What Malcolm Gladwell Got Wrong About Remote Work...
David Shar, PhD candidate, MPS, SHRM-SCP
I Help Organizations Build Sustainably Passionate Burnout-Proof Work Cultures... Promoter of Kindess at Work... Keynote Speaker - Corporate Trainer - Consultant - Adjunct Professor - Researcher
In a recent interview, Malcolm Gladwell was explaining why employers find it so necessary for their employees to stop working remotely and to come back to the office.
"it’s really hard to explain this core psychological truth, which is we [employers] want you to have a feeling of belonging and to feel necessary.”?
He continued..."It's not in your best interest to work from home. I know its a hassle to come into the office, but if you’re just sitting in your pajamas in your bedroom, is that the work life you want to live? Don’t you want to feel part of something?”
Gladwell is right...
People want to feel a sense of belonging!?
People want to feel necessary!
People want to feel like they are part of something bigger than them!?
But... while Gladwell may be picking up on a correlation here.. I think he has the problem backwards....
Maybe, instead of trying to force people back into the office so they can develop a sense of belonging and significance, we should be fostering a sense of belonging and significance so they will want to come back to the office!?
Its amazing how we remember the good ol' days of 2019, before COVID ruined everything, when everyone felt valued at work, all employees had a voice, organizations were diverse and inclusive, and the majority of employees were actively engaged...
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Of course, reality looked very different than that. In 2019 we were celebrating Gallup's highest employee engagement scores to date... with a mere 35% of the workforce reporting active engagement...
The pandemic didn't invent new problems... the pandemic exacerbated problems that have existed for far too long within the workplace.?
The pandemic shook us all up; we experienced a collective existential crisis and reevaluated everything.?
As a result, let's not pretend that employees merely left their physical offices; a record shattering 47.8 million workers quit their jobs in 2021!?
We collectively decided that we want something more... The Great Resignation was a reflection of that... employees across industries decided they wanted the exact things that Gladwell seems to think are already present inside the office... they wanted a sense of belonging, they wanted to be respected and valued, they wanted to have a voice, they wanted flexibility, they wanted opportunities for growth and for organizations to invest in their development, they wanted to make a difference at work... and when they didn't have that, they left... often without even having another job lined up.?
The office of 2019 wasn't doing a great job providing these things to individuals outside of upper management. Interestingly the previous record that 2021 shattered... belonged to 2019(!!), pre-pandemic! with 42.1 million people quitting their jobs...?
Your employees are not interested in returning to the office of 2019.?
However, build an inclusive culture where all employees are respected, appreciated, trusted, heard, and seen... and employees will experience a sense of belonging wherever they happen to be doing the majority of their work... Once that happens, you just may find that people start showing up to the office more regularly.
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2 年Excellent? summation of what we are experiencing in the Australian workplace. People definitely want connection AND they want autonomy, they are not mutually exclusive.?
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2 年I agree with the core principles of Gladwell's assertion, but I think that the nuance you added to it makes it even more powerful! And for full disclosure, I have been fully remote since the outbreak of COVID and am LOVING it...so I even recognize my own thread of hypocrisy in my opinions! ??