Organizational psychologist at Wharton, #1 NYT bestselling author of HIDDEN POTENTIAL and THINK AGAIN, and host of the TED podcasts WorkLife and Re:Thinking
Hot off the presses: Nick Bloom publishes the most rigorous test of hybrid work yet.
We discuss the science and practice here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dos-and-donts-of-returning-to-the-office/id1346314086?i=1000565464077
We like to say - to keep them around longer, let them go. #escapetheccubicle
Soon they all will be working in India and Bangladesh
We are human beings, not robots! If you want to keep your employees, it's in your INTEREST to TAKE CARE of those who work for you! And THAT amounts to helping them FIND a BALANCE in the WORK:HOME paradigm!
Why 2? Why not let the employees choose along with the managers ? If we learned anything from the pandemic is that the work gets done remotely as well.. we need to make the office a different space with more reason for gathering to achieve our goals and not just to heat up our seats… creating value for everyone involved. It costs a lot to move around too. The environment and cities will appreciate less cars and traffic.
It is too bad education leaders will ignore this research
This is so true. I once had an employer tell me that their home office day was Saturday. 🙄 Hinting that I should do the same. Ok.... Maybe if you're the owner. And that's where it should stop. Long commutes suck up so much productivity... Unless you have a driver. So if you want more out of your people, give them some time back. The returns are tremendous. And more importantly, trust your people to get the job done. If you can't stop micromanaging, get yourself some leadership help.
I would argue WFH more than 2 days would get better results especially employee morale and wellbeing. Current forced RTO mantras are demoralizing and frustrating for many people, especially those who had a much better work-life balance during the pandemic. Forced RTO is costing people more in commuting costs and lost personal time each day plus if they have tough or unpredictable commutes, it’s increasing stress unnecessarily. Getting together as teams is important for many reasons but blindly forcing people to RTO is short sighted and not productive. This is my personal opinion based on my personal experiences and observations/listening to others in my ecosystem.
This is good for people who can.
Organizational psychologist at Wharton, #1 NYT bestselling author of HIDDEN POTENTIAL and THINK AGAIN, and host of the TED podcasts WorkLife and Re:Thinking
1moThe evidence: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07500-2