Wind of change brought by COVID-19: Exploring the response and the new normal from the perspectives of Indian flexpatriates

Drawing from the positive organizational change theory, this paper aims to explore how Indian flexpatriates responded to the change brought by the pandemic of COVID-19 and what is the new normal according to them. Thematic analysis of 19 in-depth interviews with flexpatriates from the IT industry revealed four explicit phases of change process – reflection, communication, collaboration, and transformation. Further, the analysis brought out four tenets of the new normal. First, it is time to blend physical and virtual work;second, the "personal” touch of Indians in international assignments is irreplaceable;third, working from home amidst the entire household being housebound is the new normal;and last, international travel will resume soon with some changed protocols. This is the first qualitative study combining the issue of global talent management with Indian flexpatriates vis-à-vis the impact of COVID-19, the findings of which expand the positive organizational change theory and have important implications. © 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC.

Reconstruction of trust and organizational commitment through servant leadership in the postpandemic era: evidence from the IT sector of Pakistan

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of the role of trust in leaders in the relationship between dimensions of servant leadership and dimensions of organizational commitment in the information technology (IT) sector of Pakistan in post-COVID era. This paper also highlights the role of trust in leader as mediating mechanism among the examined variables. Design/methodology/approach: Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to IT professional working in the IT sector of Pakistan. The sample included 283 across Pakistan. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. Findings: Results indicated that trust in a leader has a significant indirect effect on the relationship between the dimensions of servant leadership and organizational commitment. Upon further investigation, it is found that in the majority of cases, the nature of mediation is partial in nature. Whereas, it is found that trust in leader fully mediates the relationship between persuasive mapping and normative commitment. Furthermore, trust in leader is also found to be fully mediating the relationship between emotional healing and continuance commitment. Research limitations/implications: This study is limited to the geographical boundaries of Pakistan, results obtained during the course of study have limited generalizability outside the country. Originality/value: This paper aims at addressing a gap in the literature by developing a model of how trust in leader mediates the relationship between servant leadership and organizational commitment, and examine relationship between individual dimensions of servant leadership and organizational commitment. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Teleworking: role of psychological well-being and technostress in the relationship between trust in management and employee performance

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic and technological advancements have enabled employees to telework. Referring to this emerging phenomenon, the authors aim to examine how employees' levels of trust in management mediated by psychological well-being impact their performance as they telework. Deploying the theoretical lens of person-environment misfit, the authors also explore the role of technostress in the trust-wellbeing-performance relationship. Design/methodology/approach: The data was collected from 511 full-time service sector employees across Indian organizations through a structured survey questionnaire. The proposed moderation-mediation model for this study was tested using structural equation modeling and bootstrapping method. Findings: Structural equation modeling results indicate that trust in management significantly impacts employee performance while teleworking. While psychological well-being was observed as a significant mediator, technostress played the moderator role in the trust-performance relationship. The moderated-mediation effect of psychological well-being in the trust-performance relationship was stronger when technostress was low and weaker when technostress was high. Research limitations/implications: The authors extend the person-environment misfit theory in the context of telework, highlighting the role of technostress that may impact the trust-wellbeing- performance relationship in such work settings. Practical implications: The study informs leaders and managers on balancing delicate aspects such as employee trust and well-being that significantly impact performance as they telework. The authors also highlight the critical role of managers in respecting employees' personal and professional boundaries to alleviate technostress. Originality/value: The authors make a novel theoretical contribution to the emerging literature on teleworking by examining the trust-psychological wellbeing-performance link and the role of technostress in this relationship. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.