Here’s the Latest WE:Brief – WE keep you in the know – August 2022!

This 2022 study from ADPRI offers a wealth of insights about how people are feeling about work across the globe (n=32k; geographically weighted). The geographic and demographic difference in attitudes about compensation, advancement, intent to leave job/industry, why people quit, desire for remote/hybrid work, stress, job security, diversity, outlook for the future, working hours, and more. 

Here are a few to whet your appetite:

Here a some of the more interesting insights from the July 2022 global report:

The full report offers data on these and other trends by industry, geography, and more.

A newly released study from McKinsey offers concrete evidence that innovation flourished during the pandemic. Based on data collected from around the world, they report that 2020 and 2021 saw record growth in new business formation, patents issued, venture capital investing, and other measures of innovation. 

We’ve shared corroborating research from recent HBR and NYT articles in prior WEbriefs. So why do business leaders like Elon Musk and Reed Hastings insist innovation will suffer if people aren’t working face to face? Where’s their evidence? 

It’s time for leaders to reflect on whether their own biases are getting in the way of good decisions. 

For over 50 years, Cuningham has been an industry leader in sustainable design. 

As our society, economy, and environment changes dramatically, Cuningham remains steadfast in its commitment to design for the health and wellness of both people and planet. By focusing on the process as much as the outcome, Cuningham’s six offices across the U.S. work as one, deeply connected firm — inspiring each other to be curious and daring while always designing for the future. 

 

As industry leaders in regenerative design, Cuningham aims to eliminate waste, reuse materials, and restore natural ecosystems. They align themselves with clients who seek to restore the earth and view every design solution as an opportunity to create a better future and support the health of their communities. From this passion comes Cuningham’s true impact — creating enduring experiences for a healthy world.

Click here for all the details on the WE track and fun WE has planned at WWP. 

1) Middle management will have to learn to be coaches

2) Digital dexterity will trump tenure and experience

3) Employee data collection will offer new insights

4) Our new bestie at work may be a machine

5) Employees will seek purpose in their jobs

6) Remote employees will suffer from over-working

Steve Orfield has spent 50 years in architectural design, research and testing. Much of that time has been dedicated to solutions that work for the 40-50% of the people who occupy commercial buildings that are perceptually or cognitively disabled (PCD). In this piece he makes the good argument that designing for this population doesn’t have to be more expensive and, importantly, the benefits of designing in this way lead to better outcomes for everyone.  

Gartner posits that organizational culture requires that employees feel both aligned and connected to it. They suggest employers have historically under-invested in the latter due to their assumption that offices naturally create connectedness. 

“Employees at all levels, and across demographics, are suffering from a connectedness crisis, which suggests this problem isn’t just related to hybrid and remote work, but to organizations’ lack of intentionality in driving connectedness historically,” says Gartner’s HR Practice director.  

In a survey of nearly 4,000 hybrid and remote knowledge workers conducted by Gartner in December of 2021, less than one in 5 of those with the least workplace flexibility said they felt highly connected to the company culture. But more than half of those with “radical flexibility in where, when, and how they work” felt a high degree of cultural connectedness. 

Gartner recommendation is that regardless of where people work, organizations need to:

– Diffuse culture through the work itself

– Focus on emotional proximity by making employees feel valued

– Encourage micro-cultures to enhance connectedness

Vehicle miles traveled (VMT), a metric used to quantify car usage, fell by 7% in 2020, but the reduction was short-lived. In 2021, in spite of a continuation of widespread work-from-home, VMT was back to 2019 levels. 

 

Though not mentioned in the article, traffic congestion, which is particularly toxic for the environment, was lower in both years as people altered their drive times. Commuter traffic accounts for just 1% of a company’s emissions, but is still important. To move the needle into more favorable territory, people will need to change their behaviors.

The bigger environmental win for remote work may lie in the opportunity it offers to reduce real estate usage and better match office energy usage with actual occupancy.