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We fear many companies today are failing because they no longer have a handle on their workforce environments.<\/p>\n
Big 4 consulting firms and banks have already slowed hiring college grads en masse… because everyone wants \u201cplug-and-play” workers who need minimal training and can deliver the work allocated.\u00a0 On top of that, we are seeing so many enterprises mandate staff to return to the office (RTO) as management blames the remote working environment for corporate underperformance.<\/p>\n
This is what we are terming as the transactional workforce environment<\/em> unfolding.\u00a0 It’s quasi-remote, it’s terrible for training college grads, while many people are far more focused on their lifestyles.\u00a0 Long gone are the pre-pandemic days when the workplace was like an extension of your family, you went for drinks together after work, and most of your colleagues were on your Facebook.<\/p>\n Let’s be honest, folks, this brings into question, “What is the purpose<\/em> of work these days?”…<\/p>\n This transactional work environment stems from the fact that many employers are blaming their poor performance on working from home, but the benefits experienced by 463 employees mandated back to the office are pretty meh:<\/p>\n Source: LinkedIn February 2024<\/em><\/p>\n So when staff see minimal benefit in returning to the office, what is the point<\/em> in having a full-time remote job?\u00a0 Let’s dig a bit deeper:<\/p>\n Source:\u00a0 Linkedin February 2024<\/em><\/p>\n So what is the point of “working” for a firm as a full-time employee when so many of you only care about the predictable income? Isn’t the working relationship becoming transactional and lacking in purpose<\/em>? Does no one care about the social elements<\/em> of colleagues and collaboration?<\/p>\n So why do so many employers feel shortchanged on performance and blame the remote work environment?\u00a0 If their firms are failing and the remote environment is not improving performance, it really sounds like both leadership is failing to lead<\/em>, and many employees are not performing<\/em> either.<\/p>\n We believe success in this \u201cremote\u201d market will come from firms with the most collaborative and energizing cultures. When you think we can spend our days engaging with so many people right across the world, this is incredible.\u00a0 HFS has exploited the remote working world to hire talent from all over the world and move fast to excite our clients, but it takes a lot of discipline and work to keep moving a business forward in this environment.<\/p>\n An effective remote work environment means fostering a culture where we turn on videos and actually talk<\/em> and challenge<\/em> each other. Not just everyone sitting in silence trying to complete whatever tasks were assigned to us. That also means we need all our colleagues to share<\/em> that desire; otherwise, it just becomes top-down lip service.<\/p>\n We think the crux here is how full-time employees in their work-from-home nirvana can delight<\/em> their employers while meeting their lifestyle<\/em> goals.<\/p>\n Our conclusion is it takes two to tango. Leaders need to trust their people and do all they can to get their staff to engage and collaborate, but staff also need to recognize this and motivate themselves<\/em> to step it up and be engaging workers. In several cases, RTO is a desperate measure to address this mismatch.<\/p>\n However, it\u2019s very easy for staff to criticize their terrible management for wanting them in an office and not respecting their chosen lifestyle… but it doesn\u2019t necessarily mean their management is terrible. Management may be just frustrated and desperate to recreate an energized work culture.<\/p>\n So, if you’re going to mandate RTO, make sure there is a real point<\/em> in wheeling everyone back in.\u00a0 Make sure leadership is there to drive conversation and create a sense of purpose<\/em> for having a physical workplace.\u00a0 If leadership is not there and staff feel like they are just wasting their time commuting to sit in a cube all day, then make the remote environment work<\/em>.\u00a0 Otherwise, you will experience an erosion of morale and performance from leaders and employees, and your whole raison d’\u00eatre under serious threat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We fear many companies today are failing because they no longer have a handle on their workforce environments. Big 4…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5739,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[932],"tags":[1202,1079,496,619,1200,1201],"ppma_author":[19,1078],"yoast_head":"\n80% of workers see minimal to no benefit in returning to the office\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/RTO-Benefits-1024x659.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWhat is the point in full-time employment these days?<\/span><\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nBoth office and remote environments can work, but you need to MAKE them work<\/span><\/h3>\n
Bottom-line:\u00a0 Leaders and Staff must stop pointing fingers and come together<\/span><\/h2>\n