2023-11-09 19:47:52
Apparently, too many employees take advantage of this to devote themselves to lazing around. (Photo: Drew Coffman for Unsplash)
CURSED JOB! is a section where Olivier Schmouker answers your most juicy questions [et les plus pertinentes] about the modern business world… and, of course, its flaws. An appointment to read the Tuesdays and the Thursdays. Do you want to participate? Send us your question to [email protected]
Q. – “Our boss warned us that the boss of our SME was going to put a stop to teleworking. The explanation? “It doesn’t work”, without further clarification. I am downright shocked, because a large number of employees appreciate this good way to reconcile professional and personal life!” – Karine
A. – Dear Karine, it is time to take stock after three years of widespread experimentation with teleworking, and it is clear that the vast majority of CEOs say they are dissatisfied with it. Very dissatisfied even.
As proof, I cite the “2023 CEO Outlook” study by the consulting firm KPMG, conducted among 1,325 CEOs from 11 countries, including Canada, and working in 11 different sectors of activity. It emerges in particular that:
– 64% of CEOs expect a return to full-time office work within the next three years.
– 87% of CEOs plan to soon introduce incentives for returning to the office, for example in the form of bonuses, salary increases or promotions.
This fierce desire to put an end to teleworking once and for all may come as a surprise. Moreover, Andrew Yates, CEO of KPMG Australia, is surprised by this himself in the study: “I was convinced that hybrid and flexible working was here to stay, but I was wrong,” he admits. with humility.
What do they blame him for? Essentially a drop in productivity. And two other recent studies do seem to give them solid arguments.
Jose Maria Barrero is a professor of finance at the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico, Steven Davis is a professor of economics at the University of Chicago, and Nicholas Bloom is a professor of economics at Stanford University. Together, the three researchers compiled recent studies on the impact of teleworking on employee productivity. And the result is clear: “In general, teleworking reduces productivity by 10% to 20%,” they conclude.
Why this? The reasons are multiple, according to the study:
– difficulties in communication and coordination of work;
– failures of communication networks;
– decrease in creativity;
– decline in peer learning and mentoring.
Add to this the revelations of another study, conducted by Upgraded Points, which reveals the fact that teleworking is a source of countless distractions:
– When they telework, 75% of people take the opportunity to consult their social media (which they prevent themselves from doing in the office, for fear of being seen).
– 70% shop online.
– 53% watch TV shows or films.
– 32% plan their weekends or vacations.
That’s not all. Many employees take advantage of this to do something other than work for their employer:
– 72% take advantage of this to carry out household chores (during their working hours).
– 37% go grocery shopping.
– 22% take a nap.
– 12% go for a drink at the bar next door.
It’s quite simple, 1 in 10 employees (13%) flatly admit that in truth they only work three or four hours a day when they telework.
Karine, allow me to ask you two or three questions: don’t you also find that there is abuse here? Don’t you understand that CEOs see red when discovering such statistics? And that they only want one thing: to put an end to all this?
Now, should teleworking be completely eradicated? To consider that teleworking is just a pretext to attack with impunity? No, of course, because it’s ridiculous to go from one extreme to the other: teleworking is neither all black nor all white.
In fact, it seems to me, the problem is not teleworking, but rather the way in which it is implemented. As an indication, I want to give what the study by three researchers from ITAM, the University of Chicago and Stanford University gives as the main explanation for the drop in productivity caused by teleworking: increased communication problems. and coordination of work.
It would therefore be appropriate to review our way of communicating within a team when its members are remote. To establish a constant link between each other which would remove the temptation to do something other than work (like “The others don’t see me, so I can continue my Netflix series on the sly!”), but so that this link is not experienced as insidious and sneaky surveillance (the Big Brother effect, to be absolutely avoided!).
How to achieve this? I admit that I don’t really know. But I am convinced that among all the people who are reading this column, there are surely a few who have their own idea on the subject, or even already identified an interesting solution. Hence my appeal to everyone: tell me your find, even if it is not perfect! I will be happy to share the most relevant of them with everyone in a future column. Who knows? This could save Karine’s day, by providing her with sufficient arguments to change the mind of the boss of her SME.
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#Teleworking #lamentable #failure #CEOs #longer