Leadership in post-pandemic hybrid work environments: Learning from working life experiences of people with disabilities
Author(s): Magnus Eriksson, Elisabet Nilsson, Jörgen Lundälv
Wednesday 14 | 13:40-14:00
Room: TP53
Session: Remote working and regional mobility
Working life in a post-pandemic world has for many people become a remote experience. Hybrid work arrangements that evolved during the COVID-19 pandemic, consisting of a mix of working from home and the workplace, have become a “digital normality”. Such work arrangements are claimed to make working life for people with disabilities easier and more accessible and are seen as important factors in reducing barriers to employment. It may appear advantageous for people with disabilities to work in remote settings since it allows for more flexible working day routines which can be adapted to individual needs and conditions. For example, not having to travel to the workplace on an everyday basis can be a way of combating the accumulation of fatigue during the work week. However, it also has turned out that remote workers with disabilities face many challenges. Some people find it challenging to work from home due to difficulties with self-organisation. It is demanding to maintain everyday routines and habits when not having a workplace to go to and supporting colleagues. Others enjoy working from home to such an extent that it has made them too comfortable and choose to stay at home instead of meeting physically. This can result in a less productive working life. To explore remote working life for people with disabilities further, an interview study was conducted with 26 people with various disabilities in Sweden about their working life experiences during the pandemic (female=17, male=9, 92 % were members of a disability rights organisation). Insights gained from the thematic analysis of the interview data resulted in a collection of challenges and opportunities faced by people with disabilities working in remote and hybrid settings. The findings are sorted into three overarching themes: I) Social support, II) Work environment, and III) Technology, accessibility, and infrastructure.
A selection of challenges and opportunities connected to the first theme will be presented with an emphasis on issues related to leadership in remote and hybrid work environments and how inclusion and participation can be facilitated. We will discuss what supportive leadership in hybrid work settings might imply in comparison to leadership at traditional workplaces. What constitutes digital leadership skills, and how to ensure that all employees (with or without disabilities) are included and given space to talk and express themselves in, for example, hybrid video meetings? To have employees who regularly work from home is a new situation for many managers and, as shown in this interview study, a challenge. Lack of support from management leaves it up to the individual employee to request assistance or accessible solutions. Managers, and colleagues, may lack an understanding of the difficulties that employees and colleagues with disabilities face. Such a lack of understanding may result in a limited willingness and allocation of resources to accommodate a more flexible working life. Remote and hybrid work environments demand a different type of leadership, which is something that this presentation will address.