HR stress is affecting labor trends
A quarter of HR leaders say remote work has caused them to spend most of the workday on tasks they dislike, leading to increased stress.
Two years into the pandemic and we are seeing the cracks (and breaks) in both workplace culture and how HR is dealing with it. A new report from BambooHR, How Remote Work Affects the Culture Conversation, shines a bright light on how not only workers are being affected by remote work and a disconnect it creates towards workplace culture, but also how HR is struggling to deal with those issues.
In a survey of 1,000 HR leaders and office workers, nearly half (47%) of HR leaders are struggling and say HR tasks and responsibilities have become more difficult due to remote work. It’s not that HR is losing their desire to provide a cultural environment for their workers as 67% prefer to spend time connecting with employees, and 49% enjoy recruiting. But nearly a quarter of the HR leaders surveyed say that remote work has caused them to spend most of the workday on tasks they dislike or hate, which leads to increased stress.
Unfortunately, there is somewhat of a disconnect between HR and employees when communicating culture. Pre-pandemic, one-third of employees say they have experienced one thing with direct managers and leadership contradicting it with something else. Since the pandemic 21% of people say that is happening more frequently, 52% say it is about the same and 26% say it is occurring less frequently.
These disconnects, the moves towards a remote workplace, and HR’s increased stress in dealing with it, are changing employee work decisions and are influencing them to seek employment elsewhere. Nearly 1 in 5 (19%) of employees say they began job searching due to declining company culture and 16% say they’re searching for another job out of fear of what new culture might develop as offices reopen.
“With top talent leaving because of culture concerns, it’s more important than ever for HR and CEOs to come together with a unified position on culture,” said Cassie Whitlock, Head of HR at BambooHR. “Culture and employee experience are a boardroom-level issue and there is an opportunity here for HR to take its place at the table in the turbulent labor market we find ourselves in.”
Even though 73% of respondents now believe culture is not defined by physical space, 77% of employees wish their company had done more to help promote a positive remote or hybrid working environment. The gaps show among the ranks where 94% of VPs say culture is strong whereas 65% of individual employees say the same thing.
Overall the “unified position on culture” is still being worked out. The survey shows the top ways companies have adjusted to strengthen culture in the last year are increasing communication from leadership (50%), supporting mental health (46%) and focusing on DEI (45%). However, according to employees, the top places culture needs to be stronger is in pay and benefits (43%), communication from leadership (41%) and better work-life balance (40%).
As labor shortages continue and the economy remains volatile amidst new variants and an uncertain resolution to the pandemic, workplace cultural divides will likely persist. Navigating that uncertainty will take time, patience and new approaches to meet all the needs of both HR and employees.