Slack says hybrid working is here to stay, and attitudes need to change
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A new report from flaccid has argued that many workplace executives feel the pressure of the ‘new normal’ and rely on ‘old habits’ to compensate.
The collaboration tools provider surveyed more than 10,000 office workers in the US, Australia, UK, France, Germany and Japan for the October 2022 release of its quarterly Future Forum Pulse (opens in new tab) report.
It found that employees become less satisfied at work, with 40% of employees citing burnout, with women, people between the ages of 18 and 29 and middle managers at the highest risk. The report also states that 57% of employees with expertise in their field are likely to start looking for a new job in the next year.
Pandemic corporate culture
As always, the solution to job dissatisfaction is to allow flexibility in how employees can choose to work.
Hybrid and teleworkers reported that they were 52% more likely to say their company’s culture has improved over the past two years, with flexible work policies as the top reason. As a result, 11% reported better work-life balance, 25% less stress and 6% higher productivity.
However, 60% of executives still make policy decisions without consulting employees, and executives in general are three times less likely to want to work completely remotely. This is despite 40% of bosses reporting more stress and anxiety at work, 20% poorer work-life balance and 15% less job satisfaction.
In the long run, the report suggests that the best way to foster flexibility is to invest in collaboration, cloud storageand video conferencing tools.
“If you’re thinking in terms of ‘returning’ — returning to the old way, returning to the way the office was, returning to what worked for you — then it’s time to rethink that direction,” said Ryan Anderson, Vice President of Global Research and Insights at MillerKnoll, one of the founders of Future Forum.
“We have to break new ground and that requires you to involve your employees to develop new ways of working together.”