A global study from Microsoft shows employers and employees disagree when it comes to productivity levels while working from home.
The survey interviewed 20,000 staff across 11 countries. It revealed that 87% of workers felt working from home was just as efficient than being in the office, while 80% of managers disagreed.
Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella told the BBC that the divide needs resolving, particularly as office numbers are unlikely to return to pre-pandemic levels.
“We have to get past what we describe as ‘productivity paranoia’, because all of the data we have that shows that 80% plus of the individual people feel they’re very productive – except their management thinks that they’re not productive.
“That means there is a real disconnect in terms of the expectations and what they feel.”
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It is not just COVID that has shown the value of hybrid working. COVID ironically was necessary because, it dragged a lot of companies kicking and screaming into the 21st Century. They were forced with the simple choice of embrace working from home, OR HAVE NOTHING AT ALL.
There are further benefits to those who can WFH doing so. I recently had an absolute stinker of a cold. Pre COVID I would have had to take 2-3 days off sick, and since my company uses the infernal and utterly ridiculous Bradford Factor, I would have been penalised for practising infection control. Now, if I am besnotted I WFH instead.
We in the UK at least are also having a series of train and public transport strikes. The Unions were hoping the country would be completely paralysed. The ability to WFH on a strike day means we can carry on. Indeed it is telling that the leader of the RMT has called for the WFH revolution to be halted and reversed.
Then of course there is people’s wellbeing. Why be shoe-horned like sardines into a packed commuter train, having to wake up at half past stupid o’clock in the morning and getting home at quarter too God forsaken o’clock in the evening, and being thoroughly ripped off for the privilege for your train ticket. When you can have a leisurely commute (in my case about 10ft). You have your own tea and coffee for which you are not stung. You can have lunch breaks with your own food. Particularly important for me as I have a food allergy.
WFH is here to stay. And the Dinosaurs that depended upon the old ways need to either evolve or die out.
Good points but I think that a key element of a manager’s role is as a strategic leader and many are finding it difficult to do that remotely. As S Holtam commented, managers need to think afresh.
Good on the RMT for taking action to defend safety on the railways, something I would assume readers of this publication would be in favour of, not all it seems.
I think this difference in opinion reflects that managers who previously knew what was going on by observation & ‘osmosis’ now need to better communicate with their teams to have visibility of what their teams are doing. Managers need to adapt to managing a team of hybrid workers, be more explicit with discussions around workload & output & re-evaluate how they oversee processes so they can still be confident & report accurately on productivity.
I think managers for years have liked to micro manage and some are afraid of change its been proven productivity isn’t affected and we need to move with the times.
How has this been proven and where can I find the data to back this claim