How to Enforce Presenteeism with ICT while Mitigating Technostress – A Case Study

Abstract

We study enforced presenteeism, a source of technostress in which individuals are involuntarily exposed to stimuli from electronic connectivity systems. Drawing on a case study where enforced presenteeism is introduced in the form of a new contact center enterprise software, we analyze bank employees’ technostress before and after a process change that involves implementing a presenteeism-enabling information and communication technology (ICT). We find that prior to the change, employees exhibit high levels of technostress stemming from expected increases in work overload, invasion of privacy, and information overload. However, against all expectations, the employees’ stress levels decrease as a result of the implementation as specific ICT affordances are leveraged in a way that gives employees increased control over their work, increases transparency, and empowers them. We provide theoretical and practical implications for our findings.