Abstract:

The shift to remote work due to the COVID-19 pandemic presented many challenges to organizations across the globe. Companies were confronted with issues on how to continue business operations all the while supporting their employees. As work shifted virtually, companies made sure there was provision of technological support and infrastructures. However, as the pandemic and work from home arrangements continues, the form of support needed from companies evolves as employees encounter mental and emotional challenges. In organizational support research, the most prominent construct studied is the Perceived Organizational Support (POS), which is the extent by which employees believe that the organization values them. POS has been linked to several organizational outcomes such as organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and turnover intention. Due to promising outcomes of POS, similar attention has been given to understand its antecedents caused by organization’s actions such as fairness, supervisor support, and organizational rewards and job conditions as well “dispositional variables” such as personality as well as demographic characteristics. Other authors have also explored the relationship of several psychological constructs with POS such as empowerment and mood. Despite the growing literature on both individual and organizational factors influencing POS, there is lack of literature examining the mental processes by how POS is formed.

This descriptive-correlational study extends the current literature on the association of employee awareness on organizational support. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between mindfulness and POS among public and private school teachers teaching in a remote set-up. Data were collected from 335 teachers using the 5-item Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale and the Survey on Perceived Organizational Support. This study also examined the difference in the level of POS of the respondents based on demographic characteristics. These demographic characteristics include level taught, total number of years teaching, sector (whether public or private), and civil status.

The findings revealed that there is no sufficient evidence to warrant that a significant relationship exists between mindfulness and perceived organizational support at the 0.05 level of significance. Also, the mindfulness level of remote teachers, as well as their perceived organizational support, are essentially and statistically the same when grouped according to levels taught, civil status, teaching experience, and sector served. At present, teachers have moderately low level of awareness of and attention to tasks and events taking place, and they have moderately low beliefs that the organization values their contribution and cares for their well-being.

Keywords:

mindfulness, mindfulness attention awareness, perceived organizational support, work from home, remote teachers.