Has home working affected productivity?

I’ve heard some HR leaders talk about the ‘productivity conundrum’ – ie, some senior colleagues complaining about lower productivity with remote working. The experience of many, however, is that good leaders and managers have maintained good performance and productivity. It tends to be the less empathetic, supportive and proactive leaders who complain.

Here’s some valuable data from EY to counter the leaders who blame remote working: ‘Eighty percent of companies report their employees’ productivity is somewhat higher or much higher during the past 24 months‘.

It’s so interesting that, if you combine the ‘somewhat’ and the ‘much’ higher groups together, the perceptions of productivity are the same across the three workplace models.

This is actually an amazing achievement for all involved. To HR teams everywhere, you’ve done an amazing job. The question is – what do you want to do next?

The platform is there for HR to become more business-led, to get involved in decision-making earlier, to get more HR tech and get rid of the admin, to move from serving to partnering …

Whatever your ambition, I’d love to help you think it through in a no-obligation call.

Thank you to EY for their Future Workplace Index 2023