Low job-satisfaction and high workload may help to improve introduction and usage of telemedicine

What is it about?

Common sense and overwhelming empirical evidence assure that employees like to share their knowledge, support each other, and readily accept new technologies, when they are satisfied with their job and feel only a low workload. The data from our project Land|Rettung (Rural|Rescue) implementing a Tele Emergency Physician (TEP) system, however, shows quite the opposite: Technology acceptance was higher after the implementation of tele-medicine for nurses but not for other professions, and it was higher when the workload was high. Regarding knowledge sharing, employees with low work satisfaction are more likely to share their digital knowledge as compared to employees with high work satisfaction.

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Photo by camilo jimenez on Unsplash

Photo by camilo jimenez on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Our research illustrates that employees’ workload has an impact on the intention of using digital applications. The higher the workload, the more people are willing to use TEPs. Regarding active knowledge sharing, we see that employees with low work satisfaction are more likely to share their digital knowledge compared to employees with high work satisfaction. And: After implementing the new technology, work satisfaction increased for the more experienced employees, but not for the less experienced ones. This might be attributed to an effect known as the ‘Dunning-Kruger effect’: Highly knowledgeable employees initially feel uncertain about the change, which translates into temporarily lower work satisfaction. Therefore, they feel the urge to fill even small knowledge gaps, which in return leads to higher work satisfaction. Those responsible need to acknowledge that digital change affects their employees’ workflow and work satisfaction. During such times, employees need time and support to gather information and knowledge in order to cope with digitally changed tasks.

Perspectives