Need satisfaction in the new work context - A quantitative investigation of telework extent's impact on basic need satisfaction

Abstract: The modern workplace is undergoing profound changes. Remote working practices, here referred to as telework, have seen rapid and widespread adoption as governments and organisations across the world enacted pandemic safety measures. Now telework is increasingly seen as "the new normal" and while it has been subject of academic studies before, findings have been paradoxical and inconsistent. Additionally, the contextual relevance of these is increasingly being put into question. In an environment otherwise characterised by uncertainty, it is argued that the basic needs as suggested by Self-Determination theory are equipped to provide a focused area of inquiry allowing for new perspectives on telework, and its implications for employees. Accordingly, this thesis aims to study to what degree the extent of telework affects the satisfaction of the basic psychological needs, autonomy, competence and relatedness and how individual differences moderate these relationships. Little to no past research has utilised Self-Determination theory as a theoretical frame within telework. In general, telework literature has failed to properly consider the presence of choice. There has also been a dichotomisation of employees, comparing them as either teleworker or office worker instead of considering the actual telework extent. Through a quantitative study utilizing a survey format we collected data from 218 respondents for further analysis. The main findings confirm a positive relationship between telework extent and autonomy satisfaction, and negative implications on relatedness satisfaction. Further, it is found that autonomy satisfaction can additionally be explained by choice, where the employer provides the employee with the option of telework thus increasing employee flexibility. The study further emphasises the need for future research on individual differences in need satisfaction in the teleworking context and for necessary scale development to properly measure basic needs in the telework context.