Working Remotely During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Work-Related Psychosocial Factors, Work Satisfaction, and Job Performance Among Russian Employees

Ferdinando Toscano; Eleonora Bigliardi; Marina V Polevaya; Elena V Kamneva; Salvatore Zappalà

doi:10.11621/pir.2022.0101

Working Remotely During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Work-Related Psychosocial Factors, Work Satisfaction, and Job Performance Among Russian Employees

Psychol Russ. 2022 Mar 15;15(1):3-19. doi: 10.11621/pir.2022.0101. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Ferdinando Toscano¹, Eleonora Bigliardi¹, Marina V Polevaya², Elena V Kamneva², Salvatore Zappalà^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Italy.
² Department of Psychology and Human Capital Development, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia.

Abstract

Background: The spread of COVID-19 has forced organizations to quickly offer remote work arrangements to employees.

Objective: The study focuses on remote work during the first wave of the pandemic and describes how Russian employees experienced remote work. The research has three main objectives: (1) to investigate the influence of gender and age on employees' perceptions of remote work; (2) to investigate the relationship between remote work and psychosocial variables, such as remote work stress, remote work engagement, and family-work conflict; (3) to examine whether and how much such psychosocial factors are related to remote work satisfaction and job performance. These objectives were the basis for developing six hypotheses.

Design: A cross-sectional study involved 313 Russian employees. Data were collected using an online survey distributed in April and May 2020. The hypotheses were tested using ANOVA, correlations, and multiple linear regression analyses.

Results: Women experienced more stress and more engagement when working remotely; older employees perceived remote work as a less positive experience; opinions about remote work and remote work engagement were positively related to remote work satisfaction; leader-member exchange (LMX) was a significant predictor of job performance.

Conclusion: During the lockdown, remote work was perceived as a positive experience. We discuss some practical implications for organizations and managers.

Keywords: Remote work stress; family–work conflict; leader–member exchange; opinions about remote work; remote work engagement.