THE EFFECTS OF PANDEMIC OUTBREAK AND REMOTE WORKING ON EMPLOYEES' SOCIAL NETWORKS EVOLUTION: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW AND PROPOSITIONS

Abstract

The novel coronavirus strain (COVID-19) has completely changed the perspective of businesses, employees, business relations and employment, as the most challenging and worst global economic crisis since World War II. In this process, most businesses started working remotely, in other words, to work and continue their activities online, and under these circumstances, the success of the business showed that business relationships were reshaped and employees were able to expand their online connections, relationships and contacts. During the global pandemic, the transition process for home workers is particularly important due to the changing qualities of social networking relationships. This is a theoretical article that offers explanations and discussions based on literature rewiev. For this reason, a systematic literature review and an interpretative perspective was adopted in this study, and it was aimed to make sense of the characteristics of social network relations that changed both quantitatively and qualitatively through remote work during the epidemic process. In this article, we argue that the level and qualities of social capital have been affected by the pandemic and that social networking relationships have evolved due to adaptation to pandemic conditions. The remote working order, which is a mandatory form of work during the pandemic, has once again revealed the importance of social networking consisting of weak ties. Employees tend to establish weak ties and increase the number of weak ties instead of establishing strong ties in business networks. In this process, it is suggested that enterprises and employees should establish weak ties and increase the number of ties, supporting the claim that weak ties, which are defended by Granovetter (1973) and Burt (1992), provide more benefits in terms of business relations. For this, it is considered important that they gain competence in digital applications and follow social media regularly and strategically.

Keywords

• COVID-19 Pandemic
• Working Remotely
• Social Networks
• Weak Ties
• Strong Ties

SALGIN VE UZAKTAN ÇALIŞMA DÜZENİNİN ÇALIŞANLARIN SOSYAL AĞ İLİŞKİLERİNİN DEĞİŞİMİNE ETKİLERİ: SİSTEMATİK YAZIN TARAMASI VE ÖNERMELER

Abstract

Yeni koronavirüs türü (COVID-19) ikinci Dünya Savaşı'ndan bu yana en zorlayıcı ve kötü küresel ekonomik kriz olarak işletmelere, çalışanlara, iş ilişkilerine ve istihdama bakış açısını tamamen değiştirmiştir. Çoğu işletme bu süreçte uzaktan çalışma düzenine diğer bir ifadeyle çevrimiçi olarak çalışmaya ve faaliyetlerine devam etmeye başlamıştır ve bu şartlar altında işlerin aksamadan başarılması iş ilişkilerinin yeniden biçimlenmesine ve çalışanların çevrimiçi bağlantı, ilişki ve temaslarını genişletme olanağına bağlı olduğunu göstermiştir. Küresel salgın sırasında evlerinden çalışanlar için geçiş süreci özellikle sosyal ağ ilişkilerinin niteliklerinin değişimi nedeniyle önemlidir. Bu çalışma yazına dayanarak açıklamalar ve tartışmalar sunan kuramsal bir makaledir. Bu nedenle, bu çalışmada sistematik yazın taraması ve yorumsamacı bir bakış açısı benimsenmiş ve salgın sürecinde uzaktan çalışma ile hem niceliksel hem de niteliksel yapısı değişen sosyal ağ ilişkileri özelliklerini anlamlandırmak hedeflenmiştir. Bu makalede sosyal sermaye düzeyinin ve niteliklerinin salgından etkilendiğini ve sosyal ağ ilişkilerinin salgın şartlarına uyum nedeniyle evrim geçirdiğini savunuyoruz. Salgın sürecinde zorunlu çalışma şekli olan uzaktan çalışma düzeni zayıf bağlardan oluşan sosyal ağ ilişkilerinin önemini tekrar ortaya çıkarmıştır. Çalışanlar iş ilişkilerinde güçlü bağlar kurmak yerine zayıf bağlar kurmaya ve zayıf bağ sayılarını artırmaya yönelmektedir. Bu süreçte Granovetter (1973) ve Burt’un (1992) savundukları zayıf bağların iş ilişkileri açısından daha fazla fayda sağladığı savını destekler nitelikte olarak işletmelerin ve çalışanların zayıf bağlar kurmaları ve bağ sayısını artırmaları için dijital uygulamalara yetkinlik kazanmalarının ve sosyal medya takibini düzenli ve stratejik olarak yapmalarının önemli olduğu değerlendirilmektedir.

Keywords

• COVID-19 salgını
• Uzaktan Çalışma
• Sosyal Ağ İlişkileri
• Zayıf Bağlar
• Güçlü Bağlar

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