| TELECOMMUTER WORK/LIFE BALANCE SURVEY EXECUTIVE SUMMARY IN DETAIL |
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 Data were collected from over 800 individuals from 33 countries using an internet survey which was hosted by the Telecommuting Jobs website. A total of 686 individuals completed the entire questionnaire. For the purpose of this study, 339 were classified as full-time telecommuters (worked at home 4+ days/week), 135 were part-time telecommuters (worked from home 1-3 days/week), and 200 individuals were not considered telecommuters (worked at home less than several days a month).
The sample (N=686) consisted of 69% women and 31% men. The majority of respondents who completed the survey lived in the U.S. (86%), while 4% lived in Canada, 1% lived in the United Kingdom, and 1% lived in India. More than half of the respondents reported having at least one child under 18 still living at home, while 25% indicated having a child under 6 years old living at home. Only 6% of the sample reported having eldercare responsibilities. The average age of the respondents was 33 years old and the median reported household income before taxes was in the $31,000-$50,000 range. Twenty-five percent of the sample classified their job as professional; 7% managerial; 16% technical; 8% sales; 12% administrative; 1% blue collar; 12% clerical; and 16% other. The demographic statistics for the full-time telecommuter group was quite similar to the demographics for the entire sample.
The primary goal of this research was to determine the dispositional characteristics of the person or situational characteristics job that need to be present in order for telecommuters to balance the competing demands of work and family, above and beyond the variables determined in previous research (i.e., gender, number of children living at home, age of youngest child living at home, hours worked per week, and presence of a spouse/care giver at home to care for the children) to be significant predictors of work/life balance.\.
Neuroticism was found to be the strongest predictor of work/life balance for telecommuters among all the dispositional variables. That is, individuals who scored high on neuroticism, scored low on work/life balance. Neuroticism assesses traits such as being anxious, nervous depressed, angry, and discouraged. Individuals who score high on neuroticism tend to experience more negative emotions than most people and report less satisfaction with life. In fact, neuroticism was found to be negatively related and a significant predictor of work/life balance across all three groups supporting the notion that individuals high in neuroticism are more likely to report distress and dissatisfaction over time and regardless of the situation. In addition, neuroticism was determined to be negatively related to job performance for all three groups and this is consistent with other research.
Conscientiousness was found to be significantly related to a telecommuter’s work/life balance however it was not found to be predictive of work/life balance after controlling for the demographic variables. However, conscientiousness was found to be a significant predictor of work/life balance for part-time telecommuters. Conscientiousness reflects being careful, reliable, organized, planful, goal-directed, and self-disciplined. Consequently, conscientiousness plays a significant role in predicting work/life balance for this group of workers who spend a proportion of their time at their main job site and the rest of their work time telecommuting. Therefore, it is no surprise that conscientiousness is a significant predictor of work/life balance for these workers considering these individuals must be able to effectively divide their work time between locations and accomplish tasks in a timely, productive manner in order to be successful at their job. Consistent with previous research, conscientiousness was found to be positively related to job performance for all three groups with the full-time telecommuter group scoring the highest on the conscientiousness dimension. In addition, full-time telecommuters also scored the highest on the self-reported performance evaluation dimension. Extroversion measures individual differences in the preference for social interaction and the extent to which a person is gregarious, talkative, outgoing, ambitious, assertive and adventuresome (Barrick & Mount, 1991). Individuals high in extroversion prefer interacting with and typically have a large number of relationships whereas those individuals low on extroversion prefer solitude and have a smaller number of relationships. It was expected that there would be a significant negative relationship between extroversion and work/life balance since telecommuters, by nature of their job, are often socially secluded from their colleagues. Although this isolation may be a source of dissatisfaction for some workers (i.e., those high in extroversion), others may find the solitude of working at home appealing. Extroversion was found to have a significant correlation with work/life balance for telecommuters, however, it was in the opposite direction of the prediction. It was found that the more extroverted an individual is, the more likely they are to experience work/life balance. This was also the case for non-telecommuters. This finding is consistent with the research on subjective well-being. It has been shown that extroverts have a temperament that predisposes them to experience positive affect (Costa & McCrae, 1980). Therefore, while extroverts have this global tendency to experience life in a positive manner, it makes intuitive sense that those individual’s high on extroversion are more likely to experience greater work/life balance. Extroversion was determined to be positively correlated with job performance for full-time telecommuters and non-telecommuters. Extroversion was not found to be a significant predictor of work/life balance for telecommuters once the control variables were included. One variable that was proposed as a possible moderator in this relationship between work/life balance and extroversion is central life interests. Central Life Interest is defined as an expressed preference for a certain locale in carrying out an activity given choices of other settings. It is acting in this setting that you feel are the most precious and valued aspects of your life (Dubin, 1992). Individuals who consider work as their central life interest view their workplace as their most important social sector in which all the needs for social activity will be completely fulfilled, whereas those who do not adopt this view, regard the workplace to be only one of many important social sectors in which they participate. For individuals whose central life interests exist outside of work, it seemed likely that even extroverts might be able to appreciate and capitalize on the opportunity to work at home. However, central life interest was not found to be a significant moderator for telecommuters in the relationship between work/life balance and extroversion. Central life interest was found to have a significant negative relationship with work/life balance among all three groups. Specifically, as central life interests increased, indicating central life interests that lie outside of work, work/life balance declined. Accordingly, as central life interests decreased, indicating work as a central life interest, work/life balance increased. Seemingly, one could argue that these individuals are weighing their work life as more important when evaluating work/life balance issues. In addition, the study revealed that full-time telecommuters scored significantly lower than part-timers and non-telecommuters on the central life interest scale indicating that their central life interests are primarily work-related probably because work is life for these folks. Agreeableness assesses traits such as being courteous, helpful, likeable, cooperative, trusting, and good-natured. People high on agreeableness consider input from many different sources when defining correct and incorrect behavior. People low on agreeableness are egocentric, competitive and define their own norms and put their own needs and perspectives above others. It was presumed that individuals high on agreeableness need the interaction and feedback from others whereas those low on agreeableness are self-centered and working alone from a "people pleasing climate" might be conducive with their personality type. However, agreeableness was not found to be significantly correlated with work/life balance for the telecommuter group as predicted. However, agreeableness was found to have a significant, positive correlation with work/life balance for non-telecommuters and was shown to be a significant predictor of work/life balance for both non-telecommuters and part-time telecommuters after controlling for the demographic variables. Openness to Experience measures a person’s imagination, intellectual curiosity, originality, and artistic sensitivities (Barrick & Mount, 1991). Individuals high on openness demonstrate curiosity for both inner and outer worlds and are willing to entertain new and original ideas – they enjoy novelty and change. Those low on openness tend to exhibit more conventional and conservative approaches to issues and prefer familiar to novel experiences. It has also been shown that individuals high on openness to experience are less likely to gravitate toward conventional jobs (Judge, Higgins, Thorensen, & Barrick, 1999). Based on the limited evidence as well as the desire for variety, change, novelty, autonomy, and nonconformity, it was speculated that individuals high on openness to experience are better suited for a telecommuting environment. Openness to experience was not found to be significantly correlated with work/life balance for telecommuters as predicted. The research findings did indicate however that there was a significant positive correlation between openness and work/life balance for non-telecommuters and part-time telecommuters.
The results from this study clearly demonstrate that situational variables do play a significant role in predicting work/life balance among telecommuters above and beyond the variables already shown to be predictive of work/life balance in previous research and the dispositional variables. Research has identified social support as an essential resource that can reduce the negative effects of stressors and this study lends further support for this contention. Supervisor Support was found to be significantly correlated with work/life balance and supervisor support was found to be a significant predictor of work/life balance for telecommuters. More specifically, this research demonstrates that the more supportive the supervisor, the higher work/life balance experienced by the employee. These findings are consistent with the research which has illustrated that employees who believe that their supervisor is supportive of and responsive to their family needs admit feeling better about themselves, about their jobs and about their ability to keep work and family from negatively affecting one another (Galinsky, Bond, & Friedman, 1993). Family Support was shown to be significantly related to work/life balance of telecommuters. For the full-time telecommuter group, both aspects of family support, emotional and instrumental, were key elements in predicting work/life balance. Emotional family support assesses those family member behaviors or attitudes geared toward providing the worker with encouragement, understanding, attention, positive regard, and guidance with problem solving while instrumental family support measures those family behaviors and attitudes aimed at facilitating the day-to-day family household operations (King, Mattimore, King, & Adams, 1995). Emotional support and instrumental support were significantly correlated with work/life balance for both non-telecommuters and part-time telecommuters as well. However, while just instrumental support was found to be a significant predictor of work/life balance for non-telecommuters, only emotional support was established as a significant predictor of work/life balance for part-time telecommuters. One could argue that in order for non-telecommuters to maintain balance, it seems critical for family members to assist in the daily chores of running the house, whereas part-time telecommuters who have the flexibility to do errands during the day and maintain the household regard emotional support from their family as more essential in determining work/life balance. Home Work Environment was found to be significantly related with work/life balance and it was found to be a significant predictor of work/life balance for telecommuters. Home work environment was comprised of two variables: designated work area (ranging from a high traffic area in the house to dedicated room with a door) and frequency of interruption (ranging from very frequently to never). Although home work environment was found to be significant, it was the frequency of interruption component that determined the predictive efficacy of the composite. In general, those full-time telecommuters who had a more favorable designated work area, had greater work/life balance, however this variable did not prove to be a significant predictor of work/life balance once the control variables and dispositional variables were taken into account.
Some of the literature on telecommuting suggests that one positive outcome of a telecommuting work arrangement is the benefit of being able to better balance work and personal life (Jensen, 1994; Duxbury, Higgins, & Neufield, 1998; Smith & Reid, 1996). However, other research has contradicted this argument stating that telecommuting blurs the boundaries between work and home life (Jones, 1997; Riley & McClosky, 1997). This study did not find any significant differences between telecommuters and non-telecommuters in terms of work/life balance. Interestingly, the results of this research did reveal that a curvilinear relationship exists between work/life balance and telecommuting frequency. Specifically, part-time telecommuters scored significantly lower on the work/life balance measure than telecommuters and non-telecommuters who scored similarly. Through controlling telecommuting frequency, this study is able to provide important insight into the relationship between work/life balance and telecommuting. As telecommuting frequency increases from less than one day a month, to several times a month, to part-time, work/life balance continues to incrementally decline. After which, work/life balance scores increase incrementally as telecommuting frequency progresses from part-time, to full-time, to work only from home. Based on this relationship, it seems that part-time telecommuters may possibly have the lowest work/life balance scores because they are just unable to multi-task in multiple locations. One may speculate that these individuals are experiencing greater stress and conflict do to their inability to divide their time and workload between work locations and juggle their role as a telecommuter, an office worker, caregiver, and homemaker. While this study did suggest that part-timers scored the lowest on the work/life balance measure, there are several factors that may have contributed to this finding. For this sample, compared to full-time telecommuters, part-time telecommuters were less likely to have a spouse/caregiver at home to watch the children during work hours and were less likely to have a productive home work environment (i.e., more non-work interruptions & a less favorable designated work area). In addition, part-time telecommuters scored significantly lower on conscientiousness than full-time telecommuters, yet conscientiousness was a significant predictor of work/life balance only for part-timers. This finding suggests that conscientiousness is key to the success of this juggling between work locations for the part-time telecommuter group. Consequently, for this part-time telecommuter group, certain safeguards should be in place in order to ensure a productive work environment and successful work/life balance. Part-time telecommuters must abandon the belief that they are capable of completing their work while taking care of their children. In order to fulfill their job obligations and maintain balance in their lives, part-time telecommuters must also have someone to watch the children while they work from home and the home work environment should be free of non-work interruptions. A designated room within the house with a door was found to be a fundamental factor in determining work/life balance for this part-time telecommuter group.
Technological advances, social changes, and the challenge of a global economy have considerably changed our way of life over the last decade. This transformation of the workplace and society, where individuals are being electronically linked is both a catalyst for and beneficiary of telecommuting. Many companies are embracing telecommuting at an unprecedented rate so it essential to achieve a better understanding of how this work arrangement may influence organizational outcomes and work/life balance issues of men and women in the workforce. This study has advanced research on telecommuting as well as work and family by enhancing our understanding of the work/life issues facing telecommuters by incorporating both Big 5 personality dimensions and situational variables into the regression model used to predict work/life balance. The study revealed that both the dispositional variables, specifically neuroticism and conscientiousness, and situational variables provided incremental validity in predicting work/life balance above and beyond those variables determined in previous research to be predictive of work/life balance. In addition, this study provided a first step toward understanding work/life balance issues of telecommuters by controlling for telecommuting frequency. While the research literature has been inconsistent regarding the findings of telecommuting on work/life balance, this study provided evidence that a curvilinear relationship exists between telecommuting frequency and work/life balance with part-time telecommuters scoring the lowest on this work/life balance measure. References |
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