Network Perception on Stefan Breet

Changes in networking behavior: Examining network perception and proactive work behavior when employees work from home

Fri, 09 Jun 2023 10:03:59 +0200

This talk is part of the symposium “Relational Aspects of Working from Home: Embracing Opportunities and Navigating Challenges” organized by Michal Biron and Sumita Raghuram.

Symposium

Physical distances (e.g., office versus home), temporal difference (e.g., work time or non-work time), and distinctive role identities are greatly reduced while employees work from home. Work relationships in the context of work from home are thus likely to differ from relationships taking place in the traditional, office-based context. The key question that guides this symposium is: How do employees engage in work relationships while working from home to achieve desired goals? To begin answering this broad question, we focus on five relationship settings: relationships with coworkers in the context of networking, relationships with managers and within teams in the context of learning, relationships within teams in local and multinational contexts, relationships with customers in the context of cyber misbehavior, and relationships with the broader society in the context of cultural norms. Our goal is to spark a debate around the changing nature of boundaries, relationships, and consequences in remote work environments. This symposium brings together a collection of papers that examine how the challenges and opportunities related to working from home, which intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic, can have far-reaching implications for future theorizing and research.

Changes in Networking Behavior when Employees Work from Home: The Role of Network Perception and Proactive Work Behavior

Wed, 24 May 2023 17:26:04 +0200

In this talk, I presented the first ideas I have about the effects of remote work on people’s networking behavior. The talk was part of Sub-Theme 07 SWG Beyond Social Relations – Different Forms and Shapes of Networks of the EGOS Colloquium 2023 in Cagliari.

Abstract

People’s workplace relationships affect a range of important organizational outcomes (Hollenbeck & Jamieson, 2015) and building and maintaining relationships with others is a vital part of one’s job. However, government regulations to handle the COVID-19 pandemic forced employees in Western Europe to work from home, drastically reducing the opportunity to informally meet colleagues. Prior research suggests that people respond to uncertainty and threat by either “widening” or “winnowing” their social networks (Smith, Menon, & Thompson, 2012; Woehler et al., 2021). When employees winnow their social networks by reducing the number and frequency of social interactions, they also reduce their access to valuable opportunities (Burt, 1992). Thus, identifying why employees widen or winnow their workplace social networks in response to a working from home situation—such as the one caused by the COVID-19 pandemic—is a vital, yet understudied undertaking

Changes in Networking Behavior when Employees Work from Home: The Role of Network Perception and Proactive Work Behavior

Wed, 24 May 2023 17:23:41 +0200