employee engagement in global work - pare.ee · employee engagement in global work niina nurmi,...

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

IN GLOBAL WORK

Niina Nurmi, Ph.D.

Aalto UniversityDepartment of Industrial Engineering

and Management

global workers

collaborate across

geographical distances

1.3

billion

GLOBAL WORKis the new normal!

(Johns & Gratton, 2013)

Boundaries of

Global Collaboration

- Geographical distance

- Time zones

- Cultures

- Languages

BENEFITS:

�Global virtual work enables engaging experts in teamwork from different country locations.

� Alternative for

international expatriate

assignments

� Cost savings

CHALLENGES:

�Motivating workers

�Ensuring their well-being

�Global working time regulation

�Building interpersonal relationships

Coordinating teamwork across time zones is one of the crucial challenges in global work

(Espinosa & Carmel, 2003; Espinosa, Nan & Carmel, 2007)

UK

India

China

Typical ’extreme-example’

of coordination challenges

Local business hours

UK

China

China

WHAT CAN ORGANIZATIONS DO?

- How to engage global workersin teamwork across time zones?

LOCAL HR POLICIES• Worktime flexibility

• Telecommuting

• Travel

• Job/role design

GLOBAL TEAMWORK POLICIES• Meeting time coordination

• 24/7 responsiveness

• Awareness technologies

• Site visits and face-to-face meetings

Possible solutions

(Nurmi, 2011; Nurmi & Mäkelä, working paper)

Site-specific

policies

may vary

significantly

Local

responsibilities

Global team

responsibilities

Local HR practices Global team practices

Local & global

responsibilities

Working time,

Telecommuting,Travel policies, etc.

Teamwork coordination,

Virtual meetings,Site visits, etc.

ISSUES ARISE !(Nurmi & Mäkelä, working paper)

Japan

U.S.A.

Sweden

NAVIGATING DIFFERENCES IN LOCAL POLICIES

A GLOBAL TEAM

Working time Flex workHolidays

TechnologyInfrastructureOffice design

Hierarchyetc.

A team-level issue:

GLOBAL responsibilities LOCAL responsibilities

BEFORE business hours: collaboration

with eastern coworkers (5am – 9am) DURING business hours : collaboration

with office colleagues (9am – 5pm)

AFTER business hours : collaboration

with western coworkers (9pm ~ 12am)

Task prioritizing is oftenbased on ’who shouts louder’

An individual-level issue:

Management issue:

GLOBAL WORK => LONGER HOURS

41,46

44,77

39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46

0-10% työajasta

Yli 10% työajasta

Weekly working hours

GLOBAL WORK

RESPONSIBILITIES

Weekly working hours

Weekly

working hours

Finnish experts survey (N = 1677)

0-10% ofworking time

Over 10% ofworking time

one extra workday /

week

WHAT MAKES GLOBAL WORK SO ENGAGING AND EXCITING FOR KNOWLEDGE WORKERS ?

Qualitative

interviews

100 semi-structured

interviews in

two MNCS

Global Work Design Theory

& Hypotheses

SURVEY 1 OF GLOBAL WORK: N = 515 Finnish global knowledge workers

(Akava members)

SURVEY 1 OF GLOBAL WORK: N = 515 Finnish global knowledge workers

(Akava members)

SURVEY 2 + LinkedIn DATA: N= 463 global workers of the multinational

engineering company (108 women and 355

men) from 33 countries.

SURVEY 2 + LinkedIn DATA: N= 463 global workers of the multinational

engineering company (108 women and 355

men) from 33 countries.

GLOBAL WORKER ENGAGEMENT STUDY

QUALITATIVE FINDINGS

Global work is often experienced as positively challenging & learning-promoting.

OFF-JOB

RECOVERY may be needed to

facilitate workers’

positive appraisal

of the work.

H1: Global work increases job complexityRESULTS OF

SURVEY 1 H2: Global work increases learning opportunities

H3: Job complexity and learning opportunities increase positive work outcomes

H4: Off-job recovery boosts positive appraisals of global work

Global

virtual work

Perceived

complexity

Learning

opportunities

Innovative

performance

Job

satisfaction

Work

engagement

Off-job

recovery

Site visits and 24/7 connectivity promote

relationship building in global teams,

BUT may also create work-life conflict.

MORE QUALITATIVE FINDINGS

RESULTS OF SURVEY 2

High-quality

site visits

quality High-quality

work

relationshipsTurnover

24/7

connectivity

Work-life

balance

Job

satisfaction

+ _

-

+

+

+

++

menwomen

+-

MANAGERIAL

IMPLICATIONS

Well-designed global work engages knowledge workers

Enrich with:

– Challenging and meaningful tasks

– Learning opportunities

– High-quality site visits to support interpersonal relationship building

Note, high engagement can be a double-edged sward

Avoid:

– Long working hours and

inadequate off-job recovery

– 24/7 connectivity -> may create work-life conflict, especially for men

Questions, comments ?

Photo by: Carol KiriakosGreetings from Helsinki