KPMG survey shows two-thirds of CEOs think employees will be back in the office full time three years from now
From www.marketplace.org – October 6, 3:27 AM
But fewer CEOs feel confident of their firm’s fortunes than last year, a KPMG survey shows. More execs also want people back in the office.
Kate Lister’s insight:
A new survey of CEOs conducted by KPMG suggests large employers are still not on board with hybrid or remote work. In fact, 64% think employees will be back in the office in three years time (up from just 34% in 2022).
REALLY? This certainly isn’t what I am seeing and hearing. How about you?
Nearly nine in ten say they will use favorable assignments, raises, and promotions as rewards for those why comply.
REALLY? Is that even legal? Leaders may think those incentives are carrots but I would bet the employees who want a hybrid or remote arrangement will see them as sticks.
What do you think?
Where AI is headed and how it will impact everything you do
From www.oneusefulthing.org – October 5, 1:30 AM
We can start to see, dimly, what the near future of AI looks like.
Kate Lister’s insight:
This is really interesting article about where AI and large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT are headed in the near future. It’s written by a professor from Wharton who is studying how AI will change how we learn and how we work.
LLMs are evolving very quickly. He predicts the next iteration will be able to out-innovate many humans and enhance our performance of complex tasks. Google, Microsoft/Open AI, and a few others are adding the ability of their models to hear, speak, and see and create images. These models can now match the performance of experts in diagnosing disease, reading radiology reports, detecting design and production defects, evaluating auto insurance claims, critiquing VC pitches, prioritizing email, and more.
The author stresses that these models are not perfect, but they are already performing far better than they were just ten months ago.
Regular Remote Work Can Halve An Employee’s Carbon Footprint BUT Only If They Modify Behavior
From www.scientificamerican.com – October 3, 5:25 AM
Kate Lister’s insight:
Remote work advocates have long held that working from home can substantially reduce an employees carbon footprint. An in-depth study from Cornell University and Microsoft found that may be true, but only if they do so two or more days a week, do not replace their commuter travel with driving for other reasons, and their employer is able to reduce real estate or energy usage. Desk-sharing among hybrid workers, for example, was shown to reduce a company’s carbon footprint by 28%. Under those conditions, the research estimates remote work four or five days a week can reduce an employees carbon footprint by up to 54%. Less frequent work-from-home can reduce it by up to 29%, but at one-day a week, there is almost no savings.
The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, meticulously measured in-office and at-home energy usage. The latter included the carbon footprint associated with home computer equipment—which was found to be negligible; extra energy used due to heating, cooling, lighting, and even cooking; and “induced driving”—extra trips to the store, school pickups, social activities, and more.
As companies struggle to quantify their Scope 3 environmental impact, which includes employee travel, they need to understand there isn’t necessarily a one-to-one reduction in remote work and an employee’s carbon footprint.
Once again, leaders are clueless about whether employees want to separate or integrate their work and life
From www.gallup.com – September 20, 8:12 AM
A new metric reveals how employees want to configure work and life, a preference that can have a big impact on how they are managed in the new workforce.
Kate Lister’s insight:
According to data from Gallup, CHROs believe 76% of white collar workers would prefer to work a schedule that allows them to blend their work and life. But data from employees about their actual preferences shows only 55% want to blend; a third less than what leadership assumed.
Maybe we should ask them rather than assuming?
- Republicans are far more skeptical of WFH productivity than Democrats
- Half of Grindr’s Workforce Resigns Over RTO Mandate
- Gender Gap in Workforce Participation and Pay Reaches Record Low
- Global Survey Shows Less Than Half of Adults Trust CEOs to Do the Right Thing
- The Untapped Potential in Holistic Flexibility—Lessons From Neurodiversity
- Millions to Benefit (Or Not) From Britain’s Flexible Working Bill
- Sponsor Spotlight: MovePlan
- Don’t miss a single WE session at World Workplace Denver
- Limited Availability for IFMA’s Workplace Strategy & Leadership Program—Reserve Now!
Trust in Business and Confidence That Things Will Get Better Declining in Most Countries
From www.edelman.com – September 18, 1:56 PM
Lack of faith in societal institutions triggered by economic anxiety, disinformation, mass-class divide, and a failure of leadership brought us to where we are today – deeply polarized.
Kate Lister’s insight:
The trust crisis goes far beyond how managers feel about their workers. The Edelman Trust Barometer, a survey of 32k adults from 28 countries, shows:
– Compared to 2022, trust in business declined in over half of countries surveyed
– Only 40% of respondents trust they will be better off in 5 years (down 10 percentage points from 2022)
– Nearly 90% are worried about losing their job
– Only 48% trust CEOs to “do what is right”
– Respondents want business leaders to step up their game on social issues. They were over six times more likely to say business leaders should be doing more, rather than less, about climate change, income inequality, energy shortages, and healthcare access, and five times more likely to say the same about workforce up-skilling
– Over 70% felt CEOs are obligated to expose questionable science that is used to justify bad policy and/or pull money from platforms that spread misinformation
The trends vary substantially between countries. Download the full report for the details.
Are People Who WFH Productive? The Answer Depends on Whether You Ask a Democrat or Republican
From news.gallup.com – September 18, 11:25 AM
Republicans are more skeptical about WFH productivity than Democrats and independents.
Kate Lister’s insight:
Gallup’s latest WFH data shows 42% percent of Republicans believe employees who WFH are less productive than on-site workers, compared with 23% of independents and 13% of Democrats.
Other trends the new data reveals:
– Overall, 73% of U.S. adults think remote workers are just as or more productive than their in-office colleagues.
– The average frequency of WFH, among those who have ever done so, is 1.9 days a week. This represents a 35% decrease from the peak of the pandemic (when the average was 3 days a week), and a 33% increase over the frequency in 2019 (1.5 days a week).
– Of the people who WFH, 63% now do so instead of traveling to an office. rather than working from home after-hours in addition to their in office work
#wfh #remotework #distributedwork #productivity #gallup
Don‘t miss Workplace Evolutionaries’ amazing lineup of sessions and activities planned for IFMA’s World Workplace in Denver (Sept 25-29)!
September 18, 9:44 AM
Check out the awesome sessions and activities Workplace Evolutionaries has planned for IFMA’s World Workplace in Denver (Sept 25-29)! Download the full schedule here!
Kate Lister’s insight:
Here is a schedule of what WE has planned for IFMA’s World Workplace in Denver (Sept 25-29)!
Tuesday’s Half-Day Event at Gensler’s Denver Office (9/26, 10-2):
WE Converge—an intimate dialog on shaping the future of urban workspaces. This half-day session is free, but seats are limited. Reserve your spot here.Wednesday’s lineup (9/27):
• What’s new with WE, a quick overview of all WE has to offer from the WE leadership team
• The Emerging Role of the Chief Workplace Officer with Leni Rivera
• Structured Choice: Creating a Structure for Flexibility with John H. Vivadelli
• ESG By The Numbers with Suki Reilly, MCR.w, SLCR
• WE: What’s Next and Close with Kate North and Michelle Weiss
• Fun and Networking at the combined WE/IT/EMEA Social—Reservations required! Advance sign-up required; limited seats. Sign up in advance: https://lnkd.in/gJthFiyDThursday’s lineup (9/28):
• The Future of Work: Navigating Emerging Technologies and Leveraging Data to Attract Talent with Henry Massey & Kate Lister. Spoiler: There will be an exciting first-ever reveal of the WE Metaverse created just for WE by Elora Partners
• Optimizing the Triple Bottom Line—What promises to be a lively debate about which way the ‘where we work’ pendulum will swing? Moderated by WE Moshpit co-founder, David Gray, MCR.wFriday’s lineup (9/29)
• The Circular Workplace, a cross-community initiative and case study in practice with Gary Miciunas and Lisa Whited
• Panel Discussion on the Latest Findings from IFMA’s Expert Assessment with Jeffrey Saunders, Dr. Marie Puybaraud, Luis R. Viña, Kay Sargent, Peter Ankerstjerne, and WE founder Kate NorthDownload all the details here.
The dating app told employees last month they had to work from an office twice a week.
Kate Lister’s insight:
The online dating site, Grindr, gave its workforce the choice of working in the office twice a week or receiving a six month severance package. Around 80 of 178 employees took them up on it.
Workers claim the ultimatum, which came in August, was in retaliation for a unionization attempt in July. Whether it was or was not, the loss of trust almost certainly played a role in the big exodus.
#trust #remote #hybrid #unionization #resignation #turnover
Gender Gap in Workforce Participation and Pay Reaches Record Low
From www.hamiltonproject.org – September 8, 2:21 PM
The greatest contributors to the post-COVID rebound in labor force participation are prime-age women–remarkably, those with young children.
Kate Lister’s insight:
The gender pay and workforce participation gap is at its lowest ever. The research by Brookings identified a surprise bounce back from the start of the pandemic, which initially widened both gaps. While women’s participation in the labor force increased across all age brackets, the largest shift was among women with children under the age of five. Though this group’s representation in the labor force is still nearly ten percentage points lower than it is for women with older or no children (70.4% vs. 80%), the increase marks the reversal of a decades-long decline.
The study suggests the increase in participation could be due to the increase in flexible work practices, Covid-related fiscal and health policies that made it easier for mothers of young children to have a job, and possibly a reversal of maternity patterns.
HBR: The untapped potential in holistic flexibility—Lessons from Neurodiversity
From hbr.org – August 16, 3:14 PM
“True, sustainable flexibility is about more than just work location and hours. It encompasses which tasks people do and how they get them done. It’s about making work “fit” people, not the other way around. When organizations center the design of work on humans, values, and long-term success in this way people become productive, resilient, inclusive, and equitable.”
Kate Lister’s insight:
The opportunities for employee flexibility go way beyond the where and when of work. The author’s specialty in neurodiversity has led her to discover a mindset of “comprehensive flexibility” would benefit not just those with a disability or neurodivergence; it would minimize stress and maximize productivity for everyone regardless of gender, race, caregiving, and socio-economic status.
By “comprehensive flexibility,” the author means a broad palette of choice in when, where, how much, how regularly, and how consistently a person works. She offers examples of organizations like Lemon Tree Hotels, Ultranauts, and Siemens that offer flex options such as part-time or seasonal work as well as sabbaticals, job-sharing, variable work days, and job-crafting.
We don’t hear much about job-crafting— breaking jobs into smaller chunks and reassembling them in a way that better fits the individual—but we will. Imagine if you could do just the parts of the job you enjoy! And you could do them when, where, and how you wanted.
“It’s about making work “fit” people, not the other way around,” says Praslova.” When organizations center the design of work on humans, values, and long-term success in this way, they become productive, resilient, inclusive, and equitable.”.
Millions of British workers will have more flexibility over where and when they work as the Flexible Working Bill achieves Royal Assent.
Kate Lister’s insight:
Perhaps we should be celebrating over this, but I’ve watched programs like this play out over many years and, well, I’m not convinced this is the way to move the needle on flexibility. Problem is, I can make whatever flexibility requests I want over and over and my employer can reject them over and over.
Why not start with the assumption that people are entitled to flexibility, particularly if it was proven to work during the pandemic? Then put the onus on employers to prove why they can’t flex their time or place of work.
Sponsor Spotlight: MovePlan is a global expert in change and move management services
From moveplangroup.com – September 19, 9:47 AM
Space is a valuable asset. With more businesses providing hybrid / flexible working policies, it’s important to understand how best to use a workspace. It’s also critical to ensure any workplace transformation is correctly implemented from the outset. MovePlan works with leadership teams to prepare, equip and support employees to use workspaces effectively and adopt new behaviours efficiently—positively impacting how they use their workspace, service clients and deliver a positive workplace experience for all.
There‘s still time to register for IFMA’s Workplace Strategy & Leadership Program.
From we.ifma.org – September 18, 9:31 AM
Welcome to the Workplace Strategy & Leadership Program, Module 1.
Kate Lister’s insight:
IFMA’s Award Winning Workplace Strategy & Leadership Program (WSLP)
Gain an edge in today’s competitive business environment by creating exceptional user experiences that boost human performance. Learn about transforming the workplace into a strategic asset and coordinating all the disciplines / infrastructure needed to advance the business goals while supporting people in doing their best work.
WSLP is the only Workplace Strategy education curriculum endorsed by IFMA. Earn your WSLP Certificate of Completion, Badge and CEUs.
Download the WSLP flyer here.
New sessions start in October, 2023 and January, 2024. Register here: https://we.ifma.org/wsl-module-1/
- Employment among those with disabilities hit a record high and is still climbing!
- A must-read: The Impact of the Pandemic on the Real Estate Market (McKinsey Institute)
- GAO Report shows the majority of Federal office buildings are less than 25% occupied
- The richest countries in the world will run out of workers over the next three decades
- Unexpected work-from-home and AI humor from an academic journal
- “Returning for Good” report uncovers globally nuanced data on the struggle to bring employees back to the office
- Meta’s, um, retro solution to the noisy office
- Large companies banning ChatGPT. Should yours?
- College grads are rejecting big city jobs in a big way
- WE Sponsor Spotlight
Employment among those with disabilities hit a record high and still climbing!
From www.nbcnews.com – July 17, 4:59 PM
While the remote work boom helped some workers find additional flexibility, it has also eliminated longstanding obstacles for this vulnerable community.
Kate Lister’s insight:
Remote work advocates have long suggested that remote work would help create employment opportunities for those with physical or mental disabilities. It turns out WE/they were right. More than 1.5 million workers in this category have joined the workforce since prior to the pandemic. While there is still a long way to go, the employment-to-population ratio among those formally designated as disabled stands at a record high of over 22% and it’s growing at a rapid pace since mid-2020.
Allison Chase, president and CEO of The Able Trust, a Florida-based nonprofit focused on the disabled community says “basic transportation is one of the biggest barriers many people with disabilities have faced when looking for work. The post-pandemic remote-work boom has helped to eliminate that obstacle.”
Experts estimate that one-quarter of the U.S. population lives with a disability, but 70% are not counted. As a result of stigmas, fear, and other barriers, only 4% of workers self-identify as disabled. Those whose disabilities are cognitive in nature, are particularly “invisible.” And a 2023 report from PWC‚ a good read on its own, indicates that only 13% of companies are actively addressing neurodiversity.
Unfortunately, even the ADA does not automatically protect even those with a formal disability designation from being required to be in the office. This needs to change if we want to expand opportunities for not just this group, but other marginalized populations such as those who live with undisclosed disabilities, military spouses, caregivers, and others.
The Impact of the Pandemic on the Real Estate Market (McKinsey)
From www.mckinsey.com – July 18, 8:44 AM
In this McKinsey study, we look at how the pandemic has affected the real estate market in the world’s biggest cities and what we can expect to see next.
Kate Lister’s insight:
This 88-page report from the McKinsey Institute is a must read for our industry. It looks at how the pandemic has affected, and will likely continue to affect, where people work, live, and shop in the world’s largest cities. Here are a some highlights from just the first ten pages:
– Their moderate scenario estimates the decline in demand for urban office space to be, on average, 13% lower in 2030 than in 2019. The severe scenario puts the decline at 38%.
– The estimated decline in value associated with those scenarios is between 26% ($800B) and 42%.
– The impact will be vastly different from one city to the next. San Francisco, New York, and Munich will be the hardest hit.
– Office occupancy dropped by 90% at the peak of the lockdown. Currently, it is still down 30% from the pre-pandemic level.
– On average, office workers were in the office 3.5 days a week. That frequency was slightly less among the professional services and information sectors (3 days and 3.2 days, respectively).
– Up to 7% of people made a permanent move from the city during the pandemic. The greatest outbound migration occurred in Dallas, New York, and San Francisco.
– Foot traffic near urban stores is 36% lower than it was before the pandemic. Owing to increased online shopping, suburban stores saw a 16% decline.
– Transaction volume (the total dollar value of all sales) fell by 57% in the top US cities, the average sale price per square foot fell by 20%, and asking rents fell by nearly 22% (all in real terms) from 2019 to 2022.
GAO Report shows the majority of Federal office buildings are less than 25% occupied
From www.gao.gov – July 17, 3:53 PM
The federal government’s office spaces cost billions every year to lease, operate, and maintain. Even before the pandemic, agencies struggled.
Kate Lister’s insight:
A new GAO report shows the large majority of the US federal government’s nearly 700 million square feet of owned and leased space is less than 25% occupied. This is based on occupancy data (as measured by space usage vs. capacity) from 24 agencies that account for nearly 98% of the government’s real property. The GAO testimony indicated:
– All of the agencies had completed their return to office transition by the end of 2022 and occupancy has since stabilized.
– The annual cost of leasing and operating those buildings totals approximately $7B a year.
– More than half of 180 million square feet of leased space will be up for renewal in the next three to four years
– Seventeen of the 24 agencies reported occupancy of less than 25%. Among the other seven agencies, none reported occupancy higher than 49%.
The report identified three primary causes for the low utilization:
– Agencies have long retained more space than they needed
– Much of the space is not configured to support a modern workforce
– In-office work has not returned to pre-pandemic levels due to continued telework.
The richest countries in the world will run out of workers over the next three decades
From www.nytimes.com – July 17, 2:50 PM
The most powerful countries have benefited from large work forces for decades. What happens when they retire?
Kate Lister’s insight:
“To cope (with aging populations), experts say, rich countries will need to rethink pensions, immigration policies, and what life in old age looks like.”
In 2013, a quarter of the population of Japan was over 65 years of age. In all of recorded history, no population has ever been as old as Japan’s is now and others are expected to get there over the next ten to thirty years. By 2032, most of Western Europe will hit the twenty-five percent mark, and by 2044, South Korea, Britain, and Eastern Europe will do the same.
Meanwhile, the working populations of developing countries are growing.
In 1990, eight of the ten largest economies in the world also had the highest percentage of working age citizens. According to World Bank data, by 2023, only two were in the top ten (South Korea and China) and by 2050, India will be the only country on the list. If these predictions prove correct and the aging countries don’t prepare for a shrinking percentage of their working age populations, they may face a gradual decline in well-being and economic power.
The major transformation in the where of modern workplaces is about to collide with a transformation in who is doing that work.
Kate Lister’s insight:
This article comes from a respected peer-reviewed journal (JSTOR). It’s interesting in its own right, but what I enjoyed were the unexpected giggles about AI and remote work. Though the author probably didn’t set out to be funny but I did get a giggle from these lines:
Citing a Gallup survey that found 94% of employees in remote-capable jobs want to keep working from home at least part of the time, the author concludes “We might miss the human contact with colleagues, but we don’t miss it enough to put on pants and go to the office every day.”
In defense of some of the criticisms around the current AI offerings the author writes “An always-on, nearly infinitely knowledgeable colleague who is happy to brainstorm or spitball on the subjects of your choice. So maybe it’s a little prone to spouting false info, but really, is that any different from the reliability of human colleagues?”
And regarding the argument that there are just as many interruptions at home as there are in the office the author notes “Sure, your dog might bark—but he doesn’t expect you to answer!”
“Returning for Good” report uncovers globally nuanced data on the struggle to bring employees back to the office
From www.unispace.com – July 12, 3:35 PM
Unispace conducted a global survey of 16,000+ employees from over 6,000 employers in 17 countries to better understand the differences and similarities of attitudes regarding the return to office.
Kate Lister’s insight:
It’s a 158-page treasure trove of nuanced insights about the impact of return-to-office mandates on employee attitudes and intentions, company plans regarding real estate, space design, incentivizing RTO strategies, uptake of the four-day workweek, employee location preferences for different types of work, and much more! Individual reports are provided for a number of countries and regions.
“The Cube,” which the company is beginning to roll out to offices worldwide after months of development, absorbs sound from multiple directions, says John Tenanes, vice president of global real estate and facilities at Meta. “It’s like a self-cocoon.”
Kate Lister’s insight:
Recognizing that a hybrid work environment would create new problems around noise, Meta has been prototyping new solutions that would allow someone to say, take a zoom call at their desk without disturbing your colleagues. They considered adding more ‘phone booths’ but a building code requiring separate sprinklers for each one sent them back to the drawing board.
The current design iteration, is a felt-like semi-flexible screen that can be wrapped around an existing desk for both visual and sound privacy. Testing showed these units could reduce noise by 20db. Their engineers took to the new idea and quickly staked their claim on spaces they could call their own by personalizing them with items they brought from home.
While I feel like I’m having groundhog’s day return to the cubicle experience, Meta sees it as a flexible way to solve two of the biggest complaints around open offices, noise and privacy. They have ordered 7,000 units and plan to make these available in about 10% of spaces.
Many employers still don’t know what to do about Generative AI at work.
Kate Lister’s insight:
While many have embraced ChatGPT and similar AI technologies, companies including JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, Verizon, Northrop Grumman, Samsung, Amazon, and Accenture have, at least for now, blocked employees from accessing them. The majority have done so for, what they consider to be, safety reasons.
It’s not that they are rejecting the potential utility of the technology, but they worry that, left unchecked, employees could inadvertently expose private customer data and/or intellectual property.
If you or your company is using ChatGPT, and let’s face it most are, be sure you/they understand that what goes into most of these intriguing platforms, feeds the algorithm and could, therefore, come out.
Educated workers are increasingly migrating away from the country’s most expensive major metros — and have been since before the pandemic.
Kate Lister’s insight:
You can’t blame the pandemic for instigating the outbound migration of talent from big cities, but it did accelerate the trend. Data through 2021 shows:
- The NY metro area’s net loss of college graduates totaled over 100k in 2021
- SF lost 25k
- D.C. lost 15k
These cities are not alone in the net brain drain. Other high cost areas including Los Angeles, Chicago, San Jose, and Seattle, are in the same boat. Even Boston is losing it’s pull. The large majority have opted for somewhat smaller metro areas such as Phoenix, Austin, and Raleigh N.C. In 2020 and 2021 some opted for mid-sized metros and even rural areas.
The NYT article points to cost of living as the primary reason white-collar workers are following the outbound trend set by their blue-collar neighbors years ago.
The end result is that if employers expect to hire the best and the brightest, they are going to have to think beyond their downtown office towers.
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WE Love our 2023 Sponsors! THANK YOU to our GREAT WE sponsors! Your generous support makes our Community, Programs, and Events possible. You inspire us to maximize member value.
Kate Lister’s insight:
Would you like to join our illustrious group of sponsors? Download the WE 2023 Sponsor Benefit table for all the details about the benefits or contact David Karpook, Susan Spiers, or Pat Turnbull for questions and opportunities.
KPBS Midday Edition—Interview with Kate Lister on the pros, cons, and in-betweens of the 4-day workweek
From www.kpbs.org – June 27, 5:21 PM
Results from a recent four-day work week pilot program in the United Kingdom show promise, and have some workplaces considering moving to the shorter week.
Kate Lister’s insight:
“I don’t think it is the kind of thing we legislate and we say everybody’s going to do it. I think that it’s the kind of thing like, okay , we’re going to offer you this option of a compressed workweek, or a four day workweek, or hybrid, or working part time, or staggering your shift hours, or having a flexible start or end time.”
“Even within the envelope of the building, organizations are making their footprint more flexible. So adding co-working spaces…or adding places where you can do quiet work, recognizes that one of the biggest complaints in office buildings is it’s too noisy and there are too many distractions.”
“We learned a lot during the pandemic about why people didn’t like going to the office. And the companies that want them to come back are making changes to make it more of a destination.”
• WEF publishes Real Industry Trend Outlook 2023-2027
• ADP’s People at Work 2023: A Global Workforce View of What Employees Have Versus What They Want
• What EU country has the highest share of regular remote workers? The Netherlands…
• The latest data on return-to-office trends from WFH Research
• WEF Future of Jobs Report suggests the need for learning and development spaces
• Research shows less mentoring on WFH days though it does not suggest a causal relationship
• Office Demand Index Report shows office space showings down 37% from before the Pandemic
• Report suggests innovation strategies should be shared more widely and better aligned with organizational goals
• Business travel may never recover from the pandemic
• Sponsor Spotlight: Discover the new Planon Workplace App
• WE LOVE Our Sponsors
Industry and geographic breakdowns are included in the WEF Job Trends Report.
Kate Lister’s insight:
The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report includes predicted trends in the real estate industry including:
– The impact of global trends and technology changes on job creation
– Structural industry churn due to job declines and increases
– Tasks that are and will be performed by machine
– Talent outlook
– Skills and reskilling outlook
– Types of training anticipated
– Workforce strategy outlook
– Components of DEI programs outlook
ADP’s People at Work 2023: A Global Workforce View of What Employees Have and What They Want
From www.adpri.org – May 8, 3:01 PM
The sense that workers want – and need – a lot from their job is stronger than ever. They require remuneration that keeps pace with rising living costs and makes them feel valued for their efforts. They need work to satisfy them personally and professionally and gives them the flexibility so many people have come to expect in recent years. They want a supportive company culture that strives for fairness and inclusivity. And they expect employers to invest in their futures via proactive career development and training opportunities
Kate Lister’s insight:
This survey of 32k global employees from 17 countries delivers some great information about what workers want and they are getting from their employer. It covers satisfaction with compensation, benefits, flexibility, career opportunities, training, DEI, mental health, and more. Here are a few statistics that caught my attention:
– Respondents from China are most satisfied with the training and development they receive from their employer; those from Argentina were the least satisfied (38%).
– Fifty-two percent of U.S. employees were satisfied with their career progression compared to just 31% in Italy.
– In every country, flexibility in when they work is more important than flexibility where employees work. Flexible hours are most critical in North America and Latin America—38% named it among their top three factors of importance in their job. Flexibility in where they work was lowest in Europe—15% included it in their top 3.
– Hybrid workers were the most satisfied with their flexibility—60% in time, 62% in location. On premise workers were the least satisfied—50% for when and 47% for where.
– About a quarter of employees have complete flexibility in where they work. Forty-one percent have some flexibility, and 31% have none.
What EU country has the highest share of regular remote workers? The Netherlands, with nearly 65% uptake in 2022 is the standout.
From www.adpri.org – May 8, 3:01 PM
Data from Eurostat and Statista reveals which European countries have the highest percentage of remote workers.
Kate Lister’s insight:
Based on data from Eurostat and Statistica, the article indicates about 30% of EU workers regularly worked at home in 2022. Leading the pack was the Netherlands with nearly 65% of people working remotely on a regular basis. Luxembourg, Sweden, and Ireland all show uptake at more than 50%. France, Malta, and Austria showed the lowest remote participation among EU countries. The UK was not included in the chart. Data from the U.K. government indicates as of January 2023, 44% of U.K. employees were working remotely (16%) or were hybrid workers (28%).
Patterns of remote, hybrid, and in-office work are settling out.
Kate Lister’s insight:
Based on a special analysis of government data, WFH research shows 28% of all U.S. workdays are worked from home. This is down from a high of 62% at the peak of the pandemic but has changed little since April of 2022.
The split among full-time workers, as of February is: 60% fully on site, 29% hybrid, and 12% fully at home. Among those who WFH, the average is 2.2 days per week. The gap between the frequency employers want versus their employees, as of the April survey, is .5 days a week (employees wanting greater frequency); this has been fairly stable since early 2022.
The biggest difference of opinion is in the desire for full-time remote work; 29% of employees who worked from home during the pandemic want this option, but only 21% are allowed by their employer.
Among just those who worked from home during the pandemic, 65% are currently working at home one or more days a week. Here is the breakdown:
– 21% are working at home full-time
– 6% are at home 4 days a week
– 12% are 3 days a week
– 16% are 2 days a week
– 11% are 1 day a week
– 35% are fully in-office
As we have seen in other surveys, older workers (age 50+) are choosing to work in the office far more than other age groups, but they also represent the highest share of fully at-home workers.
WEF 2023 Future of Jobs Report offers insights into how the workplace will need to change in the 5 years
From www.weforum.org – May 9, 12:44 PM
The Future of Jobs Report 2023 explores how jobs and skills will evolve over the next five years. This fourth edition of the series continues the analysis of employer expectations to provide new insights on how socio-economic and technology trends will shape the workplace of the future.
Kate Lister’s insight:
The annual Future of Jobs Report is chocked full of information about how the mix of jobs is expected to change in the next five years. At nearly 300 pages, it would be impossible to summarize here, but here are a few findings that will be of particular interest to our industry
– Over the next five years, 83 million jobs are projected to be lost and 69 million are projected to be created. Together this churn represents 23% of the workforce. The net is a 2% loss of jobs (page 28).
– The following industries will experience the largest churn:
Media, Entertainment, and Sports Government and Public Sector IT and Digital Communications Real Estate Financial Services The report includes expected churn data for over a hundred jobs
– Top skills for the future include:
Creative thinking Analytical thinking Technology literacy Curiosity and lifelong learning Resilience, flexibility, and agility – Organizations are adopting the following strategies to adapt to these changes:
Investing in learning and on-the-job training (81%) Accelerating process automation (80%) Transitioning staff from declining roles (46%) The bottom line: Spaces conducive to learning and development will be critical in the near future.
Research show less mentoring on WFH days…but that does not suggest a causal relationship
From wfhresearch.com – May 8, 12:44 PM
The study finds the difference in mentoring time when working from home (vs. the office) is greater for female workers.
Kate Lister’s insight:
WFH Research—a consortium of Stanford University, The University of Chicago, and ITAM—has been studying remote, hybrid, and office trends since May of 2020. Their latest survey shows mentoring and being mentored are more common at the office than when the mentor or mentee is at home.
Time spent being mentored:
– Women when working at home vs. the office: 10.9 minutes a day vs. 14.3, respectively
– Men: 14 minutes per day vs. 15.5 (in office)
Time spent mentoring others:
– Women when working from home vs. the office: 19.2 minutes a day vs. 30.3. respectively
– Men: 20.9 minutes per day vs. 29.1 (in office)
The media and others may be quick to interpret this data as an indication that WFH is bad for mentoring, particularly for women, or that it is more effective in the office, but this research does not draw that conclusion. Without further investigation it is not possible to make either conclusion. People may simple choose to use the office for mentoring activities.
With population-weightings for age, gender, education, and earnings, WFH Research is one of the most robust sources of research on this topic.
Office Demand Index Report shows office space showings down 37% from before Pandemic
From view.ceros.com – May 5, 12:47 PM
VTS reports shows office tours at 63% of pre-pandemic levels.
Kate Lister’s insight:
According to VTS*, U.S. office space touring activity—which is offered as a proxy for space demand—spiked in March of 2023 but still averages 37% below its pre-pandemic level. Among the cities covered, New York shows the highest demand recovery; just 25% lower than 2019. Seattle and San Francisco are tied at 51% lower than 2019.
In spite of the March spike, VTS suggests that most markets are showing signs of stability.
*VTS claims to have market insights on office demand that covers 99% of the nation’s top cities. Their index reflects the total square footage of unique tenant requirements surfaced by touring activity in a given month relative to the total square footage observed in VTS’ expansive network of leasing, marketing, and asset management software.
Report suggests innovation strategies should be shared more widely and better aligned with organizational goals
From shadowpartners.co – May 4, 1:59 PM
By gathering insights from industry experts, Shadow Ventures can help companies understand the current state of innovation in the Built Industry and identify areas for improvement.
Kate Lister’s insight:
Shadow Partners’ 2023 global survey of over 900 architects, engineers, developers, and executives in the Built Environment showed the industry is in need of flexing its innovation muscle. Using the DIAL innovation framework—which benchmarks organizations and industries as Disrupters, Innovators, Adopters, or Laggards—the report rates our industry as an Adopter. What that means is while some organizations in the industry are doing innovative things, the sector has yet to fully embrace and integrate innovation as a core value. The report suggests innovation in the industry suffers in the following areas:
– Internal innovation is hampered by Internal resource constraints and a failure to prioritize it.
– External innovation, which involves partnering with or acquiring others, is on the table but most organizations have not allocated specific budgets to pursue such initiatives.
– Strong ecosystems that include diverse players have been shown to drive innovations, but most organizations are struggling with how to develop and leverage them.
– A culture of innovation is one that promotes accountability, risk-taking, and experimentation. More attention is needed in this area.
– Being able to envision and plan for the future is critical for innovation, but most organizations are not forward-looking enough to see the possibilities.
– Technology is an essential driver of innovation. Most organizations adopt new technology with a one-off attitude rather than incorporating it into a comprehensive and ongoing strategy.
It’s a fascinating report with details about the questions that led to their conclusions and suggestions for what organizations should do to be more innovative.
Report cites fewer trips, limited approvals, reduced spending
Kate Lister’s insight:
Based on a Morning Consult survey of over four thousand U.S. adults, business travel inched up last year but is still down 18 percentage points from before the pandemic.
Nearly a third of the survey respondents indicated their company had made changes to their travel policy. They include:
– Fewer business trips: 60%
– Fewer employees who travel: 56%
– Limiting the type of trips: 54%
Other changes include encouraging employees to combine trips, reduced spending on transport, accommodations, food and beverage, and entertainment.
About 40% say reduced travel has been instituted as a cost-saving measure, 20% say it’s the result of greater comfort with virtual meetings.
If this trend continues, it will likely put pressure on companies to upgrade their hybrid meeting technologies and participate in and hold more regional meetings.
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• Let’s not drag our mistakes of the past into the metaverse
• Office-to-residential conversion experts are hopeful
• AI tools you can put to work right now
• Take a lesson about data privacy from your grocer
• Collective bargaining sets the bar high on flexibility in government
• Congress passes SHOW-ACT to roll back federal telework
• Gartner calculates the financial value of human-centric strategies
• More than half of CEOs would cut RE before people
• Employees spend 40% of their former commute working
• Four biggest workplace takeaways from Davos
• How AI summarized the Davos takeaways
• Gas usage and vehicle miles may never go back to 2019 levels
• A look at the futures of cities in the metaverse
• The tax cost/benefit of remote work varies widely by state
“Web3 is transforming how people present themselves online, yet startup founders and investors are overwhelmingly male.”
Kate Lister’s insight:
I was recently on a call where a colleague was demonstrating a prototype Metaverse. As his avatar flew around the beautiful landscape, he pointed out where the roads would go. It was at that point that another colleague on the call went ballistic. “Are you kidding me? Roads? Cars? Why the [expletive deleted] are we putting cars and roads in the Metaverse? Haven’t we learned anything?”
A few days later I saw the movie Avatar 2. The women did the cooking while the men went to war. The “colored” kid, in this case white, was bullied and tormented at school. The tall good looking guys ruled. The women giggled. They exploited animals. A female friend and I walked out 2 hours into the 3 hour saga. Our male partners stayed until the end.
Is this really the vision we want for our future? I think we can do better. But unless the designers of the Metaverse represent a diverse thought pool, we will surely drag the mistakes of our past into our virtual future.
Guru of office-to-residential conversion is optimistic about the possibilities
From www.ft.com – February 23, 11:04 AM
A growing roster of the city’s towers are being rendered obsolete by remote working. Developers spot a chance to meet demand for homes
Kate Lister’s insight:
Nathan Berman has completed 18 office-to-residential conversions. The transformation, he admits, is far from easy but may be necessary if owners expect to survive the reality that the pandemic has permanently changed the need for offices.
Are you still struggling to get on ChatGPT? Here are artificially intelligent tools you can use at work right now!
From www.worklife.news – February 22, 3:40 PM
AI can give most knowledge workers across industries their very own assistant because of the myriad of different websites being introduc
Kate Lister’s insight:
The full article offers 10 tools that use generative AI to help increase your productivity Full disclosure, I have not tried any of them but here are a few that look really interesting.
GPT of Google Sheets cleans lists, converts formats, summarizes and translates Google sheets.
Eleven Labs clones your voice for use in games, story-telling, etc.
PaperCup.com translates and dubs video into over 70 languages
Needless to say, watch this space. ChatGPT wasn’t even a thing when the last WEBrief went out. Two months later, I’d be ashamed if I didn’t mention it.
One I’m loving that wasn’t on this list is genei.io. It summarizes PDFs and web pages!
Employers need to take a lesson from grocery stores about data privacy before it’s too late
From themarkup.org – February 22, 3:17 PM
When you use supermarket discount cards, you are sharing much more than what is in your cart—and grocery chains like Kroger are reaping huge profits selling this data to brands and advertisers
Kate Lister’s insight:
Why are we willing to share some of our most intimate details with your local grocer, but fervently against sharing data with our employers? I’m not lobbying for sharing more employee data here; I’m suggesting we think long and hard about the data we collect about our workers.
Based on data about where and when you shop and what you buy, grocery stores and others can infer a great deal about your age, life stage, family, ethnicity, income, gender, health, and much more. Combined with information from your loyalty card, credit card, and data from other aggregators, it’s likely your grocer knows more about you than even your closest friends.
Of course, they promise individual information is de-identified and aggregated before it’s shared with their “partners and others” but don’t let that lull you into a false sense of security. An MIT study found that 90% of shopper data could be re-identied using as few as four purchases, the purchase date, and store location.
Now imagine if the data from workplace trackers that follow your keystrokes, watch what you’re working on, follow where you go, and listen in on meetings was combined your buying behavior, app usage, and more?
Let’s take a lesson here before it’s too late. Just because we can do something, doesn’t mean we should.
A fascinating look at the future of cities via a metaverse interface
From view.ceros.com – January 30, 2:22 PM
Cushman & Wakefield’s vision for cities by 2040. The future in an immersive experience created to inspire and challenge everyone in real estate.
Kate Lister’s insight:
I have to be honest. Cushman & Wakefield’s metaverse-based journey to the future of cities weirded me out at first, but I found I spent far more time exploring the site and actually watching the videos than usual. The link here will take you to one of my favorites. I particularly appreciated that it wasn’t all optimistic and cheery about the future of cities in general and real estate in particular. It acknowledged that the journey between where we are and some better state won’t be without its bumps in the road addressing issues like the threat of greater inequality.
Collective bargaining at two federal agencies set the hybrid work bar high with liberal flex-place and flex-time policies
From fedtechmagazine.com – February 15, 1:50 PM
The National Science Foundation and the National Archives and Records Administration have revised their telework policies in response to pandemic lessons.
Kate Lister’s insight:
The National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Archives, (NARA) in collaboration with their unions agreed on liberal telework policies.
At NSF, all full-time workers can telework up to five days a week and can flex their hours around the core hours (10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. EST) Separate negotiations determined that NARA full-time employees can work remotely up to eight days per pay period (two weeks).
“What we found was that by taking care of our people, they took care of us; our data has shown this flexibility has led to increased productivity,” says the agency CHRO.
House Votes to Have Federal Employees Telework Like It’s 2019
From www.fedweek.com – February 9, 2:49 PM
UPDATED: The House approved a bill (HR-139) to require federal agencies to roll back their telework policies to those in place at the end of 2019 and to
Kate Lister’s insight:
It’s called the “Stopping Home Office Work’s Unproductive Problems,” or The Show Up Act. I kid you not. They want to drag federal employees back to 2019. As the name implies, the supporters of the bill claim that productivity has suffered because of people working from home. Under the “Show Up” bill, any agency wanting to allow telework would have to address:
• “Any adverse effects” of increased offsite work on customer service—I don’t even know what that means
• “The cost of paying locality pay to employees receiving higher city-based rates even though they were no longer working there”—Sounds like a policy problem to me
• “The costs of maintaining under-used office space”—Instead we should needlessly force people to come in so our bloated real estate portfolio doesn’t draw attention to the opportunity to cut costs?
• “Any technology-related issues that prevented employees from being fully productive”—They’re just addressing this now?
Forgive my rant but this whole line of argument needs to be turned on its head. Instead of having to prove telework is causing problems, the government ought to require agencies to:
• Prove there is a problem before they call people back
• Prove how they are going to make up for the extra costs of having them on-site
• Justify why they need to hold on to under-occupied office space.
No doubt the Show Up Act is a reaction to Congressmen Sarbanes and Connolly’s proposed Telework Metrics & Cost Savings Act that was proposed last July. Among other things, it would require agencies to measure and report to Congress the results of they telework programs. What a concept! Measuring rather than guessing!
“Federal employee telework has been tested and proven during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Congressman Sarbanes. “The flexibility of this program heightened work productivity, improved employee retention and delivered high-quality government service for the American people.”
Fortunately, the bill is not likely to pass the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Gartner study shows financial value of human-centric and flexible work models
From www.gartner.com – February 8, 2:40 PM
Employees who operate in human-centric work models – where they are seen as people, not just resources – are 3.8 times more likely to be high performing, according to a survey by Gartner, Inc.
Kate Lister’s insight:
According to Gartner, the three pillars of human-centric work models are flexible work, intentional collaboration, and empathy-based management. Their research shows people who operate in these environments are:
- 3.8 times more likely to be high-performing
- 3.2 times more likely to stay
- 3.1 times more likely to report lower fatigue
Among the five approaches organizations have taken toward flexibility—fully remote, fully on-site, mandated office attendance, rigid hybrid, and flexible hybrid—Gartner found the only one that achieved significant talent outcomes was flexible hybrid.
The study also found that employees are:
- 2.3 times higher performance when they were allowed to decide when they work.
- 2.5 times more likely to be high performing and 4 times more likely to report lower fatigue when they had strong input into their organization’s work design.
“To gain competitive advantage, organizations must go beyond location flexibility and place human beings at the center of work, rather than treating them as secondary components of their work environment,” said Graham Waller, vice president in the Gartner Executive Leadership practice.
When it comes to remote and hybrid work, not all states are created equal. Not by a long shot.
From www.ntu.org – January 30, 12:45 PM
“…remote work subjects taxpayers to changes that can be difficult to predict, as they depend on each state’s laws.”
Kate Lister’s insight:
Way back in 2010, I wrote an article titled, “Greedy states have nothing to lose but their remote work.” The warning fell on deaf ears at the time because less than 3% of the workforce was working at home regularly. Now, the myriad of state and even local tax (and labor) laws are a big deal for both employers and employees.
The National Taxpayers Union Foundation (NTU) has captured the tax impact of remote and hybrid work in its new report, The Remote Obligations and Mobility Index. In it, they rank U.S. states by how difficult their tax laws make it to have remote employees working there. The greediest among them:
• Subject employees working in their state, for even just a day, to income tax obligations
• Obligate employees who work in a state other than that of their employer, to pay taxes to their employer’s state regardless of where the employee works, even if this causes them to suffer double taxation.
Only 10 states scored above 30 (out of 35) on NTU’s index (see image). The very worst state, Delaware, managed to earn a negative total score.
If your business is located in one of those low-scoring states or if your employees work there, it might be time to make your voice heard by your elected officials.
Global employees spend 40% of commute time savings actually working
From www.computerworld.com – February 8, 2:03 PM
A new report by the National Bureau of Economic Research shows the majority of time saved by working from home and avoiding office commutes goes toward increased productivity.
Kate Lister’s insight:
Based on a global study by The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), when employees don’t commute to the office, they save an average of 70 minutes a day. They spend about 28 of those minutes (40%) actually working, 24 minutes (34%) enjoying leisure activities, and 8 minutes (11%) caregiving. China and Japan have the longest average commute (over 100 minutes a day). Serbia has the lowest (51 minutes) and the U.S. has the second lowest (55 minutes).
The data comes from two NBER surveys with 19k and 25k respondents.
More than half of CEOs say they would reduce real estate cost before turning to layoffs
From grow.greenhouse.com – February 8, 1:21 PM
New research from Greenhouse Software shows that despite economic uncertainty and recent layoff announcements CEOs remain optimistic about the economy and hiring.
Kate Lister’s insight:
In a survey of over 300 CEOs with 100+ employees, 54% said they would look to reduce real estate costs before they would consider laying people off.
Gas usage and vehicle miles may never return to pre-pandemic levels
From www.ft.com – February 8, 1:11 PM
Demand forecast to falter due to fuel efficiency, electric vehicle sales and hybrid working
Kate Lister’s insight:
Based on data from Inrix, vehicle miles travelled (VMT) and gas usage are still below pre-pandemic levels. According to their forecast, the combined impact of fuel efficiency, electric vehicle sales, and hybrid working, suggests it never will!
Our conversations give insight into what’s on the minds of the business elite, including AI, return-to-work policies, and the economic conditions.
Kate Lister’s insight:
Here’s what Business Insider said were their four biggest takeaways from Davos:
1) There will be a recession, but it’s not likely that it will be too severe.
2) AI will change everything. With the buzz on ChatGPT running high, there was a lot of chatter about jobs that will be replaced by AI and the need for retraining
3) Sustainability is critical, but companies are struggling for what they actually need to do
4) Many leaders are raging against remote work but it is going to stick. What they need to focus on is redesigning work and workplaces
Kate Lister’s insight:
Just for fun, I had genei.io do its own summary of the above article about the Davos summit. Here’s the result:
We spoke with more than 50 CEOs, billionaires, execs, and government officials in Davos.Here are our 4 biggest takeaways
- There’s going to be a recession. It’s no big deal.
- AI will change everything
- For sustainability, a question of how
- Your boss wants you back at work. Why?
I’m feeling a bit threatened here.
For more than 50 years, Cuningham has been a purpose-driven design firm. We choose to design for social and ecological well-being. Our choices reflect the responsibility of our work, in terms of processes and outcomes for our clients and in the communities we serve.
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WE Love our 2023 Sponsors! THANK YOU to our GREAT WE sponsors! Your generous support makes our Community, Programs, and Events possible. You inspire us to maximize member value. Please click on the logos below to learn more about our sponsors.
Kate Lister’s insight:
Download the WE 2023 Sponsor Benefit table for all the details about the benefits of being a WE sponsor at various levels. Contact David Karpook, Susan Spiers, or Pat Turnbull for questions and opportunities.
20+ very common phrases that make you sound passive aggressive
From www.thehrdigest.com – February 22, 3:58 PM
Avoid these passive-aggressive phrases in the workplace which can make your colleagues feel misunderstood and devalued. Here are alternatives to such conflicting phrases.
Kate Lister’s insight:
Even seemingly innocuous phrases like “Kind Regards” can be off-putting or perceived as passive aggressive. Here are some others you might want to avoid:
- As per our conversation
- Make sure
- Noted
- According to my records
- Circling back
- Obviously
- Correct me if I’m wrong
- Any updates on this?
- Please advise
The article offers a number of other examples along with suggestions for alternatives.
Kind Regards,
Kate
Apologies if that sounded passive aggressive.
- Global ESG country report offers a framework for organizations
- Report on 4-Day Workweek Global Trial offers glowing reviews
- 6th Annual State of Remote Work reveals workspace changes
- Gallup offers new insights on hybrid work and engagement
- NYT Opinion piece on the demise of cities
- New EU laws complicate work-from-anywhere
- Global report reveals 5 sustainability personas
- Corporate commitment to DEI programs flattening
- NYT profiles post-pandemic in 10 downtowns
- Sponsor Spotlight: Savills
Global Sustainable Competitiveness Index Ranks Countries on A Wide Range of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Metrics
From solability.com – December 6, 2022 2:34 PM
The Global Sustainable Competitiveness Report 2022 provides a comprehensive overview of the current State of the World – global, regional, and national – on the six sustainable competitiveness pillars: Natural Capital, Resource Intensity-Efficiency, Intellectual Capital, Economic Sustainability, Social Capital and Governance Performance.
Kate Lister’s insight:
This index has been around since 2012 but it’s new to me and well worth a look. Its based on the premise that national success should be measured by more than just economic factors. While it’s a fascinating report all by itself, I think the framework and measures used offer an excellent model for companies looking to ensure their own competitiveness and sustainability.
The Index is derived from 188 quantitative measures of a country or regions natural capital, resource efficiency, social capital, intellectual and innovation capital, economic sustainability, and governance performance.
Spoiler alert: Northern European countries receive the top twenty composite index scores with Scandinavian countries taking the top marks. The U.S. is ranked #30.
Report on 4-Day Week Global Trial—97% of participants want to continue
From www.4dayweek.com – December 6, 2022 1:49 PM
This report presents research results from 33 companies and 903 employees in the US, Ireland, and a few other countries.
Kate Lister’s insight:
The results of the Global 4-Day Workweek Trial are in. To be clear, we’re talking about working one less day each week with no reduction in pay.
Here are some highlights from the 40-page report.
- The average rating of the experience from the companies involved was 9 on a 10 scale (where 10 is very positive). The average employee rating was 9.1.
- The average rating of how the experience affected the company was 7.7.
- Nearly 70% of the thirty companies involved say they will continue to offer the 4-day workweek. All but one of the others are leaning toward continuation but have not made a final decision yet
- 97% of employees want to continue the trial.
- Employees self-rated their performance during the trial as 7.8 (their top performance ever being a 10) up from 7.1 before the trial
- Stress, burnout, fatigue, and work-family conflict all declined. Self-ratings of physical and mental health, work-life balance, and satisfaction across multiple domains of life increased.
- Some participants measured positive impacts on employee retention and absenteeism (statistical significance can not be established due to the small sample size).
- There was no evidence that work intensity increased on working days.
The report also suggested the trial had a positive impact on company revenue, but IMHO, it would be hard to prove causation here.
It’s worth noting that the trial largely included companies based in Ireland (33%) and the U.S. (18%) and more than a third of the employers operated as fully-remote companies.
6th Annual State of Remote Work reveals how employers are changing workspaces to address hybrid trend
From globalworkplaceanalytics.com – December 6, 2022 12:55 PM
OwlLabs and Global Workplace Analytics surveyed 2,300 full-time workers across the United States in this 6th Annual State of Remote Work report.
Kate Lister’s insight:
Based on a survey of over 2,300 U.S. full-time workers conducted by OwlLabs and Global Workplace Analytics, the 6th Annual State of Remote Work report reveals the latest trends and perspectives on a range of issues from remote and hybrid work, trust, intent to move, training offered, workplace redesign, intent and reasons for quitting, technology needs, employee surveillance, the 4-day workweek, and more.
- Only one in five employers allow employees to work anywhere
- Training needs are being ignored by nearly half of employers
- Nearly half of employers have not asked their people how they want to work
- Workplace design and mix of spaces changing, but slowly
- Private spaces may be the key to getting people back into the office
- More than a third of employers have reduced their office space
- Employee stress has increased, largely driven by recession fears and return-to-office demands
- Four-day work week and work from anywhere almost as attractive as full flexibility
- More than half of employees are interested in working in virtual reality, the metaverse, or coworking spaces
- Flexibility isn’t the top reason employees are jumping ship
You can download the free 34-page report here.
New Laws in EU and Elsewhere Could Complicate Work From Anywhere Practices
From www.worklife.news – December 6, 2022 9:47 AM
New laws in the U.S., Germany, Portugal, and across the European Union have been introduced. All will affect the way we work.
Kate Lister’s insight:
The EU is typically ahead of the U.S. in protecting workers’ rights. With the rise in ‘work-from-anywhere’ policies, employers must stay informed about how new employment laws in other countries might impact them. For example:
- France, Italy, Spain, Ontario, and Portugal have passed “right to disconnect” laws that make it illegal to contact employees outside of business hours.
- German employers are required to offer work-from-home for people in jobs where there is no reason they need to be physically present. The UK and Ireland have a watered-down version of this law.
Whether these laws apply to foreign employees working in these countries isn’t always cut and dry so employers with work-from-anywhere policies should proceed with caution.
NYT Opinion piece on the, not inevitable, demise of cities due to remote work is well worth reading
From www.nytimes.com – December 2, 2022 12:18 PM
What seemed like a transitory step to avoid infection has become a major force driving the future direction of urban America.
Kate Lister’s insight:
The article does a good job of sharing optimistic and pessimistic scenarios for the future of our cities if the shift to remote/hybrid work persists. Assuming the author didn’t stack the deck with research he liked—and I don’t feel like he did—the outlook for many cities is bleak, at least in the short run. The problem is a downward spiral where fewer office workers lead to higher vacancy rates, declining property values, a collapse of small businesses, a lower tax base, lower transit ridership, less money to spend on city services, greater homelessness, more violence, and so on. The demise is not inevitable, but cities will need to act fast to reimagine and engineer a better future.
Global report identifies 5 sustainability personas and offers advice on how to reach them where they are
From www.ipsos.com – December 1, 2022 3:44 PM
Ipsos survey of 10k global citizens reveals where people are in terms of concern vs. commitment to sustainability.
Kate Lister’s insight:
This Ipsos report, based on a survey of 10k global citizens, suggests five personas that exist on the continuum of concern and action toward sustainability. Disengaged Denialists represent 19% of the population, Conflicted Contributors represent 18%, Busy Bystanders represent 16%, Pragmatists represent 29%, and Activists represent 17%. Then it details each group and provides advice on how to reach them where they are. The breakdown by country is particularly interesting. The U.S., Japan, and Australia have the highest percentage of Denialists. Brazil, South Korea, and Australia have the highest percentage of Activists.
The most interesting part of the report is the advice it offers on how to engage each persona. For example, Pragmatists, the biggest group wants to do the right thing but doesn’t know how. They can be pulled along with visible signposts of how they are making a difference.
Corporate commitment to DEI programs flattening in 2022
From www.glassdoor.com – December 1, 2022 2:55 PM
“Access to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs expanded sharply across corporate America in 2020 and 2021, but progress stalled in 2022.”
Kate Lister’s insight:
Glassdoor’s latest research shows substantial gains in DEI programs in 2020 and 2021, but some flattening in 2022. Still, more than 41% of company benefit reviews indicated access to diversity programs, compared to just 29% in 2019. Increases were seen across all industries except government. The most significant growth was in access to Employee Resource Groups and diversity awareness training. Unfortunately, progress has not been uniform across the U.S. New England, Middle Atlantic, and Pacific regions offer the highest access to programs (60%). The study found DEI is more important to younger workers than older ones. There’s lots more to read in the full study.
Gallup offers new insights into hybrid work—Engagement by remote frequency, flexibility of flexibility, who decides
From www.gallup.com – December 6, 2022 12:18 PM
Implementing a hybrid work policy is one thing. But getting it right? That’s another story. Learn how to navigate the details of hybrid work.
Kate Lister’s insight:
In an extensie survey of 8k+ remote-capable U.S. employees, what you probably want to is that Gallup found:
- A third are now on-site 1 day/week, a third are in 2-3 days/week, and a third are on-site 4 days/week. Most want more remote days than they are getting
- Hybrid leaders, managers, and individual contributors all prefer to spend 2 days/week in the office
- Peak engagement for collaborative workers is 3 days/week in-office (49% engaged). Peak engagement for solo workers highest at 2 or 3 days/week in-office (both showed 39% engaged)
- Engagement is substantially higher for collaborative workers (vs. solo workers) regardless of on-site frequency (highest at 49% with 3 days/week on-site compared to 39% for solo workers at same frequency)
- Engagement is lowest for both groups who never work remotely (30% for collaborators, 28% for solo workers)
- In terms of the flexibility of flexibility, 43% of respondents say there is no specific requirement for days in the office, 29% say their employer specifies which days of the week they are on-site, and 28% require a certain number of in-office days per week but do not specify which day.
- 60% of employees want full flexibility
- Employee engagement is highest (46%) when attendance policies are set by work teams making this the most engaging single work practice Gallup has seen during the return to office.
- Only 13% of organizations allow teams to determine flexibility practices. The balance of decisions are made by the team leader (24%), by top leadership (26%), and by the individual (37%).
NYT profiles post-pandemic life in 10 downtowns—there’s some good news, but more bad
From www.nytimes.com – October 27, 2022 4:08 PM
We visited 10 cities across the country to see how the pandemic and its aftershocks have reshaped the American downtown.
Kate Lister’s insight:
In short, what they found was while tourism has largely rebounded in larger cities like Chicago, Seattle, and D.C., office traffic is still only about half what it was before the pandemic, homelessness is rampant, and small businesses have either closed or are struggling to survive. Some cities, like Austin and SLC grew in popularity for businesses and employees. While that sounds like a good thing, many locals have found themselves priced out of their homes as a result. The smallest cities profiled by the Times have proven the most resilient and are essentially back to ‘normal.’
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Savills new blog offers new ways of re-framing the concept of return-to-office
From www.savills.us – December 12, 2022 2:40 PM
For companies with a strong desire to make their office culture thrive again, getting the balance right with return-to-office may mean a few missteps along the way. If things don’t go right the first time, we say: save your apologies – and push forward in a spirit of discovery.
- Global ESG country report offers a framework for organizations
- Report on 4-Day Workweek Global Trial offers glowing reviews
- 6th Annual State of Remote Work reveals workspace changes
- Gallup offers new insights on hybrid work and engagement
- NYT Opinion piece on the demise of cities
- New EU laws complicate work-from-anywhere
- Global report reveals 5 sustainability personas
- Corporate commitment to DEI programs flattening
- NYT profiles post-pandemic in 10 downtowns
- Sponsor Spotlight: Savills
JLL on Office Trends: More flex space, more outsourcing, greater need for metrics
From www.us.jll.com – November 4, 2022 8:37 AM
“The pandemic has tested organizational and workforce resilience, but we know that hybrid working is here to stay, which calls for the rejuvenation of the office.”
Kate Lister’s insight:
Just a quick share of stats here:
• 72% of CRE leaders think the office will remain central to work (of course, that means 28% don’t)
• 43% of companies plan to increase use of flexible offices space
• New metrics for connecting space performance and KPIs are sorely needed
Most workplace well-being programs are a waste of money. Employers need to address the root cause of employee stress if they really want to help.
From www.psychologytoday.com – October 11, 2022 3:32 PM
“New research found that most workplaces are continuing to invest in the least effective well-being tools for workers.”
Kate Lister’s insight:
An Australian study of 1,000 randomly-selected workers found that most workplaces are investing in the least-effective well-being tools. This may be a small survey population, but it’s consistent with a large body of research on workplace stress and the ‘value’ of interventions.
Employee assistance programs (EAP) are the most-provided and least-utilized well-being tool. Their effectiveness was found to be only slightly higher than doing nothing.
The most effective tools were: AI well-being bots, well-being apps, well-being workshops, and coaching. Unfortunately, they are offered far less often than EAPs.
The real problem, according to this Psychology Today article, is that none of these solutions address the real cause of burnout and stress:
– Unachievable job demands (reported by 94% of respondents)
– Workplace relationships (91%),
– Harassment (88%)
Leaders are wringing their hands about employee stress, but most are not addressing the underlying causes such as unrealistic expectations, being continually asked to do more with less, poor management, employee surveillance, microaggressions, and more.Unless and until employers do something about the root cause of employee stress, they are simply putting a bandaid over an artery.
You can download the study here.
HBR busts the myth that in-person learning and experiences are more effective than virtual ones
From hbr.org – October 11, 2022 2:33 PM
“Even in organizations that remain committed to offering employees significant remote or hybrid work, there is often a desire among leaders to foster togetherness with a return to in-person learning events. But as learning professionals, the authors hear many myths when it comes to what in-person learning and other in-person experiences can actually achieve.”
Kate Lister’s insight:
The article, written by EY’s CLO (formerly Ernst & Young) and a social psychologist, makes a research-based argument that many popular assumptions about the superiority of in-person experiences and learning are patently false. It explains why virtual experiences are better in some circumstances, when it’s best to be face-to-face, and how to make the most of in-person time. The myths they bust include:
1) Myth! — In-person learning is more effective
2) Myth! — In-person events help create/strengthen culture
3) Myth! — People should come together to get a break from their screens
4) Myth! — Networking and connection can only be done in person
To make the most of in-person events, the authors suggest making them voluntary, strategic, and intentional with recommendations for how to do that.
City plans to provide tens of millions of dollars in subsidies to revitalize the LaSalle Street corridor
Kate Lister’s insight:
In Chicago, California, and elsewhere office-to-residential conversions are on the rise. Plagued by high vacancy rates even before the pandemic, many older office properties have become financial liabilities. With the help of tax credits, subsidies, and lower lease rates, some are seeing new life as affordable housing.
A paper from Savills on making the workplace work for introverts (and why it’s important)
From www.savills.us – September 29, 2022 8:27 AM
Savills USA | After enjoying the comfort and psychological safety of working from home during the pandemic, introverts are more reluctant than most to return to the office.
Kate Lister’s insight:
My name is Kate and I am an introvert. And I’m not alone. Between a third and a half of the U.S. population leans toward the introversion end of intro/extraversion scale. For much of their lives they have been forced to ‘fake it if they want to make it’ in a world that wasn’t designed for them. With all eyes open to the importance of having a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workforce, this short paper offers advice for how and why it’s time to start taking the needs of this silent minority seriously.
Digital transformation is table stakes. The winners will go beyond by truly embracing disruption.
From www.pwc.com – September 14, 2022 4:18 PM
Drawing on research of transformative companies, PwC authors suggest ways executive teams can disrupt themselves and become leaders in the digital age.
Kate Lister’s insight:
Successful digital transformation takes more than just going digital. It requires “…dynamic combinations of a knowledge base, processes, technologies, data, skills, culture, and organizational models…”
This article offers seven ‘imperatives for success’ that also apply to workplace transformation:
1) Reimagine your place in the world
2) Embrace and create value via ecosystems
3) Build a system of privileged insights with your customers
4) Make your organization outcome-oriented
5) Invert the focus on the leadership team
6) Reinvent the social contract with your people
7) Disrupt your own leadership approach
If you are using artificial intelligence to monitor, measure, or track employees, you need to read this
From www.shrm.org – September 14, 2022 12:46 PM
Companies with employees in the European Union (EU) could be affected by a landmark proposal to regulate the use of artificial intelligence across the region.
Kate Lister’s insight:
EU countries are hammering out a landmark proposal to regulate the use of artificial intelligence (AI) across the region and, in some circumstances, around the world. The EU AI Act would establish a sliding scale based on the risk of misuse of the data. The higher the risk, the greater the scrutiny. In some cases, technologies will be banned altogether. As it’s currently proposed, AI systems used in employment contexts, including people analytics, would be labeled high risk. This could have broad implications for, among other things, people tracking technologies. Like GDPR, this could also set the stage for the development of similar laws in non-EU countries.
Sponsor Spotlight: Planon report shares key findings on Facility Management, Technology & the Future of Work
From planonsoftware.com – October 13, 2022 10:38 AM
“Workplace experts talk about the changing approach to workplace management, hybrid work strategies, and how best to ensure a safe and healthy workplace environment. Read the key takeaways from their discussion.
The panelists included:
– John Raspin, Partner and Director of Energy & Environment at Frost & Sullivan
– Brett Spindler, Senior Director Building Enterprise Solutions at Schneider Electric
– Sander Grünewald, Global Head of Real Estate Advisory at KPMG
– Henriette Weiss, Global Head of Workplace Solutions at Philips Real Estate
– Peter Ankerstjerne, Chief Strategy Officer and Chairman of the Planon North American Board
Download Planon’s report here.
Gartner: Workplace changes to expect in the next 10 years
From www.gartner.com – August 5, 2022 12:31 PM
A lot will change by 2028. This report offers a fascinating dive into the ways the workplace will change in the next years. #GartnerHR #FutureOfWork
Kate Lister’s insight:
1) Middle management will have to learn to be coaches
2) Digital dexterity will trump tenure and experience
3) Employee data collection will offer new insights
4) Our new bestie at work may be a machine
5) Employees will seek purpose in their jobs
6) Remote employees will suffer from over-working
ADP Research Institute report: People at Work 2022: A Global Workforce View. A treasure trove of new insights.
From www.adpri.org – June 7, 2022 1:26 PM
People at Work 2022: A Global Workforce View identifies the key emerging and escalating workforce trends uncovered in a global study of over 32,000 workers.
Kate Lister’s insight:
This 2022 study from ADP’s Research Institute offers a wealth of insights about how people are feeling across the globe (n=32k; geographically weighted) about work. The re;port looks at geographic and demographic difference in attitudes about compensation, advancement, intent to leave job/industry, why people quit, desire for remote/hybrid work, stress, job security, diversity, outlook for the future, working hours, and more.
Here are a few to whet your appetite:
- 71% of workers have considered a major career change in the last year (81% in LATAM, 62% in Europe). Of those, 24% have considered a change in industries, 24% considered a sabbatical, 22% considered starting a business, and 20% have considered taking a break from work altogether
- Ironically, 90% say they are satisfied in their current employment though only 49% say they are very satisfied
- The biggest source of dissatisfaction is being given more responsibility with no increase in pay (highest in APAC, lowest in Europe
- The feeling of job security is declining. Globally only 25% feel secure (14% in LATAM)
- Half of workers have thought of relocating within their current country, 43% have considered going back to their country of citizenship, and 43% have considered moving overseas. Of those who have thought about moving, 62% have already done so.
Why architecture and design must develop minimum human standards.
Kate Lister’s insight:
Steve Orfield has spent 50 years in architectural design, research and testing. Much of that time has been dedicated to solutions that work for the 40-50% of the people who occupy commercial buildings that are perceptually or cognitively disabled (PCD). In this piece he makes the good argument that designing for this population doesn’t have to be more expensive and, importantly, the benefits of designing in this way lead to better outcomes for everyone.
Workthere Flexmark study reveals global flex-space data
From www.workthere.com – August 5, 2022 1:25 PM
There is a distinct lack of transparency when it comes to data in the flexible office market, and Workthere has new research addresses key questions.
Kate Lister’s insight:
Here a some of the more interesting insights from the July 2022 global report:
- Occupancy: Private offices (in shared office space) 81% occupied (81% pre-pandemic)
- Shared offices: 69% (up from 56% in 2020)
- Average frequency of use: 78% say 3-4 times per week
- Tech sector dominates usage but business products and financial service sector usage are climbing
- Corporate usage—defined as companies with 20+ employees— now accounts for 42% of occupancy (up from 37% in 2021)
- Most in-demand spaces are phone booths (26%), meeting rooms (18%), extra passes for offices (17%)
The full report offers data on these and other trends by industry, geography, and more.
Gartner finds only a quarter of employees feel connected to company culture, but remote work is not to blame
From www.gartner.com – May 23, 2022 10:57 AM
A February 2022 Gartner poll of more than 200 HR leaders reveals the most challenging aspect of setting their hybrid strategy is adjusting the current organizational culture to support a hybrid workforce.
Kate Lister’s insight:
Gartner posits that organizational culture requires that employees feel both aligned and connected to it. They suggest employers have historically under-invested in the latter due to their assumption that offices naturally create connectedness.
“Employees at all levels, and across demographics, are suffering from a connectedness crisis, which suggests this problem isn’t just related to hybrid and remote work, but to organizations’ lack of intentionality in driving connectedness historically,” says Gartner’s HR Practice director.
In a survey of nearly 4,000 hybrid and remote knowledge workers conducted by Gartner in December of 2021, less than one in 5 of those with the least workplace flexibility said they felt highly connected to the company culture. But more than half of those with “radical flexibility in where, when, and how they work” felt a high degree of cultural connectedness.
Gartner recommendation is that regardless of where people work, organizations need to:
– Diffuse culture through the work itself
– Focus on emotional proximity by making employees feel valued
– Encourage micro-cultures to enhance connectedness
Global data demonstrates innovation was not stifled by remote working during the pandemic
From www.mckinsey.com – June 8, 2022 4:00 PM
The age of assuming that innovation requires physical proximity is over. Innovators are embracing a new model.
Kate Lister’s insight:
A newly released study from McKinsey offers concrete evidence that innovation flourished during the pandemic. Based on data collected from around the world, they report that 2020 and 2021 saw record growth in new business formation, patents issued, venture capital investing, and other measures of innovation.
We’ve shared corroborating research from recent HBR and NYT articles in prior WEbriefs. So why do business leaders like Elon Musk and Reed Hastings insist innovation will suffer if people aren’t working face to face? Where’s their evidence?
It’s time for leaders to reflect on whether their own biases are getting in the way of good decisions.
Is remote work good for the environment? The answer is complicated.
From www.protocol.com – May 15, 2022 6:20 AM
We’re living in a hybrid work world, and companies have to think about how that affects their climate plans.
Kate Lister’s insight:
Vehicle miles traveled (VMT), a metric used to quantify car usage, fell by 7% in 2020, but the reduction was short-lived. In 2021, in spite of a continuation of widespread work-from-home, VMT was back to 2019 levels. Though not mentioned in the article, traffic congestion, which is particularly toxic for the environment, was lower in both years as people altered their drive times. Commuter traffic accounts for just 1% of a company’s emissions, but is still important. To move the needle into more favorable territory, people will need to change their behavior.
The bigger environmental win for remote work may lie in the opportunity it offers to reduce real estate usage and better match office energy usage with actual occupancy.
Most workers who say their jobs can mainly be done from home say they are fine with the amount of time they spend on video calls.
Kate Lister’s insight:
Only 26% of employees Pew surveyed in January of 2022 reported Zoom-fatigue. This is down from 37% in October of 2021.
28k-person global survey reveals interesting demographic and cultural differences in attitudes toward hybrid work
From newsroom.cisco.com – April 29, 2022 9:04 AM
“Cisco Study: Employees say hybrid work makes them happier and more productive, but more needs to be done to make it more inclusive.”
Kate Lister’s insight:
Here are some highlights from this March 2022 survey.Regarding work from home (WFH):
- 70% of Gen Z respondents—but only 49% of Boomers—said WFH improved their quality of life. Gen X and Millennial responses were between the two
- There was a similar distribution across age groups on reported improvements in productivity (63% for Gen Z, 49% for Boomers), job skills and knowledge (66% and 47%), and working relationships (57% and 39%)
- Nearly 80% of respondents felt their worklife balance improved with WFH (see report for generational breakdown)
- 64% said WFH saved them 4+ hours a week (see report for geographic breakdown)
- More than half felt their eating habits had improved across all countries (geographic breakdown available).
The report also provided interesting data on issues related to:
- Financial savings
- Well-Being and physical health impacts
- Stress and its components (across geographies)
- Trust
- Technology
- Collaboration
- Preferences for remote/hybrid work across gender, seniority, generation, and geography
- What would make remote work better
- Cybersecurity
- …and more
Simply put, work isn’t working for us. It wasn’t before the pandemic, and it isn’t now.
Kate Lister’s insight:
ADP’s Research Institute’s 50,000-respondent global survey found the most powerful predictors of retention, performance, engagement, and resilience, and inclusion did not include compensation, the place of work, or belief in the organization’s mission. While those factors played a supporting role, the following showed the highest positive correlation:
- Being excited about their work
- Getting to use their strengths every day
- Doing what they loved’
Citing Lululemon as an example of an organization that practices Love+Work principles the article suggests:
- Replacing hierarchical career paths with moves that allow people to do what they love
- Allowing people to set their own goals
- Having once a week check-ins between team leaders and their people.
According to ADP’s research, weekly checkins that focus on four questions (identified in the article), can increase engagement by 77% and reduce voluntary turnover by 67%.
This Brief’s topics include:
Kate Lister’s insight:
- 28k-person global survey reveals interesting demographic and cultural differences in attitudes toward hybrid work
- Designing for the Neurodiverse benefits everyone
- Global data demonstrates innovation was not stifled by remote working during the pandemic
- ADP Research Institute report: People at Work 2022: A Global Workforce View, offers a treasure trove of new insights
- Gartner finds only a quarter of employees feel connected to company culture, but remote work is not to blame
- Is remote work good for the environment? The answer is, it’s complicated.
- Pew shows zoom-fatigue is fading
- It’s not too late to sign up for World Workplace in Nashville. The WE Session Line-up is amazing!
Will hybrid increase or decrease diversity and inclusion?
From www.mckinsey.com – April 22, 2022 4:56 PM
New research details what empowered employees love about hybrid work models… and the risks to diversity, equity, and inclusion if managers get the evolving flexible workplace wrong.
Kate Lister’s insight:
This McKinsey article shows improved D&I could improve with hybrid work, but unless practices change it may actually make things worse. Here’s the problem: Women, people with disabilities, and racial and gender minorities are disproportionately drawn to hybrid and remote work. In the McKinsey survey, among employees who prefer hybrid work, 71% say they are likely to look for other opportunities if hybrid is not offered at their current company. Underrepresented populations were disproportionately more likely to do so:*
- LGBQ+: 24% more likely than heterosexuals
- Blacks: 14% more likely than Whites
- Employees with disabilities: 14% more than those without
- Women: 10% more likely than men
If these groups are over-represented in the hybrid workforce and, —as many predict, proximity bias leads to greater career and compensation outcomes for in-office employees,—the wage and opportunity gap will widen. FYI, a recent SHRM study found that nearly 7 in 10 managers say they will likely favor office-based employees over those who work remotely.
* While the McKinsey survey base of 1,345 employees from North America, Europe, and Australia and (conducted in November of 2021) is a bit skinny for my taste, other research corroborates many of their findings.
WE Leader’s New Book: Work Better. Save The Planet.
From www.workbettersavetheplanet.com – April 29, 2022 9:21 AM
Simply put, this is the richest and most diverse set of advice and guidance I have ever seen in a workplace book.”
Chris Hood
Co-founder of IFMA and CoreNet workplace communities and global workplace pioneer
Kate Lister’s insight:
Kate Lister’s insight:This isn’t a theoretical book about sustainability. WE Leader, Lisa Whited, offers solid practical advice for how to create healthy, sustainable workplaces. Case studies demonstrate how putting people and planet first will make a more sustainable future. Order it from Amazon here!
…‘bad decisions are going to be made because we are doing the equivalent of asking people who cannot drive what the future of the car is.’
Kate Lister’s insight:
We have had two years’ to see and understand that productivity is cultivated at an individual level, based on circumstances, needs and objectives. To try to put the genie back in the bottle and treat everyone as a homogenous ‘blob’, subject to blanket mandates, is truly stupid and will have bad consequences.
Study shows 40% decrease in meetings increased productivity by 71%
From hbr.org – April 5, 2022 4:58 PM
“…70% of all meetings keep employees from working and completing all their tasks.”
Kate Lister’s insight:
The survey of 76 companies that reduced their number of meetings over the past 14 months found that new managers hold a third more meetings than experienced ones and that 92% of employees consider meetings a waste of time.
In addition to the 71% increase in productivity, a 40% reduction in meetings was also associated with:
- 78% increase in autonomy
- 57% increase in communication
- 52% increase in employee satisfaction
- 52% decrease in micromanagement
- 43% decrease in employee stress
- …and more
The article offers the process by which they reduced the number of meetings at the participating organizations. It includes:
- Holding meetings only as a last resort—Instead use async methods of communication (i.e. chat, email, collaborative documents)
- Making attendance optional for some
- Encouraging employees to cancel meetings they didn’t feel were a good use of time
- Using a dashboard to track project progress
Productivity of inventors declines as commute distance increases.
From www.sciencedirect.com – April 5, 2022 4:07 PM
We estimate the causal effect of workplace–home commuting distance on inventor productivity. We construct a novel panel of U.S. inventors with precise…
Kate Lister’s insight:
The authors of the study found that the productivity of inventors, as measured by patents, declined 5% for every 10km increase in commute distance. Patent quality also declined with distance (down 7% for every 10km increase). The productivity loss was highest among top inventors (a 10% reduction). Unfortunately, the research did not extend to uncovering reasons for the decline.
Psychology Today: Dr. Gleb Tsipursky’s advice for how to thrive with hybrid
From www.psychologytoday.com – March 27, 2022 5:18 PM
Seize a competitive advantage with a culture of “Excellence From Anywhere.”
Kate Lister’s insight:
Hybrid isn’t easy. Gleb Tsipursky challenges us to think about the cognitive biases we will encounter in a hybrid working environment and suggests ways we can overcome them.
NYT—Important demographic difference in who want to continue to work from home
From www.nytimes.com – March 14, 2022 11:44 AM
The office was never one size fits all. It was one size fits some, with the expectation that everybody else would squeeze in.
Kate Lister’s insight:
Based on over 700 responses the NYT received on questions about the return to office and dozens of interviews, they conclude reticence has more to do with office culture than having to wear grown up clothes or working without your cat on your lap. Many Black employees, for example, have found working from home to be a reprieve from micro-aggressions and bias. Some felt working from home has leveled the playing field in terms of compensation and promotion by eliminating the presence over performance bias.
The respondents also want access to daylight, a quiet environment, and the ability to set the temperature in the room, but those are the easy things to fix. The oppression, bias, fear, and inequity issues are much more difficult and if we’re not careful, we will find ourselves with a workforce that is even more divided than it was before the pandemic.
Pew research reveals reasons people quit in 2021
From www.psychologytoday.com – March 27, 2022 5:18 PM
Based on a February 2022 survey of 6,600 U.S. adults who left their job in 2021.
Kate Lister’s insight:
The article includes breakdowns of differences by race, education, and age.
Truly fascinating informative and interactive infographic on tech advancements
From www.dhl.com – March 7, 2022 8:30 AM
The DHL Trend Radar is the key instrument for the global logistics community and has become an benchmark for strategy and innovation in the logistics industry.
Kate Lister’s insight:
Kate Lister’s insight:This is a geek’s dream infographic. It depicts how and when social, business, and technology trend will impact industries. Be sure to:
- Use the buttons on the side to focus on an industry or level of impact
- Click on any radar dot to learn more
- Cycle between the 5th and 4th edition to see how much estimates have changed
WE Sponsor Spotlight: Advanced Workplace Associates (AWA)
From www.advanced-workplace.com – April 29, 2022 8:29 AM
Kate Lister’s insight:
AWA is a trusted and independent global management consultancy that helps organizations change their world of work for the better.
With more than 30 years’ experience, AWA’s team of global consultants are experts in workplace innovation, transformation, culture and experience. They deliver innovative, integrated and evidence-based future work strategies, research and training, with consultants and clients located in Europe, the US, Canada, the Americas and Asia.
Using a strategic blend of science and creativity, AWA helps its clients to make a crucial step change in the performance their people and their business by incorporating new ways of smart working.
JPMorgan’s WHF reversal for SOME employees…too little, too late, and too reluctant
From nypost.com – April 30, 2022 6:34 AM
A top JPMorgan Chase reportedly informed some employees this week that they could cut down on the number of days they spend working on site – a move that followed internal friction over the bank’s stringent return to office policy.
Kate Lister’s insight:
Under pressure from staff, JPMorgan CTO agreed to allow certain IT staff to WFH up to 3 days a week stating “I respectfully ask that with this generous modification that all members of our team meet the two-day with earnestness.” Gag!
This and other articles have revealed the use of management dashboards developed to monitor attendance.
A screenshot leaked to Business Insider reads: “Look at this and compare against what you’re requiring for your team,” a screenshot reads. “For example, if your team is meant to be in 3 days a week, this number should equal 60%.” Good grief. They don’t even trust their managers to be able to convert the number of days a week into a percentage.
Can you spell B-R-O-K-E-N culture?
From forklift operators and customs agents to aircraft pilots and senior leadership, we captured the responses of over 7,000 people in our 2021 DHL Future of Work in Logistics Survey.”
Kate Lister’s insight:
It’s rare to see a report on the future of work that looks beyond the traditional office worker. In this report, DHL surveyed 7,000 global logistics employees regarding their future work interests, workplace preferences, views on automation and training and more. Here are some highlights:
- 90+% feel technological advances will have a positive impact on their role in the next 5 years but more than half of both operations and office workers see automation and artificial intelligence as a job threat.
- There was little difference in the feeling of job insecurity across age groups for the youngest and oldest operations employees; 40-54 year olds were far less threatened than the other groups, but there large differences across office staff.
- In general, the younger the employee, the greater the perceived job insecurity
- In terms of workplace flexibility, 41% of operations staff and only 19% of office staff indicated they wanted to be in the office full-time. One or two days a week at home was the most popular frequency for both operations and office staff and was very strongly preferred by the youngest generation.
- An open environment or mix of spaces were preferred by most, but that preference over private spaces was stronger among younger employees.
- There’s lots more in the full report.
HBR explains why virtual brainstorming is better for innovation than in-person sessions and how to do it well.
From hbr.org – March 2, 2022 2:07 PM
Not only is it more fun, it also produces more novel ideas.
Kate Lister’s insight:
Dr. Gleb Tsipursky’s research and that of others have concluded that when done right, virtual brainstorming produces better results than doing it in person. Primarily, that’s because it’s more inclusive of introverts, pessimists, and junior employees. Introverts and pessimists respond more slowly than extroverts and younger team members are often too intimidated to contribute during in-person settings. Unlike traditional brainstorming, the research shows the virtual equivalent actually increases both innovation and works even with a large group of participants. The author maps out specific tools and processes to optimize the process.
Don’t let your employees work from anywhere until you read this.
From globalworkplaceanalytics.com – February 25, 2022 9:33 AM
Global Workplace Analytics and Isaac Mamaysky, Partner, Potomac Law Group teamed up on this peer-reviewed paper, “Working from Home: Employment Law and Tax Implications of Remote Work.”
Kate Lister’s insight:
It’s incredibly boring, with six pages dedicated to the footnotes alone, but it’s also incredibly important that employers understand that a rat’s nest of archaic laws can make working from anywhere a lot harder than it sounds.
The argument over location-based compensation is heating up.
From www.protocol.com – February 23, 2022 5:16 PM
Startups like Outschool, Gympass and Foursquare don’t cut workers’ pay when they move to a cheaper city. But they do let their new location inform their future pay increases. The approach helps companies stay competitive in an increasingly decentralized talent market, where tech workers can command high salaries from just about anywhere.
Kate Lister’s insight:
Several geo-differentiated policies are emerging here:
1) Geo-neutral—people are paid the same wherever they work. The article indicates Reddit, for example, has declared they are geo-neutral.
2) Salaries are maintained when an employee moves, but future increases are defined by local pay bands. The article indicates Foursquare is using the model.
3) Salaries are adjusted to local pay rates immediately upon moving. The article indicates Google is using this model in certain markets but says it will continue to offer salaries at the top of local market levels. Unions disagrees with this policy..
No doubt the trends here will be shaped by the market so stay tuned for updates.
Note: The policies regarding the companies mentioned here are taken from the articles and have not been independently verified.
Inc. article argues meetings must start on time. Do you agree?
From www.inc.com – February 23, 2022 4:09 PM
Research shows meetings that start late are not only irritating and rude. They’re also significantly less productive than meetings that start on time.
Kate Lister’s insight:
This article argues that meetings should always start on time. While I will admit to being a bit impatient with the 10 minutes of chit-chat at the beginning of a meeting, I also think that time of off-topic or social conversation is valuable, especially in light of remote working. So maybe what we need are meetings that officially start at 5 or 10 minutes after the hour. If you really want it to be all-business, that’s when you join. Others, who enjoy the informal connection time, can join at the top of the hour.
There’s less congestion during the early morning commute, but some cities are seeing an 11 AM rush
Kate Lister’s insight:
One of the hopes for remote/hybrid work has long been reduced vehicle usage and thus reduced greenhouse gases (GHG). Data from TomTom shows US congestion levels were 14% lower in 2021 than 2019. But in some cities like Philadelphia, NY, New Orleans, and Las Vegas congestion is almost back to pre-pandemic levels. In NY, which earns the distinction of being the most congested city in the US, drivers lose the equivalent of 3 days a year due to traffic. Sad to say, NY is far from the worst. It’s the only US city in the top fifty (No. 43) most congested in the world. In Istanbul, for example, drivers spend 6 days a year playing in traffic.
If remote and hybrid work are to reduce GHG, we’re going to have to adopt very different driving habits.
DeskMag 2022 Global Coworking Trends Report Reveals Valuable Insights
From www.deskmag.com – February 23, 2022 3:40 PM
We asked and you answered. In the Coworking Trends Survey, most coworking spaces were optimistic about the new year. However, their economic situation continued to be severely affected by the pandemic. Meeting spaces in particular have been in high demand recently. Read the most important results in this article.
Kate Lister’s insight:
I’ve been following DeskMag’s coworking reports for many years. It’s always worth a full read but here are some stats that caught my eye:
– More coworking operators are losing money (41% of global – down from 44% in 2019, 31% in N.A.) than making a profit (30% globally, 27% in Europe, 35% in N.A.)
– Operators with 5 or more locations were far more likely to be unprofitable (44% saying they were unprofitable) than those with 2 to 4 (34% unprofitable)
– 21% of survey responds in the EU and 13% in N.A. said business was bad.
– Optimism about the next 3 months was significantly higher in N.A. than EU (83% vs 46% saying they expect business to be better
– Only 23% of global respondents felt they were limited by insufficient demand but 44% said attracting new members was a challenge
– The demand for various types of spaces—meeting spaces, individual spaces, private offices, etc—varied significantly by location—urban, suburban, rural—and by region. The highest demand in both places was for meeting spaces, but demand for individual offices was far greater in N.A.
Survey information: 326 valid responses were gathered in Nov/Dec of 2021.
This 4-minute film should be a must-watch in schools, workplaces, and everywhere
From www.shots.net – February 23, 2022 9:02 AM
This new short film from director Meena Ayittey takes a closer look at the toll taken on one man after a series of race-related micro-agggressions.
Kate Lister’s insight:
If you’ve never been on the blunt end of a bias-fed micro-aggression, it’s almost impossible to understand what it feels like. Let this film put you in someone else’s shoes for a few minutes and it will open your eyes and heart to the reality of many.
Buffer shares what it learned from now-permanent 4-day workweek experiment
From www.cnbc.com – February 22, 2022 11:31 AM
“What started as an experiment during the pandemic has now become company policy.”
Kate Lister’s insight:
Buffer went all-virtual in 2015 so their 85 employees were ahead of most when the pandemic hit. But stress levels were still high and the company decided to try a 4-day workweek. The experiment was a success with 91% of workers saying they were happier and more productive. So Buffer made it permanent. Here’s what they learned along the way:
1) Having everyone choose the day they wanted to be off didn’t work. They have since settled on Fridays off.
2) At first, everyone tried to squeeze everything into the shorter workweek. That proved impossible so they cut down meetings and encouraged more async communications. That however, led to a drop in engagement which they attributed to the reduction in social element of meetings.
They’ve now added social events and encouraged people to connect more. So far, so good. Rather than reversing course when they encounter problems, management is committed to making the 4-day workweek work.
Well-intentioned but misguided efforts miss the mark for truly having an impact on employee burnout.
Kate Lister’s insight:
Burnout became an official diagnosis by the World Health Organization in 2019 and cures flooded the market. But this article suggests that while yoga, exercise, meditation and similar interventions may be good for us, they won’t reverse the cynicism, exhaustion, and detachment that many are feeling. That’s because burnout is more likely to be an organizational problem, rather than an individual one. What needs to change is the root cause which typically stems from one of the following:
– Unsustainable workloads
– Perceived lack of control/autonomy
– Insufficient recognition or rewards
– Lack of fairness or perceived injustice
– Mismatched skills and values
– Community or relationship issues
Yes, increasing resiliency can help people cope, but fixing the fundamental problem is the real solution.
Pew Research release offers update on U.S. remote/hybrid/in-office trends
From www.pewresearch.org – February 17, 2022 10:51 AM
Nearly two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, roughly six-in-ten U.S. workers who say their jobs can mainly be done from home (59%) are working from home all or most of the time.
Kate Lister’s insight:
There aren’t any big surprises here, but the rigor of Pew’s research (see below) makes their data especially valuable.
The highlights:
(1) 39% of employed adults say their job could be done at home
(2) 12% of employed adults worked fully or mostly at home prior to the pandemic
(3) About 70% (of #1 above) worked fully or mostly at home at peak pandemic compared to 60% in January of 2022
(4) Among (#1 above), 35% would like to continue to WFH full-time after the pandemic, 25% say mostly, 28% say some of the time. The frequency with this group wants to WFH has increased since the peak of the pandemic.
(5) In terms of major reasons (#4 above) want to do so: The majority (76%) say it’s because they prefer it, 42% cite fear being exposed to Covid, 17% because they have relocated, and 14% cite childcare responsibilities.
(6) Among (#1) who WFH rarely or never, 60% say it’s because they are not allowed. For the remaining 40%, the majority (60%) either prefer or feel they are more productive at the office. Only 20% say the major reason they don’t WFH is because they don’t have space and 14% say it’s because they worry about advancement opportunities.
(7) Among those who rarely or never worked from home prior to the pandemic:
– 64% say they find it easier to balance work and life; another 20% say it’s about the same.
– 60% say they feel less connected to coworkers. 36% say connection is about the same.
– Only 10% say they find it harder to meet deadlines; 44% say it’s easier to do so.
– Only 13% say it’s harder for them to advance in their jobs.
Pew’s latest survey was fielded in late-January 2022. Panel size = 5,900. Results are weighted to be representative of U.S. adult population in terms of gender, race, political affiliation, education, and more.
