Managers Think Employees Are More Motivated When Being Watched

According to a Return to Office survey, conducted by Fiverr and Censuswide, a third of managers and executives want employees to return to the office full time because they think employees are more motivated when they are being watched.

Employees, however, disagree, and actually want more autonomy and flexible work arrangements.  Almost 21% of employees in the survey said no incentives could get them to return to the office, and 42% said they would quit their job if their company stopped allowing remote work.

“High performing American workers don’t want to be watched by a manager,” said Shany Malbin, a general manager at Fiverr, a business built around freelancers. “It is attitudes like this that are fueling the growth in the number of highly skilled workers turning to freelancing as a full-time career.”

Negative feelings about returning to the office run especially high among younger Gen Z workers (people born from 1997-2012).  In a different survey of workers in 17 countries, 71% of Gen Zers said they would consider looking for a different job if their employer made them come back to the office full time.

You’ve heard of the Great Resignation?  This, my friends, is the Great Disconnect.  Leaders and employees still do not see eye to eye, and employee engagement will pay the price.

Jill, What Can I Do?  Share these statistics – and proposed flexible work arrangements – with leaders.  I believe that many still do not understand what employees need in a workplace in order to thrive and be highly productive.  By educating executives and offering a solution, you can potentially solve this dilemma in your organization before it becomes a problem.