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Survey confirms productivity and customer satisfaction have increased during the pandemic
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Most organizations are yet to have a detailed vision on how to make the hybrid working a permanent feature
In the post-pandemic future of work, nine out of 10 organizations will be combining remote and on-site working, according to a new McKinsey survey of 100 executives across industries and geographies.
The survey, whose findings have been published on the McKinsey & Company website, confirms that productivity and customer satisfaction have increased during the pandemic.
But how will the organizations make remote and on-site working for all roles that aren’t essential to perform on-site a permanent feature of working? Well, most organizations have only begun to think on this question, which has made their employees anxious, the study said.
Therefore, the study concludes, the “sustainability of pandemic-style productivity gains might well depend on how organizational leaders address the anxiety their employees feel as also the associated levels of burnout”.
The Future is Hybrid
While pre-Covid-19, 99 percent of executives required employees to spend time on-site, the majority of the executives expect that the hybrid model will become more common. The majority of the executives surveyed expect that (for all roles that aren’t essential to perform on-site) employees will be on-site between 21 and 80 percent of the time, or one to four days per week.
Making it stay
Although nine out of 10 executives envision a hybrid model going forward, most have at best a high-level plan for how to carry it out—and nearly a third of them say that their organizations lack alignment on a high-level vision among the top team, the study said.
Overall, productive
Most organizations see rises in individual and team productivity and employee engagement, and, perhaps as a result of this increased focus and energy, a rise in the satisfaction of their customers as well, the study said.
Connectivity matters
Organizations with the biggest productivity increases during the pandemic have supported and encouraged “small moments of engagement” among their employees. These are the moments in which coaching, mentorship, idea sharing, and co-working take place.
Such organizations are preparing for hybrid working by training managers for remote leadership, by reimagining processes, and by rethinking how to help employees thrive in their roles, the study said.
Managing differently
Supporting small moments of connection requires subtle shifts in how managers work, the study said.
“Nearly all executives surveyed recognize that managing remotely drs from when all employees are on-site, but other subtleties may not be as apparent. Nuances can be seen in the more than half of productivity leaders that have trained their managers on how to lead teams more effectively. Only a third of productivity laggards have done the same,” read the findings of the study published on the McKinsey & Company website.
Other findings:
- a) Lagging companies are least likely to experiment and iterate processes.
- b) Although most companies have changed the hiring process, the leading companies have reimagined them entirely.
- c) Many organizations have started to reassess the number of people in each role or function, but only a few have rematched employees with priority roles.