When happiness is the quietness of working from home: findings from home-based workers through the lens of common good HRM

Purpose – This study examines how home-based workers experience and conceptualise happiness in the context of the home–work relationship, using an emic approach that centres workers' own language and metaphors rather than predefined theoretical frameworks. Design/methodology/approach – The study employed constructivist grounded theory (Charmaz, 2014) with an abductive logic of inquiry. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 participants (17 home-based workers and 8 office-based contextual contrast participants) across high-tech, consulting and academic organisations in Israel over four months. Data were analysed through open coding, axial coding and theoretical abstraction, moving from first-order codes to second-order categories to a theoretical construct. Findings – Participants initially struggled to define happiness but spontaneously converged on “quietness” as their central organising metaphor – a term that did not emerge among office-based participants. Analysis revealed three dimensions of quietness as an enabling mechanism for happiness: external serenity (solitude and freedom from workplace interruptions); internal tranquillity (autonomy, privacy and psychological peace); and liminal quietness (a boundary-crossing state integrating economic security and work–life integration). Happiness was found to function simultaneously as goal, means and synonym for quietness. Research limitations/implications – The study is qualitative and conducted in Israel, limiting statistical generalisability. Future research should examine whether the quietness construct transfers across national and cultural contexts, and test its dimensions using quantitative methods. Practical implications – Organisations designing remote work policies should move beyond superficial flexibility measures to actively enable quietness – reducing cognitive and emotional load, protecting uninterrupted work time and providing economic security – as concrete expressions of common good human resource management (CGHRM) principles. Social implications – The findings suggest that traditional workplace structures, characterised by constant interaction and visibility, may be misaligned with evolving worker needs. Recognising quietness as a legitimate constituent of employee well-being has implications for organisational policy, work design and the broader societal understanding of happiness at work. Originality/value – This study makes an original contribution by conceptualising quietness as a multi-dimensional enabling mechanism for happiness in home-based work – a finding that could not have emerged from survey-based or scale-based research. The study further extends CGHRM theory by mapping each dimension of quietness onto a core CGHRM principle, providing the first empirical, employee-centred evidence of quietness as an outcome of CGHRM-oriented flexible work practices.