A new report polling the reception of return-to-office (RTO) mandates in US workplaces has suggested remote work can be psychologically healthy, though some stresses do escape the office.
The report (PDF) entitled “Return-to-Office Mandates and the Future of Work”, published by the self-described ‘Global Authority on Workplace Culture’ Great Place to Work, offers several key takeaways: workers are 27% more likely to enjoy their job, 60% less likely to quit and 67% to put in more effort if they can do it wherever they want.
Another important finding claims that “Employees of color reported finding a reprieve from unconscious bias and code switching when working remotely,” in the same way that research has also shown that neurodivergent employees can burn out more easily thanks to the energy required to mask their condition.
RTO NO THX
If you’re thinking, ‘hang on, these numbers are a bit low’, well, it’s fair to say that there’s a sizable hole in the study: 65% of all respondents worked on site anyway, with just 16% working remotely full time and 20% doing so “sometimes.”.
When asked about this by Ars Technica, Great Place to Work pointed to its sample size of 4,400 workers as evidence that the survey is still representative of remote and on-site workers, but – candidly – it’s not, is it?
There’s some reticence going on here. “Remote work isn’t a magic bullet [emphasis theirs] for better workplace culture,” which is nominally true in that it discounts things like wage reviews, management hierarchy, team structure and annual leave policy. However, if remote employees are on the whole happier and more productive than their on-site counterparts, something which the study does point to, then that does suggest that it is a bit of a shot in the arm.
For example, in the report, Great Place to Work defines a ‘great workplace’ as, on the whole, encouraging a healthy work-life balance, caring about its employees as people, and ‘fostering a psychologically and emotionally healthy workplace’. It’s not a leap to say that these things are easier to achieve and keep an overview of if employees can choose where they want to work.
Even simpler than that, remote work gets more people into work in the first place, and, as even Great Place to Work have suggested, makes more people feel comfortable at work. So, at least allowing employees the choice of where they work seems to just make sense.
And for the nth time, mandating RTO because your infrastructure is pathetic or you pretend to care about ‘connection’ blatantly puts the blame squarely on the employee, who shouldn’t, and thankfully largely haven’t taken the bait.
Via Ars Technica
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luke.hughes@futurenet.com (Luke Hughes)
