Navigating ethical tensions: Remote working experiences of female middle managers in South Africa

Orientation: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic led many organisations to adopt remote work, highlighting a need to understand employees’ experiences. This shift has created a demand for interventions to support employees and organisations alike, particularly in managing the ethical challenges that accompany remote work. Research purpose: This study aimed to examine the ethical tensions faced by female middle managers in South Africa when working remotely. Motivation for the study: The study responds to calls to explore new working models, such as remote work, and their implications for both employees and organisations. Research approach/design and method: Using an interpretivist paradigm and a qualitative approach, this study focused on a sample of 23 female middle managers from public service entities in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Narrative analysis was employed to explore participants’ experiences, with data analysis incorporating three levels of meaning-making based on previous organisational behaviour research. Main findings: Three primary ethical tensions emerged. Firstly, ‘to disclose or not to disclose’ captured the challenge of accounting for time worked remotely. Secondly, ‘to trust or not to trust’ revealed trust issues between managers and their teams. Thirdly, ‘to control or not to control’ highlighted the difficulty of balancing autonomy and oversight. Practical/managerial implications: Proposed interventions include: (1) clear policy guidelines for remote work, (2) training on remote work etiquette, (3) a supportive organisational culture and (4) accountability measures to foster trust. Contribution/value-add: The findings offer public service entities insights to transition from command-and-control models towards adaptive approaches balancing autonomy with organisational goals.