Latest news with #workplaceTrends
Forbes
27-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
As Big Tech Cuts Management Roles, Leadership Gaps Threaten Productivity And Engagement
Over the past year, manager engagement has taken a noticeable nose dive. According to Gallup's most recent 'State of the Global Workplace Report,' manager engagement fell from 30% to 27% in 2024. A workplace trend known as unbossing (also popularly termed the 'great flattening') may be contributing to declining manager engagement. As this author reported previously, in the past year, big tech companies, including Meta and Salesforce, have trimmed management layers to boost efficiency. Most recently, Microsoft joined the trend, cutting many of its managers as part of the company's largest mass layoff since 2023. While streamlining management layers can enable innovation by empowering employees to make decisions independently, it also carries significant risks. Cutting too many key leadership roles may result in a disengaged, overworked and underproductive team. According to Korn Ferry's 'Workforce 2025' survey, nearly half of employees say their organizations have slashed management layers, and more than a third report feeling directionless due to the lack of managerial guidance. What's more, 43% of senior executives expressed doubt about their ability to take on the responsibilities left behind by eliminated management roles. Gallup's report also notes that 70% of team engagement is attributable to managers. This underscores how critical managers are for driving company performance, especially considering Gallup's estimate that a fully engaged global workforce could boost the world economy by $9.6 trillion, or roughly 9% of global GDP. Increasing efficiency as a flat organization requires more planning than just eliminating management roles. To ensure that flattening organizational hierarchies improves business outcomes, executives might consider developing strategies that promote self-direction and career growth in nonmanagerial areas. In its article titled 'How to Successfully Scale a Flat Organization,' Harvard Business Review addresses how companies can maintain a flat structure while still achieving growth objectives. The article's authors—Eero Vaara, Anni Harju, Mia Leppälä, and Mickaël Buffart—explain that a successful flat organization can be scaled by allowing teams high degrees of autonomy, facilitating strategic decision-making, maintaining transparency about company performance, encouraging learning from failure, and consistently communicating the company's mission and values. This way, the company builds a self-directed working model that can withstand and even flourish with less managerial support and oversight. Companies aiming to thin management layers may also explore implementing dual-track promotion programs. Models used by companies such as Shopify and Google allow employees to advance into roles that emphasize industry expertise and don't require transitioning into people management for career growth. Gallup's report also outlines strategies for empowering managers and mitigating levels of disengagement. For instance, Gallup found that fewer than half of managers globally say they've received management training. It therefore recommends that companies expand access to professional development opportunities. The report further indicates that when managers have training and a supervisor or mentor to actively encourage their development, their likelihood of thriving in their role increases by 50%. As Gallup states, manager development opportunities may represent 'one of the most effective 'wellbeing initiatives' that employers can invest in.' When executed effectively, thinning management layers can create a more productive workforce with less micromanagement and bureaucracy. However, if implemented poorly, flattening organizational hierarchies can cause employee disengagement and diminish team performance. As Lesley Uren, CEO of Korn Ferry's global consulting business, warns in response to the company's 'Workforce 2025' survey, 'When management disappears, so does direction. A leaner organization today can mean a leadership crisis tomorrow.' Organizational flattening should strengthen, not weaken, a company's ability to thrive. Otherwise, restructuring meant to lift performance could end up flattening profits instead.
News24
25-05-2025
- Business
- News24
Warmer colours, more plants: SA employers go for homey offices to lure staff back
SA offices are adopting designs inspired by nature, with trending greens, blues, browns, and beiges to lure staff back on-site after working from home. Warmer tones replace outdated cool palettes, with Pantone's Mocha Mousse – a warm brown – as Pantone colour of the year. Home-inspired office design reflects the mood of post-Covid office work. For more financial news, go to the News24 Business front page. In a bid to get employees out of their homes and back on-site after the Covid-19 pandemic, many companies are upping the office offering by creating more homey spaces that offer more than just a cubicle. Colour plays a key role, according to Linda Trim, director of Giant Leap, workplace design consultants and according to Trend Group, office interior designers, there is a 'growing trend towards earthy and organic tones'. The South African Property Owners Association (Sapoa) shows a strengthening of overall vacancy rates from 16.1% to 13.7% from the fourth quarter of 2022 to the fourth quarter of 2024, indicating an increased demand for office space. 'As more companies call employees back to work and return-to-work policies are common, they are also rethinking workplace design in hopes of boosting productivity and motivation. New uses of colour will be a big part of that, in what comes next for the workplace,' said Trim. 'The thoughtful application of colour in the workplace is a confluence of psychology, brand alignment and functional design. As organisations continue to evolve and embrace new ways of working, colour remains a powerful yet underutilised resource in shaping workplace culture and performance,' said Tandi Jacobs, general manager at ID Internal Developers. Trend Group "strategically employ[s] shades of blue in areas demanding concentration, leveraging its proven ability to enhance focus and create a sense of calm. Supplied/ Trend Group Greens, blues and neutral tones are popular choices for office interiors, according to Trim, also that nature-inspired design (biophilia) is on trend right now as it creates a relaxed atmosphere that helps create a homey feel. 'Blues and greens are associated with calmness and stability. These hues reduce anxiety and promote sustained focus, making them ideal for spaces requiring concentration, such as private offices, quiet work areas or meeting rooms,' said Jacobs. It's all in the plants An integral part of the biophilic interior style, live greenery, is also a popular design element and, according to Trim, is a big part of getting people back to work. The one common theme we are seeing in all our office designs of late is greenery,' said Jacobs. According to Jacobs, the biophilic colour palette promotes a calm, comforting environment that does not cause overstimulation. These include not only greens and blues, but also warm browns and soft beiges. According to Trend Group, bold accents are also in. Deep blues, rich oranges, and vibrant yellows add visual interest and personality. Jacobs believes colour can transform the workplace into a more human, functional and forward-looking environment. In the recent past, a cooler palette of whites and greys were on trend, but clients increasingly prefer warmer, neutral palettes like creams and warm greys, according to Jacobs. 'This could be because it creates a warmer, homely look and feel, and could be aligning more on the Pantone colour of the year, Pantone 17-1230 Mocha Mousse and more recently, Cinnamon Slate 2113-40,' she said. 'People got very used to their homely environments in Covid, and wanted a similar feel from the office on their return,' added Trim.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Remote workers are delaying retirement. Is that a good thing?
Are your clients ready to retire? The answer likely depends in part on where — and how — they work. Among American workers age 55 and up, those who worked remotely at least one day a week were 14.4% less likely to retire by the following year compared to in-person employees, according to new research from the Center for Retirement Research. Even after controlling for demographic, familial and job characteristics, that difference between the two groups holds. "Remote work remains elevated relative to pre-pandemic levels and, for at least some workers, appears to be here to stay. Given the lack of savings of many Americans, so too is the need to work longer," Geoffrey Sanzenbacher, a research fellow at the Center for Retirement Research, wrote in the report. "The good news from this brief then is that remote work seems to facilitate, not impede, longer careers." Although the scale of remote work has fallen from its pandemic-era high, remote and hybrid jobs still compose a much larger share of the job market than before the pandemic. READ MORE: Should clients in the 'retirement red zone' reconsider withdrawal strategies? In 2019, just 6% to 8% of workdays were completed remotely. That figure surged more than threefold in early 2020 as the pandemic began. While it dropped significantly by late 2021, the proportion of remote workdays has stabilized at more than double the pre-pandemic rate, research shows. Previous research has found that the rise of remote work has helped late-career workers with disabilities work later in life. New research suggests those same effects extend to older workers as a whole. Financial advisors say they've seen the impact of remote work on their clients who decide to delay their retirement. "For several clients where their employer wanted to keep them, the employer offered either a hybrid schedule or a pure 'work from home' model," said Ryan Perry, a financial advisor at Falcon Wealth Planning in Ontario, California. "In both cases, clients really liked the option, and they did end up working longer than they otherwise would." For advisors looking to strengthen their clients' retirement plans, the benefits of delaying retirement through remote work are clear. "Obviously, each additional year a client works is going to be an additional year of income, so their overall financial situation becomes even stronger and is less taxing on the financial plan, plus clients can continue to contribute to their work retirement plans," Perry said. READ MORE: For 25% of retirees going back to work, there's a tax pitfall to avoid Leyla Morgillo, a financial advisor at Madison Financial Planning Group in Syracuse, New York, said that many of her clients have adopted remote work as a means of easing the financial transition into retirement. "It's scary to just stop getting a paycheck, right? So, the recurring theme tends to be that the clients are very reluctant to have that paycheck go completely away," Morgillo said. "And so they like that idea of working at least somewhat, because it gives them that level of comfort." Still, financial advisors need to be clear with clients considering a transition to remote or hybrid work about whether they need to continue working at all, Perry said. "I would not want a client thinking they have to keep showing up to work when in fact they have the funds to retire right now, so that needs to be communicated clearly," he said. "If clients want to keep working, that's fine, but they should be made aware it is not financially necessary." Earning additional income from remote or hybrid work never hurts a client's retirement plan, but Morgillo said the benefit to their overall financial picture is often relatively small, especially after reaching the age to receive their maximum Social Security benefits. Still, other incentives, like maintaining a workplace health plan and staying mentally engaged, can draw retirees to continue working even when their finances no longer necessitate it. "The biggest benefit for some clients is being able to stay on their health insurance for the employer, depending on their medical situation," Morgillo said. "Sometimes that coverage can be much better than what they would have on Medicare." READ MORE: How to plan ahead for diminished capacity and prevent elder abuse For older workers who have been in an industry for decades, retiring can also undermine their sense of self, Morgillo said. "I think for a lot of people, their identity oftentimes is really tied pretty closely to their work. So, it can be really hard to just give that up altogether," Morgillo said. "Some people just don't want to let go, right? They love it. It's what they're used to. It brings them joy, or, you know, they're just very passionate about it. They want to keep their mind engaged," she added. Lauren Lindsay, a Houston-based financial advisor at Paragon Private Wealth Management, said that continuing to work can have clear mental benefits for retirees, who remain sharper and more engaged through their jobs. Researchers have found that retiring is associated with an increased risk of cognitive decline. While postponing retirement through remote work can help delay that possibility, advisors say it's important to talk to clients about other activities — like volunteering or mentoring — that can help them stay engaged beyond work. An overemphasis on work can lead to financially secure clients unnecessarily putting off their retirement goals, Lindsay said. "The thing we are all limited with is time," she said. "Don't delay your life goals to keep working longer unless there is a need to."
