While remote work remains indefinitely, employees are speaking out that they are not enjoying their jobs anymore and are experiencing a major disconnect from their companies.
According to Microsoft’s Work Trend Index, 41% of those surveyed said they’re mulling leaving their job and burnout hasn’t improved at all, with 45% of workers saying they are overworked and 39% are exhausted. Companies are desperate to find better ways to make the remote workday more manageable and show that they care about the wellbeing of their employees.
What constitutes a workplace is questioned by workers and managers worldwide
Consequently, the Covid-19 pandemic has ended the traditional set-up of a corporate headquarters where employees congregate daily. Consequently, the very premise of what constitutes a workplace is questioned by workers and managers worldwide.
Elaine Varelas, managing partner of leading career management and leadership development consulting firm, Keystone Partners, has noticed this debate. “After the initial shock and adjustment to working from home due to the global pandemic, many employees now identify the number one way to keep them more engaged is continued workplace flexibility.” She notes less enlightened employers may also be worried about how employees are spending their time. So, they must focus on productivity over employee whereabouts—which can absolutely be managed and measured remotely. “After all, when everyone is on-site in a cube or office, do managers know how employees are spending their time?” she adds.
Consequently, it is fundamental that leaders create a place that people want to be by providing insight and control in the employees' day and putting that experience in their hands—all while empowering employers to set their company and culture on display. Organizations like cove do this by building software that transforms the way people engage with their offices and colleagues connect the physical and digital worlds—turning real estate into a consumer-driven experience that brings people to the forefront.
The future of work is fascinating and steeped in personalization—it is becoming less about 9-5, five days a week and more about how you get your best work done. This will require a thoughtful look at the tools, people, and spaces at our disposal.
Adam Segal, the co-founder and CEO of cove, suggests, “typically, we will meet with a client to understand three key components to putting their office and work experience online.” These are flexible workplace policy, office design, and overall work experience objectives, which are particularly interesting because as companies look to create a hybrid workspace model, these three factors are essential to unlocking the future of work.
The end result, according to Segal, is a custom digitized work experience that accounts for a company's culture, policies, physical environment, and in-person objectives. This includes enabling desk and conference room reservations, scheduling integrations, on-site digital displays for communication, check-in tablets—everything to put the experience and people on display. He suggests “work is going through a process of personalization” and subsequently, “by creating a digital layer to the office, you can increase utilization and optimization while actual increasing engagement.”
Varelas believes that whether employees are working from home or in the office, managers need to develop remote management skills focusing on collaboration, project management, measuring, and reporting accomplishments. Clear articulation of expected outcomes aligns expectations for specific roles and individuals with organizational goals, regardless of where the individual is working.
Evidently, therefore, the future of work has so many exciting and exciting new components—this requires a simplified and streamlined way to access and engage with a dynamic work ecosystem. And by putting the workday experience in employee's hands' leaders can empower a new kind of office and work experience at the intersection of tech, design, and people—which is exactly how leaders can lead the workplace of the future.
