Is the Workday Getting Shorter?

From 9-to-5 to 9-to-4:30? Korn Ferry looks at the growing trend of stressed-out staffers lopping time off the workday, and how best leaders should manage the sudden change. Plus, we look at the three activities that, according to new data, are more successfully done at the office than remotely. Are these the ones firms are asking people to come in for?

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It’s 4:30. Time to End the Workday?

The leader messaged his team’s project lead, and saw her away message. He emailed the team manager, and didn’t get a response. He called his assistant, and got voicemail. It was 4:15pm. He was frustrated. Where was everyone?

This is the new norm for leaders, as new research shows that many employees have come up with an answer to mounting work stress in a tough economy: cut off their day. According to a new study by ActivTrak that analyzed more than 130,000 workers in Q2, people have shortened the length of the workday by 37 minutes from a year ago.

Experts say it’s actually quite a sudden change, noting that the time has increased by four minutes over the first quarter alone, and comes after five previously steady quarters.

Read the full article here.

Return to the Office Because…

A typical hybrid employee might appear in the office to be onboarded or for a standing weekly meeting. Plus, say, a coworker party, a monthly food-truck lunch, and an all-hands company meeting.

Is this the best use of their time?

The battle over when to come into the office continues to rage, with both company leaders and employees disagreeing about when in-person work is beneficial. And while there may never be an answer, new internal data from Microsoft offers some rare clues about the kind of work that is consistently beneficial in the office. The data comes down to three activities: onboarding (individuals or teams), kicking off a project, and strengthening team cohesion.

Read the full article here.

5 Ways to Get Creative in Any Job

If you think of yourself as a creative person, but you don’t work in what most people would recognize as a creative job, it can be tough to find ways to use your skills.

According to an Adobe global survey, 75% of people think they’re not living up to their creative potential. But as famed Apple CEO Steve Jobs once said, “Creativity is just connecting things.” Even if you’re building your career in a more traditional industry like accounting or legal, you can absolutely be creative—if you think a little differently about your job.

Here’s how to find creative fulfillment, even in the most decidedly left-brained roles.

Read the full article here.

Other Must-Reads from Korn Ferry

• The Art of Breaking Bad News - Having 'soft skills' can be crucial in an era of layoffs and lower salary raises.
• 5 Alternatives to ChatGPT - The next wave of generative AI is moving toward more specialized tools designed for specific purposes. Which of the new varieties look best for business leaders?
• Changing the Conversation - Hope is not a strategy, but there are plenty of good reasons why leaders need hopeful employees, says best-selling author Dan Goleman.

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