As more companies call their workers back to the office several days a week, some employees are pushing back. While executives may have concerns about fostering innovation and cohesion in the workplace, in-person events and other strategies can address these issues. However, what they should focus on is engaged workers, instead of just wanting the satisfaction of looking over clusters of employees bound to their desks. Forcing people to endure grueling commutes isn’t a winning strategy for making the rank and file more excited about their work.
To get more engaged workers, CEOs need to embrace innovations like the four-day workweek, artificial intelligence, and the research around them. During the pandemic, companies told employees that they appreciate and trust them to do what’s best for the business by taking care of themselves. But Return-To-Office (RTO) demands seem to miss the point. Employees do not want to return just to prove their diligence as corporate soldiers.
Data from the Conference Board reveals that 62.3% of American workers were satisfied with their jobs last year, a new high. However, nearly four in 10 workers weren’t happy, meaning they’re less likely to do their best work. The strongest factors that made the glad-to-be-here crowd say as much was progress they made on work-life balance.
A four-day workweek experiment in the UK showed that it can make workers more effective while still being paid the same. By using AI tools, employees can do even more in less time, allowing employers to move to shorter weeks and still increase their output. Leaders need to push the limits of thinking about work differently and use technology to do work faster and better.
AI can weed out some of the boring and repetitive tasks, enabling workers to enjoy higher productivity and increased engagement. Boosting productivity could mean that there’s a need for fewer workers as employees are more efficient, which could help alleviate labor shortages that employers have been grappling with for years.
By prioritizing engaged workers and innovations like the four-day workweek and AI, businesses can create a positive impact on their workforce and the labor market.
