Managing human reliability in the context of telework - an approach based on the job demands-resources model, combined with the bow-tie method

As stated in the framework provided by the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model (Bakker and Demerouti, 2008), the demand dimension corresponds to the constraints imposed by the organization such as work pressure and the resource dimension corresponds to the advantages offered by the organization such as autonomy or social support. These two dimensions of demands and resources thus counterbalance each other and define the level of work commitment and finally its consequences in terms of performance. In the context of telework, which was the rule during the period of containment due to the COVID crisis, our qualitative field survey (involving more than 80 people) revealed numerous human risks such as demotivation, difficulties in resting on clear work instructions or a loss of meaning at middle management level had a direct effect on human reliability (Dhillon, 2013) and generally on work engagement. The problem is that the risk of a decline in work commitment is not something visible to the organization. We therefore propose to combine the JD-R model with the Bow-Tie method (Khakzad et al., 2012). Thus, the event becomes the work engagement, the threats, the demands (here we add the confinement) and the resources and the consequences correspond to the performance. This model is illustrated for the case of student recruitment and shows that a series of preventive controls must be put in place upfront.