Good morning.
Labor Day is just three weeks away and will mark the start of another skirmish in the war between workers and managers over return to office. It’s a war because workers and managers have very different perceptions about performance during the pandemic. In a report on hybrid work, Microsoft asked employees whether they were being productive at work, and 87% said yes. But when the company asked leaders whether they were confident their employees were being productive at work, only 12% said yes. That’s according to a recent report from human capital research firm i4cp, which you can read here.
Kevin Oakes, CEO of i4cp, told me yesterday that “a lot of this boils down to trust. Do I trust that someone is working for me fully if I can’t see them?” That’s part of it, but I think the trust question goes deeper than that. Human beings are social animals, and meetings in person matter. While traveling in Abu Dhabi last week, I was able to resolve a half dozen issues that had been festering for months because I was there in person, engaging people with all five senses, and creating bonds that virtual meetings cannot. People who haven’t already built a reservoir of trust can resolve differences and misunderstandings better when together in person.
