Chapter 9: Remote Work Implications for Organisational Culture

As the world looks ahead to the possibilities of creating a new normal post COVID-19, organisations are examining the implications of extended remote work. A central piece here is redefining the organisational culture which has been impacted by a distributed workforce during this time. Many leaders have voiced concern over maintaining a strong organisational culture during this pandemic. This chapter reviews research that shows the relationship between remote work and organisational culture and its subsequent impact on key outcomes of interest, such as organisational identification, socialisation, knowledge sharing, employee turnover, and productivity. It also includes contingent conditions to examine the impact of multiple factors that moderate the relationship between remote work and organisational culture. These include social, technological, and normative conditions. Based on existing knowledge drawn from the experiences from voluntary as well as mandatory programmes for remote work, this chapter offers a model and propositions. This is followed by a set of research implications and practice guidelines for introducing an organisational culture that is consistent with the new reality of increased technological utilisation and altered workforce expectations.