The impossible task of leading a confused workforce
This element of confusion is being exacerbated by the polarising topic of hybrid working. Whether you ask senior business leaders or entry-level employees, you’ll find arguments for both sides from both parties.
Those in favour will likely cite the increased flexibility and overall improvement to work-life balance that hybrid working has made possible. Those opposed will refer to a reduction in collaboration and the loss of workplace culture. But when you examine how employees are feeling about their work, it becomes evident that nobody is quite sure about what they want anymore, and it’s making for an extremely challenging environment to lead in.
Our survey found that the most common emotion experienced by employees at work is happiness (28%), although this positive note is quickly caveated with the fact that boredom/lack of motivation is the next most common (21%). How is it that employees are simultaneously happy and bored?
Following the pandemic, a desire for flexibility and work-life balance became the norm and a societal expectation. In turn, most employees began to demand hybrid and remote working options, and employers felt obligated to offer them – leading to a far happier workforce.
Our research has since found that having a good work-life balance is still the primary driver of wellbeing at work according to 30% of employees, a stance that 23% of leaders agree with. However, as the age-old saying goes – you can have too much of a good thing – and while employees are undoubtedly still enjoying the benefits of hybrid working, the flipside is beginning to show its face.
With teams dispersed, and the corporate office no longer the buzzing central hub that it once was, employees have lost much of the stimulation they once achieved through socialising and collaborating with their peers. The physical disconnect is also preventing leaders and their team members from communicating as effectively as needed, meaning issues at work cannot be addressed in good time.
In fact, 53% of leaders cite reduced collaboration and communication as the main challenges surrounding hybrid working. Plus, as a result of operating in a more siloed capacity for such a prolonged period of time, many employees are struggling to see how their work contributes to the success of the wider business and have lost their sense of purpose.
So, while most people are still all too happy to forego the daily commute in favour of a home office, undertones of boredom and disengagement are beginning to creep in. And as hiring across industries slows down, many workers are finding themselves stuck in jobs they no longer enjoy, but remain unwilling to accept a return to the office as a viable solution to retrieving some of what they may have lost in the shift to hybrid working.
And it’s this stubbornness that has led to an extremely contradictory workforce. Our survey found that 70% of employees feel they work better as a team when working in-person as opposed to remotely, but only 1% say face-to-face time with colleagues contributes to their wellbeing.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that remote workers are feeling increasingly disconnected from their company mission, and yet more than a third of desks globally sit empty all week long and employees continue to prioritise remote working over alternative benefits such as a four-day working week. Plus, Gen Z workers are actively seeking less stressful jobs to prioritise work-life balance, and yet our research found that they are the demographic most likely to feel bored at work (23.7%).
A bored workforce is an unengaged workforce, and an unengaged workforce is an unproductive workforce. So, as a leader faced with employees who are disconnected, unmotivated and not as productive as they previously were, the re-introduction of office life does seem like a viable and logical option – a decision that many organisations have already come to. But with employees still firmly opposed to the office’s full-time revival, and 73% of executives who have already mandated a return to the office expressing regrets over their strategies, what is the right course of action to take when trying to re-engage remote and/or hybrid workers?
It seems that conundrums such as this may be contributing to many leaders questioning their own abilities.
“With the physical disconnect that has come with hybrid working, a level of communication between leaders and the wider workforce seems to have been lost, resulting in a misalignment of values and many remote and/or hybrid employees struggling to find a sense of connection to both their work, and their employer. While a return to the office may seem like the only way to reopen these lines of communication, businesses must look to instill a culture of transparency and feedback to help leaders better understand what their employees want.”
Sector: FMCGOrganisation size: 35k employeesChallenge: Driving cultural shift from the top down
A global food manufacturer wanted to upskill its leaders so that they could more effectively empower employees to drive growth and move forward in their careers with purpose.
We worked with the client to create a development programme for its leadership population that would facilitate higher levels of trust between colleagues, help each individual identify and explore their development areas, and enable the team’s ongoing growth.
The programme’s objectives were to examine the power, context, environment and desired outcomes of the team. These insights would then inform the development of each team members’ leadership capability and empower them to drive a cultural shift.
Upon the completion of the programme, the beginnings of a cultural shift were visible. Leadership capability has strengthened, business unit silos have been broken down and an increase in cross-function working was evident.
As a result of the positive outcome, the client has requested additional 1:1 executive coaching to further support the team cement their successes.
