EFFECTIVENESS OF REMOTE WORK DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC: EMPLOYEES AND MANAGERS’ VIEW

Abstract

In March 2020, World Health Organization (WHO) declared a new coronavirus infection (also called COVID-19) a pandemic. Immediately, several organizations around the world adopted remote work to their employees to avoid people’s contact and, consequently, virus spread. Remote work was adopted in many places with low or no previous planning, putting in doubt its effectiveness. This study aims to explore the effectiveness of the remote work implemented in a public federal hospital in Brazil, taken by the Administrative Area, both in teleworker employees and presential worker managers’ view. The investigation consisted of a case study regarding a public university hospital in Santa Catarina, Brazil. The study consists of qualitative research by having employees and managers answer an open questionnaire. Laurence Bardin’s content analysis and a word cloud tool were applied to analyze the collected data. The research result in the conclusion that among employees, remote work was considered effective. Higher performance, better productivity, less distraction during work, and higher quality of life were the main aspects cited and the importance of access to technology. Regarding managers' views, there was no consensus on whether remote work is effective or not. Effectiveness seems to be related to employees’ commitment and personality, together with the manager’s follow-up.