Flexible ways of working are here to stay, finds new Microsoft Ireland research – with leaders focused on trying to maintain culture and innovation

Dublin: 5th November 2020: Microsoft has released new research into remote working in Ireland on 5th November as part of a pan-European piece of research commissioned by Microsoft and conducted by Boston Consulting Group and KRC Research.

Some key points of the research:

The hybrid workplace is here to stay:
- 97% cited the importance of changing their firm’s ways of working to become more innovative and flexible.
- 71% of employees worked remotely during the first lockdown
- Leaders expect 45% of employees will continue to work remotely. Employees expect to spend one third of time outside of the office

Explosion in remote working policies:
- 72% of organisations have implemented remote working policies, (versus 22% last year)

Business benefits:
- Productivity: Seven in 10 leaders (73%) saw equal or more productivity from remote workers.
     – For people surveyed in Ireland their best time of day to really focus was between 9 and 11am. The ability to do focused work plummets in the afternoon.
- Retention: Well over half (68%) of business leaders see remote working as key to retaining talented employees, higher than the European average of 56%.
- Sustainability: Taking a broader societal view, more than half of leaders (61%) see increased sustainability as a key business reason to adopt remote working.

Top benefits for employees:
- 79% Dressing casually
- 56% More time for hobbies
- 46% Personalised workspace
- 32% Working with pet by my side

Innovation:
- 41% of leaders thought their companies were innovative around core products and services – The same number agreed with that sentiment in our research in 2019 (42%).

Innovative Culture:
An innovative culture is where employees feel empowered, where there is open communications with managers, and where there is a strong, inclusive vision from the top.

- Employees in innovative companies:
    – 72% are equally or more productive when working remotely (vs 60% in less innovative companies)
     – 59% of employees feel empowered to make decisions.
     – 71% feel it’s okay to make mistakes.
     – 93% collaborate with colleagues seamlessly.
     – 94% can focus attention solely on the task at hand.
     – 80% feel that their contribution makes a difference in the company.
     – 90% agree that their team can get a lot done when they work hard.
     – 69% feel happy at work (vs 39% of employees with less innovative company cultures).

Leader’s challenges:
However, for many leaders, this year marked the first time they were responsible for leading people who were working remotely.
- 58% said they feel they have not yet effectively learned how to delegate and empower virtual teams.
- 56% of leaders found it harder to create a strong and unified team.
- 51% feel they have not effectively learned how to be empathetic with their teams.