It takes more than extra holidays and four-day work weeks to make staff happy

Those who felt the Sunday blues last night have good reason to believe that their days of back-to-the-desk dread could soon be over. The cult of workaholism that thrived before the pandemic, when exhaustion was so valued that someone at WeWork once carved “don’t stop when you’re tired” into a cucumber and put it in the office water cooler, is now reversing at a rate of knots.

As thousands of workers quit their jobs in a wave dubbed the great resignation, companies are throwing life-changing, once unthinkable perks at staff like never before. In the finance industry alone, companies are offering a four-day work week with no cut to pay, weeks and weeks of extra holiday to tackle burnout, and permission to host future meetings from a beach.

A large chunk of office workers have now been granted permanent flexibility as the anti-hustle era takes off, but many will have found that the extra time at home has left them lonelier and less content in their jobs.Credit: iStock

Bosses who have spent their entire careers toiling away may now feel bewildered by the list of benefits on offer.

The COVID crisis forced those who worshipped the hustle to slow down and as a result the working world has gone topsy-turvy. The pause made many realise that their old lives were not for them, triggering a wider movement across the West of people changing jobs and demanding a better work-life balance.

For millions of miserable workers fed up with dreading Monday mornings, this has been a great escape. Three in 10 Brits get no job satisfaction at all, a survey by Bupa Care Homes concluded last week.

But the rat race is not over. Extra duvet days and the ability to work remotely do not mean that previously unhappy staff are now basking in a corporate nirvana. Studies have repeatedly shown that the job itself improves work satisfaction, not the ability to clock off early for a cocktail or work all day from bed. Small wins, meaningful work and colleague relationships are more likely to banish Sunday blues than some of the dramatic benefits now on offer. If corporate life is shifting, companies need to nail the basics.

That should not be difficult. After analysing 12,000 diary entries by 238 employees, Harvard researchers concluded in 2011 that what seem like mundane work moments can make or break the way someone views their job. A “sense of making progress on meaningful work” was found to be the most important factor boosting employee morale, while a seemingly small slip-up often sends happiness levels crashing. Only 5 per cent of managers acknowledged that a sense of progress was the number one motivator.

The way people relate to their co-workers also has a major impact on workplace happiness. A report published last week by pollster Gallup said staff who are more engaged at work tend to have stronger workplace relationships than those who have mentally checked out.

Companies are fully aware of this correlation. At a London event last week, an art teacher claimed that demand for her team drawing lessons has gone through the roof as businesses scramble for ways to bring people back together. But in a warning shot to the HR gurus now racing to host a bonding day, the Gallup research said there are “no quick fixes when it comes to human relationships”. Recognition, as well as feeling heard and cared about, were all more likely to boost morale than “simple team engagement activities”.

These daily links have been a casualty of home working and the pandemic. A large chunk of office workers have now been granted permanent flexibility as the anti-hustle era takes off, but many will have found that the extra time at home has left them lonelier and less content in their jobs. The Bank of England’s Catherine Mann has warned that there could be a two-track workplace if more men than women reconnect with colleagues by returning to the office.

The hours of those working from home are not necessarily any shorter, either. Hays, the recruiter, found in a poll over the summer that more than half of all staff worked longer hours from home than they did before the pandemic amid pressure to be constantly available. Home working and extra days off may give employees an illusion of having the upper hand, but the reality is often rather different.

Of course, it is good to question old habits. The conversations about working life that are taking place now are well overdue and already benefiting millions of families. People have been able to move out of cities, reconnect with their children and change careers. Bosses are asking workers what they want and listening.

As they dish out the goods, it is important that both sides remember that job satisfaction is not improved simply by staying at home. Sour relationships will not improve, the job itself doesn’t change and hours do not necessarily shrink. Rachel Suff, senior employment adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, argues there is no point introducing dramatic work-life balance perks while still giving people unmanageable workloads. Those who don’t work in offices and have to do their jobs from specific locations - roles often filled by women - are also at risk of being left out of the conversation about improving working life if the focus is solely on home working.

In short, the three in 10 Britons who claim to have zero job satisfaction are unlikely to give a different answer next year just because their employer said they can stay at home or go on an extra-long holiday.

Telegraph, London

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