The Innovative Implications of Smart Working in a Post-pandemic Era: A Model of Smart Working Satisfaction in Public Sector Organizations

New technological imperatives have changed the configuration of work, shifting it toward flexible and high-performance logics. Added to this was the global health emergency that paralyzed most work activities, with dramatic impacts on employment. During and after the emergency, organizations have realized that digital transformation has the potential to increase productivity, and Smart Working (SW) is part of this transformation process. The variable this analysis focuses on is Smart Working Satisfaction (SWS) in Italian public organizations, with the aim of identifying trends and solutions to improve human well-being and labor productivity. Accordingly, the research aims to answer the following questions: (a) What factors influence SWS? (b) What effects on satisfaction does a flexible form of work generate? (c) How does SWS manifest itself? A survey of 1,252 civil servants tapped the level of satisfaction of agile workers. The study aims to shift the focus of the scientific literature on SWS toward a new organizational approach to work. This research seeks not only to fill a theoretical gap related to SWS but also to demonstrate how the diffusion of new flexible working logics enhances workers’ sense of affiliation.