AI Insight
This study examined how telework intensity affects different types of employee proactive behavior through uncertainty perception. Using data from 212 employees and 81 supervisors in China, researchers found that higher telework intensity increases perceived uncertainty, which reduces prosocial and organizational proactive behaviors but not self-focused proactive behaviors. The negative effects were weakened when employees used communication technologies with higher media richness.
Why it matters
Organizations implementing telework policies should prioritize communication technologies with rich media capabilities to reduce employee uncertainty and maintain prosocial and organizational citizenship behaviors. The findings suggest that the medium of communication, not just its frequency, is critical for maintaining employee engagement and proactivity in remote work settings.
Understand the Science
PurposeThis study investigates how telework intensity differentially influences three theoretically differentiated foci of employees’ proactive behavior, drawing on uncertainty management theory and media richness theory. It specifically examines the mediating role of perceived uncertainty and explores how media richness of communication technologies serves as a critical boundary condition in this process.Design/methodology/approachA two-wave, matched leader-employee survey was conducted, collecting data from 212 employees and 81 supervisors across multiple provinces in China. The proposed moderated mediation model was analyzed using SPSS and Mplus.FindingsResults reveal that telework intensity directly increases employees’ perception of uncertainty, which in turn indirectly reduces prosocial and pro-organization foci proactive behaviors, but does not significantly affect pro-self foci proactive behavior. Media richness significantly moderates this effect: higher media richness weakens the positive relationship between telework intensity and the perception of uncertainty.OriginalityThis study shifts the focus in telework research from general outcomes to a nuanced examination of proactive behavior across distinct foci. It introduces and empirically validates media richness as a pivotal technological moderator, clarifying both how telework intensity influences employees and under what technological conditions its effects are attenuated.