Satisfaction with leadership is low and there is an increasing disconnect with employees with only a third of non-managers feeling they are getting due recognition.
This was among the findings of a global study looking at attitudes among workers and leaders as organisations prepare to start hybrid working as the Covid crisis continues.
This is no longer a ‘nice to have’; it is where the battle for talent will happen” – Adecco Group’s chief executive officer, Alain Dehaze
The study, by Swiss-based HR giant the Adecco Group, found that anxiety among staff about returning to the office was highest in Australia, UK and Canada where between 50% and 53% of workers reported doubts about the return. But although workers were actively considering new careers with more flexibility than previously there was no evidence that a “great resignation” was under way.
Globally, 53% of workers want a hybrid working model in which they spend more than half of their time working remotely, Adecco found.
The report indicated that there was a “risk of losing a new generation of leaders”. More than half of young leaders (54%) were suffering from burnout and three in 10 workers said their mental and physical health had declined in the past 12 months. Adecco stated companies needed to re-evaluate how they can better support and provide wellbeing resources to their employees within the new hybrid working model, with 67% of non-managers saying leaders don’t meet their expectations for checking on their mental wellbeing.
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Echoing recent findings by Gartner, the research uncovered a “big disconnect between management views of their own performance and the opinion of their employees”. Satisfaction with leadership was low, with only a third of non-managers feeling they were getting due recognition within the business, and only half of all workers agreeing that their managers had met or exceeded expectations for encouraging a good working culture (48%) or helping support their work/life balance (50%).
This was particularly strong in western Europe and Japan, where satisfaction with senior leadership was lowest.
Long hours and productivity
Feeding into this was the fact that workers reported that productivity had risen but long hours had increased, leading to 73% of workers and leaders calling to be measured by outcomes above hours.
A large proportion (53%) of workers want a hybrid working model where at least half of their time spent working is remote, with a large proportion of workers (71%) now having a set-up at home that allows effective remote work, the study reported.
Its findings support the view that the past 18 months has proved that remote work does not come with a loss of productivity, and that a more inclusive and flexible way of working is possible. The report found that more than three quarters of workers wanted to retain flexibility over their own schedule, going back into the office, but on their own terms.
Companies that are able and willing to recognise and deal with these issues will thrive, and those that are not may be left behind”
Motivation and engagement were generally at low levels across the workforce, researchers found, with less than half being satisfied with career prospects at their company and nearly two in five changing or considering new careers. More than a third (41%) were considering moving to jobs with more flexible working options.
However, the predicted “great resignation” was not yet evident, the report concluded.
The study, titled Resetting Normal: Defining the New Era of Work, takes in findings from 25 countries and 15,000 office-based respondents.
‘We will never return’
Adecco Group’s chief executive officer, Alain Dehaze, said: “For those who are not bound to being physically present to perform their work, it is obvious that we will never return to the office in the same way and that the future of work is flexible. The pandemic has accelerated existing trends to the point where they cannot be ignored, and future success depends on individuals and leaders adapting to them.
“Our research clearly shows that ‘one size will not fit all’ when it comes to addressing employees’ needs and we’re increasingly seeing a leadership struggling to balance remote working and care for their teams. Now is the time to start bridging this gap by developing and equipping leaders and workers alike with the skills and capabilities they need to reignite motivation and build a cohesive company culture that maintains and develops a successful, resilient and healthy workforce,” said Dehaze.
“This is no longer a ‘nice to have’; it is where the battle for talent will happen. Companies that are able and willing to recognise and deal with these issues will thrive, and those that are not may be left behind.”
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