Embracing Flexibility: Exploring the Impact and Future of Remote Work, Flextime, and the Four-Day Workweek on Productivity and Well-Being

Authors

  • Rinandita Wikansari Department of International Trade for ASEAN and China, Politeknik APP Jakarta, Jakarta Selatan, Indonesia
  • Christian Kuswibowo Department of Marketing Management of Electronic Industry, Politeknik APP Jakarta, Jakarta Selatan, Indonesia
  • Dony Firman Santosa Department of Human Resource Management, Politeknik Ketenagakerjaan, Jakarta Timur, Indonesia
  • Athira Setira Adil Department of Human Resource Management, Politeknik Ketenagakerjaan, Jakarta Timur, Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.58905/athena.v2i4.355

Keywords:

Employee’s Performance, Employee’s Well-Being, Flexible Work Arrangements, Work-Life Balance, Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

The study is aimed at trend analysis, adoption, and effects of remote work, flexible schedules, and a four-day work week on performance and employee well-being; it engages in a systematic literature review methodology for data collection on several industries concerning the pros and cons of different flexible employment paradigigms. Remote working has been embraced best in knowledge-intensive industries, where it increases productivity significantly but at the same time enhances the risk of feeling isolated, and flexitime gives a good work-life balance but needs clear demarcations in the use of this flexibility to prevent over-commitment. Though the four-day work week is hardly ever adopted, experimentation has demonstrated its potential for increasing happiness and well-being in workplaces without compromising productivity. Appropriating hybrid models, deploying outcome-based performance measurement, and making training available are recommendations organizations could take on to make the most of flexible working arrangements. Hence, the study argues for personalized approaches to flexibility regarding the work at hand and the demands of the organization to ensure optimum performance and employee satisfaction

References

G. M. Spreitzer, L. Cameron, and L. Garrett, “Alternative Work Arrangements: Two Images of the New World of Work,” Annu. Rev. Organ. Psychol. Organ. Behav, vol. 4, pp. 473–99, 2017, doi: 10.1146/annurev-orgpsych.

R. S. Gajendran and D. A. Harrison, “The Good, the Bad, and the Unknown About Telecommuting: Meta-Analysis of Psychological Mediators and Individual Consequences,” J. Appl. Psychol., vol. 92, no. 6, pp. 1524–1541, Nov. 2007, doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.92.6.1524.

N. Bloom, J. Liang, J. Roberts, and Z. J. Ying, “Does Working from Home Work? Evidence from a Chinese Experiment,” 2013.

T. D. Allen, T. D. Golden, and K. M. Shockley, “How effective is telecommuting? Assessing the status of our scientific findings,” Psychol. Sci. Public Interes., vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 40–68, Jan. 2015, doi: 10.1177/1529100615593273.

C. Kelliher and D. Anderson, “Doing more with less? flexible working practices and the intensification of work,” Hum. Relations, vol. 63, no. 1, pp. 83–106, Jan. 2010, doi: 10.1177/0018726709349199.

E. E. Kossek and R. J. Thompson, Workplace Flexibility, vol. 1. Oxford University Press, 2015. doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199337538.013.19.

E. Baker, G. C. Avery, and J. Crawford, “Satisfaction and Perceived Productivity when Professionals Work From Home.”

D. Tranfield, D. Denyer, and P. Smart, “Towards a Methodology for Developing Evidence-Informed Management Knowledge by Means of Systematic Review*,” 2003.

B. Kitchenham, O. Pearl Brereton, D. Budgen, M. Turner, J. Bailey, and S. Linkman, “Systematic literature reviews in software engineering - A systematic literature review,” Jan. 2009. doi: 10.1016/j.infsof.2008.09.009.

A. Booth, Andrew; Martyn-St James, Marrissa; Clowes, Mark; Sutton, Systematic Approaches to a Successful Literature Review. SAGE Publications Inc., 2021.

J. Thomas and A. Harden, “Methods for the thematic synthesis of qualitative research in systematic reviews,” BMC Med. Res. Methodol., vol. 8, 2008, doi: 10.1186/1471-2288-8-45.

V. Braun and V. Clarke, “Using thematic analysis in psychology.”

C. Criscuolo, C.; Gal,P.N.;Menon, Productivity gains from teleworking in the post COVID-19 era: How can public policies make it happen? | OECD Policy Responses to Coronavirus (COVID-19). OECD, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/science-and-technology/productivity-gains-from-teleworking-in-the-post-covid-19-era_a5d52e99-en

M. ; Sostero, S. ; Milasi, J. ; Hurley, E. ; Fernández-Macías, and M. Bisello, “Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen,” 2020. [Online]. Available: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

J. Haraldsson, G. D., & Kellam, Going public: Iceland’s journey to a shorter working week. Association for Democracy and Sustainability, 2021.

J. Pencavel, “The Productivity of Working Hours,” 2014.

Downloads

Published

16-01-2025

How to Cite

Wikansari, R., Christian Kuswibowo, Dony Firman Santosa, & Athira Setira Adil. (2025). Embracing Flexibility: Exploring the Impact and Future of Remote Work, Flextime, and the Four-Day Workweek on Productivity and Well-Being. Athena: Journal of Social, Culture and Society, 2(4), 447–452. https://doi.org/10.58905/athena.v2i4.355