Implementation of HR Strategies in Remote Work Settings

Abstract

The high growth rate of remote working has increased the desire to comprehend how human resource (HR) practices are translated into employee positive results in virtual environments. Although the existing literature reviewed relevant HR practices and employee performance, little empirical evidence has focused on the psychological process by which the practices can be applied in the truly remote settings. This gap was identified in this paper where the role of employee engagement was studied to be a mediating factor between the performance management and communication and engagement policies and the important employee outcomes. The main point is that the HR strategies impact the results of employees not directly but they work mainly through engagement. A cross-sectional research design was used, which is also quantitative. The structured questionnaire was used to gather data among the employees who have been working under the Remote working arrangements. The application of the measurement and structural models (reliability, validity, path relationships, mediation effects, and model fit indices) in the paper was tested through Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings indicate that employee engagement is majorly predicted by the performance management (β = 0.408, p < 0.001) and the communication and engagement policies ( β= 0.481, p < 0.001). Employee engagement, in its turn, has powerful positive relationships with employee performance (β = 0.768) and job satisfaction (β = 0.717), employee productivity (β = 0.694) and employee retention (β = 0.749) all of them, at p < 0.001, which do confirm full mediation. This research adds to the literature as it empirically supports the engagement-oriented HR strategy model when working remotely, providing theoretical succinctness, managerial practical advice, and research future longitudinal and cross-circumstant directions.