Aussie employees may quit if office days are mandated, hybrid work study finds

Australian businesses are at risk of bringing on their own ‘Great Resignation’ in 2022 if they mandate a return to set days in the office, latest research shows.

 

The Future of Work (Adapting to the New Normal) report released today by Bastion Reputation and Bastion Insights draws on results from two surveys conducted in late 2021, comprising a nationally representative sample of 1200 Australians including 600 employees and 500 employers from all states and territories and a wide range of industries.

Amid much talk of the Great Resignation, the Bastion report found that 2 in 5 employees surveyed want more than anything to have control over where and when they work. For some, having flexibility was more important than incentives such as higher pay.

Says Clare Gleghorn, CEO, Bastion Reputation: “After nearly two years of working in and out of lockdowns, employees feel liberated and empowered by the flexibility they’ve experienced, and many would now rather choose to leave their job than lose their ability to work from home when they want to.

“Flexible working is being embraced particularly by female and older workers. While this is a positive trend for embracing flexibility, employers will need to be mindful that this doesn’t negatively impact on broader workplace culture and inclusion.”

As Australian employers prepare their teams and business operations for a more stable year in 2022, this acts as a clear warning to them that embracing hybrid ways of working is now an essential part of ensuring a successful business.

Says Gleghorn: “While employers are keen for their operations to get back to normal in 2022, they need to avoid a blunt approach and instead use this as an opportunity to engage with their employees in a positive discussion about the future of their workplace.

“It will be important to think before enforcing mandates about returning to the office. Anchor days are really important for creating a sense of connection but workplaces in 2022 shouldn’t just be about the office or home. They should be about really considering what is best for teams, individuals, and businesses to get the best out of each other, and that starts with a conversation.

“Employers should find ways to involve employees in the conversation about what work looks like for individuals, teams and the broader business. Offering genuine and ongoing flexibility may take a leap of faith for some employers but it will go a long way towards helping attract and retain top talent and getting the best performance outcomes for business.”

A corporate and cultural revolution which Australians have largely embraced

The Bastion survey shows that in the main, Australian employers and employees have made the transition to living and working in an ongoing state of uncertainty. This is a change from last year’s survey, when the disruptive impacts of a public health crisis and the shift to new ways of working were challenging and stressful for employers and employees.

The employers surveyed in November 2021 showed increased confidence about hybrid working arrangements with:
• 21% believing it negatively impacts workplace culture (compared to 35% last year)
• 26% believing it negatively impacts teamwork and collaboration (compared to 37% last year)
• 19% believing it negatively impacts the performance management process (compared to 23% last year)

For employees, their adaptation to a new normal shows up in their attitudes to working from home. The honeymoon glow has worn off working from home, but there is still a broad sense of satisfaction with the more flexible working arrangements available to them.

Dianne Gardiner, CEO of Bastion Insights says of the report’s findings: “While there is plenty of optimism that the new year may offer more stability than we’ve experienced for the past two years, it will never be a case of life returning to the way it was before the pandemic.

“In 2022 leaders will need to coach their managers, many of whom are still not sure how to manage confidently in remote or hybrid settings. And while much will continue to change about the way we work, some basic principles of great leadership won’t – leaders should keep talking to their teams, listen genuinely, offer flexibility where they can and communicate clearly and regularly.”

Gaps remain in managing performance

Many employers are still not sure or confident about how to manage teams in a hybrid model, with more than half saying they have not even thought about how to do it.

Says Gleghorn: “We know that poor performance management is a problem long-term. It can be a real culture-killer to see under-performing colleagues ‘get away with it’. And even high performers will disengage over time, if they are not receiving regular feedback and guidance from their manager.

“This tension between empowerment, productivity and oversight still needs to be resolved if hybrid models are to be effective. There is much work to be done to shift our mindsets and adapt our ways of managing teams, to allow autonomy and trusted working relationships to thrive.”

Workplace culture and inclusion – a watching brief

While the report found employers are generally less negative about hybrid work, there are still lingering concerns about factors such as connection to colleagues, with about 1 in 4 employers and about 1 in 5 employees believing hybrid working will have a negative impact on connection.

This suggests employers and employees need to find the right approaches to keeping the whole team engaged, valued and connected as businesses move into 2022 and beyond.

Additionally, 21% of female employees surveyed and 60% of older employees surveyed are unlikely to want to return to the office – a trend that potentially points to future offices which skew towards male workers and younger workers.

VIEW THE REPORT