Hybrid Work & Long Working Hours - Do They Have To Go Together

Written By Abhijit Bhaduri

Between February 2020 and February 2021, the digital overload was on everyone's mind. Meeting times increased 148%. We read 40 billion more emails. When Microsoft released the Work Trend Index 2022, they found the top five reasons for people to quit are: 

  1. personal wellbeing or mental health (24%),

  2. work-life balance (24%),

  3. risk of getting COVID-19 (21%),

  4. lack of confidence in senior management/leadership (21%),

  5. lack of flexible work hours or location (21%).

Everyone speaks about the pandemic having sped up digital transformation. No one talks about the transformation each of us has gone through. This is the largest change that will force businesses to morph. 

"People are quick to think, but slow to rethink." - Adam Grant


Push the boundaries to be a changemaker

Each one of us has to be the changemaker. It is not enough to leave that task to the leaders. In a fast changing world, our decisions and beliefs are like untested hypotheses, said Adam Grant at the recently concluded Adobe Summit

Hybrid and remote, yes... but how

I asked readers what they found to be the biggest challenge of hybrid work

If you have not voted, please click this link to vote.

Researcher Christine Armstrong talks about the following macro trends. 

What can the employers do as they craft the new rules of hybrid and remote work? Here is a suggestion

Let the teams decide when and how they want to be in the office. This decision does not need to be taken at the organization level. 

Do the same for communication protocols. Figure out what is communicated over email and what is done over a group chat. What is urgent enough to warrant cutting into personal time - very little I suppose. <Watch the video>

Personalise experiences at scale

The Adobe Summit 2022 opened with the CEO Shantanu Narayen spoke about how the pandemic has changed how we earn, learn and seek entertainment. Using technology to personalise the experiences at scale is the task for every business. That is where we need to use technology for good. Personalised content can drive the engagement of the consumer at every step of the journey. Happy employees make customers happy! <watch this>

My sketchnote of takeaways


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Abhijit Bhaduri

Abhijit Bhaduri is an advisor to organizations on talent development and leadership development. As the former GM Global L&D of Microsoft, Abhijit led their onboarding and skilling strategy especially for people managers. Forbes described him as "the most interesting generalist from India." The San Francisco Examiner described him as the "world’s foremost expert on talent and development" and among the ten most sought-after brand evangelists. He is rated among the top ten experts on learning across the world. He is a LinkedIn Top Voice with more than a million followers on social media. He teaches at the Doctoral Program for Chief Learning Officers at the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to being at Microsoft, he led an advisory practice helping organizations build their leadership, talent and culture strategy. His latest book is called Career 3.0 – Six Skills You Must Have To Succeed. You can follow him on LinkedIn.com/in/AbhijitBhaduri and on Twitter @AbhijitBhaduri

https://abhijitbhaduri.com
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