Today’s worker is living and working through unprecedented global uncertainty. Our research, “From always connected to omni-connected,” suggests that only one in six workers feels truly connected to their work, their team and their organization. In part because of this, companies are making decisions about where their people will physically work in the future. But another study indicates that companies need to think beyond spaces and places.
For example, although 83% of the global workforce identified a hybrid workplace as ideal in 2021, more workers are fully onsite than before (36% vs. 25% in 2021) across all industries. Along with that, work-life enhancement has dropped by 4% since last year, meaning the average worker has less energy from their personal lives to bring back to their work. So, it also shouldn’t come as a surprise that only 29% of workers now trust that their company’s leaders have their best interests at heart.
What’s more, leaders overestimate how connected their people are by 2x, meaning leaders are not creating an organizational culture—and supporting people within it—as well as they think they are. So, asking where people should work in the future might be the wrong question. A better question is: What unlocks people’s potential, enabling them to be happy, healthy and productive, regardless of where they work? Smart companies have the answers. They’re giving people resources tailored to their individual needs.
The future of work is happening now.