Unpacking the Role of a Telecommuter’s Job in Their Performance: Examining Job Complexity, Problem Solving, Interdependence, and Social Support

Abstract

Despite telecommuting’s growing popularity, its implication for telecommuter job performance is a matter of on-going public debate. Moreover, empirical evidence that could address this issue is scarce and conflicting. This study therefore not only examines whether telecommuting impacts job performance, but also investigates characteristics of the telecommuter’s work that might help or hinder their ability to perform their job. Integrating work design research with theorizing about telecommuting, our theoretical framework proposes that two knowledge characteristics, namely job complexity and problem solving, and two social characteristics, specifically interdependence and social support, moderate the extent of telecommuting–job performance relationship. We test our framework using matched data from telecommuters and their supervisors (N = 273) in an organization with a voluntary telecommuting program. Findings indicate that for telecommuters who held complex jobs, for those in jobs involving low levels of interdependence and for those in jobs with low levels of social support, the extent of telecommuting had a positive association with job performance. Across all moderators considered, the extent of telecommuting’s association with job performance ranged from benign to positive; findings did not support negative associations between the extent of telecommuting and job performance regardless of the level of each moderator examined. These results suggest the need to investigate the extent of telecommuting as well as the nature of the telecommuter’s job when studying work outcomes such as job performance, and that more research is needed.

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ORIGINAL PAPER
Unpacking the Role of a Telecommuter’s Job in Their Performance:
Examining Job Complexity, Problem Solving, Interdependence,
and Social Support
Timothy D. Golden
1
&Ravi S. Gajendran
2
Published online: 12 February 2018
#Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2018
Abstract
Despite telecommuting’s growing popularity, its implication for telecommuter job performance is a matter of on-going public
debate. Moreover, empirical evidence that could address this issue is scarce and conflicting. This study therefore not only
examines whether telecommuting impacts job performance, but also investigates characteristics of the telecommuter’s work that
might help or hinder their ability to perform their job. Integrating work design research with theorizing about telecommuting, our
theoretical framework proposes that two knowledge characteristics, namely job complexity and problem solving, and two social
characteristics, specifically interdependence and social support, moderate the extent of telecommuting–job performance rela-
tionship. We test our framework using matched data from telecommuters and their supervisors (N=273)inanorganizationwitha
voluntary telecommuting program. Findings indicate that for telecommuters who held complex jobs, for those in jobs involving
low levels of interdependence and for those in jobs with low levels of social support, the extent of telecommuting had a positive
association with job performance. Across all moderators considered, the extent of telecommuting’s association with job perfor-
mance ranged from benign to positive; findings did not support negative associations between the extent of telecommuting and
job performance regardless of the level of each moderator examined. These results suggest the need to investigate the extent of
telecommuting as well as the nature of the telecommuter’s job when studying work outcomes such as job performance, and that
more research is needed.
Keywords Tele comm utin g .Te lewo rk .Virtual work .Job performance .Work design research .Job characteristics
Telecommuting is a widely popular work mode that has been
experiencing rapid worldwide growth in Asia, India, Latin
America, and many other areas of the industrialized world
(GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics.com 2016;Reaney2012). In the
USA alone, over 24% of the workforce uses some form of this
work arrangement (Bureau of Labor Statistics 2016). Due to its
widespread adoption and its potential to impact workplace out-
comes, telecommuting has been the subject of significant high-
profile debate regarding its performance implications. Corporate
CEOs and other prominent organizational leaders have hotly
contested whether telecommuting helps or hurts employee per-
formance (Humer 2013;Swisher2013;Simons2017), with
widely publicized discourse from both supporters and detractors
(Bloom 2014; Guynn 2013;Isidore2017;Lynch2013).
While previous research addressing the implications of
telecommuting for job performance has shed important in-
sights, this research has tended to compare telecommuters to
non-telecommuters (Allen et al. 2015) utilizing self-ratings of
performance (DuBrin 1991;Hilletal.2003; Gajendran and
Harrison 2007). Indeed, prior meta-analytical evidence inves-
tigating telecommuter job performance has been based solely
on broad generalized assessments of those who Buse^
telecommuting (versus do not use telecommuting), rather than
more realistic assessments which investigate how the extent or
*Timothy D. Golden
goldent@rpi.edu
Ravi S. Gajendran
rgajendr@fiu.edu
1
Lally School of Management, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 110
8th Street, Troy, NY 12180, USA
2
Department of Management and International Business, Florida
International University, Modesto A. Maidique Campus, 11200 S.W.
8th St, MANGO 472, Miami, FL 33199, USA
Journal of Business and Psychology (2019) 34:55–69
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-018-9530-4
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