Remote work: The impact of communication, technology and work-life balance on employee motivation

Orientation: Remote work has become a prevalent feature in today’s workplace and significantly transforming how organisations operate. This shift created both opportunities and challenges for sustaining employee motivation. Research purpose: This study examines how communication, technology and work–life balance collectively impact employee motivation among remote workers within a Namibian organisation, thereby identifying which of these factors is mostly associated with motivational outcomes in remote work environment. Motivation for the study: This study is motivated by the need to explore the triple impact of communication, technology and work life balance interactions on employee motivation in remote work settings. Research approach/design and method: A quantitative study was conducted using a causal-comparative design. Data were collected from employees in a Namibian service industry company using an online structured questionnaire. By using a census sampling technique, the survey was self-administered and anonymous. We utilised multiple linear regression analysis in SPSS version 28 software to analyse the data and test our hypotheses. Main findings: The findings reveal that technological support during remote work has the strongest positive impact, work–life balance has a strong positive influence, and effective communication has a moderate effect on employee motivation. This proves all the relationships to be statistically significant, implying that they are worth managerial considerations. Practical/managerial implications: To ensure employee motivation during remote work, organisations could continuously offer technological and communication support and implement work–life balance strategies. Contribution/value-add: Following the job demand-resource theory (JD-R), this study enriches the existing literature on remote work by examining the combined impact of communication, technology and work–life balance on employee motivation within remote work environments in Namibia.