Getting the measure of remote e-working: a revision and further validation of the E-work life scale
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-11-2021-0483 |
| Published date | 09 August 2022 |
| Date | 09 August 2022 |
| Pages | 45-68 |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Industrial/labour relations,Employment law |
| Author | Maria Charalampous,Christine Anne Grant,Carlo Tramontano |
Getting the measure of remote
e-working: a revision and further
validation of the E-work life scale
Maria Charalampous and Christine Anne Grant
Coventry University, Coventry, UK, and
Carlo Tramontano
Research Centre for Global Learning, Coventry University, Coventry, UK
Abstract
Purpose –This paper aimed to revise and further validate the published e-work life (EWL) scale. The EWL
scale was originally developed to assess theoretically relevant aspects of the remote e-working experience
related to four main areas: organisational trust, flexibility, work–life interference and productivity.
Design/methodology/approach –A number of changes were implemented to the scale (i.e. including new
items, rewording of existing items) following a recent qualitative study conducted by the authors. The two
studies outlined in this paper, conducted within discrete remote e-working populations,resulted in a validated
and adjusted 20-item version of the scale.
Findings –Study 1 performs confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on data from a sample of 399 remote
e-workers (57.9% female) in UK to check the factor structure of the revised version of the EWL scale and the
reliability of the posited dimensions. Results provided support for a 20-item scale, replicating the factorial
structure of the original version. Study 2 tests and confirms the factorial structure of the final 20-item EWL
scale in an independent sample of 366 remote e-workers (48.6% female) in UK. Study 2 provides further
evidence of EWL scale’s reliability and validity, with the four factors of the scale being significantly correlated
with positive mental health, detachment from work and technostress.
Originality/value –The EWL scale is a very timely and important tool which provides an overall framework
of the key areas that are affecting remote e-workers’life; whose greater understanding may better prepare
organisations to adapt work arrangements and introduce support policies and guidance.
Keywords Remote e-working, Work–life balance, Productivity, Flexibility, Scale revision, Well-being
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Remote e-working has been in practice as a working style for several decades. Since Nilles
(1975) firstly introduced telecommuting a virtual working arrangement which allowed
individuals to work from home by using technology to communicate with their workplace; a
variety of definitions and terms have been used. In particular, telework, remote e-work,
virtual work, flexible work (Allen et al., 2015) and more recently agile work (Grant and
Russell, 2020), amongst other labels, have been used to indicate work which is not constrained
to an office environment, making use of communication tools (such as email and video calls).
Remote e-working has been constantly but relatively slowly increasing over the past two
decades (Eurofound and ILO, 2017). However COVID-19 and the need to tackle the issues
raised by the pandemic in the beginning of 2020 led to a sudden, pervasive and extended
adoption of remote working practices, that is anticipated to be here to stay (Eurofound, 2020).
According to Eurofound (2020) after the stay-home orders from the government, almost four
in 10 employees in Europe started e-working remotely. However, approximately 24% of
employees who were working remotely in Europe had never worked in this way before, in
contrast to 56% of employees who occasionally had some experience of remote e-working
(International Labour Organization, 2020). Although the growing remote e-working numbers
suggested that a lot more jobs can be performed from a distance than previously assumed, it
is worth considering that neither all organisations and employers were well prepared nor
E-work life
scale
45
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0142-5455.htm
Received 12 November 2021
Revised 11 July 2022
22 July 2022
Accepted 22 July 2022
Employee Relations: The
International Journal
Vol. 45 No. 1, 2023
pp. 45-68
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/ER-11-2021-0483
familiar with this working practice, which raised the issue about how best to support
themselves and their employees (Milasi et al., 2021). In addition, a large and diverse virtual
team of researchers (i.e. Kniffin et al., 2021) discussed the implications, issues and insights for
future research and action, suggesting that the virtual work practices resulted from COVID-
19 will demand individuals to work in ways far different from how previous generations
worked. Thus, the importance of tackling and measuring issues raised by remote e-working is
enhanced, as well as the need to ensure that individuals remain productive and satisfied when
working away from their office premises.
A great amount of research has already been conducted on the topic with scholars
attempting to identify remote e-working’s benefits and drawbacks (see Allen et al., 2015;
Charalampous et al., 2019;Gajendran and Harisson, 2007;Oakman et al., 2020 for reviews of
the literature). The EWL scale, developed by Grant et al. (2019) who conducted research in this
area, focussed on the key concepts relating to improving the quality of remote working for
employers, employees and managers. In particular, the EWL scale composes organisational
trust,flexibility,work–life interference and productivity, whose dimensions are discussed in
greater detail below. Revising and further developing Grant et al.’s (2019) scale constitutes the
main aim of this paper, as the EWL dimensions’interplay is proposed to provide a greater
understanding of the remote e-working experience as a whole.
1.1 The development of the e-work life (EWL) scale: an integrated view of the remote
e-working experience
Grant et al. (2019) presented the EWL scale as a relevant measure to capture the multiple
consequences and crucial issues linked to measuring the quality of the remote e-working
experience. This scale was developed as a response to both the lack of relevant and robust
measures in this area, and a growth in the remote e-working arrangement which resulted
from more available and extended use of technologies for work purposes (Grant et al., 2013).
The development of the EWL scale was based on collating information gathered from a
literature review and relevant qualitative findings by Grant et al. (2013), which explored the
psychological impact that remote e-working has on individuals. Consequently, as mentioned
above, Grant et al. (2019) presented a 17-item version of the EWL scale with a four-factor
structure including: organisational trust, flexibility, work–life interference and productivity.
The four EWL factors were significantly linked to individual well-being (i.e. general health
mental health and vitality) and reported good reliability as indicated in factor determinacy
scores (Grant et al., 2019). Also, the EWL scale was designed to be applicable in a variety of
organisational contexts, and for all levels within the organisation (i.e. individual, supervisor
and organisational).
The profound importance of the EWL scale lies in the fact that it provides an overall
framework of the key areas that are affecting a remote e-workers’life, which allows us to
explore the co-existence and interaction of relevant issue. This can, in turn, inform and guide
the management and the development of strategies to support individuals’remote e-working
experience. Hence, this paper discusses a revision and further validation of the newly devised
EWL by Grant et al. (2019), which seems to be a very timely and important tool.
1.2 Key areas of the remote e-working experience as indicated by the EWL scale
The first key concept measured by the EWL scale is organisational trust, which has been
extensively supported by research as a fundamental aspect in the success of remote
e-working (Py€
ori€
a, 2011). It has, in particular, been suggested that when remote e-workers felt
trusted they experienced very positive emotions (i.e. proud, grateful and content), whereas
they classified distrustful behaviours by managers as challenging (Charalampous et al.,
2021). In addition, in cases where remote e-workers did not feel trusted, they tend to
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