Amid the noise of employees' ever-increasing demand for flexible work arrangements, a recent study suggests that leaders need not rush to accommodate every request. There's actually a significant group of employees who value the structure of a traditional Monday to Friday 9-5 job.
Gallup has published findings from a survey of 18,943 working American adults, which found that 50% of workers would rather have traditional working hours than the choice to dip in and out of work when they’re most productive.
For white-collar workers specifically, the percentage drops slightly to 45%.
Surprised? You wouldn’t be alone.
Gallup also found that managers don’t know their workers as well as they think they do, with leaders included in the poll massively overestimating that three-quarters of their workforce are “blenders”—workers who prefer a job in which you can alternate between work and other life activities throughout the day.
“A common misperception leaders have about flexible work is that employees want to be mixing their work and personal lives during the day,” Jeremie Brecheisen, managing director of the Gallup CHRO Roundtable, recently wrote in an op-ed for the Harvard Business Review.
Workers divided on work-life fluidity
Of course, leaders can’t ignore the other half of workers who want work and life to blend seamlessly.
Nespresso’s U.K. CEO Anna Lundstrom, for example, previously told Fortune that allowing work to weave its way in and out of her day allows her to stay on top of her demanding job without being confined to a desk.
Instead of trying to cut work and life into a rigid 50/50 split, she strives for work-life fluidity. Likewise, Thasunda Brown Duckett, president and CEO of the Fortune 500 financial services company TIAA, thinks she’s a better mom for admitting that "work-life balance is a lie".
Working parents specifically—no matter where they sit on the corporate hierachy—have significantly benefited from employers ditching strict start and finish times in the aftermath of the pandemic and embracing a “work when you’re productive” ethos.
“I need to work around childcare,” Jade Fitzgerald, an experienced design director at the design agency Beyond, told Fortune. “Fortunately, some of my work can be flexible, while my son’s routine is not.”
Like many working parents, her workday exceeds the hours that daycare is open, so she leaves the office early to do the school pickup and prepare dinner, before finishing work at 7:30 p.m. once her child is tucked into bed.
This mismatch is causing employees to burnout and quit
Ultimately, the mismatch between what workers want and what their bosses think they want mustn’t be overlooked.
Gallup found that when employees are not working in their preferred way, they are less engaged, more likely to report burning out at work, and more likely to be watching for or actively seeking a new job.
Although being able to leave the office early with the expectation of always being on to answer early morning or late-night emails is a perk for some employees, the same percentage of staffers would rather call it a day at 5 p.m. on the dot—or quit.
It could explain why when Gallup asked large-company CHROs if their organization cares about the well-being of its employees, 65% strongly agreed that this was the case. However, less than a quarter of employees agreed.
“Leaders may feel like their organization cares about their employees—but that doesn’t matter if your employees don’t feel like you care,” Fitzgerald said.
Gallup’s researchers concluded that the best approach to finding out whether or not workers are appreciating any available flexible work policies (or the lack thereof) is simple: Ask them.
