A major new report from Microsoft shows that managers and workers fundamentally disagree about productivity when working from home.
The results of the survey show that while 87% of workers felt they worked as, or more efficiently, from home, 80% of managers disagreed. The survey questioned more than 20,000 staff across 11 countries. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella commented that this tension needed to be resolved as workplaces were unlikely to ever return to pre-pandemic work habits.
"We have to get past what we describe as 'productivity paranoia,' because all of the data we have shows that 80% plus of the individual people feel they're very productive - except their management thinks that they're not productive. That means there is a real disconnect in terms of the expectations and what they feel."
He added that employers are having to work harder to recruit, enthuse and retain staff. That even includes Microsoft itself. "We had 70,000 people who joined Microsoft during the pandemic, they sort of saw Microsoft through the lens of the pandemic. And now when we think about the next phase, you need to re-energize them, re recruit them, help them form social connections," Mr Nadella said. Microsoft employees can work from home up to 50% of the time as standard.
Some interesting statistics from the third edition of McKinsey’s American Opportunity Survey on how flexible work fits into the lives of a representative cross section of workers in the United States. McKinsey worked with the market-research firm Ipsos to query 25,000 Americans in spring 2022. See here for the full report.
Some interesting guidance from the Danish Social Appeals Board on what can and cannot be regarded as workplace accidents when employees work from home.
In the first case, an employee sustained an injury after falling down during a walk while working at home. In the second case, an employee had gone out into their garden after a virtual meeting to "think". When going back inside to call a colleague, the employee fell and sustained an injury. In both cases, the Social Appeals Board ruled that the injured parties were not covered by the Workers' Compensation Act, as the activity in question did not have a necessary or natural connection to the work.
The third case concerned an employee working from home who fell up two steps and sustained an injury on the way to the toilet. The Social Appeals Board found that the employee's activities were connected to their work, as no personal circumstances had been described in the case to justify the toilet visit. As a result, it was an occupational injury covered by the Workers' Compensation Act.
Similarly, in the fourth case, an employee had set up a home office in their basement while their toilet and kitchen facilities were on the ground floor. The employee suffered an injury by falling on their way upstairs, which was also considered an occupational injury. (See here)
The French language Belgium newspaper, Le Soir, looks at who should pay for home heating for employees who work from home, the employer or the employees themselves.