Returning to the office

Apparently, to be productive in our work, what "we need from our workplaces are [the ability to] focus (a cognitive response allowing us to think and concentrate to complete our work), a sense of beauty (an emotional response, an essential, constitutive element of organisations which has important implications in organisation theory), and connectedness (a relational response that involves the extent to which the environment facilitates a sense of community and a feeling of belonging to the organisation)" (Sanders, 2023). Dr Saunders created a scale for measuring the attributes and requirements for our needs for these quiet spaces to think; unusual spaces to inspire us and for us to be creative; and communal spaces to get our relational needs met.

We need all three elements, at different times. However, working at work may not fit what we need to do. Why? There are a number of reasons. Our office spaces can be noisy (hard to think). We may be distracted by colleagues (hard to think). We may also get into a flow state, then be interrupted for 'information-only' meetings (feel anti-connected). It is also possible that we may "struggle to maintain energy or inspiration" because of "the sameness [of the office being] very boring to our senses" (hard to be emotionally engaged; Sanders, 2023).

We are generally social beings, needing to work with others to meet those social needs, to bounce ideas off each other, and to connect. It is possible that if we work from home too much, our kanohi ki te kanohi socialisation and social cue reading skills may get rusty; particularly true if we are an affiliative person where our work meets our identity, confidence and networks needs (McClelland & Burnham, 1976; Oxford Reference, 2023). 

Note that not all of us may be driven by a need for connection. There are two other key drivers; those of achievement, and power. There are tests so which we can use to could work out which elements drive us (McClelland & Burnham, 1976; Oxford Reference, 2023), though I am pretty sure that after Covid-19, those of us who have strong affiliative needs will have a clear understanding of the importance of that now on an individual basis.

However, working from home, or WFH, appears now dropping in the US. Apparently "72.5 percent of establishments had little or no telework, compared to 60.1 percent in July-September 2021" (US Bureau of Labour Statistics, 2023), while here in Aotearoa, 78% of respondents worked from home last year at least some of the time (Radio New Zealand, 2023). While the New Zealand data is a small sample of 1000, 54% of respondents said that - although they were theoretically able to work from home - they were actually unable to do so due to company requirements to be in the office (Radio New Zealand, 2023). Additionally, 53% of respondents would move cities for cheaper housing and better lifestyle, if they could keep their current role and work remotely (Radio New Zealand, 2023).

While we do need to be in the office sometimes, there is value in us NOT having to be there all the time. I had hoped that the WFH flexibility would be here with us for longer. 

But 'hoping' butters no parsnips. 

Sam

References:

McClelland, D., & Burnham, D. (1976). Power is the Great Motivator, Harvard Business Review, 54(2), 100-110.

Oxford Reference. (2023). Needs theory. https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100227873

Radio New Zealand. (2023, March 7). 'An employee drive': People still keen on working from home, survey finds. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/485435/an-employee-drive-people-still-keen-on-working-from-home-survey-finds

Sanders, L. (2023, June 8). ‘Disastrous experiment’: Real reason behind hated return to work push. Site. https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/at-work/disastrous-experiment-real-reason-behind-hated-return-to-work-push/news-story/6f377ea396388a531de6cedf89936fe5

US Bureau of Labour Statistics. (2023, March 22). U.S. Business Response Summary [Economic News Release]. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/brs1.nr0.htm