Returning to work is more about appearance than purpose

According to a new survey by Indeed, almost half of UK managers admit that returning to work is more about appearance.

According to a survey, 44% of managers surveyed and 55% employees surveyed felt that asking their teams to return to work was more about maintaining appearances than about achieving a specific purpose.

In spite of this, over half (57%) of managers told Indeed they expected their employees to return to work full-time within two years.

Nearly half (46%) of employees said that their organization treated a return to work as a “cure all” for its problems. A greater percentage of bosses (54%) felt this way.

Over half (56%) of managers said that they favored employees who visited the office more frequently, and 43% were aware of it.

Only 17% of Starling Bank employees were willing to spend more time at the office than required by the company. Six out of ten people agreed that the government needs to strengthen employee rights for working from home.

A four-day work week is one arrangement that UK workers are in favour of. 82% of employers believe this can become a reality within five years. 67% of employees think they could manage their workload with a shorter week. Fifty-nine per cent of employers are in favour of introducing this.

While the government has promised to give workers a right to disconnect, only 49% of respondents are confident that their managers will not contact them outside working hours. The same proportion of respondents said that they felt pressured to respond immediately to work messages.

This culture is driven by senior leaders, as 44% of employees admit that they feel pressured to remain online or in the office even after they’ve completed their work. Employees also believed that senior leaders working five days would affect junior staff.

Danny Stacy, UK Head of Talent Intelligence at Indeed, stated: “Flexible policies are excellent tools for businesses that want to attract and retain top talents, given that workers place a high value on working the way they prefer.

What this looks like will vary between industries and businesses. But the good news is that employers are becoming more flexible. Some businesses are not able to offer remote working, but they could implement a shorter work week or flexible time.

In our research, employees have stated that leaders in business set the tone when it comes to flexible working. Senior employees must set the example for organisations that want to embed flexibility in their culture.

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