Remote work as an organisational change

The increase in remote work can be seen as a change in working methods as well as management methods. When a previously familiar way of working becomes different, it can cause varying and divergent feelings among the personnel. These feelings are influenced by complex emotions and factors related to personality, attitude, and life experiences. While one may see change as an inspiration, for another it may cause more fear or uncertainty about the future, which generally manifests itself as an attitude against change. The phenomenon is better known as resistance to change (Warrick, 2023). Resistance to change refers to resistance and criticism of change or its design, which manifests itself in the behaviour of individuals or groups. It manifests itself, for example, as indifference, rejection of information, or heightened self-protection. Resistance to change is related to the tendency of the human mind to defend its old habits. Resistance to change is a natural part of any change process. Change planning, change management, communication, and overcoming resistance to change are seen as the sole main factors for successful and permanent organisational culture change. Change management, in particular, is a systematic way to manage and drive change. In change management, it should be noted that complete control of the change process is usually not achieved (Gutterman, 2013).

People are not necessarily opposed to change itself, but to its impact on the community, organisational culture, and the position of individuals in the organisation. A change affecting the systems and structures of a workplace or other community may disrupt interpersonal relationships or change the status, or position of power of community members, so resistance to change must be understood. The change itself may be perceived as sensible but its consequences may not. Some people are more excited about everything new than others, who may experience almost all changes as negative, even frightening (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2004). The individual always makes an interpretation of the information received—the aim is to understand the content and meaning of the matter. Trust in the narrator can vary, which can also affect the understanding of change. If a person does not trust the party communicating the change, such as the management, the change can be resisted simply because of how the change was communicated, rather than because of the change itself (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2004).

Individuals are different, so individual values also influence the way we evaluate situations. How the functionality of change is perceived is affected by the information received by the individual and its quality. The new ways of working brought about by change may be perceived as repulsive, but in a positive situation, constructive criticism of the individual and suggestions for development opportunities can help the successful implementation of the change (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2004). Resistance to change cannot only be seen as a bad thing but it can also lead to better practices in the organisation. If staff can come up with ideas for improving the proposed change, the change will probably be easier to accept. Understanding staff emotions during a change situation is important to achieve change goals (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2004). The role of immediate managers in change situations is significant, and it can be argued that immediate managers can easily fail in change management if they have the wrong attitude towards the people they lead. Immediate managers cannot successfully lead members of an organisation whom they do not respect and do not trust. Even in times of change, the prerequisite for effective management almost always starts from the immediate managers’ principled commitment to respect the employees being led and to appreciate differences (O’Toole, 1995).

Remote working as a factor shaping organisational culture

Organisational culture is shaped and reflects the diverse values, concepts of people, and ways of working that are manifested in the organisations. Organisational culture lays the foundation for organisational behavioural patterns. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the shift to remote working has been a new situation for employees due to external forces, which may have affected employees’ mindsets in an unplanned way and therefore also the organisational culture. According to Alvesson (2002), commitment to shared values, norms, and beliefs has a positive effect on efficiency. Shared values build a strong culture in an organisation, which is one of the factors of efficiency. According to Galanti et al. (2021), the transition to remote working is usually systematic. However, the coronavirus pandemic brought about a rapid change, which meant that there was little time to plan and prepare for the transition to remote working. It is possible that uncontrolled change may also lead to negative consequences for the organisation. Negative changes in organisational culture can be thought of as a decrease in communication, a decrease in the presentation of new opinions, and a decrease in learning and challenges in management.

Organisational culture change has often been seen as a challenging and slow process (Wolf et al. 2022). However, Bourne and Jenkins (2013) have stated that changes in values occur when one has to adapt to new situations. The widespread and even total shift to remote work took place quickly in the special COVID-19 pandemic situation, so it is possible that changes in organisational culture may also be seen to have taken place relatively quickly, in both norms and values. However, the purpose of this theory section is not to form presuppositions, but the material is allowed to speak separately from the previous theory in the section on the results.

Analysis of identified themes

Three different main themes were identified in this study: (1) challenges for leadership, (2) social resources, and (3) development of the work community, which covers all the themes in which organisational changes were observed on the basis of the data.

Challenges for leadership

Leadership can try to include management at three different levels: (1) line management, (2) supervisory work, and (3) employee self-management. The research subjects highlight the challenges that managing remote work brings, especially to immediate managers. Many argued that the remote work management training for managers does not correspond to the changed situation at the moment. One employee describes the situation as follows:

It would seem that not all managers are necessarily used to keeping in touch with -employees through electronic tools in the same way as face-to-face communication, as some respondents feel that communication from their immediate managers is rather limited, and remote workers are easily forgotten, so they work alone. One respondent describes his/her own experiences as follows: “However, managers do not know how to manage remote workers. They do not even keep in touch, but the trust [towards the employee] is so high that they do not even ask how it is going.”

On the other hand, many employees feel that communication with their immediate manager is very successful with the help of electronic communication tools, such as Skype, and the use of electronic tools is felt to give them time to concentrate better on work tasks. One employee describes the change in organisational culture as follows:

Some of the respondents point out that immediate managers do not distribute tasks equally. It is certainly the case that even in office work, employees may experience problems in the equal distribution of tasks, but this has subjectively been perceived to be accentuated in some cases when some employees work remotely. One respondent describes his/her feelings as follows: “The work that can only be carried out in the office is piled up for the employees in the office, which can lead to interruptions in one’s own work due to the work of other officials who work remotely.”

Many respondents take a stand on their experiences of equality and tell at length about their experiences of how remote work is not equally possible for all groups. The respondents describe the strong polarisation that has taken place in the organisation, which means that some can work remotely, some not at all. This is perceived to increase jealousy between employees, bad talk, and, above all, doubts about whether people work remotely at all, even if these doubts have no real basis in truth. One respondent describes the situation from his/her own perspective and also highlights management challenges in managerial work: “The increase in remote work has increased inequality and attitudes towards valuing the work of others negatively. Not everyone has the same opportunities to take advantage of remote work. Enabling remote work depends very much on the opinion of the immediate manager.”

On the other hand, those working as immediate managers are surprised that remote working is now generally regarded as a subjective right, even in those tasks where it is not reasonably feasible due to the nature of the work, even though the official was originally aware of the requirements and characteristics of the job. One manager describes the situation as follows:

Many people, especially those in military positions, would like to see improvements in flexible forms of working other than only remote working. The equality of the organisation in relation to different sectors is felt to have deteriorated because, for example, the equality of the organisation has not been achieved. The operational and intelligence divisions cannot work remotely, while in many industries remote work is almost unrestricted. The respondents outline that the answer to this dilemma should be to provide proper dispersed workspaces for employees in these industries from Defence Forces offices around the country. However, there now seems to be experience that people from another organisation who come to work in dispersed work are considered a nuisance at some locations and are not welcome, because all the premises are dimensioned according to the actual number of employees. The respondents point out that resources should be allocated to this, as extensive enabling of decentralised work could potentially reduce inequalities between sectors. One respondent describes the deterioration of opportunities for diffuse work as follows:

Many employees describe situations where managers have felt that their trust in employees has increased because they have noticed that remote workers can also do their work. However, the responses suggest that many employees would be willing to work remotely on an even larger scale than is possible within the restrictions imposed. One respondent describes the situation as follows:

The biggest supporters of remote work feel that remote work should not be restricted by norms and internal guidelines. It is speculated that the deep-seated need for controlling management in the organisational culture led back to a limited amount of remote work after the COVID-19 remote work. One respondent describes the restriction on remote working as follows:

On the other hand, there is also the opposing view, according to which the amount of remote working should be limited in some way, in particular in order to maintain social interaction between employees. The responses indicate that employees should know each other, probably meaning the closest colleagues they work with in the same office, team, sector, or department. One informant gives his opinion as follows: “In my opinion, the amount of remote work should be limited, so that the employee still visits the workplace from time to time and feels part of the work community. People need to know each other, which makes it easier to work.”

Among remote workers, it is generally felt that self-management is at a good level and work organisation succeeds efficiently, and the results of work are achieved in accordance with goals. The respondents feel that the Finnish Defence Forces as an employer has also noticed that flexible working hours and working methods increase the well-being, commitment, and efficiency of the personnel. One respondent describes the improvement in the efficiency of their own work as follows:

Social resources

The atmosphere of an organisation is influenced by diverse social relationships that occur in organisations on many different levels. The atmosphere is influenced by the social values of employees and the appreciation experienced by employees at different levels of the organisation. The atmosphere of the organisation can also be sensed by an outsider when visiting the organisation, and this is closely linked to trust, because in organisations with a good level of internal trust, the atmosphere usually seems open and enthusiastic. The research results show that in the units studied, trusting relationships and building trust are considered important for success in remote work. One respondent describes the importance of a manager–employee relationship of trust for successful remote work as follows:

Although trust seems to have remained in the target organisation studied, the responses also show that not everyone is equally convinced of the benefits of remote work. There is clear resistance to change in the organisation, which means that people do not want to see or utilise good experiences. Many of the respondents feel that attitudes against remote work can be seen within the organisation, which increases conflicts and conflicts between employees or in manager–employee relationships. One respondent describes the slow pace of change in organisational culture as follows:

Also, at the level of immediate managers, some have observed that certain attitudes and strongly rooted perceptions in the organisation are deeply rooted in the actors in the organisation and still influence the thought patterns of many managerial workers. Many say that the organisational culture has improved to be positive about remote work, but the limitations in the organisation are still very binding, there is resistance to change, and flexibility towards remote work varies too much from person to person. One person who held a management position describes it as follows:

Some respondents say that they have experienced a certain reductionin the sense of community in the organisation and estimate that remote work reduces interaction between people in the same space, which is reported to be very important, especially for soldiers. To some extent, Skype communication is reported to be frustrating because you cannot see the other person physically and it is harder to make sure the recipient understands everything. The respondents point out that a large part of the concrete work, especially in conscript training, requires attendance at the place of duty. Some feel that remote work should not be completely unlimited, and one respondent describes it this way:

According to the informants, changes in strategies, operating models, norms, and unwritten rules were noticeable in the Finnish Defence Forces. According to some respondents, the most significant shortcoming of remote working is the reduction in social encounters and networking. As informal encounters decrease, some feel that it shapes the culture towards using more formal and organisational ways of focusing and agreeing on details. The transfer of tacit knowledge from one employee to another is also reported to become more difficult in remote work. One respondent describes it as follows:

On the other hand, there are also plenty of opinions in which remote work is perceived to have mainly positive aspects, and even the reduction in face-to-face encounters is not considered problematic. There are also experiences that remote working as such is not the only reason for the decrease in encounters and discussions. The responses show that the workload and rush have increased, which also contribute to narrowing down close communication. One respondent describes the situation as follows:

Respondents report that face-to-face meetings have decreased significantly, which most people think is good for costs and time. However, face-to-face meetings and scheduled meetings also have their supporters. Some express their own view that you see people face to face much less than before, which distances you from each other. You do not get to know new employees as you do in local work, and you do not always even recognise the newest person in your own department. One soldier describes his position as follows: “Managers are less frequently met these days. I am a product of military training in the 80s and I like to agree on important matters face to face.”

However, it seems that job satisfaction has increased for many because, among other things, flexible forms of working make it easier to combine work and free time. Some respondents say that remote work is now considered a completely normal form of work. This is described as an excellent change and makes the family’s everyday life much easier and thus also increases the employees’ motivation to work. One respondent explains: “Attitudes towards remote work have clearly improved and I hope that restrictions will be lifted further. The possibility of remote working greatly improves the reconciliation of work and family life and saves valuable hours on daily commutes.”

Development of the work community

The Finnish Defence Forces seem to have improved their employer image in the eyes of employees by offering flexible forms of work. Some feel that the introduction of remote work into the Finnish Defence Forces’ range of forms of work at a fairly early stage, as remote work increased, was the most significant change in the organisational culture, which is often perceived as outdated and rigid. Employees feel that the Finnish Defence Forces were much more prepared for the COVID-19 isolation than many other employers. Many report that the Finnish Defence Forces have generally taken significant steps for the better in recent years, and the expansion of remote work has been one part of this change. It is described as essential that the Finnish Defence Forces seem to focus on the essentials nowadays, and the end result is more decisive than, for example, doing things according to the specifics. One employee describes it this way: “Through remote work, the organisational culture has become more diverse, cost-effective, and modern, which also stands out as a positive employer image. The Finnish Defence Forces are also seen here as a pioneer and a significant contributor to reducing the carbon footprint.”

Many respondents believe that remote working has promoted the use of digital tools and their competence. They have learned to organise events online and manage work tasks independently with existing arrangements without the immediate support of other people. In addition, there are comments that the threshold for contacting us has been lowered and several different means of communication are now ringing non-stop. For example, the reserved space in Skype does not prevent you from putting an “instant message” or making a call on the phone at the same time. According to some respondents, a huge number of different remote meetings have become part of the organisational culture: there may be three or four meetings at the same time, from which you have to choose what to attend. One respondent describes it this way:

Remote work challenges leadership

This study revealed that remote work creates challenges for leadership. The organisational culture had changed in such a way that more and more equality, change manage competence, and remote work management skills were expected from management. In terms of management, the informants’ responses exude the goal of experiences of equality and maintaining interaction with the immediate manager, regardless of the form of work. In the Finnish Defence Forces, the deep management model that forms the basis of management training is also very well suited as a starting point for managing remote work. The Finnish Defence Forces’ management and interaction training has utilised the deep management model since 1998 (Nissinen, 2001). Deep management emphasises leading people—not things—where the goal is the manager’s lifelong growth and development as a manager. The deep management model is a collection of proven management principles inspired especially by the globally leading transformational management paradigm. The transformational management paradigm has its roots in change management in the 1980s. According to Bass and Riggio (2005), transformational management can be thought of as a strongly mental and experiential phenomenon in which a manager influences employees by changing their own understanding of what is important.

In general, employees see that the Finnish Defence Forces have, in recent years, been heading towards a modern organisation that has benefited from offering flexible forms of working to employees in recruitment, among other things. Although, according to the results of this study and previous studies (Kähkönen, 2023), remote work can be found to increase the personnel’s self-management ability and efficiency at work, for organisational management it creates challenges that can no longer necessarily be solved with old management models. Management by command can no longer be considered particularly suitable for the image of a modern organisation. This study revealed that the role of managers, in particular, is very important for feelings of success in remote work. In the same way, O’Toole (1995) has proposed that in situations of change, the prerequisite for effective management almost always starts from the immediate managers’ principled commitment to respect the employees being managed, to value differences, and to build trust. As practical development targets for the future in the Finnish Defence Forces and, in the same way, probably in other types of organisations, various remote management training courses for immediate managers could be useful for organisations. With the help of education, it is possible to increase knowledge, harmonise operating models, and, perhaps, it is also possible to dilute negative thought patterns caused by resistance to change. The study also highlighted the need for training in the use of digital tools, which affects all personnel, regardless of their job or role.

However, a military organisation is a very special kind of work community that creates challenges for strategic management. Many of the military personnel are involved in career rotation and serve in crisis management. This means that there is a regular change in the composition of the management team at different hierarchical levels. In addition, those in military posts may not have the opportunity to work remotely. Traditionally, many leaders want to be physically close to those they lead. In contrast, among civilian personnel, staff turnover is low, and on the civilian side, the military organisation competes for skilled employees just like any other employer, and remote work is one of the assets in this competition. These issues related to personnel diversity are complex issues that strategic management policies must address. According to this study, the biggest challenges for management can be seen as solving how to strike a balance between taking advantage of the benefits of remote work, treating employees equally, and managing the restrictions imposed (e.g. the allowable amount of remote work). The organisational culture of the Finnish Defence Forces has become more flexible and has taken significant steps in leadership development, but there are still areas where new leadership perspectives and organisational reforms may be needed. It is clear that management solutions do not always appeal to all employees equally or at exactly the same time. Nevertheless, it is important that clear strategies have been formed and are communicated adequately to the personnel. Clear remote working practices create a framework for cooperation between employees and facilitate managerial management practices in everyday work.

Social resources create resilience to change

Organisational culture can be thought of as a social force that affects employees’ emotions, attitudes, and social values. This study revealed that certain attitudes and strongly rooted perceptions in the organisation are deeply rooted in its actors and still affect the thought patterns of many managerial workers, for example. Although the organisational culture was felt to have improved in favour of remote work, the restrictions in the organisation are still considered binding. The results show that flexibility towards remote work varies from person to person. One of the great dilemmas of human life is that people tend to mirror their own lives to those of other individuals, make comparisons, and assume that life for others would somehow be easier, more glamorous, or happier—whether it’s work, a relationship, or some other significant thing in life. In the life of another individual, one can see some factors that one might miss in one’s own life. These assumptions about the superiority of another’s life are not necessarily based on actual knowledge but are subjective views of individuals, which can be burdened by various error attributes (Heider, 1958) as well as the history of one’s own life and previous crisis points. Due to this kind of attitude inherent in people, it may be almost impossible to reach a situation in organisations where resistance to change towards new things would be completely eliminated.

Experiences of equity will probably never appear in the minds of employees in a completely positive way. Similarly, Buchanan and Huczynski (2004) point out that there may be strong resistance to change, but in a positive situation where the culture of discussion flows freely, constructive criticism of the individual and suggestions about development opportunities can actually contribute to the successful implementation of change. However, Warrick (2023) highlighted that there is the urgent need for organisations to become skilled at effectively managing change and resistance to change. Resistance to change is not, unequivocally, a bad thing, as it can also lead to better practices in the organisation over time if performed and still managed in a controlled manner. If staff can come up with ideas for improving the proposed change, the change will probably be easier to accept. In addition, if employees in their organisation are able to change their attitude and operating model in a more flexible direction, it will also have a direct impact on the organisation’s resilience to cope with various future organisational changes.

This study revealed that remote work reduces interaction between people in the same space, which can be very important, especially for soldiers. However, instead of this threatening effect on the team spirit of the work community, it would seem that the organisational culture in the Finnish Defence Forces has developed in such a way that the staff is feeling better nowadays and the trust within the organisation is even stronger than before. This is a very encouraging finding and is in line with previous studies (Kähkönen, 2023). An organisation with a high level of trust is more resilient and positive towards changes and reforms, and is able to maintain good operational capacity as well as agility in responding to various challenges.

Towards a modern work community

This study revealed that during remote work (especially during the COVID-19 pandemic), the Finnish Defence Forces have been able to develop the personnel’s skills in managing digital tools and their employer image in the eyes of their personnel. The Finnish Defence Forces have also probably improved their data protection expertise—they have learned to organise events and meetings online and they can manage their work tasks independently with existing arrangements without the immediate support of other people. The use of online meetings and related expertise has increased significantly, which creates capabilities for a networked approach as Finland integrates more closely with its western partners.

The opportunity to work remotely in Finland and outside Finland is a significant recruiting asset for the Finnish Defence Forces. Offering flexible forms of working creates an image of a modern and up-to-date employer in the eyes of the Finnish Defence Forces’ own employees as well as external evaluators of the organisation. When thinking about remote working practices, it can be useful to pick out the best parts of employees’ good experiences and, on the other hand, tackle factors that can lead to the organisational culture being affected negatively. Remote working the whole time is probably not the best solution, but in addition to remote working, it could be useful to develop other forms of flexible working, such as decentralised work, which means that the employee has the opportunity to work in the Finnish Defence Forces office closest to his or her home. The development of decentralised work could be a great relief and a demonstration of equality for military personnel who are often assigned to any location around the country and this can lead to long periods of separation from their own families. To sum up, even if people work remotely extensively, a visit to the workplace even occasionally can help combine the best aspects of remote working and on-site work.

Reliability and limitations of research

The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of whether employees of the Finnish Defence Forces felt that increased remote work had shaped the organisational culture in any way. Social constructivists act as interpreters of the diverse perspectives of informants. Research subjects often include phenomena that focus on the processes of interaction between individuals. Since reality is seen as subjective, constructivist researchers also acknowledge their own subjective position as a constraint, and do not even strive for complete objectivity. The first limitation of this study is that the researcher is one of the personnel of the Finnish Defence Forces, so the researcher’s own subjectivity must be accepted and identified. In other words, the researcher is not an entirely external observer and analyst, but the interpretations may also have been influenced by the researcher’s own experiences of remote work. However, the researcher’s ties to the studied organisation through work and studies can be seen as a positive factor in understanding the context, organisational culture, and remote work phenomenon, although it creates a challenge where one’s own experiences must be left in the background and focus on rigorously analysing the research data. This challenge was helped by analysing the data using a clear procedure (Gioia et al., 2012).

The second limitation is that when people work together, shared meanings are created. For example, different work cultures produce collective agency and opinions, which means that the respondents’ opinions can be influenced and strengthened by the opinions of the surrounding work team. However, research participants always have personal experiences, goals, and the ability to produce meanings, that is, personal subjectivity. In the survey situation, the respondents present viewpoints that they feel would promote their goals and interests (some oppose and some support remote work). In any case, the purpose is to describe the world from the point of view of the people being studied and their mutual activities, so different types of opinions make the qualitative material rich.

In qualitative research, the challenge may be the narrowness of the data. The adequacy of the data can be assessed using a saturation point. This refers to the stage in data collection when the collection of new data no longer produces new data. In other words, we are talking about finding a basic theoretical pattern that can be achieved with a certain amount of data, assuming that the researcher knows what kinds of answers he or she is looking for in his or her data (Tuomi and Sarajärvi, 2002). The saturation point was clearly achieved in this study, as similar experiences began to be repeated in the responses. It was then possible to form relevant categories and further larger themes from these. In qualitative research, even a relatively small amount of data can be used to achieve rich and deep knowledge of the research topic. In this study, the data was already quite extensive (N = 468).