Remote employee performance management: The NEAR / EARN model proposal

Abstract

An important consequence of communication technology accelerated development is remote work, which in recent years, especially with the outbreak of the Covid-19 crisis, has become more the rule than the exception in all sectors. Apart from the inevitable changes in labor law and the definition of the very concept of employment, remote work as a specific way of organizing work also opens up other issues, such as effective remote employee performance management. Through a systematic review of the relevant literature, a theoretical framework (model) for remote employee performance management was conceived. The proposed model identifies four basic determinates of remote employee performance: workplace environment, job autonomy, employee reward system & nurturing employee development. As a mediating variable, the model identifies job satisfaction along with work-life balance and occupational well-being. The name of the model represents an acronym made of the keywords (Environment, Rewards, Autonomy & Nurturing): NEAR / EARN, which is clearly related to its very idea - how to keep (physically distant) employees "close" (within the organization), i.e. how to "earn" their loyalty and retain them. Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory and Job Demands-Resources Model, developed by Baker and Demerouti, make the theoretical foundation of the model.