Teleworking and remote work in local government administration management in Poland

Abstract

Purpose: The research goal adopted in this article is to identify the factors determining remote work, as well as to determine the potential of this form of work in the context of increasing the functionality and efficiency of local government institutions not only in the daily work of these institutions, but above all in crisis situations. Design/Methodology/Approach: The research methodology was based on the construction of a research tool that would allow to collect data on remote work and teleworking in Polish local government administration. The research method used was related to an online survey, which was addressed to all members of the Union of Polish Metropolises (union of the 12 largest cities in Poland). Findings: The main conclusions from the analysis performed include: (1) implementation of tasks in the form of teleworking has not been the object of interest of Polish local governments so far; (2) more than a half of the surveyed local governments assessed positively the preparation of these units to remote work implementation in the period of the SARS-Cov-2 pandemic; (3) the experience regarding remote work gained during the pandemic shows that employees no longer fear this particular form of work. Practical implications: The result of the conducted research was to obtain information on the experience of the surveyed organizations in the field of remote work process implementation before the pandemic period, during its duration, as well as to consider this form of work in the future, taking into account the conclusions presented in the article. Originality/Value: The conducted research is the first of its kind carried out in Poland since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The obtained results are undoubtedly a valuable source of information on how to prepare Polish local governments to carry out work remotely.