Capabilities approach to working from home: Is it the path to work engagement and work-life balance?

Abstract

This study investigates the role of the capabilities approach (as an ethical framework in management) on the well-being of workers in the context of working from home. A capabilities approach was used to examine the relationship between work engagement and work-life balance. Additionally, the conceptual model tested the role of trust as a mediator. The European Working Conditions Survey was the source of data for this study. Participants were selected based on their self-reported frequency of working from home. The final sample consisted of 23,748 participants. The hypothesis of the conceptual model was tested using the Partial Least Square (PLS) method for data analysis. The results show that, in general, the list of capabilities is empirically valid, presenting a significant relationship with work engagement and work-life balance, either directly or when mediated by trust. Based on the results of this work, organizations gain access to a set of guidelines on how to manage working from home based on the principles of the capabilities approach and liberated companies. This study presents the first empirical validation of the model's capabilities and demonstrates the application of the capabilities approach to the context of working from home.