Most of us in the workforce want the option to work from home, at least part of the time. And yet most of us – 86%, report being burned out and generally worse off than we were prior to the pandemic. The pandemic opened the virtual door of hybrid and remote work for millions of employees globally. A byproduct of this radical and unplanned shift has been a decline in many aspects of our well-being, with Gallup global life evaluation index reporting a decline in those of us ‘thriving’ and an increase in those of us who report ‘suffering’.
Many leaders accept that the reality of reduced employee well-being, including increased burnout is not sustainable for organizations to survive and is now high on the list of their ‘leadership concerns’. These leaders desire a model in which employees can thrive, or at least seek to find a better work arrangement – one that includes a path to wellness. Yet if employees are worse off and wish to be in a hybrid arrangement, what information is there for a leader to rely on?
It appears that mandates forcing a return to the office don’t seem to be the answer, at least according to the ‘worker’. Is there something leaders and individuals can do to reverse the negative health trends, while honoring the desire of most workers to have a hybrid contract?
New research from my colleague Steph Sharma at the Hult International Business School provides insights about the hybrid work to well-being link. She examined how feeling empowered links to perceived connection and in turn well-being. Her study surveyed over 1,100 employees across roles and industries in India, the UK, and US. It measured individual perceptions about work including access to resources, feelings of virtual connection, degree of flourishing and job engagement.
A major finding was that greater structural resources from the organization were related to higher evaluation of one’s well-being and higher engagement. These structural supports, frequently studied in the healthcare industry, included more access to information about the organization, time to do work, feedback associated with their contribution, and access to resources.
Higher perceived virtual connection also linked to greater well-being and engagement. Employees who felt more connected to the organization, including caring about their goals and values, caring about their well-being and desire to retain them, also reported higher well-being. Employees who felt more connected with their team, based on reliance, support with problems, and trust, also reported higher well-being. This perceived virtual connection also enhanced the connection between feeling empowered and having high well-being. For all findings, the degree of remoteness (from full time office to full time remote) played little role on these relationships.
This research signals that employee views on virtual tools act as an intermediary between structural and empowerment and outcomes like well-being, satisfaction, and engagement. Promoting positive virtual experiences may strengthen this empowerment-wellness connection. Leaders must empower remote teams with information, tools, and autonomy, and also actively build supportive environments that foster virtual ties, in order to improve employee well-being and engagement.
With hybrid work rising, empowerment and virtual engagement are crucial for wellness. Employees who feel confident, supported, and connected remotely have the highest well-being and engagement. Proactively improving access to resources and autonomy, while cultivating positive perceptions of virtual supports, paves the way to sustain well-being in hybrid settings.
“Change is a threat when done to me, but an opportunity when done by me.”
– Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Seminal research on workplace empowerment (1977, 2017)
Rather than just enabling remote work, leaders must nurture an empowering culture that engages online teams. This research gives managers proven ways to craft hybrid policies that optimize empowerment, virtual connections, and employee well-being.
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