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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol.7, No.7
Publication Date: July 25, 2020
DOI:10.14738/assrj.77.8600.
Oliveira, P., & Leite, S. (2020). The Importance Of Accounting Professional’s Motivation In Relation To Teleworking. Advances in Social
Sciences Research Journal, 7(7) 492-498.
The Importance Of Accounting Professional’s Motivation In Relation
To Teleworking
Paulo Oliveira
Polytechnic Institute of Maia
Sónia Leite
Polytechnic Institute of Maia
ABSTRACT
The various transformations marked by social, economic and political
life in the last decades, have given a prominent place to telework in
many fields being accounting one of them. In times of uncertainty, many
accounting firms have implemented telework arrangements to provide
flexibility and support for employees who seek an acceptable balance
between career and family. It is also in this scenario that teleworking
comes to assume a fundamental role for the development of accounting
itself. Teleworking thus arises as a response to the pandemic situation
experienced in our country since March 2020, raising the question of the
motivation of accounting professionals in the face of adaptation,
motivation and experiences related to teleworking. Through an
exploratory-descriptive investigation with a qualitative approach based
on the application of a scale of motivation for professionals (adapted), it
was our intention to assess the levels of motivation expressed by the
accounting professionals in view of the change from in person to online
attendance (telework) due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Keywords: Teleworking; motivation; accounting; professionals.
TELEWORKING
The process of global restructuring of the economy, leveraged by scientific and technological
development, provided an acceleration in the development of relationships in the virtual world,
announcing a new social organization, in which the development of various activities depends
increasingly on technology (1).
In this context, ways of life and work are redesigned, imposing a new pace of development with
regard to human activities. Labor relations take on a new dimension, imposing a redefinition of time
and space. Recognition of the working relationship characterized by the use of information and
communication technology in the development of its activities has become inevitable (2).
In the context of the European Employment Strategy, the European Council invited social partners
to negotiate agreements to modernize the organization of work, including flexible working
arrangements, with the aim of improving the productivity and competitiveness of companies and
ensuring the necessary balance between flexibility and security.
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As described in Ramalho (2019)(2), this new way of working breaks with the Aristotelian unity of
place, time and work, allowing for the revitalization of rural centers, the possibility for workers to
organize their own working hours and reach autonomously your goals. On the other hand,
teleworking, now with the use of electronic means, which translates into repetition, can represent
lower wages and invasion of private life.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF TELEWORKING
Jack Niles is regarded as the creator of teleworking, having advanced with the idea of reversing the
classic relationship between workplace and worker about forty years ago, calling himself. Initially,
as telecommuting, evolving the concept to telework (2).
Teleworking appears, then, as a result of the natural evolution that supposes the integration and
mass implementation of new technologies to certain activities, focusing on the way of organizing
work, being visible the effects on the structure of the company, which passes from a centralized,
inherited organization. from the industrial revolution, to flexibility, with many advantages, but also
some drawbacks (3). It is possible to state that, from the moment the term teleworking was created,
teleworking has always had staunch supporters and great critics, with the former tending to
hyperbolize its benefits and the latter to accentuate its disadvantages (4).
For the worker
Teleworkers, especially those who work at home, generally spend less time producing at home what
they would produce at the office. In addition to saving time that was previously spent traveling, the
teleworker stops suffering from the stress and anxiety caused by traffic. This has effects not only on
increasing productivity, but also on reducing stress and anxiety and spending on transport, food
and clothing. Thus, we can conclude that one of the great advantages of teleworking is that it saves
travel time to the company, and the fact that activities are carried out without interruption, and is
also associated with a reduction in stress and anxiety and also in everyday expenses. Another
advantage of telecommuting is the flexibility of working hours. According to Gallardo (1998),
teleworking presents itself as a release from the inconveniences of the old industrial work: the
rigidity of schedules, the short time for leisure, rest, leisure and the lack of personal autonomy in
the development of tasks, among others. As disadvantages of teleworking, we can mention the risk
of social isolation and the demand for enormous self-discipline for time management and the
separation of professional and personal life.
For the company
With regard to companies, the main advantages are related to the reduction of costs with the
physical structure, organizational efficiency and greater productivity. In addition to hourly
flexibility, teleworking also allows geographic flexibility and gives the company the opportunity to
operate 24 hours a day, globally, and the possibility to deal with contingencies of the most varied
nature, eg, epidemics, terrorist threats, transport strikes and storms, which reduces the risk of
production interruption. In turn, the disadvantages for the beneficiary of the activity normally
associated with home teleworking are: the installation of a climate of uneasiness between
teleworkers and non-teleworkers, namely that non-teleworkers think that hierarchical superiors
forget teleworkers at the time of distribution of tasks and that teleworkers do not work as much as
non-teleworkers; the weakening of team spirit; the absence of informal learning, which “takes place
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URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.77.8600 494
Oliveira, P., & Leite, S. (2020). The Importance Of Accounting Professional’s Motivation In Relation To Teleworking. Advances in Social Sciences Research
Journal, 7(7) 492-498.
by the water cooler, at lunch or in the corridors”, and the difficulty in transmitting the culture of the
organization of the activity's beneficiary (5).
For the society
According to Abrantes and Silva (2016)(6), telework can create jobs for society, as it allows the
opening of new jobs, due to the possibility of implementing projects in view of the world market.
Another important issue is the reduction of congestion in cities, the decrease in the need to build
new road infrastructures; the reduction of air pollution; energy saving from fossil fuels; the
slowdown in heating global and increased job opportunities for certain categories of citizens, e.g.,
citizens with disabilities, citizens who are caregivers and citizens living in rural or economically
undeveloped areas. As for the disadvantages for society usually associated with home teleworking,
they are the weakening of professional solidarity and the decrease in the capacity for social
interaction, which can give rise to disruptive behaviors (7).
Notwithstanding the advantages and disadvantages that teleworking entails, this is seen as a
phenomenon that imposes adaptations on companies, workers and society.
THE MOTIVATION
The Portuguese population has shown a wide variety of concerns regarding the need to adjust to
the radical changes that the COVID-19 pandemic caused in the organization of our day-to-day lives.
Parents, or guardians, are a segment of this population that has faced a significant demand to adapt
to new family, educational and professional dynamics on an uninterrupted basis. The realization of
diverse roles simultaneously and in the same physical and psychological space, reveals a state of
overcoming and permanent reinvention. In this sense, there was an urgent need to adjust plans,
roles, spaces and time in relation to readjusting professional and family activity (8,9).
By taking the perspective of professionals in this investigation, we intend to contribute to a more
in-depth knowledge of their interests and motivations in view of the need and motivation inherent
in adapting to the modality of telework due to Pandemic Covid-19. Therefore, it is important to
understand and know how professionals are facing the telework modality and its adaptation to it,
in addition to pointing out possibilities for improving organizational management.
OBJECTIVE, SAMPLE AND METHODOLOGY
Study Objective
The objective of the present work was to analyze, through the application of a motivation scale, the
perception of professionals in the field of accounting, in function exercises through the telework
modality, about the difficulties they face in their professional practice, in view of the change to
telecommuting due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. In particular, we intend to understand the motivation
of these professionals in relation to distance working through teleworking.
Methodology
According to Ferreira (n.d.) (10), there are few instruments for assessing motivation in an
organizational context. The design adopted in the present investigation is of the exploratory- descriptive type with a quantitative approach based on the application of a questionnaire, aiming
to assess the motivation adapted to the type of telework created by the pandemic.
The questionnaire used was the following:
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Work Motivation Questionnaire adapted to telework (due to the Covid-19 pandemic) - (11).
Theoretical sampling did not start with a defined number of participants, but with the harvest
directed to a group, that of accounting professionals.
A questionnaire composed of two parts was applied: I - Sociodemographic related data, and II -
Specific questions composed by the adaptation of the Work Motivation Scale by Lorber and Skela
Savič (2012), in view of the need to adapt to telework due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Thus, questions
1-6 correspond to the scope of personal development; questions 7-10 regarding the leadership
style; questions 11-17 on the scope of motivation and concern for the team's well-being; and
questions 18-21 regarding cooperation and interpersonal relationships.
The objective of the questionnaire was to obtain information taking into account the object of study
of the present investigation.
Data collection
For systematic data collection, 60 questionnaires were distributed, of which we obtained 43
responses.
Sample characterization
In the present study, we used a convenience sampling process, which is not a random sample,
focusing on accounting professionals who are working through teleworking.
DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
Given that we are dealing with the analysis of questions, based on a scale, we chose to proceed with
a qualitative analysis.
Thus, regarding the first question, Taking into account the teleworking situation, I am very satisfied
with the work I do, 49.4% of the participants referred to the moderate correspondence option,
followed by 39.5% with total correspondence, 9,1% with a lot of correspondence and 2% with little
correspondence.
Regarding the second question, Taking into account the teleworking situation, I am very satisfied with
the promotion opportunities that arise in the organization for which I work, the vast majority of
teachers did not identify with the question (49.2%, none correspondence), 28.1% of respondents
opted for the moderate response, 11.6% little correspondence, 7.3% much correspondence, and
only 3.8% of respondents fully identified themselves with the question (total correspondence).
With regard to the third question, Taking into account the teleworking situation, I am very pleased
with the opportunities to specialize that I receive, the answers are divided into moderate
correspondence (36.8%) and no correspondence (20, 4%), 18.8% little correspondence, followed
by 15.4% with total correspondence and 8.6% with much correspondence.
Regarding the fourth question, Taking into account the situation of teleworking, I am very satisfied
with the level of autonomy for decision-making that I have, most of the interviewed teachers
identifies with the question, focusing the answers in moderate and total correspondence. (43.1%