Remote work: What is the “productivity paranoia” of bosses! A new Microsoft survey found that most workers – 87% to be exact – feel they are just as effective/productive at home as they are in the office, but the vast majority of bosses disagree.
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About 85% of business leaders suspect their employees are lazing around at home, while only 12% of them have "complete confidence" that their employees are productive, according to the results of a Microsoft survey of 20,000 people in 11 countries.
As companies begin asking employees to return to the office either full-time or hybrid, Microsoft is pointing to the emergence of “productivity paranoia” and says business leaders need to overcome it because it could jeopardize the future of hybrid work.
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Microsoft has been implementing hybrid working on its campuses and has adapted its Office apps, most notably Teams, for hybrid working. Yesterday, it also announced new modules for its Viva employee experience platform, which aims to help companies engage with employees in the office and remotely.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told the BBC this week: “We need to get past this so-called ‘productivity paranoia’, because all the data we have shows that 80% plus of people feel they are very productive – except for management who think they are not productive. That means there is a real disconnect in terms of expectations and what they feel.”
Microsoft portrays the concept of “productivity paranoia” as a vicious cycle. Businesses that use employee monitoring technology show employees that they are not trusted, and employees in turn pretend to be productive by knowingly participating in pointless video meetings.
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A study from GitLab found that remote workers spend an average of 67 minutes pretending to be productive each day.
Employee attitudes toward the purpose of the office have changed. Microsoft found that 73% of employees want a better reason to come back outside of the company requirement. Most (about 85%) said they would like to go to the office to socialize with colleagues and rebuild team bonds.
Information source: zdnet.com
