has suggested that employees have experienced increased exposure to WFH options during the pandemic which may be decreasing the stigma and increasing the interest in positions with WFH options.
Researchers acknowledge that taking into account employee experience is important to reduce risk of negative effects, though the approach to measuring and examining experience has not been clearly defined at this time.
Methods
The study utilized the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) methodology for scoping reviews to systematically map common approaches for measuring home worker experience in order to determine appropriate approaches and tools used to assess WFH experience. A Scopus and Web of Science search were completed to identify relevant research over the last 10 years.
Research questions included:
1. Common methodological approaches to investigate…
