Insights & Research Discussion Preview - Back to School Blues: How Will Changes in Employee Productivity Affect Your Organization?

I am excited to partner again with Al Adamsen, Founder and CEO of People Analytics and Future of Work, to discuss the ebb and flow of productivity in our upcoming Research Discussion. Research has shown that for many companies, productivity and engagement have improved during the shift to remote work. But what disruptions loom in the near future that can potentially affect employee well-being, productivity, engagement, and the like?

Back to School

In the data Perceptyx has collected through COVID-19 pulse surveys, we saw a considerable shift in scores for productivity and desire to return to the physical workplace near the end of May; productivity jumped and desire to return plummeted. This shift coincided with the end of the school year, a time when many working parents and caregivers were freed from home schooling responsibilities. The return to school in the fall is uncertain, especially given the resurgence of COVID-19 cases. Just 60% of working parents feel their school district has communicated a clearly defined return to school strategy. Undoubtedly, school decisions will impact parents’ willingness and even ability to return to the physical workplace. Parents who currently work in a physical workplace are more than 2x as likely to have their children return to traditional, five days on campus school than parents who currently work remotely.

It is possible that we will see the reverse shift in data patterns (productivity decline, desire to return to workplace increase) as the school year begins. More than 60% of parents believe carrying out distance learning from home will place an extremely difficult burden on their family. Furthermore, 39% of non-parents believe their co-workers who are parents are more distracted during the workday and 25% go on to say their workload has increased and has become more difficult to get done as a result.

How should organizations respond? With the large shift to working at home, many employees are compressing and stretching work hours to deal with other life demands. Organizations that are providing additional flexibility and support during the ebb and flow of work have employees who are 25% more likely to remain at the organization for at least the next 12 months as compared to organizations that are not offering such flexibility and support. Clearly, organizations that are changing and adapting with their employees are far better at engaging and retaining talent during disruptive times.