The Role of Gender in Telecommuting’s Effect on Employee Engagement Dimensions and Employee Performance: A Moderated-Moderation Analysis
Keywords:
employee engagement, employee performance, gender, ICT sector, telecommutingAbstract
In South Africa’s Information Communication Technology sector, where diversity manifests through differences such as race, culture, language, and socio-economic backgrounds, telecommuting offers unique possibilities for fostering inclusion and accommodating diverse workstyles. However, this potential must be understood in the context of gender, and its possible impact on employee engagement dimensions (physical, cognitive, emotional) and employee performance. Specifically, this study aims to contribute to the discourse on gender within the South African ICT sector, where telecommuting disparities and challenges remain critical. A study of 478 ICT employees used validated scales to measure telecommuting, employee engagement dimensions and employee performance. Using the PROCESS Macro technique in Smart-PLS 4, the study investigated the moderated-moderation relationship. The study’s findings indicate that gender moderates the telecommuting moderated relationship between emotional engagement and employee performance. In addition, the telecommuting moderating effect on the relationship between emotional engagement and employee performance varies with respect to gender. The study’s findings suggest that organisations should tailor their approaches to remote work and engagement strategies based on gender dynamics to optimize outcomes. This study is among the first to examine the moderated-moderation effects of gender on the telecommuting moderated relationship between employee engagement dimensions and performance in the context of the South African ICT sector.
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