Workers in the UK spend less time in the office than any other country
A new report shows that workers in the UK spend the least amount of time in the office each week compared to workers from other countries.
In fact, we spend significantly less time in the office when compared to the global average, with 34% of Brits spending four days or more in the workplace compared to 50% of worldwide workers.
As a standalone statistic, this finding from Unispace’s Returning For Good report barely raises an eyebrow. However, when paired with the disparity between employer expectations and those of the employee, as well as the diminished opportunity for salary growth, career progression and increased benefits for hybrid workers, it becomes a little more concerning.
The data shows that while 74% of British employers predict the return of a four-day week within 12 months, only 53% of employees believe it will happen and of that, only 21% are happy to see the back of hybrid working, meaning there may be a communication issue in offices across the UK.
Similarly, research has shown that progression for hybrid workers can be difficult due to the rise of proximity basis (where workers in the office are seen to work harder than those working from home) and this report echoes that phenomenon, with 75% of employers saying progression and salary increases are impacted for workers who embrace the hybrid model.
A further cause for communication concern when only 53% of workers recognise that working from home is impacting their career.
A lack of clear communication between workers and management is the source of most professional struggles, accounting for up to 70% of corporate issues according to Gartner, and yet oftentimes it’s the employees that have to tackle the situation.
Managing upwards and modelling the type of communication they need to both succeed in their roles and understand company context for progression is often the most direct course of action.
So for those who want to keep enjoying the improved work life balance that comes from hybrid working, here’s some guidance on how to improve communication and your prospects.
Ask direct questions
Be direct with queries around progression or salary. What do I need to achieve to progress here? What does success look like in this role? What target do I need to hit to get a bonus? Asking directly means you’re focusing your role on performance not location so hybrid working shouldn’t become an issue.
Set Aside Time For Check Ins
Set aside regular time with your boss, but make sure the time is being put to use, set an agenda, a why and an outcome so that everyone understands what they need to prepare ahead of time and how they can best add value. If your employer won’t schedule times to meet with you virtually despite knowing you work remotely, set the time yourself or compromise and meet on days when you’re in the office. After all, research shows that face-to-face asks do on average, 34 times better, than asks via email.
Regardless of your working model, if there’s a breakdown in communication between staff and management that you can’t overcome, it may be time to look elsewhere. The CityAM Job Board is full of opportunities with employers who favour a hybrid model. Three are highlighted below but be sure to investigate the job board to find your perfect fit.
Senior Social Media Producer, Bauer Media Group, London
Bauer Media Group is looking for a Senior Social Media Producer who will join the team at Magic Radio. This hybrid role between home and Bauer’s London office is a unique and exciting opportunity to develop the social media output for Magic Radio. Reporting into the Digital Editor, you will develop ideas and work closely with other teams within the business such as marketing, producers, commercial teams, the content director and the wider Magic social media team. Get more information here.
Senior Credit Risk Analyst, Zopa, London
Zopa is looking to recruit a Senior Credit Risk Analyst to work on a hybrid basis from its London HQ in a collaborative way to redefine what banking means to customers across the world. You will work with open banking data or other novel datasets to find new ways of enhancing Zopa’s credit strategy while managing the pricing and commercials on its lending programme and making recommendations on strategy to the product lead. If you thrive in unconventional workspaces and have two-plus years’ experience doing credit risk analysis in a consumer lending environment, then this is for you. Get more information here.
Senior ML Ops Engineer, Zilch, London
Double unicorn fintech Zilch is hiring a Senior ML Ops Engineer who can take advantage of its hybrid approach to work and either work from its London HQ or remotely, depending on preference and requirements. In this role you will work with data scientists to take offline models and turn them into a real machine learning production system, as well as develop and deploy scalable tools and services to handle machine learning training and inference. This role is best suited to somebody with five-plus years’ experience in software engineering with strong skills in complex, Python systems. Get more information here.