Some time ago, we brought to the discussion a very actual topic - working remotely. Back then, we advised organization leaders to not only rely on video conferences to communicate with their employees but to actually spend time and understand them.
Today, we want to take the discussion further and raise another alarm to the management. Why? Because after reading a recent study, we came to the sad conclusion that most leaders either still have no idea what their team members want or simply don’t care about their needs.
Yes, it is a harsh statement, but so are the statistics. Immediately after the COVID-19 crisis, 80% of employees hoped to be able to work from home at least three days each week, while more than 90% expected to have the possibility to do so at least one day per week. Furthermore, 23% of the surveyed individuals said they were willing to accept a 10% salary cut if they could work from home at all times.
Now, how many companies do you think understood these aspects and today allow their employees to work fully remotely? 16%. Yes, you’ve read that right. Currently, only 16% of the organizations hire people to work remotely, while 44% don’t offer their employees any work-from-home possibilities.
The result? Over 50% of the interviewed people are willing to change jobs if that would allow them to work remotely rather than have a daily office schedule. Therefore, looking at all these facts, it’s no wonder that the labor market is going through a trend called the Great Resignation, which has been around for more than a year.
So what else would be left to say? We think that all this data speaks for itself. Even so, we want to ensure that these statistics' message is highlighted as we consider it vital for the future of many organizations. To do so, we wish to offer you even more insights on the matter, this time provided by Slack.
“Inflexible return to office policies is hammering employee experience scores.”
-Slack pulse report
The messaging software company also noticed the big discrepancies between what employees and employers want and did a survey of their own. They discovered the following:
With all the information on the table, we only have one final piece of advice to give the leaders out there. But before we do so, we want to tell you that you don’t have to believe us when we say that employees of today don’t stay around if their interests are not being met. You don’t have to believe us when we say that the employees of today don’t care only about the paycheck but are interested in their working environment, just as much. That the employees of today need a company culture that suits their own character. No. You don’t have to believe us. You just have to look at the statistics and surveys and see the reality.
What you do have to believe, though, is that if you don’t ask your team members which of the three categories presented by Slack they belong to and offer them what they need, they will most likely leave you. They will look for new opportunities and resign with no second thoughts.
So our humble piece of advice is this - listen - be the ears your employees want and don’t neglect their needs. Working remotely is a very hot and delicate topic. Fortunately, it is one that can easily be discussed and resolved. Therefore, instead of waiting until it’s too late, ask the people under your leadership what type of workplace will make them happy to work in and try to, at least, meet them in the middle.
