Meanwhile, 87% of employees say the office is important for collaborating with team members and building relationships their top-rated needs for the office. Employees who report lower productivity are more likely to cite difficulties in balancing work with home duties, in addition to challenges collaborating with colleagues or accessing information. Q: How important will the following be for the purpose of your physical office in the future? And more executives agree: over half (52%) say average employee productivity has improved vs. 44% who said the same in June. Remote work has been gaining steady traction for many years, but organizations have continued to opt for a physical setup in support of the argument of employee productivity. The other executives surveyed foresee no change (14% in December vs. 19% in June) or an increase in office space needs (56% vs. 51%), primarily due to planned headcount expansion or the need to reduce office density as fears of the virus linger. Remote sensing is a fast process. Remote surveys are critical as location and scenery are huge aspects that truly enhances the viewing experience. Half plan to invest more in areas that support hybrid working models, including hoteling apps (50%) and communal space in the office (48%). Mercer | Mettl 2010-2020. Respondents with the least amount of professional experience (0-5 years) are more likely to want to be in the office more often. PwCs second survey into attitudes about remote work finds US executives and employees converging around a post-pandemic future with a lot more flexibility, yet few are prepared to completely abandon the office space. We're better off giving up on office space entirely, No turning back: Many of our office employees will work remotely a significant amount of their time, Going with the flow. One financial services company told us it believes a hybrid model (rather than 100% remote) would likely be the working model of choice for many of its employees, who see 100% remote work as unsustainable. This mixed pattern of remote and physical activities of each occupation helps explain the results of a recent McKinsey survey of 800 corporate executives around the world. Employees are likely to expect to work in less densely configured spaces and to seek assurances that health checks are being made. This is used to plan out where each scene will be filmed. While managers may sense lower productivity levels among teammates, employees might be adjusting to the distractions at home and the lack of ready access to managerial and coworkers support. Most of the executives and employees we surveyed expect this hybrid workplace reality to begin to take shape in the second quarter of this year. Remote survey is based on convenient and low-cost live-feed technology used through smartphones or tablets. Just under a third of executives (31%) anticipate theyll need less total office space in three years, primarily due to increases in the frequency and number of employees working remotely. It gives a pulse of employees feelings and gauges the effectiveness of remote working practices in your organization. The onus of remote work readiness is shared equally by the organization and its employees. Their platform has helped us reach out to a higher volume our applicant numbers. The sudden outbreak of COVID-19 took most businesses by surprise, without allowing them time to gauge remote work readiness of employees, counter the. These sensors can be on satellites or mounted on aircraft. However, organizations can lend ease to the arrangement. If you work in an office, you have a set of typical While 81% of executives say their company has been successful in extending benefits for childcare, just 45% of employees say the same. Thanks for submitting the comment. PwC surveyed 133 US executives between November 24 and December 5, 2020. Of note, women are less likely to say childcare measures have been a success 41%compared with 49% of male respondents. Companies seeking to retain hard-won agility during the crisis should consider how they can continue to foster collaboration among employees and help enhance productivity in any working environment. All rights reserved. Employers may be in for a surprise. Expect some friction. Businesses need to be astute in attracting and retaining the talent required to stay ahead of the curve. Analyze the data from the remote work survey, identify common concerns and needs of the workforce. To be sure, the timing will depend on the rollout of vaccines. Given the trends accelerated by the pandemic, executive leaders need to quickly articulate what their office is meant to accomplish. The survey said information technology decision-makers expect permanent remote work to double to 34.4% of their companies workforces in 2021, Optimizing the hybrid workplace requires accelerating investments to support virtual collaboration and creativity, as well as for scheduling and safety. However, recent developments may bring a change in the attitude towards remote work. We know that working remotely instantly grants your team greater work/life balance and without this, the daily grind can cause workers to burnout. In short, a pulse survey is simply a mechanism for measuring feedback thats not bound to measuring specific topics or content. In fact, BCGs recent Workplace of the Future employer survey found that companies expect about 40% of their employees to follow a remote-working model in the future. It can help raise awareness about remote work readiness and develop skills that ultimately help mitigate the challenges of working remotely. The remote work survey is the first step towards achieving remote work readiness. When not scandalizing people with her stories, youll find her challenging gender norms, dancing to her own tune, and crusading through life, laughing. Based on our recent remote working survey of over 1,200 Australian employees, weve found that the commute is the thing that people (56%) miss the least about the office. Hybrid work is driving the office footprint strategy Such a survey can help organizations reach out to their employees and make them feel heard and appreciated. This didnt necessarily surprise us: As we lost the ability to connect in unscripted ways inside our office Over the next 12 months, 87% of surveyed executives expect to make changes to their real estate strategy, with many planning more than one change. Will the current configuration satisfy shared expectations to use the office primarily as a meeting place? This can be a good strategy for companies (and industries) with a great employment brand, but those who already struggle to attract talent may need to mitigate risks of losing talent who want flexibility to work remotely more frequently. Employees want to return to the office more slowly than employers expect. The challenges of working from home include technological disruptions, such as system failure, power cuts, network disturbances, router outage, etc. Executives still highly value physical offices. This can improve an organizations effort by focusing and investing in the right areas. The complexities of a hybrid workplace can be managed with scheduling tools. Q: How successful would you say the shift to remote work because of COVID-19 has been for your company? This compares with 61% of office workers, who expect to return to the office for at least half of their time by July. The rising wave of COVID-19 infections, increased stress and anxiety, and other challenges are taking their toll on the workforce. In a remote environment, frequency of contact cannot go down. Pulse surveys are different from engagement surveys, lifecycle surveys (onboarding, exit, candidate reaction, etc. Your appointed DNV surveyor contacts the on-site customer representative live through the system; The DNV expert guides on-site personnel through the survey Employee perceptions of their ability to be productive while remote appear to factor in their thinking about returning to the office. All respondents were from public and private companies in three sectors: financial services (43%), technology, media and telecommunications (31%), and retail and consumer products (26%). PwC surveyed 133 executives and 1,200 office workers in November and December 2020. Build a development plan by comparing the individual profile to that of the benchmark. Employers will have to recognize that workforce needs and desires have shifted due to the pandemic. All Rights Reserved. As a result, we expect that the drive to align the real estate strategy with the hybrid workplace strategy will pick up speed in 2021, with implications for assumptions on real estate savings as a result of WFH trends. 2017 - 2021 PwC. They all identified themselves as employed and previously/currently working remotely either because they were required to work remotely due to shelter-in-place mandates (64%) or were already working in a flexible arrangement with their employer (36%). Make sure to fill out remote surveys before hand. Principal, Organization and Workforce Strategy, Strategy&, PwC US, People & Organization Joint Global Leader, PwC US. The US has estimated that around 100 million people will be immunized by the end of the first quarter; however, the first waves of vaccinations for 2020 appeared to have fallen short of expectations. The rest are grappling with how widely to extend remote work options, with just 13% of executives prepared to let go of the office for good. Remote work readiness comprises two aspects means and motivation both of which must be offered by an organization. Over half of employees (55%) would prefer to be remote at least three days a week once pandemic concerns recede little changed from the 59% who said the same in June. Acknowledge where remote work is more effective and be prepared to balance scheduling accordingly. As organizations allow a significant part of the workforce Business performance is not suffering. If theyre not, companies should be prepared to lose talent. Heres how: A short, 22-question survey covers three major parameters to assess an organizations key intervention areas organizational initiatives, managerial effectiveness, and support from coworkers. A strong remote work culture unites workers around a shared sense of purpose. Compared with the June survey, more employee respondents say theyre more productive now than they were before the pandemic (34% vs. 28%). Employee sentiment data may help illustrate the problem and give leaders more insight into what employees need. To start, lets take a look at the average salary for a remote worker. Essential workers were excluded. With its plethora of complexities and confusion, the present scenario only makes it more difficult for organizations to decide whether to come back to work or continue working remotely. By July 2021, 75% of executives anticipate that at least half of office employees will be working in the office. Actions are likely to include improvements to office decor and an increase in collaborative hubs, including even bringing back some private offices or quiet spaces in a deliberate move away from cubicles and open floor plans. Raleigh, N.C., and Austin, Texas, the top real estate markets at the start of 2021, are among the boomtowns attracting more than their share of young workers. Hence, assessments can be customized to an organizations competency requirements based on the level and nature of the work and uniqueness of the business objectives. Over 30% of employees say coaching and onboarding new hires is worse than pre-COVID. The remote work assessment can help organizations chart a developmental path for employees and focus on who to train, what to train in, who can continue working from home even in the longer run, and which teams or individuals need to be called back to the office after normalcy is restored. Lidar, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging, is a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure ranges (variable distances) to the Earth. Determine a benchmark for each position. For issues concerning coworkers support, personality traits such as collaboration, flexibility, communication, empathy, and so on, can be routed through the assessment. LIDAR is a unique remote sensing technology that has taken the surveying industry by storm. Remote sensors collect data Executives and employees are apart on preferred remote schedules for the workweek once the pandemic recedes. Q: What changes are you making to your real estate strategy in the next 12 months? and devise a strategy to ensure remote workers productivity. The remote work assessment can help organizations chart a developmental path for employees and focus on who to train, what to train in, who can continue working from home even in the longer run, and which teams or individuals need to be called back to the office after normalcy is restored. What is valuable enough to keep your people coming in? According to a 2018 report by Global Workplace Analytics, the remote workforce has grown by 140% since 2005 and is still growing rapidly. Moreover, 65% believe the office is very important to increasing employee productivity, while over half also consider the office very important for employee collaboration, providing spaces to meet with clients and enabling the company culture. Well post the comment once its verified. For example, 34% of younger respondents, aged 18 to 24, are more likely to prefer a remote schedule of one day a week or less, compared to 20% of all respondents. The office demand model is likely to be more complicated after COVID-19 In addition to digital tools, combatting the challenges of working remotely, organizations can use a remote work survey and assessment to gain a toehold and explore its applications. It's been great! Q: Which of the following statements best describes how you feel about remote work at your company? Specific actions companies can take to help their employees perform effectively in any environment include resource scheduling flexibility and manager training for remote working. We'll likely increase the level of remote work, Prefer limited remote schedules but people like it, including future talent, Back to the office as soon as feasible. Organizations and employees, alike, are trying to maintain business as usual while tending to the health and safety of everyone involved, by working from home and connecting via video calls and other digital applications..