Managing employees' needs and well-being in the post-COVID-19 era

Purpose

In the wake of the COVID-19 public health crisis, organizations have increasingly adopted new technologies and new working modalities (e.g. teleworking, smart working and remote working). However, these important changes led to increased work-related stress for employees who are not always able to cope with the actual intrusive digital professional reality. This work identifies the negative effects of technology and new work modalities on employees’ well-being. It suggests remedies based on real-life examples to meet employees’ emerging needs in the post-COVID-19 era.

Design/methodology/approach

Semi-structured interviews with a variety of workers in different organizational contexts and positions were used as support for our recommendations. In particular, we had representation from managers, human resource (HR) officers, employees, psychologists, consultants and coaches.

Findings

The paper identifies eight specific negative effects of technology and new work modalities, such as inability to cope with stress, negative physical consequences, smart working fatigue, breaking down of the boundaries between private and professional life, decrease in work-life balance, hyper-connection, psychological and psychosomatic symptoms and burnout syndrome. Moreover, the paper proposes timely remedies, including enhancing leaders’ awareness, the right to disconnect and rethinking HR policies.

Practical implications

It offers practical insights and encompasses views from various internal stakeholders (HR officers, senior managers, managers, subordinates and an organizational counselor) and external stakeholders (psychologists, consultants and coaches). The paper concludes with experience-based tips, highlighting the need for digital leadership to be able to both manage performance and guarantee people psychological safety at the same time. The remedies suggested are “ready-to-use” best practices to implement for safeguarding the health of employees.

Originality/value

This research is not only pertinent for managers grappling with these challenges in their everyday work but also valuable for scholars seeking to deepen their understanding of the topic through practice-based evidence. Furthermore, it significantly contributes to the literature as, while previous works have only analyzed findings singularly, this work is focused on the different perspectives of different internal and external stakeholders, offering a more comprehensive overview. Originality lies precisely in having taken into consideration the point of view of many actors with different roles and backgrounds.