Lots of firms still don’t really seem to be fully backing hybrid working
New research from VMWare suggests that many employers are less than enthusiastic about hybrid working, despite numerous studies suggesting that working from home could have a positive effect on productivity.
The companies report (opens in new tab)“The Distributed Work Dilemma: When Innovation and Job Satisfaction Compete,” surveyed 5,300 HR and IT decision makers and employee-level respondents from countries across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
Nearly two-thirds (62%) of respondents felt their company was more “innovative” when employees worked in the office, compared to when they worked from home, while four in five (81%) of respondents praised greater job satisfaction when they worked in able to adopt a hybrid work routine.
WFH vs office
The majority of hybrid workers also testify to increased morale (56%), creativity (52%) and collaboration (53%) compared to pre-pandemic levels.
VMWare thinks growing economic uncertainty could prompt employers to return to the office on a large scale in hopes of seeing a productivity boost, despite the fact that low productivity has no proven link to hybrid or telecommuting practices.
Some employers still don’t trust their employees to work anywhere, with 97% of participating companies admitting to “monitoring innovation”, and 82% of companies mandating an office policy.
VMWare SVP and General Manager for End-User Computing, Shankar Iyer, explains, “Research has shown that enabling hybrid work leads to happier, more engaged and more collaborative teams, which can naturally lead to higher productivity. ”
Iyer continues: “Our research suggests that more companies should deploy formal metrics to measure impact to ensure that perception does not [outweigh] reality. Those with a hybrid work policy clearly take this very seriously.”
The survey found that 72% of EMEA organizations plan to invest “significantly” in their digital culture, with a number of companies using or considering some level of automation to take the pressure off employees and thus improve overall productivity. increase.
