Role of Emerging Job Skills for Adjusting with Digital Work–Life Challenges

Abstract

There is a paradigm shift amongst the organizations post the pandemic with the emergence of digital workplaces which resonate virtual settings rather than physical settings at work which have implications on work–life balance among employees. The research in past have mostly explored the ways in which digital workplaces have changed the skills desired by employers for organizational effectiveness. However, the current research has tried to foster a holistic understanding of the challenges in digital work places and the specific job skills that enable to handle digital work–life challenges for employee effectiveness. The article provides the problem and solution under a singular umbrella, providing an anchor for human resource professionals to embrace changes in people process management with the rise of digital workplaces. The study has deployed a sequential mixed method approach to conduct the study. In the first phase an in-depth qualitative inquiry was conducted to explore digital work–life challenges through interviews conducted with practicing managers in IT industry from North India. In the second phase of the study an empirical model was developed to validate the specific job skills that impact digital work–life challenges using structural equation modelling (SEM). The empirically tested model indicated that stress tolerance and communication prowess were the two most important predictors of managing digital work–life challenges. Ability to adjust on the other hand, emerged as a mediating factor between uncertainty management and communication prowess. The model highlights the socio-technical arrangements that can be explored by practitioners in Industry for an effective digital work–life balance and effectiveness.