Here’s one in the eye for managers who insist on strict return-to-office mandates, despite sometimes ferocious staff pushback. A new study found very high levels of productivity at by companies with remote-friendly working policies. This shines an interesting spotlight on highly publicized RTO rules from companies like Amazon, whose CEO Andy Jassy insisted the policy was all about boosting workplace culture and teamwork. It may also give you pause if you’re thinking of shifting your company to more of an in-person in-office model, because other studies suggest that work-life balance “perks” like flexible working or hybrid work modes are a great way to attract talented staff.
The data from Institute for Corporate Productivity and cybersecurity company Akamai Technologies shows that an astonishing 83 percent of companies with remote-friendly work policies report high staff productivity. Breaking that figure down, fully 21 percent of the companies in the survey said that productivity remains “very high,” and 62 percent said “high.”
Interestingly, many of these companies demonstrate their faith in their employees’ honesty and dedication while working remotely by not surveilling their online activities. In fact 62 percent of remote-friendly companies don’t deploy tools like VPN usage logs or key-press tracking software, industry news site HRDive noted. The report suggests that this statistic means there’s a “strong culture of mutual trust” between workers and staff about the productivity and honesty of working remotely.
The study also found that remote work is now the new norm: 52 percent of companies surveyed said remote-first models were their default, and only 7 percent said they had plans to revert to more traditional in-office working models. To keep team work ticking over, the companies in the report also indicated they have annual or semiannual in-person meetings for reasons like strategy sessions (86 percent did this), team-building exercises (76 percent) and social gatherings designed to foster a sense of camaraderie.
As to why remote-first work models were chosen by these companies, the study found that finding talented workers is the key driver. Fully 72 percent said that offering remote-first policies gave them access to a wider talent pool. Meanwhile 31 percent said they wanted to retain staff for the long term. And, interestingly, 62 percent said it was a deliberate effort to boost work-life balance for workers. This resonates with the workplace desires of Gen-Z staff, the age cohort now entering the workforce in ever-increasing numbers, and bringing with them a focus on lifestyle over work. Perhaps savvy to these changing attitudes, the new study also found that over 50 percent of remote-first workplaces offer reimbursement for home office costs, and 79 percent offer mental health benefits (because it’s hard to deny that remote work can be a lonely occupation).
In the report Akamai explained the benefits of its own remote working policy, which include higher employee performance ratings, and a 7.3 percent worker attrition rate — which HRDive notes is far below the global tech industry average of 13.2 percent.
The report backs up numerous other studies into remote work, including a September study by polling and analytics outfit Gallup which showed that hybrid working models are indeed the new normal, and a July report saying that even though some companies and leadership are pushing for RTO rules, and greater in-office work, many workers are simply ignoring the pressure and keeping their hybrid schedules. This latter situation may be enabled by overtired, stressed out middle managers, with the duty of enforcing RTO rules being the least of their worries, another report suggests.
What lessons are there in this data for your company?
Simply, if you’re seeking higher productivity from your workers via forcing them back to the office, you may not get the results you’re looking for. If Akamai and the Institute for Corporate Productivity’s data are to be believed, high productivity is very possible for remote-first workers. This suggests that if you’re pushing for an RTO because your remote workers aren’t delivering, then a different aspect of your corporate culture may be to blame for efficiency failings.
Kit Eaton
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