Managing Virtual Presenteeism during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Multilevel Study on Managers' Stress Management...

Area of Science:

• Organizational Psychology
• Occupational Health Psychology
• Remote Work Management

Background:

• Teleworking is prevalent post-COVID-19, introducing challenges in managing employee health and well-being.
• Virtual presenteeism, working while ill remotely, is a growing concern with limited research on its management.
• Effective management of teleworkers requires understanding factors influencing their health and performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the link between managers' stress management competencies (SMCs) and the mental health and job performance of virtual presentees.
• To explore how agreement between manager and employee assessments of SMCs influences functional presenteeism.
• To identify management strategies that can foster more functional presenteeism in virtual work environments.

Main Methods:

• Quantitative study involving 365 teleworkers and 157 managers in a large public organization.
• Collected data on managers' self-assessed SMCs and employee perceptions of their managers' SMCs.
• Analyzed the relationship between SMC assessment agreement, employee mental health, and job performance.

Main Results:

• Employee perceptions of managers' SMCs significantly correlate with virtual presentees' mental health and job performance.
• Employees who perceived their managers' SMCs positively (agreement or overestimation) showed better outcomes.
• Discrepancies in SMC assessments, particularly underestimation or agreement on low SMCs, were linked to poorer employee outcomes.

Conclusions:

• Managerial stress management competencies are crucial for mitigating negative impacts of virtual presenteeism.
• Alignment or positive perception of managers' SMCs by employees enhances functional presenteeism.
• Organizations should focus on developing managers' SMCs to support teleworker well-being and productivity.