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Checkr has just published the findings of a new survey about manager and employee priorities in 2024. The team interviewed 3,000 managers and employees to learn what they think about important workplace issues. Unfortunately, it seems like the two teams fall on different sides of the fence on many key issues, including remote work.
Is this a recipe for war in the workplace? Let’s look at some of the key findings from the survey.
More Managers Prefer Remote Work Than Employees
According to the survey, 68% of managers say that they are happy for remote working to continue in its current format, while only 48% of employees feel the same way.
This seems a surprising revelation since many recent surveys suggest that it is employees who value the flexibility of remote working while managers prefer the control and team-building possibilities of having teams in the office. This has been coupled with many companies trying to force employees to return to the office for at least some of their hours.
According to a survey conducted by the Harvard Business Review, managers think that working from home damages productivity, while workers believe that it increases it. This Is partially because workers tend to consider their commute time when analyzing their productivity, while managers focus exclusively on the work block.
Not Wanting to Return to the Office is a Red Flag
While managers are happy for employees to work remotely, if they are asked to return to the office and refuse, 56% of managers consider this a red flag for employee commitment. Only 38% of employees feel the same way.
To be clear, the red flag is not that managers don’t want employees working remotely, but think it is unreasonable to refuse to return to the office when asked to do so. This seems like a lack of commitment to the team and making work a low priority.
This is further reflected by more findings from HBR that employees believed that there should be minimal consequences for employees who are on-premises less than required, while more managers were likely to believe that this could be grounds for an official warning, and eventually termination.
The HBR notes that this gap in expectations can probably be linked to poor communication between management and teams about expectations and the level of flexibility that employees truly have.
Managers Think that are Communicating Better than Employees
An impressive 71% of managers believe that they have great relationships with their teams and open and effective lines of communication. Meanwhile, only 57% of employees agreed.
Back in 2020, the HBR reported that managing remote teams and communicating with them was the biggest challenge for managers during the pandemic. But it seems that in 2024, many managers think they have it figured out.
But almost half of employees don’t think that their managers are performing so well. A report by FlexOS has their managers an overall score of just 7/10 for their management of hybrid and remote teams. A full 30% said that they are frustrated by unclear communication.
Managers Think They Are Addressing Mental Health
While 60% of all respondents believe that overwork and stress are major problems in the workplace, 59% of managers believe that they are doing a good job of addressing mental health issues, while only 39% of employees agree.
This is another example of managers thinking that they are doing a good job, while employees think that they could be doing more.
Some of this disconnect may be linked to managers not being prepared to support employees with new problems. This can include the loneliness associated with working alone and the increasing stress caused by the cost of living crisis.
But in reality, managers are doing more than ever to create workplaces where people feel seen, heard, and valued. But this is an upward trajectory starting from a very low bar even 20 years ago.
However, managers need to do more as a new report by the Workforce Institute at UKG has found that managers have a greater influence on employee mental health than therapists or doctors, and equal to that of an employee’s spouse or partner. This is due to the time spent in the workplace, that work is a major source of stress, and that work is intimately linked with financial stability.
According to their survey, conducted in 2023, one-third of employees said that their manager failed to see the impact that they had on the mental health of their team. Three in four said that stress from work had a negative impact on their home life. A significant 70% said that their company should be doing more to support mental health.
Read our guide to mental health issues for digital nomads.
Managers Believe They Are Supporting Career Development
According to the survey, 54% of managers say that they are truly supporting the career development of their employees, while only 36% of employees think that management truly cares about this issue.
According to Forbes, career development should be a three-way partnership between employees, leaders, and the organization. The finding that managers and organizations aren’t doing enough is supported by a 2024 survey by INTOO and Workplace Intelligence which found that 46% of employees say their manager doesn’t help them with career development, and 59% said that their company rarely or never helps them explore opportunity doe growth outside their current department.
Everyone Agrees that Work-Life Balance Is Important
80% of all survey respondents agreed that maintaining a good work-life balance and setting clear boundaries between work time and your time is important.
This will probably be one of the driving factors in pushing for more remote opportunities, when possible, as not needing to be in the office every day is a major contributing factor.
However, this seems to fly in the face of the 2024 trend of more companies demanding that workers return to the office, at least on a hybrid basis. Netflix and Goldman Sachs are both pushing for employees to return to the office almost full time. The companies requiring hybrid working include Google, Wise, Apple, Twitter, Meta, Amazon, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Spotify, and Disney. Interestingly, Zoom is also pushing a hybrid return to the office, while Slack is taking a remote first approach.
Read our guide to balancing work and social life as a digital nomad.
Office Wars
While this report shows that managers and employees aren’t on the same page when it comes to many things, it may be too soon to call “office wars”. But it does show that remote working and managing and supporting remote teams will probably continue to be a bone of contention between leadership and talent throughout 2024.
