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Nearly half of all employees report symptoms of burnout, but the real number is surely higher since the most burned-out people have likely left the workforce already.
Drained
One thing that burned-out employees have in common—leaders who have yet to get specific about the future of hybrid work.
The great exhaustion
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Ambiguity’s role
Especially if they have yet to hear a clear plan for postpandemic hybrid work.
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What employees are saying about the future of remote work
Anxiety’s role
People who feel anxious about hybrid work are often the ones who are the most burned out.
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Sounds of silence
Yet nearly two-thirds of organizations have spoken vaguely, if at all, about postpandemic hybrid work.
What employees are saying about the future of remote work
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Hopes and fears
To help reduce anxiety and burnout, leaders can address employee hopes and fears for the future.
Level of burnout felt by employees,
% survey participants
49%
of respondents say they are feeling at least somewhat burned out
Very low degree
Low degree
Somewhat
High degree
Very high degree
22
29
28
15
6
Baseline
2.9×
more likely to
result in moderate
to high levels
of burnout
Lack of a hybrid work plan is causing anxiety, multiples
What employees are saying about the future of remote work
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The lack of clear vision or plan for postpandemic work is causing me concern or anxiety, % survey participants
9
38
35
12
6
Strongly agree
Agree
Neutral
Strongly disagree
Disagree
47%
feel that a lack of clear vision about work in the postpandemic world is a cause for concern
What employees are saying about the future of remote work
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32
Well
communicated
28
Vaguely
communicated
40
Not
communicated
Employees who report that their organization has
communicated a postpandemic vision, % survey participants
What employees are saying about the future of remote work
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Hopes for
the future
Fears regarding on-site work
Fears regarding remote work
What employees are saying about the future of remote work
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New approaches
Leaders can also reconsider the working approaches and related policies that lead to well-being, social cohesion, and productivity.
Reimagining the postpandemic workforce
Article – McKinsey Quarterly
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Clear hours
Robust tools
Listen and respond
Small-team events
Dial-in guidelines
Documentation rules
Tech training
Home office gear
Support for company by policy,
% of respondents who ranked the policy in their top 5
34
29
27
26
26
26
25
25
Employees’ top 4 hopes and fears, % survey participants
Inspire
Because hybrid work requires less hierarchical, more inspirational forms of leadership, leaders need new behaviors to compensate for the reduced socioemotional cues that are characteristic of digital channels.
Cultivate
Because innovation requires the serendipity of unplanned encounters, organizations can establish hybrid working forums free of structured content—and with open access to leaders.
Locate
By working from home (or a nonoffice location) a couple days a week, leaders can signal that people don’t need to be in the office to be productive or to get ahead.
Track
To maintain social cohesion, map and monitor overlapping and intersecting informal networks in your organization with semiannual refreshes of social-network maps, tracking changes in relationships over time.
Reimagining the postpandemic workforce
Article – McKinsey Quarterly