Increasing numbers of employers are bringing people back to the office. Meanwhile, the debate continues about what kind of work is optimal—in-person, remote or a mix of both.
But what about the greatest number of all employees in the nation? New data on their views can provide insight for what works best—and infuse fresh perspective in the discussion. In addition, such a large swath of people will significantly influence expectations and the ways organizations must respond.
The U.S. government is the largest employer, with nearly 24 million people who make up about 15% of the total national workforce. When you’re gathered at the barbeque with 20 friends and family, that’s three people eating hot dogs next to you who work for the government.
The sheer scale of this group makes it relevant—since their demands will shape the future of work.
Requiring Better Work
Interestingly, in April, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued an edict that their agencies must establish meaningful in-person work and increase organizational health and performance. Leaders are expected to establish work environment plans, measurement systems and processes to improve—all of which should be data-driven.
In addition to mandates, it’s also insightful to look and listen to what government employees desire and expect—since they make up such a large percentage of workers. A new poll by Eagle Hill Consulting provides ingishts.
This group of employees is clear about the value of being in-person together—and about certain types of work which are performed best face-to-face.
Work Well Together
Fully 85% believe team building and integrating a new person into the team (also 85%) are best performed in person, based on the Eagle Hill poll.
Additional data finds similar themes. People report the most significant challenges with remote work are feeling less connected to an organization’s culture; reduced team collaboration; impaired working relationships with co-workers and reduced cross-functional communication and collaboration, according to a nationally representative sample of over 8,000 people gathered by Gallup.
This makes sense according to the social science research on how trust is built and how bonds develop. People tend to have a greater levels of acceptance toward people with whom they are more familiar. In addition, employees have higher levels of trust when others are more legible—that is, when they are easy to read and understand. Each of these are supported with more face-to-face contact.
Of course it’s possible to develop strong relationships with the help of technology, but nothing beats being in person for reading body language and responding to the nuances of behavior in the team.
Lead Effectively
There is also strong support for being in the office for managing team members (77% believe this to be the case), having performance discussions (69%) and giving and receiving feedback (64%), according to Eagle Hill.
Research demonstrates when leaders are present, accessible and responsive, these contribute to greater levels of trust, performance and positive cultures. Situations where leaders have the proximity to check in, provide guidance and demonstrate they care about people’s performance by coaching and holding people accountable, contribute to strong relationships, teams and performance.
In addition, people value leaders who communicate compelling mission, vision, values and direction—and leaders who reinforce these regularly face-to-face can provide a strong sense of purpose and meaning for the work people do day-to-day.
Learn, Develop and Grow
The data also show that this group of employees value being in the office together for training (72%) and onboarding (72%).
Learning is significantly correlated with happiness. The opportunity to stretch, grow and advance are what people say is a top priority in their work and their satisfaction. Similarly, the Gallup data suggests people who work remote struggle with a lack of access to work resources and equipment.
Learning can occur online, but it also occurs in classrooms and in the trenches when team members work side-by-side, experience each other’s efforts and learn from what they’re seeing and hearing. Being in the office also provides for mentoring and building the social capital which allow people to ask for advice, seek suggestions and invite ideas from others.
Be Productive
There are certain types of work which lend themselves to working alone or working remote. According to the Eagle Hill poll, they are things like research and deep thinking—but there are also key work efforts which are best done together in the office. In fact, a new study by the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research finds fully remote work tends to reduce productivity by 10%-20%.
This group of workers agrees there are elements of work which are optimal in person. These include new project kickoffs (71%), getting a project back on track (70%), meetings (62%), brainstorming (58%), classified work (61%) and IT support (58%).
The Gallup data is aligned here as well—with people saying when they work away from teammates, they have more difficulty coordinating work schedules, tasks and timelines.
Employers are wise to have workplaces which support all kinds of work—and cultures which empower people with control over where they’ll do their best work and the freedom to choose which areas of the building or campus they’ll use.
Build Social Capital and Careers
Interestingly, respondents in the poll also believe there are career benefits to being in the office—with 54% saying when people work in the office, they’re more likely to be successful in their jobs.
It’s human nature to pay attention to people and things we’re in contact with more often. The availability heuristic, also called the accessibility bias suggests we tend to rely on information that comes most easily to mind when we’re making decisions or evaluating situations. This operates in work situations as well.
When a colleague considers who they want to invite onto the high-profile project, they think of the person they saw in the meeting recently. Or when a the leader gives thought to the people they might pull into a special assignment, they remember who they ran into in the office café or on the elevator.
In addition to building relationships, being available and being present keep employees top of mind.
Address Concerns
As people return to the office, they also have some concerns. It’s human nature to become accustomed to a way of life—creating a comfort zone. And the last three years have caused many to conform to home-based routines and prefer working remote.
In addition, fascinating research on behavioral economics and psychology identify the endowment effect in which people tend to place more value on what they already have, and less value on something new or different.
Work experience is like this too. Human nature suggests people will tend to cling to remote work and resist moving back to an in-person cadence, even when working face-to-face has benefits.
When people express concern about being in person, they tend to worry most about work-life balance (45% of people), commute time (43%), increased costs (38%), stress (34%), distractions (27%), rigid work schedules (23%) and childcare issues (14%), based on Eagle Hill polling.
Likewise, people in the Gallup study report when they work remote, they appreciate greater work-life balance as well as freedom to choose when and where they work.
Leaders and organizations can help mitigate these apprehensions by making it a place people want to be, but also by giving them time to adapt to the shift—for example requiring less days in the office at first and then building toward more days in person.
As much as possible, it’s also wise to give people flexibility—which has been linked with better performance. In addition, best practice is for organizations to set broad guidelines which are consistent across the whole, and then also ask teams to make decisions which address the needs of the team members and the team’s responsibilities specifically.
Capture Rewards
The way people work has changed fundamentally, and workplaces and work policies must change as well—but for most efforts and for most employees there is still an important role for showing up face-to-face.
From feeling a sense of purpose and connection to deriving a sense of esteem based on being productive and efficient, there are compelling benefits to employees—as well as the advantages for organizations.
Now is the time to determine the best mix of remote and in-person work to create the greatest results for companies and the best experiences for people.
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