((HSG IMPACT AWARDS 2022)) (("From insight to impact"))
How can we positively shape the future of work?
((The future of work))
"Pioneering Future Leadership and Work" is a consortium of companies
who all aspire to be pioneers in the new world of work.
This was initiated in 2015
when a vast number of questions were arising about how to enter the new world of work.
There was a need to interact with other pioneers
and for support from HSG in this area.
Interestingly, the pandemic brought an incredible amount of positive things for some companies.
The people are happier, they are doing much better,
they are a lot more organized
and also notice that people trust them a lot more.
In other companies, we saw the exact opposite:
exhaustion, loneliness and more of what we call the acceleration trap,
which is a kind of overheating.
In most cases, though, it was interesting to note the higher productivity,
albeit with a staff that was more tired.
For me, Hilti is the cultural world champion:
all of its work is based on "a caring and performance-oriented culture".
The pandemic brought this about: exactly that –
with questions like how can we work with a focus on health
and understand "performance-oriented" better
in virtual, hybrid working contexts.
The employees filled out online questionnaires daily,
every day of the week.
And we also collected objective health data using heart-rate monitors.
And then compiled them
to see how specific workplace factors and management behaviours affected the health data.
And then we held qualitative interviews again
to get an understanding of what was going on in employees’ minds.
We conducted various analyses using multilevel models and regression analyses.
We found out that the effects are reduced with remote work –
both positive and negative effects.
Productivity was not influenced.
And at the same time, we also saw effects on heart-rate variability.
There were curve effects that showed that to a certain degree
there were positive effects from working remotely for two or three days.
But beyond that there were negative effects for employees.
The results showed quite clearly
that a pure focus on performance in remote work leads to a "burnout turbo".
What we need is leadership based on inspiration and support
to avoid too much of a good thing from remote work.
Besides Hilti, we also collaborated with other companies,
such as the insurance companies Zurich, Swiss and Oberwaid,
and we looked at issues such as how decentralized management works
and how technologies are successfully utilized within companies.
And how do managers stay energetic and effective in new working contexts?
For me, it is very clear
that we are just at the beginning of an epochal change
in the way we need to work and manage people.
One thing that is important is
how to reach people emotionally when we’re working remotely.
That remains important, especially as a task for management.
A second thing emerged particularly in this project:
we must protect the health of our teams.
((From insight to impact))
((University of St.Gallen))