Self-management in the workplace is increasingly common, and advocates argue that it not only results in better outcomes, but happier employees.  New research from Aalto University explores whether that is really the case.

The researchers interviewed 2,000 Finns to understand the conditions they work in and their wellbeing.  The participants were recruited to ensure a cross-section of industries, age groups, and educational backgrounds were represented.

“This study clearly shows that a stronger experience of self-management is associated with higher work engagement, and lower burnout. Employees with a sense of self-management also felt that they have an easier time recovering, and felt less stress,” the researchers say.

“What’s important about this study is that it included people that work in a wide range of companies and industries. The greater the level of hierarchy at work, the less engagement people experienced. Hierarchy was also a predictor of burnout symptoms.”

Under strain

Several hundred volunteers were then quizzed again a few months later, with a similar connection between engagement and self-management (or rather a similarly negative connection).

The analysis revealed that self-management tends to be more prominent in smaller organizations than in larger ones.  It is also more common the higher up in the organization one goes, and the higher the education level of the individual.

Interestingly, however, younger employees also felt high levels of self-management, with the group with the lowest levels being middle-aged employees.  The researchers note, however, that these differences were not significant.

Self-management

Whereas often self-management is regarded at a systemic level to imagine a world with few (or no) managers, the Finnish team instead looked through an individual lens at how much power people had to make decisions regarding their own work.  In this context, strong self-management would see the employee acting autonomously, whether in terms of their schedule, their priorities, or goals.

“Remote work, during the COVID-19 pandemic, must have led to an increase in self-management as the supervisors have been forced to give their employees the room to self-manage. This is very good for autonomy,” the researchers explain.