Literature Review-Employee Performance

October 7, 2024

Telecommuting practices have particularly been established in the last decade thanks to technological factors and the COVID-19 outbreak. Implementing these policies has become rather common, they have shifted the paradigm of the workplaces, especially in the financial industry. The following paper presents the literature review based on the effects of the remote working policies in the Barclays Bank concerning employee performance and welfare between the years 2018 and 2023. It is designed to capture employee’s opinions on productivity, satisfaction, and work/leisure interference, with a special focus on the impact of remote working.

Introduction of Literature

In the case of Barclays Bank, it was prominently quickened by the current outbreak of COVID-19 since the higher management enforced the change to sustain business operations though maintaining health checks on employees was also important. This discussion aims to assess employees’ perception of the measures implemented during this period concerning remote working to assess how this policy has influenced employee satisfaction and ensuing performance.

In this case, a proposal that provides insight into the issues affecting Barclays Bank employees when working remotely from the years 2018 to 2030 is important. Some of these challenges include; technical ones, communication issues, and balancing between work and the rest of the life activities. Thus, the purpose of the review is to unveil and explain the main barriers explored to highlight the directions that should be improved for better remote work. It also seeks to examine the influence of telework on employees’ Work-life Interface because of the flexibility and work requirements that teleworking imposes on the individual and workplace.

Literature Review: The Impact of Remote Working Policies on Employee Performance and Well-being: A Case Study of Barclays Bank (2018-2023)

Focus on the Main Theme

a) Measuring Employee Perceptions of the Impact of Remote Working Policies on Productivity

It is necessary to know how the employees see the effects of remote working on their performance to evaluate the company’s policies. This assessment opens the view of the strengths and weaknesses in remote working hence assisting such organisations as Barclays Bank to effectively enhance the remote working policies.

General trends in remote working and productivity suppression.

Teleworking has often been linked to increases and decreases in productivity. Studies such as Choudhury et al., 2020 indicate that remote work can lead to increased productivity due to several factors

Reduced Commute Times: They have three hours daily that otherwise would have been spent in transit and thus get more time to either increase productivity or even have more sleep.
Fewer Workplace Distractions: Staying at home generally means there are very few interferences from colleagues and other features characteristic of office environments.
Personalized Work Environment: They augur well for the employees because they can select positions they prefer, which may well enhance comfort and productivity.

General Trend Remote Workers face:

Isolation: Since there is no face-to-face communication with other workers, this causes loneliness which affects workers’ morale.
Difficulty in Communication: Organizational decentralization is a type of work-based conflict since virtual work makes it tough to foster relationships within a group as per Ouya, 2012.
Lack of Access to Necessary Resources: First of all, some staff members might face a problem of low quality of home office facilities or, in other words, poor equipment to address their tasks.

Measuring Employee Satisfaction with Policies of Remote Working at Barclay PLC

A review of the literature on Barclays Bank’s remote working policies from 2018-2023 portrays a favorable attitude to productivity from the workers. Barclays’ internal polls, analytical reports, and studies demonstrate that the majority of the company’s employees have noticed that their productivity level has risen as a result of working remotely. Some of the factors that have contributed to such a positive attitude include; the provision of flexible hours, less noise interruptions, and generally improved work-life balance arrangements. From the results of the available literature, it can be suggested that such flexible working arrangements have been said by employees to enhance working and personal life balance thus improving productivity of work and job satisfaction.

Workers have reported challenges in their interaction and communication since they cannot meet physically, hence the possible formation of bottlenecks or misunderstandings. Also, the standards of home offices are dissimilar; therefore, some of them are associated with problems like improper furniture or equipment. Barclays Bank needs to manage these challenges to maintain and even increase the employees’ productivity levels, as mentioned above By enhancing the communication channels and providing more support for employees in creating the proper home office setting, the productivity levels could increase even more through additional resources and virtual collaboration tools.

Research Framework

According to Bellmann, L. and Hübler, O. (2020), employees stated that their productivity has enhanced since the adjustments of the remote working policies. Some of them include: irregular shifts, low noise levels, and effective work-life balance than working in an office environment. Performed research that would primarily focus on employee productivity within a work-from-home situation. The same authors also discovered that respondents reported increased productivity during work from home largely attributed to disruption and options of designing a personal environment. However, respondents answered that their productivity level was reduced due to problems in the processes of communication and cooperation. García-Salirrosas et al., 2023 report stated that employees were satisfied that they observed high productivity from working from home. Thus, the current research underlined the necessity of having proper organizational support and a strong technology foundation to manage effective teleworking.

b) Evaluate employee satisfaction with remote working policies implemented by Barclays Bank

Flexibility and Work-Life Balance

Most employees note better work-life fit since observers are relieved from the stress of having to commute to work. This flexibility results in most cases in increased job contentment and efficiency because the employees feel that they are in charge of their environment and their schedule.

Productivity and Work Environment

As it happens, employees can focus better because there are no disturbances that one would encounter in a normal workplace. Further, desk configuration can boost receiver satisfaction and comfort since people can modify their workspace. (Aslan et al., 1970)

Communication and Collaboration Challenges

Workers might have difficulties in communication with other personnel, and managers, which can cause such unpleasant emotions as aloneness or disconnecting from other team members. Freer and more relaxed interchange is that characteristic of face-to-face conversations in that clients’ unscheduled complaints, suggestions, and inquiries may be handled on the phone to the disadvantage of satisfaction.

Home Office Setup

The participants with appropriate home office equipment expressed higher satisfaction levels and specified problems of inadequate ergonomic conditions and insufficient equipment. Consequently, when there is a poor home office environment, comfort and therefore, the level of satisfaction may reduce (Bellmann & Hübler, 2020).

Support and Resources

When employees are provided with necessities like ergonomic supplies, technical help, and collaborative tools, their job satisfaction is high. Whereas, no support often results in frustration and the perception of inadequate service(García-Salirrosas et al., 2023).

Framework for Employee Satisfaction Assessment

Assessment Criteria

This framework evaluates numerous directions of working remotely to capture the overall picture of employees’ engagements. First, the framework analyses flexibility and work-life balance by analyzing working time arrangements of telework and affecting work-life balance. ,self-completed questionnaires and interviews can provide information on flexibility in working time and the balance as such. Subsequently, it examines the productivity and the work environment by considering changes in the levels of productivity and the performance brought about by the remote work environment (Eleojo Abalaka & Yinusa Agbaje, 2024). Such data as self-estimates provided by the employees, the performance rates indicating productivity levels, and feedback concerning home office conditions are applicable for this assessment.

Data Collection

This framework also covers the aspects related to communication and collaboration since it evaluates the efficiency of the communication equipment and, thus, outlines any problems in remote communications (Efthymiou, 2023). Besides, surveys and focus groups may reveal issues regarding effective communication and cooperation. Also, the suitability and satisfaction with home office conditions are assessed, about office equipment and bank support.

Analysis and Reporting

Besides, the framework also considers the support and the resources by measuring the efficiency of technical assistance and such utensils as ergonomic chairs and desks offered to the workers. Moreover, surveys can reveal satisfaction with such kinds of resources and define the gaps(Kakkar et al., 2022). Evaluation of how the new remote work practice affects work-life integration and the psychological well-being of employees is done using surveys and interviews to measure the level of stress within employees and the success of the wellness initiatives.

Continuous improvements

Last of all, job security and career development are assessed in light of the obtained results of the perceptions of the employees regarding career advancement and job security while working remotely. Techniques for data collection are structured questionnaires, interviews, focus group discussions, key performance indicators, and feedback systems. Using the gathered information, it is easy to point out the arising issues or common trends, with the assessments and the visuals in the form of reports. To tackle them, an action plan is worked out, moreover, changes and satisfaction rates are checked periodically and business practices are compared with the best practices present in the industry.

c) Investigate the effects of remote working on the work-life balance of Barclays Bank employees.

This literature review aims to understand the implications of remote working policies adopted by Barclays Bank for its employees’ productivity and stress from the period of 2018 to 2023 with the main research question focusing on the experience of work-life balance in employees’ remote working regime. (Raj et al., 2023). Some of these benefits may include; flexibility in working hours as well as complete eradication of time spent on commuting. Nevertheless, there are potential issues, namely the problems arising from the distinction between the demands of work and personal life, and the concern of possible overworking (Chan et al., 2023)

Increased Flexibility

Flexible working in Barclays Bank where employees can work from home has in general set a positive tone regarding employees’ working agreements as it has kept flexibility in the working environment. In this way, the running of a business’s operations can be made adaptable to allow for the handling of family issues, appointments, and other matters that do not relate to work and which employees can hardly attend to in the course of the standard business- day working hours of a conventional physical workplace (Grant et al., 2013). Thus, increased attendance is expected because the employees get to organize their time and workload in a manner that benefits them and their organizations.

Reduction in Commute Stress

This coming explains why one of the biggest advantages of working remotely is the ability to forego daily commutes. Again, the time that was used while commuting from home to the workplace is saved hence minimizing stress time or other productive time (Palumbo et al., 2020). This reduction in daily travel hours improves employees’ work-life balance because the time so saved can be devoted to other activities like child care, hobbies, and other personal care. Commuting stress is another factor that is reduced which also increases overall well-being and ensures work satisfaction.

Improved Time Management

This has allowed Barclays employees to work from home hence they can balance their time properly. Thus, due to the absence of a strict schedule with strictly defined working hours, employees can arrange the work process so that it meets their productivity rates and personal needs (Guest, 2002). It introduces an efficient work-life balance, thus increasing overall contentment and reducing the level of stress. The organization’s employees are also able to step aside or address personal issues amongst other benefits of flexible working arrangements improving the general work-life balance.

Long-term effects and adjustment

Remote work as a phenomenon has numerous advantages; however, conflicting with them are the issues connected with this model of work organization, especially regarding the demarcation between working and non-working time(Palumbo, 2020). Lack of physical barriers while working from home makes it hard to let go of the day’s work and thus people end up working more. There is also the problem of extended working hours whereby employees may feel that they are always on duty, a factor that affects the employee’s work-life balance.

d) Identify challenges faced by employees while working remotely for Barclays Bank.

Communication Difficulties

The major weakness that can be identified in Barclays Bank is the communication problem due to its teleworking policy. Working from home hinders face-to-face communications which are critical in rapid decision making and for bonding the crew. Thus employees may use mainly emails and/or instant messaging as well as video-/tele conferences to communicate with the addressed persons, which often results in the reception of rather late replies and/or misunderstanding. The flow of communication may be disrupted also by the lack of such nonverbal signals that are present in face-to-face communication; it causes misunderstanding or assuming that some information is known. Analyzing these problems it is necessary to underline that it is essential to define clear communication channels and promote the use of collaboration tools that allow real-time communication and feedback.

Collaboration Issues

Another aspect that constitutes difficulties working remotely is collaboration. Many a time, assignments that involve the participation of many people in a team will test online cooperation and might end up taking time. According to Sobanova & Kudinska, 2022, Although applications such as shared documents and project management are built to facilitate remote work, there may be a lack of productivity as well as a delay in the response that can be achieved in an interpersonal setting. This can lead to the general slowing of projects, problems in synchronizing the work, and sometimes confusion where the responsibilities of members are concerned. To foster collaboration, it is required to detect and explain expectations of communication tools utilization as well as hold periodic virtual meetings to check the team members’ activity levels and common ground.

Technology and Connectivity Problems

Problems that may be faced by the employees include; slow or even no connectivity, compatibility issues of computers and software, or even hardware breakdown. According to (Sani et al., 2023) These technical issues are not just irritating but they can halt work at the office, extend the time required to complete a project, and be rather frustrating. Promoting the use of reliable technology available to the employees and a strong IT department is an important requirement. This consists of; ensuring that apparatus is availed, possessing up-to-date software, and offering support through technical assistance to solve problems that occur.

Work-Life Boundary Blurring

One disadvantage that has been stated before, but is worth repeating is the lack of definite transference between the home and the work environment and thus the overlapping between the working hours and the personal time. According to (Darwish & Bayyoud, 2023), This may cause individuals to work more hours and have a poor ability to disengage from work-related activities, and thus increasing the possibility of developing burnout. It becomes easier for workers to log into their emails or work before or after normal working hours; thus, encroaching on their private time. To address this, there must be a proper definition of working hours, taking breaks, and having a clear separation of working and living areas within the home to help the employee have a better separation of working and personal life.

Feelings of Isolation

Employees feel lonely as they work from home they do not interact physically with colleagues and other people. The possibility of minimal face-to-face communication with peers is linked with the emptiness of other social contacts and may make an employee experience being an outsider for the team and the business as a whole. According to (Nguyen & Mogaji, 2022)This feeling leads, as a rule, to deterioration of the employee’s state of mind, and job satisfaction, and even affects the morale of the entire team. To alleviate this, the management of the organization should provide opportunities for virtual social relations, including group activities and casual meetings, as well as set structured interactions between managers and subordinates.

Home Office Setup Issues

Not all workers can work from their dream home office, which can pose some inconveniences to the worker as well as reduce efficiency. According to (Kimondo, 1970) Factors such as cramped furniture designs, lack of or inadequate workspace, or lack of appropriate working tools will limit the employee or prevent him/her from performing his/her tasks optimally. Also, the family, chores of the house, or extended family might disturb the employees thus, their attention and performance will not be up to par. Employers should ensure they follow a policy of supplying a fixed amount for the establishment of a befitting home office and advise the employees on how best to organize their home office in a manner that is comfortable and free from interruptions.

Chapter Summary

Analyzing a wide range of literature regards to the Barclays Bank remote working policies within the years 2018-2023, it has been observed that productivity, satisfaction, and work-life balance among the employees has improved to a large extent notably collected from internal surveys, case studies, and different journals. Some reasons that might be attributed to this positivity include; flexibility in working hours, low noise version at the workplaces, short working distances, and better work-life balance. However, threats like communication issues, poor home working environment, loneliness, and collaboration issues should be solved to maintain and develop these favorable results. It is crucial to comprehend them and ways in which they can be managed primarily when establishing methods for improving such workers’ performance and well-being.

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