A growing number of business leaders and employees don’t see eye to eye with each other in the wake of the hybrid work environment spurred by the pandemic, according to Microsoft research.
The company’s Work Trend Index Pulse Report, titled “Hybrid Work Is Just Work. Are We Doing It Wrong?” surveyed 20,000 people in 11 countries, including the Asia Pacific region, and found differing conceptions of productivity, accountability, and flexibility in the workplace.
In Asia Pacific, 83% of employees say they are productive at work, but 89% of leaders say the shift to hybrid work has made it difficult to ensure that employees are productive. Leaders are suggested to make company goals clear and aligned, get rid of non-goal-oriented work processes, and listen to their employees. However, as much as 58% of surveyed companies rarely or never ask employees what they think.
Up to 76% of Asia Pacific employees admitted that they needed better motivation to go to work than just company expectations. However, 83% of them said they would be motivated to go to work if they could hang out with coworkers or rebuild team bonds. Both employees and leaders agree that communication is the most important skill needed for success, and digital communication is particularly useful in this regard.
Furthermore, up to 59% of Asia Pacific workers say that changing jobs is the best way to improve their skills, but they also say that they would stay at their companies longer if it was easier to switch jobs within the company (72%), or if they could get more help with learning and development (78%).
“Thriving employees are what will give organizations a competitive advantage in today’s dynamic economic environment,” said Microsoft chariman and CEO Satya Nadella. “Today, we’re announcing new innovations across our employee experience platform Microsoft Viva to help leaders end productivity paranoia, rebuild social capital and re-recruit and re-energize their employees.”
