Evaluating performance in the context of mobile telework: an attention-based view

Abstract

This study is an empirical account of how line managers evaluate the performance of their subordinates in the context of mobile telework. Whilst the increasing use of new technologies affords certain advantages for line managers in remote performance evaluation (PE), it also results in a greater volume, fragmentation and variety of performance data, which can be challenging to manage. Adopting an attention-based view (ABV), we shed light on the role of technology in PE, elaborating on the kinds of attentional stimuli that are generated by technology as part of the broader socio-technical work environment, and how these together with the attentional perspectives of the manager influence attentional engagement, i.e. what managers direct their time, energy and effort on in PE. Our focus is on attention as something line managers do, in their immediate context. We contribute to the remote work and PE literature by showing how the interplay between two drivers of attentional engagement: attentional stimuli (different possible foci of attention in the external environment) and managers’ own attentional perspectives (the cognitive and motivational structures that influence what stimuli receive attention) influence the attentional engagement in PE of mobile teleworkers.