How We Experienced Working From Home During The Pandemic: first findings from the Cranfield Alumni research, reflections and lessons for the future of remote working.
Alumni are invited to join Dr Deirdre Anderson, Senior Lecturer in Organizational Psychology and Organisational Behaviour and Applied Psychology, School of Management and Professor Clare Kelliher, Professor of Work and Organisation, School of Management, for the next webinar in the Alumni webinar series: Ideas, insight and innovation.
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Programme & speakers
Topic: How We Experienced Working From Home During The Pandemic: first findings from the Cranfield Alumni research, reflections and lessons for the future of remote working.
In early April, 2020, as many workers in the UK and around the globe experienced working from home as a result of the pandemic, Dr Deirdre Anderson and Professor Clare Kelliher launched a research project to investigate experiences of working from home amongst Cranfield alumni. Over the course of the next few weeks 452 people shared their experiences about workload and productivity, work-life balance and wellbeing.
Having researched flexible working for many years, Deirdre and Clare were particularly interested in comparing these experiences where working from home was mandated, and at least initially with little indication of how long it might last, with the existing research about what happens when people work flexibly, mostly based on cases where employees choose to work remotely.
The initial analysis of the findings reveals experiences which are both different and similar to those found in existing research about remote working. The similarities largely related to the circumstances of being physically distant from the workplace. For example, being away from the workplace posed challenges for communication and co-ordination and some people reported feelings of isolation, together with difficulties in maintaining boundaries between work and non-work lives because work was being done in the home. On a positive note, there was also evidence of enhanced work-life balance and well-being from being home-based by avoiding the time and stress of commuting to work. The differences largely related to the relational aspects of employment. For example, we found, other than where intensification was imposed by the circumstances, there was less evidence of people wanting to ‘go the extra mile’, or expressing increased levels of commitment and loyalty to their employers as a result of working remotely. Interestingly, there was relatively little mention of their employers at all the in diary entries. Perhaps not surprisingly, there was little evidence of employees describing reciprocal feelings, or behaviours, towards their employer even where their experience was a positive one.
In this webinar, Deirdre and Clare will reflect on the findings, highlighting how they can inform employers as many countries continue to deal with challenges presented by Covid19.
Dr Deirdre Anderson, Senior Lecturer in Organizational Psychology and Organisational Behaviour and Applied Psychology, School of Management.
Deirdre spent over 20 years working within organizations and then as an independent business psychology consultant and trainer in the private sector, before obtaining her PhD and taking up academic research and teaching at Cranfield University. She was Director of the Executive MBA from 2013 to 2015, negotiating Cranfield's participation in the EMBA Consortium for Global Business Innovation, which provides ongoing opportunities for current students and alumni to engage in geographically focused programmes around the world. From 2017 to 2019 she was Head of Department, People and Organizations at University of Lincoln before returning to Cranfield.
Professor Clare Kelliher, Professor of Work and Organisation, School of Management.
Clare holds a PhD in Organisational Behaviour from London Business School, an MA in Industrial Relations from the University of Warwick and a first degree in management from the University of Surrey. Prior to joining Cranfield she was at the University of Surrey, where she held appointments at the postgraduate Surrey European Management School and the School of Management for the Service-sector.
Location & travel details
Online via Zoom.
Who should attend
All alumni welcome.
Cost & concessions
This event is free to attend.