Almost half of managers in the UK admit that a return to the office is more about appearance, according to new research from Indeed.
Its survey found that 44% of managers and 55% of employees felt that asking teams to return to the office was less about purpose and more about keeping up appearances.
Despite this, more than half of managers (57%) told Indeed that they expected employees to be back in the office full time within two years.
Almost half of employees (46%) said their organisation was treating a return to the office as a “cure-all” to its problems, with a greater proportion of bosses (54%) feeling this to be the case.
Return to office
Return to office mandate: has Amazon signalled the start of the post-diversity era?
Presence and productivity: does office time really make a difference?
More than half of managers (56%) said they favoured employees who came into the office more often, and 43% of employees were aware of this happening.
In the same week as staff at Starling Bank resigned over the company’s demands that they spend more time in the office, Indeed found that only 17% of employees said they would be prepared to go into the office more than mandated to. Six in 10 agreed that the government should strengthen employees’ rights to work from home.
One arrangement UK workers do feel positive about is a four-day working week – 82% of employers said this could become a reality for their company in less than five years, and 67% of employees thought they could fit their workload into a shorter working week. Fifty-nine percent of employers would welcome strengthened rights to introduce this.
But while the government has pledged to introduce a right to disconnect for workers, only 49% have faith that managers would not continue to contact them out of hours. The same proportion said they felt under pressure to respond to work messages immediately.
Senior leaders seem to drive this culture, with 44% admitting they feel pressure to stay online or be in the office after hours, even if they have completed their work. Similarly, employees felt that if senior leaders worked five days despite a shorter working week being in place, that this would trickle down to more junior staff.
Danny Stacy, UK head of talent intelligence at Indeed, said: “Flexible working policies are an excellent tool for businesses looking to attract and retain top talent, given the importance that workers clearly place on working in a way that suits them.
“What this looks like will differ between industries and individual businesses, but the good news for employers is that different forms of flexibility are gaining popularity. Not every business is able to offer remote work, for example, and could instead put into place a shortened work week or flexi-time.
“Employees have made it clear in our research that business leaders set the tone for flexible working. Organisations who believe in flexibility and want to ingrain this in their culture must ensure that senior employees lead by example, so workers at all levels feel empowered to follow suit.”
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
Latest HR job opportunities on Personnel Today
Browse more human resources jobs
