This week in HR: How employers can support hybrid work and burnout

In this week’s roundup, we discuss how employers can support working from home, the ideal time workers want to spend in the office, and how to protect yourself from burnout.

How employers can help staff create a home office

As reported by Forbes this week, employers can be doing their part to help employees set-up a comfortable and productive home office.

The chief technology officer of SADA Systems, Miles Ward, reported for Forbes: “For decades, corporations have collectively invested billions of dollars in designing collaborative spaces that help cultivate creativity and maximise productivity among their workforce. But we’re primarily on our own when it comes to remote work.”

Mr Ward suggests companies do their part by assisting with internet costs, helping staff determine an office space, and offering equipment to help create a home office.

HR Leader recently discussed how important the right home office set-up is. The equipment, space you use, and even temperature all play a critical role in your health and wellbeing.

Ideal days in office survey

As seen in the Human Times 22 November bulletin, LinkedIn News UK conducted a survey to determine how many “in-office” days are ideal for employees. Over half responded with 2–3 days a week.

Twenty-six per cent said one day per week, 14 per cent voted four days, and only 8 per cent agreed that five days a week is ideal.

LinkedIn News UK made reference to Elon Musk’s announcement that he will no longer allow his Twitter staff to work from home, unless given approval.

As reported by The Guardian, Mr Musk told his staff in an email that the “road ahead is arduous and will require intense work to succeed … Remote work is no longer allowed, unless you have a specific exception. Managers will send the exception lists to me for review and approval”.

Importance of connecting with employees that are working from home

Continuing on the work-from-home trend, HRMorning reported how employers can get remote and hybrid working right by connecting with their employees.

The article listed five ways employers can achieve better happiness and connectivity with employees to assist in retention and engagement:

• Identify and regulate emotions.
• Show empathy regularly.
• Give constructive feedback, increase 1:1s.
• Hire with cultural impact in mind.
• Offboard well.

How managers can help prevent burnout

HR Leader came across an article this week from 6 November by The Atlantic. It discussed how managers can do their part to help reduce employee burnout. The CEO of the Management Center, Jakada Imani, said it well in The Atlantic’s article: “Folks don’t leave jobs; they leave managers.”

Mr Imani continued: “I would say the biggest thing is to remember that you are managing and working with humans, and there are differences among them. So, individualise it.”

HR Leader discussed burnout back in May, where research found that it was on the rise. ELMO’s Employee Sentiment Index said: “Burnout remains a considerable issue for Australian employers with 46 per cent of workers reporting they are burnt out.”

Since then, data has only increased. According to an article by News.com.au, Microsoft’s Work Trend Index 2022 says that 62 per cent of Australians are experiencing burnout. That’s 14 per cent higher than the global average, making Australia the worst affected country in the world.

Harvard Business Review published a guide in 2016 to help reduce burnout. It recommends workers:

• Prioritise self-care.
• Shift your perspective.
• Reduce exposure to job stressors.
• Seek out connections.

HR Leader notes that Anne Heard shared The Atlantic’s article on LinkedIn, commenting on the “stay conversation” mentioned. We liked the innovative idea of a stay conversation.

Ms Heard provided an excerpt from the piece which said: “... at the end of the year, having a ‘stay’ conversation with folks that you want to stay: ‘What would it take for you to stay for another 12 to 24 months?’ ... For high performers and people who you want to stay, we advise all of our clients to have a ‘stay’ conversation. Because the assumption isn’t that they’re going to stay, especially with the great resignation of the last few years.”