Each week I’m going to provide a round up of what I consider to be important and interesting articles on the future of work (not authored by me). These will include a variety of sources and topics ranging from workplace practices to robots and automation to leadership and everything in between. There’s a lot of information out there so I’m hoping that these weekly round ups will help make life a bit easier for you by giving you just the good stuff. Let’s get into it!
The Interesting Link Between Remote Work And Higher Engagement
A Gallup survey looked at 15,000 adults and found 43% of them spent at least some time working remotely over the past year. In fact, 31% of them report being out of the office four to five days a week. This is up 24% from 2012 and also interestingly, 20% of employees are working from home full time.
With the number of remote employees increasing, companies are putting together more formalized programs and tracking the results. The emphasis is on what an employee produces rather than where they produce it.
One common concern about remote workers is whether they will continue to collaborate effectively. According to the Gallup survey, employees who reported spending up to 80% of their time out of office had the highest rates of engagement at work.
What’s next? Check out the article for more ideas!
The Paradigm Shift In Employer-Employee Relationship In The Millennial’s Era
The rise in freelance employees has led to changes in the traditional relationship between ‘bosses’ and ‘workers’. The perception is that if employers are willing to embrace the flexible schedule and routine of freelancers, then they must be open to other ideas, as well.
These observations have led the author to conclude that ‘bosses are more approachable’ and less ‘dangerous’. With that in mind, the hope is that the relationship will evolve to be one in which both boss and employee deal with each other as equals.
9 companies in the UK that offer employees unlimited time off
The idea of unlimited vacation time is discussed in this article. Advocates say it allows employees to manage their own time but opponents say it is confusing to know how much time off one should actually take.
There are currently a variety of organizations which allow employees unlimited time off. For example, Netflix’s CEO is a big proponent of this and takes off at least six weeks a year. Others that have similar policies are LinkedIn, EventBrite and HubSpot. One of HubSpot’s employees noted that they love the autonomy with unlimited holidays and the attitude of ‘just get the job done!’
Service-Anniversary Awards Miss the Mark with Millennials
Though it is very traditional to mark work-place ‘anniversaries’ with a recognition of the length of employee service, current programs such as these may not be meeting the needs of workers.
Typically, programs recognize the fifth year milestone. This may not be a valid practice when one considers that the current Millennial’s average length of employment is less than two and half years. With that group of workers making up to 50% of the workforce in the next three years – it may be wise to reconsider its value.
The article has a few suggestions to make anniversary awards more meaningful:
1. Implement early milestone recognitions – consider one year in high-turnover organizations
2. Ask employees how they want to be recognized – survey or create focus groups to see if there are suggestions
3. Incorporate social media sharing – give employees the opportunity to recognized by others via online connections
These types of recognition practices have had a positive effect on retention, engagement and overall employee happiness. Something to consider!
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