Telework in public organizations: A systematic review and research agenda

Abstract

After a relatively slow policy and scholarly take‐up, recent developments created the urgency for massive efforts to implement and regulate telework in public organizations. We contribute to this debate through a systematic review of 120 studies across disciplines. Findings from our analysis reveal a few established antecedents of telework, including individual characteristics like family responsibilities and expected productivity, but also organizational aspects like supportive leadership, and contextual features like natural disasters. Self‐reported productivity and work‐life balance stand out as telework's most widely studied outcomes, although evidence is often conflicting when coming to the effects of telework. We present our results by distinguishing pre‐ and post‐pandemic findings. Complementing our systematic review, we engage in a generative exercise by identifying emerging debates on telework in public bureaucracies. We conclude by indicating future research directions.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Post‐pandemic public personnel retention: A person‐organization and person‐supervisor fit analysis

“…Pre‐pandemic literature focuses on individual and organizational benefits, such as job satisfaction, organizational commitment, job performance, turnover, professional isolation, relationship quality with supervisors and colleagues and cost reduction (e.g., Caillier, 2012, 2013; De Vries et al, 2019; Lee and Kim, 2018). In a recent review on telework in public organizations, Mele et al (2023) have shown that telework is associated with a decrease in turnover intention and higher job satisfaction, but also consistently appears to be a predictor of professional isolation, indicating that the impact of teleworking might differ based on individual and organizational characteristics.…”

Writing impactful reviews to rejuvenate public administration: A framework and recommendations

“…They then provide a research agenda that extends the predominant focus on attraction by bridging public administration concepts with generic recruitment and selection research, to advance research on public sector hiring. Next, a systematic review by Mele et al (2023) considers telework in public organizations – a topic that received heightened urgency in the throes of the pandemic. They explored the topic by reviewing 120 studies across disciplines to reveal a few established antecedents of telework, including individual characteristics like family responsibilities and expected productivity, but also organizational aspects like supportive leadership, and contextual features like natural disasters.…”