A new report from Slack has claimed many workplace leaders are feeling the pressure of the “new normal”, and are leaning back on “old habits” to compensate.
The collaboration tool provider surveyed more than 10,000 office workers in the US, Australia, UK, France, Germany, and Japan for the October 2022 issue of its quarterly Future Forum Pulse report.
It found employees are becoming less satisfied at work, with 40% of workers citing burnout, with women, those in the 18-29 age bracket, and middle managers at the highest risk. The report also claimed that 57% of employees with expertise in their field are likely to look for a new job in the next year.
Pandemic company culture
As ever, the solution to job dissatisfaction is allowing for flexibility in the way employees can choose to work.
Hybrid and remote workers reported that they were 52% more likely to say that their company’s culture has improved over the last two years, with flexible work policies being the leading reason. As a result, 11% reported greater work-life balance, 25% less stress, and 6% higher productivity.
However, 60% of executives are still making policy decisions without consulting employees, and executives overall are three times less likely to want to work fully remotely. This is despite 40% of bosses reporting more stress and anxiety at work, 20% a worse work-life balance, and 15% less job satisfaction.
Long-term, the report suggests that the best way of fostering flexibility is by investing in collaboration, cloud storage, and video conferencing tools.
“If you’re thinking in terms of ‘returning’—returning to the old way, returning to the way the office used to be, 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, a founding partner of Future Forum.
“We need to move forward to a new path, and that requires engaging your employees to establish new ways of working together.”
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