Teleworking Components and Scientific Productivity in Spanish ERC-Granted Teams: The Mediating Role of Climate and Well-Being

Abstract

The practice of teleworking is being consistently and unprecedently used across multiple work sectors, including the research one, yet the direct and mediated links of specific telework designs with productivity are unclear, and analyses at multiple levels missing. Accordingly, this study aims at exploring the mediating role of the climate for well-being and well-being outcomes in the relationship between multiple components of teleworking and scientific productivity, both at the individual and team level. Data were collected from 358 members of 48 Spanish European Research Council (ERC)-granted teams. Analyses were conducted both at the individual and team level, after checking for the relevant aggregation indexes. Telework components of quantity, frequency, flexibility, and voluntariness were found to have direct and mediated significant relationships with scientific productivity, confirming the need to investigate telework with a closer focus on how it is designed and implemented in the different teams. Specifically, climate for well-being, eudaimonic well-being, and negative emotions were found to play a relevant role in mediating the relationship between some telework components (i.e., telework flexibility and voluntariness) and scientific productivity. Also, telework quantity and frequency were found to have, respectively, positive and negative relationship with scientific productivity. Practical and theoretical implications are further discussed in the article.

Keywords

• telework components
• climate for well-being
• well-being
• scientific productivity
• multi-level