Professor Zachary Spicer

This past January, professor Spicer was awarded the SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant, partnering with UpBeing. UpBeing heavily leverages AI which passively analyses the minimum information required to reconstruct a user’s workday while intermittently querying them about their emotional state, productivity, goals, and goal achievement. UpBeing collects data without burdening users with lengthy data input, making it ideal to test as a tool for those interested in workforce innovation. Professor Spicer mentions that “there have been other studies exploring the impact of hybrid and remote work, largely through survey work. Our partnership with UpBeing has allowed us to really explore the wellness component, adding a new dimension to this debate about not only where public servants are more productive but also which work environments best support their mental and physical health.” 

To better understand the impact of remote and hybrid work, professor Spicer, and research assistant Paul Tablon Modica recruited a total of 50 public servants from each order of government (provincial/territorial, local and federal) to complete a beta-testing study on measuring productivity and employee wellness using the UpBeing app. The study included those working in one of three settings: 1) entirely remote (from home or someplace other than their office), 2) entirely at the office (spending no time working remotely) or 3) hybrid (spending time at both the office and remotely). Over a 90-day period, each participant utilized the UpBeing app to track various activities, including work tasks, motivation, life events and their general mood. Professor Spicer suggests that “adjusting to new models of work in the public sector is a timely and live policy issue for many managers. They need help and support in this process and I’m glad we could add some perspective through a unique experiment.” 

Professor Spicer would like to acknowledge the support of associate dean Ravi de Costa and the LA&PS Research Office staff in facilitating this project. Professor Spicer can be contacted at zspicer@yorku.ca.