The pollsters at Gallup have published a list of their 6 most important workplace research findings from 2022:
1. The employee engagement slump continues.
2. Hybrid work is here to stay-the office will never be the same.
3. Don't confuse being in the office with culture.
4. The hybrid workplace will challenge managers in new ways.
5. Burnout and mental health struggles are the new productivity killers.
6. Quiet quitting in the workplace threatens customer retention.
Based on each of those findings, we have some tips and ideas for you to navigate the new workplace normal.
- Combatting the slump: Consider employee engagement activities that aren't in the category of "forced fun." Can you offer your team an afternoon off or early dismissal one day? Can you send your team DoorDash gift cards to get them lunch?
- Hybrid no longer temporary: Does your institution or organization have a budget where you can offer your employees the opportunity to up their home office game? Ensuring employees have the necessary equipment (and a comfortable chair) can go a long way to making them feel valued and productive. (Speaking from personal experience, I missed my office chair for the first year of working from home. When I finally got some budget to get a nice, ergonomic chair at home, it was a game changer for me!)
- Culture: Be reachable and communicative!
- New Challenges to Managers: As another "speaking from experience" tip, my entire team is remote (say "hello" to @Bernadette Gallegos in Chicago and @Penny Schnarrs in Pittsburgh!). I have found that ensuring we have dedicated weekly time to check in (and not canceling those meetings) has gone a long way to keeping us connected. It's also been beneficial to level set on how people like to work -- are you a video chat person? Prefer Slack? Both methods can be good for working, you just need alignment on what will work best for your working relationship!
- Burnout: This may seem like an obvious tip, but encourage your team to include "hold" time on their calendars to step away from their desks and relax. It's easy when "work is home" to always feel the need to be on, so as managers, we need to hold ourselves and our teams accountable for taking time off. For those of us not working in the clinical environment, rarely is our work life or death, and most things can wait until tomorrow. As a h/t to @Jennifer Schlener, here's a great tagline you can add to your email signature as well, "I personally value and strive to model healthy work-life integration. I do not expect to receive email responses in the evenings, on weekends, or on holidays."
- Quiet Quitting: I can't take any credit for these tips -- check out this article from Forbes, including the advance to "listen, learn, and implement." Too often we may find ourselves seeking input and not following through to act on that feedback.
And a few questions for consideration: Do you think we are seeing these trends play out in academic medicine workplaces? As leaders and managers, should we be focusing our efforts in these areas?
Do you have other tips to offer the community? I suspect many of us are in the same boat and could leverage ideas others have had success with. Thanks in advance for sharing.
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Stephanie Weiner
Director, Digital Strategy & Engagement
Association of American Medical Colleges
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