Mark Smedley’s Post

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Leadership Development @ DDI

Interesting research from Gallup illuminates the critical nuance that's missing from the remote work discussion. They note three categories of workers for whom engagement is on the decline: ➡ Gen Z employees who also feel disconnected to their organization's culture ➡ Employees who work on site but could do their jobs remotely ➡ Employees who work exclusively from home These statistics highlight the complexities of the shift to remote work. When returning to the office is irrelevant to someone's job, their engagement will suffer after a #RTO initiative. However, #EmployeeEngagement is also dropping among remote workers. I don't think the takeaway is that #RemoteWork is bad; it's that organizations need to do a better job supporting remote workers' sense of belonging and connectedness. And we should be particularly concerned about younger workers who may miss formative experiences (like connecting with a wider cast of characters, learning by osmosis, and developing a connection to the company's mission and culture) that are easier to impart in the office. I see a lot of discourse on LinkedIn that paints remote work as this panacea - something that's universally good and has little to no drawbacks. The truth is more complicated. To be clear, I'm a remote worker, an advocate for remote work, and a cynic about return to office initiatives with no obvious rationale behind them. Remote work is here to stay and will be a significant differentiator for companies who can do it well. This research seems to indicate that many companies are still struggling to facilitate the long-term transition to remote work and that more support is needed to develop leaders to navigate this new context.

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