Were Relationships in the Workplace Changed? An Exploration of the Impacts of the Mandatory Work from Home Policy on Small and Medium-Sized Family Businesses in Switzerland

Abstract

Small- and medium-sized family business competitiveness is built largely upon trusted relationships between owners, management, and employees. This paper questions whether the quality of such relationships were changed by the work from home policy (WFH) utilized during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research analyses how mandatory WFH impacted interpersonal relationships between  employees  and  supervisors  in  small  and  medium-sized  family  businesses  (SMFB) by applying leader-member exchange theory (LMX). Thirteen in-depth interviews were conducted with owners or the executive management of Swiss SMFB. The study concludes that WFH affects the quality of the relationship between leaders and their employees. WFH is beneficial for the family business and its special relationships as long as all parties can count on well-established, trusted relationships and motivated and open-minded leaders who are capable of keeping the level of interpersonal communication with their employees well balanced. Where employees are struggling with WFH tasks while perceiving a denaturation of the leader-employee relationship a “call back to office” should be considered and indicates that effort is needed to improve the interpersonal relationship. A decent level of mutual trust between the parties helps firms to go through or overcome the down sides and turbulences under WFH and supports maintaining and enhancing leader-follower relationships during challenging times.