The workplace flexibility - engagement relationship through helping behavior: The role of ICT

Due to rapid advancements in communication technologies, a growing number of employees is offered flexibility in workplace and time. This has many advantages, but can also constrain employees. On the one hand, working from different timeslots and from different locations could lead to fewer encounters between employees, negatively influencing helping behavior. However, on the other hand, using communication technologies for work could enhance contact between employees and therefore increase their helping behavior. Since helping behavior is found to be beneficial for both the recipients of help and the helpers themselves, it is assumed this will eventually influence employee engagement. Using a two-wave panel study, we examined these propositions by studying the indirect relationship between flexible work designs (FWDs) and employee engagement, through helping behavior. Then, we studied whether the use of communication technologies can buffer the expected negative associations between spatial and temporal flexibility and helping behavior. The results show that especially spatial flexibility is detrimental for helping behavior, which, in turn, reduces employee engagement. This negative effect between spatial flexibility and helping behavior is buffered by the use of communication technologies, however, if organizations want to stimulate helping behavior, they should limit both workplace flexibility and communication technology use.