Flexible work arrangement and work-related outcomes during the Covid-19 pandemic: Evidence from local governments in Indonesia

Abstract

The Covid-19 outbreak has forced various organizations to adjust work designs to comply with health protocols. Flexible work arrangement is a model that is widely used, including flextime and work from home. This study analyzes the impact of flexible work arrangements on affective commitment, job satisfaction, organizational citizenship behavior, and work engagement, which lead to employee happiness. A total of 405 respondents who work in local governments in Indonesia participated in an online survey using the snowball sampling technique. Data were analyzed using partial least squares. This study found a significant effect of flexible work arrangements on affective commitment and organizational citizenship behavior. It means that employees perceive a flexible work arrangement policy as an organizational effort to protect employees from Covid-19. Thus, it makes employees showing their affective commitment and willingness to have organizational citizenship behavior. In addition, job satisfaction, organizational citizenship behavior, and work engagement have been shown to affect employee happiness. This finding has implications for leaders to develop flexible work arrangements as alternative work designs, especially during times of crises such as a pandemic. Further research recommendations are emphasized to examine other flexible work arrangements according to contextual needs.

Keywords

• affective commitment
• flexitime
• happiness
• job satisfaction
• organizational citizenship behavior
• work engagement