Content We're Loving: The Best of May

💛 Every month, Content We're Loving gives you 2-minute synopses of the most noteworthy stories and reports from the world of work, HR, and people management. Check out the best of April.  

This month we continue to discuss timely trends in the workplace.

First off, we discuss interesting research that reveals biases leadership may have in terms of getting involved with workplace recognition. Then, we look at research that aims to answer an important question: does offering the options of hybrid work help reduce the social implications of working remotely.

Lastly, we shake up some people's pre-conceived ideas by looking at new statistics showing just how many U.S. workers are still working from home, and what that demographic looks like. 

Have a great rest of the month, and see you in June!

Research: More Powerful People Express Less Gratitude

From: Harvard Business Review
Topic: Recognition, management 

In a recent study, findings suggest that the more power organizational members have at work, the less gratitude they are likely to feel and express.

The researchers found that higher-ranking individuals don't express much gratitude because they believe they are entitled to favours and benefits from others. However, low-power people tend to express more gratitude in order to cultivate stronger relationships with powerful people.

As a result of these hidden forces: employees often feel chronically underappreciated by their leaders. This can have a significant impact on satisfaction as recognition is vital to engagement and retention.

To that end, it's in a company's best interest to increase leadership recognition. As such, the authors suggest three key “gratitude recommendations.”

• Don’t underestimate the impact of expressing gratitude: Many leaders falsely believe recognition has little impact on employees. Yet, “research suggests that this perception is misguided.”
• Expressing gratitude is even more important in the context of remote work: Recognition can easily fall by the wayside in a remote work setting. Making sure to be aware of this tendency is important to keeping gratitude a priority during communication.
• Lead by example: A culture of gratitude must start at the top. Even the most senior leaders should “model and normalize gratitude in their informal encounters with employees.”
• Dial down entitlement and dial-up perspective-taking: Increase your empathy by imaging how things are experienced from another’s point of view. 

Read the full article

The Loneliness of the Hybrid Worker

From: MIT Sloan
Topic: Remote work, Hybrid work, culture

There are many benefits to remote work, but there are also drawbacks.  Namely, Worker isolation and feelings of disconnection are major concerns for businesses. 

This research addresses a timely question: does offering hybrid work options help reduce the social implications of working remotely.

In short, yes. 

The research results support the idea that spending some portion of one’s working hours on-site with colleagues and managers might offset the social downsides of remote work.

There is evidence that in-person interactions enable better, more meaningful interactions and lead to a greater sense of belonging in a workplace.

The author suggests the following tactics based on findings from their research.

• Allow individuals the autonomy to decide when, where, and how they go about their work: If employees can schedule their time in the office with their colleagues they will be more likely to have access to the support they need.

• Refrain from closely monitoring workers: While these tactics give managers a sense of security, research shows they can lead to employees feeling untrusted and stressed.
  
  
• Set up a peer buddy system: Younger workers and those with less status in the hierarchy receive less colleague support. Buddies can act as a buffer against this.

• Promote socializing in the office: Foster an environment that enables employees to connect with coworkers and share work experiences.

Read the full article

Remote Work is Disappearing as More People Return to The Office

From: NBC News
Topic: Remote work, workplace statistics

Your intuition may be thrown off by this report, especially if you and your friends all work from home. 

New data by the U.S. The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the share of people working from home due to the pandemic dipped below 10 percent for the first time in more than two years.

Just 7.7 percent of those employed reported working remotely. That’s down from a pandemic-high of 35 percent recorded in May 2020.

So who is still working remotely?

The article tells that those who continue to work remotely are still largely divided by education. With a bachelor's degree or higher, you're five times more likely to report working from home and twice as likely to report working remotely than the average American.

Asians were the most likely of any demographic to report working from home due to the pandemic. In addition, more women than men report working remotely. In terms of age groups, those 25 to 34 years old were the most likely to work remotely.

Read the full article