Not surprisingly, employees who can work from home are more satisfied with their jobs
A new report examining the acceptance of return-to-office (RTO) policies in US workplaces has found Homework can be mentally healthy, although some stresses from the office disappear.
The report (PDF) titled “Return-to-Office Mandates and the Future of Work,” published by self-proclaimed “global authority on workplace culture” Great Place to Work, offers several key findings: Employees are 27% more likely to enjoy their jobs, 60% less likely to quit, and 67% are willing to put in more effort if they can do so from anywhere.
Another important finding is that “black employees reported being spared from unconscious bias and code-switching when working remotely,” just as research has shown that Neurodiverse employees can burn out more easily thanks to the energy required to hide their condition.
RTO, NO THANKS
If you’re thinking, “Wait a minute, those numbers are a bit low,” it’s safe to say that the study has a significant gap: 65% of all respondents worked on-site anyway, only 16% worked remotely full-time, and 20% did so “sometimes.”
In response to the question from Ars-TechnicaGreat Place to Work pointed to the sample size of 4,400 workers as evidence that the survey was still representative of remote and on-site employees. But frankly, it’s not, is it?
There is a certain reluctance here. “Remote work is not Miracle cure (emphasis theirs) for a better corporate culture,” which is nominally true, as it includes things like salary reviews, management hierarchy, Team Structure and vacation policies. However, if remote workers are overall happier and more productive than their on-site counterparts, as the study suggests, then this suggests that this is some incentive.
For example, in the report, Great Place to Work defines a “great workplace” as one that broadly promotes a healthy work-life balance, cares about its employees as people, and “fosters a psychologically and emotionally healthy workplace.” It’s no exaggeration to say that these things are easier to achieve and control when employees have freedom to choose where they work.
Even more simply, teleworking leads to more people working at all and, as even Great Place to Work points out, feeling more comfortable at work. So it seems quite sensible to at least let employees choose where they work.
And for The n-th TimeRequiring an RTO because your infrastructure is pathetic or you pretend that you care about the “connection” is obviously putting the blame on the employee who shouldn’t be doing it, and fortunately mostly not swallowed the bait.
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