Sammanhållning och tillhörighet på distans: Hybridarbetets inverkan på organisatorisk gemenskap

Abstract

As more and more organizations have offered hybrid work arrangements to their employees following the COVID-19 pandemic, physical interactions between colleagues have decreased. The purpose of this study is to examine how employees perceive that hybrid work has affected cohesion and their sense of belonging with their colleagues. The study is a qualitative case study with a narrative approach, in which ten individuals were interviewed about their experiences of how cohesion and belongingness is affected in their workplaces. The aim was to gain an in-depth understanding of how people within organizations perceive the impact of hybrid work. During the interviews, it became evident that most participants believed that emotional cohesion had been negatively affected, while perceptions of the impact on task-related cohesion were more divided. Most participants also felt that their sense of belonging had been negatively affected. Overall, the majority experienced that cohesion had been influenced by hybrid work, but they emphasized that the frequency of physical meetings required to maintain a sense of belonging and cohesion varies from person to person. However, all participants stressed the importance of face-to-face interaction.