No one can deny that the health crisis and confinements have profoundly changed the habits of the French. The separation between personal and professional life has been undermined, disrupting everyone’s work rules. But today, with new practices established, what are the essential criteria to make your employees happy?
Teleworking that has lastingly changed habits
The impact of the health crisis on assets has varied depending on the generation. Deprived of their decompression pillars:
- Travel and travel
- Cultural outings
- Friendly moments in cafes
The employees analyzed the posture of their company in the face of this “sea serpent” which came to shake up all the managerial rituals.
The keys to change for the web:
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Depending on the positions and the rules of the moment, inequalities in treatment have become apparent, if only for reasons linked to the position held:
- On the ground: Some have been forced to go to their workplace for fear of catching the virus.
- From a distance : Others found themselves confined to their homes, having to combine professional activity and the constraints of their personal lives.
Among these major difficulties: that of cohabiting with children in a home poorly suited to the coexistence of professional and personal spaces.
Everyone remembers these episodes where the children invited themselves onto the screen at the most unexpected moment… Funny situations which made more than one smile.
A last-minute adaptation to teleworking
Adapting to an unprecedented situation : this has been the daily challenge of business leaders and employees.
For many organizations, the situation has proven particularly complex. A large majority of them have thus become aware of the limits of outdated work tools that are unsuitable for remote working.
There is in fact a clear difference between owning a computer for personal needs and having a calibrated tool for working and evaluating performance.
Even if companies have invested massively in new tools and software, the knowledge and reflexes were far from being established at the start.
Many organizations were not ready. For a large number of employees, the pandemic was also an opportunity to discover videoconferencing tools.
This transition did not go smoothly: many of them were reluctant or confused. Intrusively bringing colleagues, the manager or the director into one’s privacy required establishing neutral zones and making rapid adjustments, even if it meant positioning one’s workstation in a cramped space.
The observation today: If rejection was the first reaction, the trend has completely reversed. Today, the hybrid work emerges as the big winner. It allows you to avoid public transport and long journeys. In addition, many employees now consider their home to be a quiet place, well equipped for concentration, while enjoying social connections during their days at work.
Job security has become crucial
Opinion surveys (such as the OpinionWay survey for Microsoft) highlight practices which, apart from just remuneration, actively contribute to employee happiness. This data offers business leaders valuable insights for managing their teams. It appears obvious that the reasons given by employees for recommending their company remain key indicators for better leadership.
In a generally uncertain economic context, remuneration sometimes takes second place behind job securitywhich became capital. It is therefore up to the entrepreneur to think about the different future prospects to offer to his employees.
So, 61% of assets first value the criteria directly linked to the position:
- The stability of the contract
- The interest of tasks and missions
- Controlling the workload
- The meaning and usefulness of the missions entrusted
The trend that has emerged in recent years – finding meaning in one’s work and not just a salary – has greatly gained momentum. If it is sometimes difficult to obtain transparent feedback from employees who fear being judged, it may be wise to call on an external coach. This trusted third party will make it easier to speak out and listen to employees in order to meet their expectations precisely.
The second choice corresponds to “living better”
The work environment is a determining factor:
- 49% of employees would recommend their company for the quality of its atmosphere.
- 83% favor moments of conviviality (such as farewell drinks or the famous nice breakfasts with colleagues) to nourish their attachment to the organization.
For 36% of respondents, these rituals are even considered “very important”.
Against all expectations, employees in hybrid mode are the most strongly attached to it. These rituals allow them to recreate the bond:
- 90% of them declare that these small, friendly rites contribute to their loyalty to the company (43% of them very significantly).
- Employees express a fundamental need to maintain a social connection with their peers (83% say they like their colleagues, including 31% a lot).
Flexibility: the end of the straitjacket
If the days of RTT have long been very popular by allowing employees to organize their time as they wish, the health crisis has opened Pandora’s box by adding flexibility of location.
This geographic freedom has become a criterion of daily choice for 59% of French workers, and climbs to 68% among regular teleworkers.
- Under 35s are the most demanding on this point: 65% of them consider flexibility to be a decisive criterion in their career choice.
- Temporal flexibility is not to be outdone: almost 60% of workers say that if their company encouraged them to organize their own time and choose their schedules, they would appreciate their employer more.
- Finally, 58% of employees with an activity compatible with remote working declare that a proposal of 2 or 3 days of teleworking per week would significantly strengthen their attachment to their company.
