The aim of this chapter is to investigate how employees view telework as a tool for improving professional performance and family balance. According to the findings, teleworking and family balance improve professional success. “Is telework an aspect that leverages professional success and family balance?” was the research question. It was feasible to test and verify the effects of perceived teleworking on professional performance and family balance through teams and organizations. This conceptual study covers fundamentals of teleworking, the benefits and drawbacks, as well as the impact on professional performance and family balance. The literature review entails a thorough examination of papers from major scientific databases (e.g., Scopus, WoS). Quantitative methods are applied in the field approach (2020-2021). A survey was created and distributed through social media platforms to collect data (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn). The findings show a favourable association between the variables studied, as well as a good employee opinion of the impact of increased autonomy on telework performance.
TopIntroduction
Recently the world has been shaken by a new reality that has set in. A worldwide pandemic, dubbed COVID-19. With it came profound changes to our way of working, in Portugal and in the world. Even the largest urban centres, known for the relocation they cause in the most distant lands, with a large part of the student and working population relocating for work reasons, found themselves in a reality that was close to the “ghost town” of any thriller. of science fiction.
In Portugal, the word “teleworking” was heard for the first time in decades, and in the mouths of the entire population, and all companies were forced to adapt quickly to this new and unknown reality. An unthinkable working model for many Portuguese entrepreneurs who saw this alternative to a complete stop as something unproductive and a disguised way of saying that workers were resting at the employer's expense.
However, this stigma changed, people adapted, proved their worth, and Portugal witnessed an important leap forward in the ideal of work (a reality for more than a decade in so many other countries): the idea that worker can be far from the company's physical headquarters and be as productive or more productive than if he were physically there.
Of course, other issues arise, such as the right to rest and the separation between home and work, but what was intend to address in this work is the reality that several companies are restructuring their 5/10-year business plans based on this new characteristic of workforce and with that, the recruitments themselves are different. A company based in Lisbon, such as our case in study, can now consider recruiting across borders, nationally and internationally, depending on the position they are looking to occupy in their staff and be aware that this person will do the job just as well or better. than someone present every day in the office under the watchful eye of the direct or indirect manager.
Teleworking as a Field of Study
The implementation of Telework in companies is a current issue, which could make a relevant contribution to the increase in productivity, efficiency and effectiveness of services, in some sectors of activity and professional careers and contribute to the valorisation and motivation of the respective human Resources. It also facilitates the reconciliation between the respective professional and personal life, also promoting a positive impact in terms of environmental sustainability.
As is known, following the declaration by the World Health Organization (WHO), on 30 January 2020, of the situation arising from Covid-19 as a public health emergency and, on 11 March 2020, as a pandemic internationally, a set of extraordinary measures were approved in Portugal to prevent the high risk of contagion of this disease, as well as to mitigate the socio-economic impacts arising from this epidemic.
The decree that carried out the implementation of the state of emergency, declared on March 18, 2020, focused, among other matters, on the exercise of professional functions from home, establishing as an exceptional and temporary measure to protect jobs, within the scope of the pandemic, the mandatory adoption of the telework regime, regardless of the employment relationship, whenever the functions in question allow. The telework regime thus expanded suddenly and significantly in all European Union countries, with it being estimated that more than a third of people with jobs started working remotely as a result of the pandemic. In other words, almost 40% of workers in the European Union reconfigured their professional activity for teleworking as a result of the epidemiological situation. Bearing in mind, however, the current evolution of the pandemic, teleworking is no longer mandatory in Portugal, for most situations, since the 1st of June, the question that arises is whether the adoption of this regime of provision of work is here to stay. Thus, and having the knowledge that the labour code will be changed in order to contemplate teleworking in the public administration, it seems pertinent to, study the perception of employees about the positive impact on performance when working from home and also the impact on family balance, in the post-covid period and soon after.