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More than a third of employees ‘ resent ’ being told to return to the office , new research finds
N ew research from Scalable Software of 2,000 UK knowledge workers has revealed more than a third ( 35 %) resent being told they have to go into the office for a set number of days . Half ( 50 %) of respondents say their employer has ‘ productivity paranoia ’ over employees working away from the office , with 62 % reporting their organisation has implemented an ‘ RTO ’ policy within the last two years . The research also uncovers the full impact of poor Digital Employee Experiences ( DEX ) on today ’ s workforce , which is contributing to the tension between employees and employers . Knowledge workers are forced to work 3.1 extra weeks a year because of poor digital experiences .
“ Once heralded as the ‘ future of work ’, hybrid has quickly become the scapegoat for falling business productivity . But it isn ’ t hybrid work that makes employees less productive . It ’ s the poor digital experience workers are subjected to that holds them back , wherever they are . In fact , half of all respondents say negative DEX makes them less productive at their job ,” said Mark Cresswell , Executive Chairman and Co-founder , Scalable Software . “ The RTO vs . WFH battle is likely to get even more fierce this year . To keep employees onside , businesses ’ methods of measuring experiences and productivity must evolve . One-size-fitsall policies that dictate how and where employees work are not fit for today ’ s modern digital workplaces .”
Organisations must create and measure hybrid work policies based on hard data from across the enterprise . This includes assessing the uptake of and engagement with collaboration software and understanding how applications and device usage differs across teams , roles and locations . These data points are essential when setting workplace policies , but also for a more general understanding of how productive workers are in the current set-up . The good news for organisations is that 55 % of knowledge workers say they are open to their employer using DEX software to demonstrate they are working efficiently from home .
The research , which builds on a study first conducted in 2021 , found that digital experiences have worsened . Almost a fifth ( 18 %) of workers rated the DEX provided by their employer as poor , up from 15 % in 2021 .
“ These findings should ring alarm bells for both IT and HR departments who must minimise the risk of burnout workers face from bad DEX ,” said Cresswell . “ It is not sustainable for employees to work more than three extra weeks each year . Not only is it
a huge financial drain on businesses , but employees will leave for a better experience elsewhere . Organisations must assess DEX accurately to expose the digital friction that plagues the devices and applications employees rely on every day . This friction wastes hours of employees ’ time , making them frustrated , disengaged and less productive . And as we ’ ve seen with trends like ‘ quiet quitting ’, the power balance has shifted . Employees who are unhappy or frustrated at work are far more likely to simply jump ship .” �
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ONCE
HERALDED AS THE ‘ FUTURE OF WORK ’, HYBRID HAS QUICKLY BECOME THE SCAPEGOAT FOR FALLING BUSINESS PRODUCTIVITY .
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