Study reveals hybrid work shift has business leaders struggling with productivity paranoia

Business leaders and employees are divided when it comes to hybrid working, a Microsoft study has revealed.

Leaders have been left questioning if their staff are working hard enough in hybrid roles, while employees have embraced flexible work and feel like they are working harder than ever. 

Approximately 85% of leaders surveyed by Microsoft say the shift to hybrid work has made it challenging to have confidence that employees are being productive, while 87% of employees report they are productive when accessing hybrid work arrangements, and productivity signals across Microsoft 365 continue to climb.

The study also revealed the number of meetings per week had increased by 153% globally for the average Microsoft Teams user since the start of the pandemic.

More than 20,000 people in 11 countries were surveyed for the study, with Microsoft also analysing trillions of Microsoft 365 productivity signals, as well as Glint People Science findings and LinkedIn labour trends.

The report revealed three critical pivots for business leaders to take action on, in order to empower employees and drive alignment within businesses into the future: end productivity paranoia, embrace the fact that people come into the office for each other, and re-recruit employees. 

Microsoft chair and CEO Satya Nadella says creating a culture and employee experience to meet the needs of today’s digitally connected, distributed workforce requires a new approach.

“Thriving employees are what will give organisations a competitive advantage in today’s dynamic economic environment,” he said.

The report also found that “compared to in-person managers, hybrid managers are more likely to say they struggle to trust their employees to do their best work (49% vs 36%) and report that they have less visibility into the work their employees do (54% vs 38%)”.

Managers and leaders are also missing the old visual cues of what it means to be productive, according to the study, because they can’t see who is hard at work by walking down the hall or past the conference room.

Productivity paranoia could also put the future of hybrid work at risk and make it unsustainable, with the report stating that “leaders need to pivot from worrying about whether their people are working enough to helping them focus on the work that’s most important”.

The prioritisation of workloads was also a big issue for employees within the study, with approximately 81% of employees stating it’s important that their managers help them prioritise their workload, but less than 31% said their managers have only ever given clear guidance during one-on-ones. 

Connecting with colleagues was a key motivation for working in person, with 84% of employees confirming they would be motivated by the promise of socialising with co-workers, while 85% would be motivated by rebuilding team bonds. 

The data also revealed that younger people are especially keen to use the office to establish themselves as part of their workplace community.