Rewriting the rules:

Building a healthy
hybrid workplace
The shifting trends of the workplace and how the focus
on well-being is becoming part of our day to day

COMMISSIONED BY
Rewriting the rules: Building a healthy hybrid workplace 2

About this report

Rewriting the rules: Building a healthy hybrid
workplace is an Economist Impact report,
commissioned by Cigna that explores the shifting
trends of the workplace and how the focus on
well-being is being manifested and applied
day-to-day. It includes insights from an in-depth
literature review which analysed workplace
trends and an interview programme with a range
of business leaders and experts in their fields.
We wish to extend our thanks to the following
for their time and insights (listed alphabetically):
• 
Mona Abou Hana, chief people officer and
consulting partner, PwC Middle East
• 
Rolake Akinkugbe-Filani, chief commercial
officer, Mixta Africa (an ARM Group company)
• Sir Cary Cooper, professor, organisational
psychology, University of Manchester
• C
 lare Courtney, senior vice president,
organisational effectiveness, Finastra
• Dr Lynda Gratton, professor of management
practice, London Business School
• Rahul Kalia, global head of performance,
culture and future of work, Bayer
• Jacqui McCreadie, director, global workplace
experience, Finastra
Economist Impact bears sole responsibility for
the content of this report. The findings and views
expressed in the report do not necessarily reflect
the views of the sponsor or the interviewees.
While every effort has been taken to verify the
accuracy of this information, Economist Impact
cannot accept any responsibility or liability for
reliance by any person in this report or any of
the information, opinions or conclusions set out
in this report.
This report was written by Monica Woodley and
edited by Gillian Parker. Research and interviews
were also conducted by Bilge Arslan.

• Andrew Davis, head of future workplace

strategy and growth, Fujitsu

• Magnus Falk, chief information officer advisor,

Zoom

© The Economist Group 2022

Rewriting the rules: Building a healthy hybrid workplace 3

Contents

1 Executive summary

4 The rise of worker well-being

10 Build it and they will stay

16 The evolving role of the manager

22 Conclusion: The future of work

© The Economist Group 2022

Rewriting the rules: Building a healthy hybrid workplace
Executive summary
Managers are increasingly worried about their
workers. Personal lives used to be hidden,
problems (and small infants) were left at home.
In recent years, business leaders have begun
to peer through virtual windows into make-
shift bedroom offices and chaotic family life.
Employee well-being shifted from something
that was just paid lip service to a vital part of an
employer’s role. Workers are voting with their
feet, leaving companies that are not taking well-
being seriously enough.
Well-being is now strongly linked with the
rise in more flexible work policies – namely
where you work and when. The grand shift
to hybrid working has yielded largely positive
results – work has continued to be done
and without the loss of productivity feared
by sceptics. Some workers felt liberated
from the office routine – free to organise
their workloads to give themselves a better
work-life balance and with extra time, and
money, saved by not commuting. However,
others experienced burnout from the
perceived need to be always ‘on’, responding
to emails and instant messages at all hours.
1
Companies and workers have been figuring out
how they want to shape the future of work. Firms
are experimenting with hybrid working, location-
agnostic policies or even going fully remote.
Some workers want to remain completely
remote, while others cannot wait to get back into
the office, at least part of the time.
Economic uncertainty threatens to affect the
changing dynamics between employers and
employees. Will employee well-being and flexible
working be the first things cut by companies facing
rising costs, or will labour and skills shortages
temper that? In-depth interviews with experts and
business leaders from around the world, as well as
extensive desk research, point to these key findings:
• Workers are willing to leave companies that
do not take their well-being seriously - 59%
say they would consider taking a job with a
company that offers better well-being benefits
than their current employer.1
• 
Some measures of well-being are easily quantified
– employee turnover, levels of stress-related
sickness and absence. Employee surveys shed
light onto how workers feel, and the causes
and alleviators of their stress. Investment in and
take-up of well-being programmes can be tracked.
However, what is most vital - a culture that
supports well-being – is more difficult to gauge.
© The Economist Group 2022
Rewriting the rules: Building a healthy hybrid workplace
• 
Employers need to think beyond physical
or even mental wellness, to the broader
dimensions of overall well-being, such as
social, financial, career and community.
They need to listen (and show they are
listening), add well-being measurements to
their executive dashboards, and share that
information publicly.
2
• 
Post-pandemic, remote and hybrid working
are seen as key aspects of flexible working and
therefore well-being. Beyond the work-life
balance benefits for employees, the financial
benefits for companies are clear: smaller space
requirements and lower real estate costs;
the ability to look anywhere in the world to
find the best talent; and reduced attrition as
employees do not have to leave the company
if they want to move.
• 
Companies are experimenting with a range of
technology tools – from visual collaboration
platforms to the metaverse - to alleviate the
stress of remote workers who feel they must
always be ‘on’, facilitate the collaboration that
usually takes place in the office, help build and
maintain ties between employees, on-board
and train employees, and assess their well-
being from a distance.
• 
The main challenges of remote working
are to maintain company culture and keep
employees connected and engaged. There
is a strong link between engagement and
performance outcomes such as retention,
productivity, safety and profitability.
• 
In a sign that concern about labour shortages
trumps recessionary pressures, a third of
100 CEOs from around the world said talent
recruitment and retention was their biggest
challenge by far, while just 10% mentioned
economic uncertainty and instability, and
inflation/stagflation.2
© The Economist Group 2022
Rewriting the rules: Building a healthy hybrid workplace 3

© The Economist Group 2022

Rewriting the rules: Building a healthy hybrid workplace
The rise of worker
well-being
Since the pandemic irrevocably changed how
we work, employers have been especially open
to finding innovative ways to ensure employees’
physical, mental, financial and social health.
But as the pandemic fades, recession looms,
giving employees and employers little respite
from stress.
“I asked one senior HR person why their
organisation was suddenly into health
and well-being and he said ‘regrettable
turnover’, that he couldn’t afford to
lose people. It’s talent management –
retaining and attracting good people.”
 ir Cary Cooper, professor, organisational psychology,
S
University of Manchester
Workers’ daily stress levels have reached historic
highs, with 44% of employees telling analytics
firm GALLUP that they experienced stress
during much of the previous day.3 And, according
to Deloitte, the most-cited factors acting against
well-being for both employees and C-suite
executives were a heavy workload or a stressful
job (30%) and not having enough time because
of long work hours (27%).4
Stress, anxiety and depression are the main culprits
of work-related illness and absence and thus lower
4
productivity and retention – and therefore, lower
profitability. In the UK, the government believes
that poor mental health is costing employers
between £33bn (US$52.6 billion) and £42bn a year,
and the UK economy as much as £99bn per year.5
It doesn’t even take full-blown illness to affect
how an organisation performs. There is a strong
link between engagement and performance
outcomes, such as retention, productivity,
safety and profitability. Low engagement costs
the global economy $7.8 trillion - 11% of GDP
globally.6 Presenteeism - when employees are not
fully functioning in the workplace because of an
illness or other condition - costs US employers
$150 billion a year in lost productivity.7
$7.8
trillion
Low engagement costs the global
economy - 11% of GDP globally.
$150
billion
Presenteeism - when employees are
not fully functioning in the workplace
because of an illness or other
condition - costs US employers
$150 billion a year in lost productivity.
© The Economist Group 2022
Rewriting the rules: Building a healthy hybrid workplace 5

Boredom and poor well-being are also leading

to high staff churn. The “Great Resignation” that Great Resignation
began in 2021 – with some four million workers
leaving their jobs each month in the US alone8 -
continues in 2022. Over half of employees aged
18–24 say they would quit a job that prevented
them from enjoying their lives and 38% of those
55–67 agreed, according to a 2022 study by Workers continue
Randstad, a global recruitment agency.9 to leave their jobs
“I asked one senior HR person why their According to a survey of 52,000
workers in 44 countries and
organisation was suddenly into health and well-
territories13, one in five workers plan
being and he said ‘regrettable turnover’, that to quit in 2022 The Great Resignation
he couldn’t afford to lose people,” says Sir Cary that began in 2021 is set to continue.
Cooper, professor of organisational psychology at
Manchester University. “It’s talent management –
retaining and attracting good people.”

From the Great Resignation to Quiet Quitting
Coined in May 2021 to describe the wave of workers quitting their
jobs, the Great Resignation showed no signs of abating a year later.
According to a PwC survey of more than 52,000 workers across 44
countries in 2022, almost one in five employees said they are likely
to switch to a new employer in the next 12 months.10
Low pay, a lack of prospects for advancement and feeling
disrespected were the top reasons why US employees left their
jobs last year, according to a study by Pew Research, a US think
tank. A lack of flexibility to choose when they work was the fifth
most cited factor.11
But the grass has not proven to be greener for everyone. Another
survey found almost three-quarters of workers who had quit
experienced surprise or regret that their new positions or new
companies turned out to be very different from what they were led
to believe. Nearly half said they would try to get back their old job.12
As recession bites, more employees may choose to stay put. They
can then take part in the latest workplace phenomenon called
‘quiet quitting’. To workers, quiet quitting is prioritising work-life
balance by doing enough to get the job done without burning out.
To bosses, it is the next incarnation of ‘presenteeism’.
Would you quit your
job if it prevented you
from enjoying life?
Over half of employees aged
18-24, and almost 40% of those
aged 55-67 say yes, according
to a 2022 study by Randstad.
Crunching the numbers
- and listening
Some companies take an analytical approach
to understanding what their employees want
and the success initiatives to support them.
Mona Abou Hana, chief people officer and
consulting partner at PwC Middle East, explains
that the firm has launched an HR analytics
platform to understand how workers perceive
the benefits and offerings: “it generates real
time preference analytics to quantify employee
benefit preferences, perceived value of benefits
and value gaps - where we can do better. This
then allows us, as a business, to model numerous
scenarios and optimise value for our people.”

© The Economist Group 2022

Rewriting the rules: Building a healthy hybrid workplace 6

Not only will those analytics hopefully result in better Popular perks such as free meditation apps,
outcomes for employees, they also should help discounted gym memberships and health
companies understand what is most cost-effective coaching programmes sound great on paper
as well. This will be of growing importance as but focus solely on making employees feel
recessionary pressures build and HR directors need better outside of the office - rather than during
to demonstrate the value of well-being programmes. work hours - and put the onus completely on
them to use.
Some measures of well-being are easily
quantified – employee turnover, levels of stress-
related sickness and absence. Employee surveys How can this be improved?
(if genuinely anonymous) can provide insight into
Organisations need to think about the whole
how workers feel, and the causes (and alleviators)
person, not just the worker. They need to
of their stress. Investment in and take-up of well-
think beyond just physical or even mental
being programmes can be tracked. However,
wellness, to the broader dimensions of overall
what is most vital – a culture that supports well-
well-being, such as social, financial, career and
being – is much more difficult to gauge.
community. They need to listen – and to show
Before the pandemic, corporate well-being they are listening.
programmes often paid lip service to the
“We do both a monthly pulse and a twice-yearly
concept, rather than actually building healthy
survey,” says Clare Courtney, SVP organisational
workforces. They often fell short of their goals
effectiveness at Finastra. “When we were
because they failed to engage employees,
talking about returning to the office, we ran
offering initiatives too broad to have significant
surveys on what people want to do, then we had
impact on an employee or provided segmental
discussions, focus groups, and so on. So it’s just
offerings that addressed a single issue without
about active listening.”
a holistic approach to employees’ concerns.

© The Economist Group 2022

Rewriting the rules: Building a healthy hybrid workplace
Her colleague Jacqui McCreadie, director,
global workplace experience, adds: “I don’t
think any of us have got this figured out just
yet, but having regular conversations with
our employees and demonstrating that their
needs are taken seriously is something that
has helped a lot.”
Practical action taken by firms clearly
demonstrates that surveys are more than the
paper they are written on. Finastra employees
said that continued working from home resulted
in longer working hours and an increase in
burnout. Employees were encouraged to block
time off in their calendars for things that are
important to them such as exercise, school runs
and time with family. “Remember, we all need
time to recharge and ultimately you’re more
productive when you’re rested vs. continuing to
work while exhausted,” the company directive
advised. The company also issued Digital Balance
Guidelines advising workers to allow five to 15
minutes between meetings to “reset” before the
next one. Shorter meetings have proven to be
more focused and efficient, according to the firm.
Business leaders need to add well-being
measurements to their executive dashboards.
When they understand their employees’ well-
being, they can identify potential problems,
discover best practice and ensure well-being
initiatives are actually making a difference.
Then they can share that information. Deloitte’s
survey found that 55% of employees and 77% of
C-suite executives believe companies should be
required to publicly report workforce well-being
metrics – and a majority of both would trust
their company more if it was publicly reported,
and be more likely to take a job with a company
that did so.14 Employers are likely to be better
off making this information available publicly, as
social media and sites like Glassdoor – which has
7
nearly 50 million reviews and insights for more
than one million companies – are already giving
employees a forum to review companies.
Employee engagement actually improved at
many companies during the pandemic because
managers recognised the need to communicate,
listen and offer support and flexibility.
At Bayer, “we started mental well-being support
programmes in almost all of our countries, and
we also took continuous feedback from our
employees through employee engagement
surveys,” says Rahul Kalia, global head of
performance, culture and future of work at
German life sciences company Bayer. “The
support was very situational based on what was
needed in each country. So in India, for example,
it was not only emotional support, but we
supported the families of our colleagues (who
lost their lives due to pandemic) with financial
help/financial literacy to help them invest for
more sustainable living. In some countries
we started offering counselling and a buddy
mentorship programme, which further kept our
employees motivated and engaged.”
How to reap the benefits of
flexible work
The right to work flexibly has become a major
component of well-being. While pre-pandemic it
was mainly knowledge-work organisations that
allowed work from home (WFH), the benefits
for employees were clear. Without the daily
commute, they saved time. With more control
over their schedules, they could do the school
run or errands at more convenient times, or take
midday exercise without being seen as slacking.
Workers tend to have fewer sick days because
they are able to take better care of themselves,
physically and mentally.
© The Economist Group 2022
Rewriting the rules: Building a healthy hybrid workplace
Beyond the work-life balance benefits for
employees, the financial benefits for companies
are clear. Fewer in-office employees means
smaller space requirements and lower real estate
costs. It also radically changes recruitment.
Companies can look anywhere in the world to
find the best talent. It can also reduce attrition as
employees do not have to leave the company if
they want to move. These are vital advantages in
an environment of rising cost pressures, as well
as labour shortages and/or skills gaps.
GitLab, a software development firm with
1,300 employees that is often cited as the
world’s largest all-remote company, estimates
that its decision to go remote has had a net
benefit, including increased retention and
productivity and reduced property costs, of
$18,000 a year for each worker.15
It pays to
go remote
GitLab estimates that its decision to go
remote has had a net benefit, including
increased retention and productivity
and reduced property costs, of
$18,000 a year for each worker.
However, there are challenges, both for
employees and for organisations. The laws and
regulations that apply to workers are usually
based on where they are physically located, even
if the employer is located elsewhere.
If a company has employees scattered over
the world, they could have a wide range of
8
rules to be aware of and comply with – leaving
them open to a variety of regulatory and legal
risks. For global companies with large HR and
finance departments, these may be manageable
risks but for smaller companies they could
be overwhelming. Companies may choose to
institute ‘no-fly zones’ — places that are off-limits
to remote workers — in order to reduce the risk of
running afoul of legal, tax or compliance issues.16
Remote work can have tax implications both for
the employer and the employee. If, for example,
a UK worker for a UK company decides to spend
part of their year in another country, as long as
they remain tax resident in the UK, their tax (and
social security) remains the same. But extend
that stay to more than six months and they will
need a foreign tax credit to remain taxable in the
UK. Extend it to more than a year and they may
lose their UK tax residency and have to pay tax in
their new country of residence. For the employer,
even a short stint in another country can create
reporting obligations there.17
Location also has implications for rates of pay
and benefits. Part of the appeal of working
remotely is to move to a lower-cost location
while maintaining the salary of a higher-cost
location – effectively giving oneself a pay rise
and better lifestyle. Truly location-agnostic
companies will pay the same salary for the same
role globally. Some companies will keep pay
linked to the ‘home’ of the role, while others will
adjust the salaries of their remote employees to
their home location. Whether to pay the salary in
the currency of the office or the employee is also
a consideration.
Firms that continue to pay higher salaries
regardless of employee location will have
an edge in the scramble for talent and staff
retention compared to those that adjust by
employee location.
© The Economist Group 2022
Rewriting the rules: Building a healthy hybrid workplace 9

© The Economist Group 2022

Rewriting the rules: Building a healthy hybrid workplace
Build it and
they will stay
Other challenges are more cultural – namely,
how do you build and maintain company
culture when workers are not in the office or
regularly meeting face-to-face? The pandemic,
with its seemingly endless zoom meetings,
made many employees feel disconnected from
their company and colleagues. The casual
conversations at shared workspaces or at the
proverbial water cooler have been difficult
to replicate digitally, much less the lunches,
coffees and after-work drinks. These things build
collaboration and innovation - and informally
impart knowledge - as well as create the social
ties that make employees feel connected and a
part of something bigger than themselves.
“Loneliness is an enormous trigger
of mental health problems: So...how
do organisations support people
to make friends, to make it a norm?”
 r Lynda Gratton, professor of management practice,
D “In this virtual world, you can have groups of
London Business School
According to Dr Lynda Gratton, professor of
management practice at London Business School
and author of Redesigning Work: “People have a
higher sense of personal mental health and well-
being, and this is clear from data that goes back
10
decades–when they have a sense of belonging.
Loneliness is an enormous trigger of mental
health problems. So a key question is: how do
organisations support people to make friends,
to make it a norm?”
Companies are experimenting with ways to get
employees together in less formal ways than the
now-ubiquitous team virtual meeting. Some are
scheduling ‘planned randomised interactions’ –
essentially the casual chat you would have while
making a cup of coffee. Slack users ‘huddle’ while
others escape to virtual reality platforms turning
everyone into avatars.
Japanese multinational Fujitsu has been
experimenting with using the metaverse to
create a virtual office environment. The company
has used the technology for a number of years
for design activities with customers but is now
applying it to improving the working experience
for remote employees.
desks or chairs or sofas together, with a blue
ring of light that goes round them. When you
step inside the blue light, you can hear people
and they can hear you – it’s just like you’re in a
private room, but without the need to schedule
a meeting,” says Andrew Davis, head of future
workplace strategy and growth, Fujitsu.
© The Economist Group 2022
Rewriting the rules: Building a healthy hybrid workplace 11

He adds: “It’s a great way of trying to replicate the One solution is greater documentation,
informal connections you get from a traditional but done in a way that is transparent and
physical office environment, which I think helps easily accessible and amendable. An online
with mental health. It enables you to connect with handbook, with searchable pages that all
colleagues informally, which is something that you employees can add to – perhaps with videos
lose as part of that distributed way of working.” of employees giving explanations, or slides –
can help share that knowledge. Managers can
Fujitsu is also using VR for training, another area
encourage its use by sending links to relevant
that becomes a challenge with remote working.
pages ahead of meetings so people can read
“I’ve done training courses that have lasted for
background information and prepare questions.
days and by the end of the day, you’re exhausted,
Pages should be amended after meetings to
you just want to switch your brain off,” Mr Davis
reflect any changes. While this will be seen by
says. “But when using the metaverse, you can
some as extra work and bureaucracy, managers
relax a bit more because the avatar is doing the
need to explain it is a necessary trade-off to allow
hard work. It reduces the cognitive load.”
for geographic flexibility.
Companies with large numbers of remote
workers also struggle to onboard new hires and
impart the institutional knowledge that every
organisation has which is not codified but instead
lives in employees’ heads.

“Everybody wants to be valued, everybody

wants to contribute, and everybody
wants to develop. So why can’t we look
through this lens and try to imbibe
company culture through purpose?”
 ahul Kalia, global head of performance, culture and future of work,
R
Bayer

“The very nature of explicit knowledge is that it

can be codified and people can be trained for it,”
says Dr Gratton. “Implicit, tacit knowledge - how
do we deal with a client? How do we go about
doing this project – is learned by observation.
Executives have to ask, how is tacit knowledge
shared when people are working virtually?
There is much that has to be done to codify and
institutionalise tacit knowledge and that takes
thought and deliberation.”

© The Economist Group 2022

Rewriting the rules: Building a healthy hybrid workplace
But even with the best documentation and
technology, it is difficult to impart company
culture and instil comradery without some face-
to-face time. Some organisations bring together
remote workers with temporary colocation
events – paying for flights, accommodation and
food, and providing teams with an activities
budget so they can spend quality time together.
For Ms Abou Hana, this challenge was made
clear by the pandemic. “We’re social beings
and we thrive off of social interactions with our
colleagues and teams,” she says. “Our most junior
colleagues took the biggest hit, as they struggled
to integrate into our firm’s culture and familiarise
themselves with their team members.”
While it has been well-documented that the
younger generations of workers place a high
value on finding a sense of purpose in their
work, Mr Kalia believes this is where we can find
common ground in building and maintaining
company culture. “We always talk about the
differences in generations, we don’t talk about
the similarities,” he says. “Everybody wants to
be valued, everybody wants to contribute, and
everybody wants to develop. So why can’t we
look through this lens and try to imbibe company
culture through purpose?”
12
From always ‘on’ to on their
own terms
Other concerns are that the work-life balance
gains from working remotely are deteriorated
by the need to be always ‘on’ when working in
global teams. The digital tools that connect
teams and help them to collaborate can wind up
as distractions from concentrated work and/or
free time.
The average worker sends and receives about
121 business emails a day – checking email once
every six minutes and wasting about 23% of their
time on unnecessary emails – and sends about
200 instant messages per week (probably staying
logged in all day).18
“We’ve had email, we’ve now got chat, and
you’ve got other communication tools out
there that are more broadcast,” says Mr Davis.
“There is a worry that there’s too many different
ways to engage and you overwhelm people.
There’s a need to define how you use these
tools and how you intend them to be used
within an organisation.”
Digital tools are only effective if used properly.
While the pandemic hastened the adoption of
these tools, many organisations simply applied
© The Economist Group 2022
Rewriting the rules: Building a healthy hybrid workplace
them to old ways of working. Instead of back-to-
back meetings, workers had back-to-back Zoom
calls and interruptions via Slack or Teams instead
of someone stopping by their desk. That has led
to calls for greater adoption of asynchronous
working - allowing employees to work when
they want, rather than expecting real-time
communication - which is particularly helpful
when teams have members in different locations
and time zones.
“There is a worry that there’s too
many different ways to engage and
you overwhelm people. There’s a
need to define how you use these
tools and how you intend them to
be used within an organisation.”
 ndrew Davis, head of future workplace strategy and growth, Fujitsu
A
The key is using technology - like shared
documents and visual collaboration platforms
that support employees in doing their
jobs, rather than adding to their workload.
Dr Gratton confirms that “well-being is really
about the design of the job. We know that
having autonomy at work makes a huge amount
of difference - you feel healthier and happier if
you have some capacity to design your work.”
Small changes can have a big impact on well-
being - and productivity. “Personally, I normally
work very efficiently in the mornings rather than
in the evenings. So in the mornings I connect
to Asia, and around mid-afternoon, I can start
connecting with the US when I’m still active,”
Mr Kalia says, now based in Germany. “When
I was in Singapore, I might have calls in the
morning and late at night, but I’d take breaks to
spend time with my wife or daughter, or to play
a midday game of tennis with friends.”
13
No longer a ‘don’t ask, don’t
tell’ deal
While remote and hybrid working has with
many companies been ad hoc – even ‘don’t
ask, don’t tell’ arrangements between managers
and employees, without explicit consent from HR –
the growing number of employees working this way
means it is time to formalise (at least some) rules.
This can mean laying out clear guidelines
on how often hybrid workers are expected
to be in the office and when, or the procedure
for determining that. It is stating whether
remote workers are truly location agnostic
or still linked to a location, and the impact
that has on pay and benefits, and expectations
for any required time in an office. Some
companies also detail how aspects of employee
development, like performance reviews and
training, will be handled.
Bayer prefers a flexible and bottom-up
approach to decision-making. “We set some
global ambitions in a document, but we let the
countries and the sites decide what works best
for them in their local environment and culture
(freedom within the frame),” says Mr Kalia. “We
recommend that teams should interact and
collaborate two to three days a week, but we
recommend teams to decide what works for
them. It needs to be a collaborative process
between the team members and the leader.”
PwC Middle East also lets employees drive
changes in how the company supports their well-
being, using both quantitative and qualitative
approaches. “Using a personalised web-based
survey, our HR platform quantifies decision
drivers and the perceived value for all key
components of the employee experience,” says
Ms Abou Hana. “We also empowered our people
to have open conversations with their teams
on their expectations and whereabouts, to best
anticipate how we can work around their needs.”
© The Economist Group 2022
Rewriting the rules: Building a healthy hybrid workplace
This has resulted in “team charters, which
have to be completed before the beginning
of any engagement, to ensure that all team
members are aware of each person’s personal
and professional commitments and can work
around these to deliver.”
More communication and a greater role
in decision-making will help employees to
feel that rules are fair – a vital aspect of
worker well-being. The perception of
unfairness is a key factor in workers feeling
disengaged and stressed, leading to lower
productivity, collaboration and retention.19
While the default is often to treat everyone
the same, company-wide guidelines
must recognise that what works for some
employees will not work for everyone.
For Finastra, flexibility is key – as well as
transparency on rules that are non-negotiable.
“We have principles and practices rather
than lots of policies,” says Ms Courtney.
“When we hire people, we state whether
they are linked to an (office) location or not.
We’re really clear that if we ask them to come
in for a big site meeting, a get-together or a
workshop, it’s at their cost, because they are
working in their location of choice.”
14
That transparency needs to apply to how
companies assess well-being at a distance. “Most
of us spend most of our day using Zoom, Microsoft
Teams or other applications, which are able to
collect a wealth of information in the background,”
says Mr Davis. “We can get some real insights
into how people are working, whether they
communicate with their colleagues, how much
time they are spending in meetings, how much
time they have available to actually get work done.
There’s a lot you can deduct from that information
about how healthy their working practices are.”
However, Mr Davis recognises the limitations
of technology – and the need to use it
sympathetically. “If you capture information about
how people are working, there’s a feeling that
you’re ‘big brother’, that you’re looking at those
metrics, not just to help make their life easier
and better, but to manage their performance,” he
says. “You need a lot of communication, trust and
transparency in why you’re doing those things.”
Mr Cooper believes that “while technology
tools are helpful, every once in a while in a
while you need to be eyeball-to-eyeball. There
are things that you’re not going to say in your
Zoom meeting, in front of everyone, that you
will say when you go off and get a cup of coffee.
Even with the most emotionally intelligent line
manager, you still need to link up with people
one-to-one and get to know them - and not just
about work, but them as a person.”
© The Economist Group 2022
Rewriting the rules: Building a healthy hybrid workplace 15

“If you want to improve the health

and well-being of people at work,
you must have line managers, from
shop floor to top floor, who have
emotional intelligence and social
interpersonal skills.”

Cary Cooper, professor,

organisational psychology,
University of Manchester

© The Economist Group 2022

Rewriting the rules: Building a healthy hybrid workplace
The evolving role
of the manager
With employees scattered across the globe,
some in the office, some at home, working in
different time zones, the role of the manager
has become even more difficult. Add in growing
requirements to not just ensure workers are
doing their jobs well but to safeguard their well-
being too, and managers now face a tall order.
“People used to get promoted because they did
something really well. But now, your job as a
manager is to care for your people, to care about
what they’re doing and that they understand the
mission and the purpose of the organisation,”
says Magnus Falk, CIO advisor at Zoom.
Managers have a huge impact on employees’
work experience. GALLUP’s study of burnout
found the biggest source was unfair treatment at
work, followed by an unmanageable workload,
unclear communication from managers, lack
of manager support and unreasonable time
pressure. Note all five factors relate to managers.
A recent McKinsey survey found that for three-
quarters of workers, their immediate boss is the
most stressful aspect of their job. Conversely,
having a good relationship with their manager is
the main influence on employee job satisfaction
(which is the second-most-important factor of
overall well-being).20
16
According to Mr Cooper: “If you want to
improve the health and well-being of people
at work, you must have line managers, from
shop floor to top floor, who have emotional
intelligence and social interpersonal skills.
That is what is inhibiting productivity in the
UK — because we tend to promote and recruit
people based on their technical skills, not their
people skills.”
Recognising this, many companies are
putting greater emphasis on emotional
intelligence, and some are making radical
changes to the role in order to better utilise
managers’ different skills. In an article in
Harvard Business Review,21 Dr Gratton studied
Telstra, an Australian telecommunications
firm, which has split the role of manager
into ‘leaders of people’ and ‘leaders of work’.
The latter is responsible for delivering
business outcomes – managing project plans,
timelines and budgets, as well as the work
of employees on those projects (which will
likely shift from project to project). The former
permanently manages employees globally
with similar skills and is responsible for their
development, training and well-being, as well
as personnel budgets.
© The Economist Group 2022
Rewriting the rules: Building a healthy hybrid workplace
“It’s very important for organisations to take a
look - again - at what it is to be a manager, to
think about the structure of the manager’s job,
to think about how they support and train them,”
says Dr Gratton.
Finastra created the “FinLead Academy, which
is materials and monthly sessions for our line
managers to check in on anything that’s going
on,” says Ms Courtney. “We keep refreshing these
materials and the topics we discuss. Before the
summer, we did an update on how important it
is to take leave and why it’s important to manage
leave across your team, and encourage people to
take that time out.”
At Bayer, that support has taken a rather
psychological and personal form. “We started
making leaders self-reflect,” says Mr Kalia. “We
started from the top, the board, down to the
500 senior leaders, to do an intervention on how
to trust. The intervention is very simple - it’s
not rocket science - but to make leaders self-
reflect, you need to help leaders to further build
an environment of trust with their respective
teams, which in turn helps the leaders and the
17
team members to have a meaningful coaching
and feedback discussions through courageous
conversations, leading to an achievement based
environment and a high performance culture.”
Mr Falk sees a clear link between the pandemic
and the current deliberation about the role
of the manager. “There was a class of leaders
who thought they were managing and leading
by just being present,” he says. “When the
pandemic struck, and those people had to lead
remotely, they found that actually, they didn’t
have followers, they just had people who sat
close to them.”
Pushing back on ‘back to the office’
Those old school managers who lead by being
present and judge workers by whether they are
in the office 9-5, Monday to Friday, have been the
most vocal about getting employees back into
the office post-pandemic.
Sectors perceived to be more traditional, like
financial services, have seen many back-to-office
demands. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon
© The Economist Group 2022
Rewriting the rules: Building a healthy hybrid workplace
publicly complained about remote work and
the technology tools that facilitate it like Zoom,
which he called “management by Hollywood
Squares”22. But even technology companies have
pushed their employees to return. Tesla CEO
Elon Musk has said that remote work cannot be
as effective or as productive as working from a
physical location, and that employees can only
work from home after they have worked 40
hours a week in the office.23
Workers are pushing back. Employees at both
Apple and A&T launched petitions to get
company management to make pandemic
WFH policies permanent.
“Is it a trust issue that employers want
employees back?” asks Ms Courtney. “What we
are doing [offering flexibility] is tougher but it
pays in dividends. When firms force people to
come back, it might cost them the talent in the
long term.”
“There’s no going back, and I am only
more optimistic that we’ll continue to
achieve a balanced outlook between
employers and employees regarding
the right for well-being.”
 ona Abou Hana, chief people officer and consulting partner,
M facetime to say, I’m committed,” he says. “But
PwC Middle East
It is that issue of talent attraction and retention
that has forced some companies to stay flexible.
“We’ve been conducting interviews and as soon
as people hear that it’s office work, they decline
the opportunity,” says Rolake Akinkugbe-Filani,
chief commercial officer, Mixta Africa. “We’re
actually struggling to retain people.”
18
No going back
With low unemployment and labour shortages,
the power dynamic seems to have flipped in
favour of the employee. But with economic
instability – and even recession – on the cards
in many countries, will employers be back in the
driver’s seat?
Maybe not. Harvard Business School gathered
more than 100 CEOs from around the world
earlier this year to discuss the things that keep
them up at night. While economic uncertainty
and instability, and inflation/stagflation were only
mentioned by 10%, a third said talent recruitment
and retention was their biggest challenge by far.24
“Taking cue from previous downturns in the
market, it’s clear that organisations have learnt
their lesson and are now more open to a two-
way conversation,” says Ms Abou Hana. “There’s
no going back, and I am only more optimistic
that we’ll continue to achieve a balanced outlook
between employers and employees regarding the
right for well-being.”
Still, Mr Cooper believes that recession will
increase the pressure to go back to the office –
whether that pressure is coming from managers
or employees themselves. “In times of job
insecurity, you will get people wanting to show
it’s also to be able to assess the organisational
politics, to find out if there are going to be job
losses here, am I vulnerable, should I be looking
for another job.”
Other factors that may affect employees’ ability
and desire to continue with remote or hybrid
work are more structural. “There is a lack of
infrastructure to do mobility,” says Mr Cooper.
“So while flexibility might be possible with their
employer, when you look at the full picture there
are inhibitors.”
© The Economist Group 2022
Rewriting the rules: Building a healthy hybrid workplace
Getting stressed before even getting to work
The commute, according to Nobel Prize–winning behavioural
economist Daniel Kahneman’s research, ranks as the single most
miserable part of our day. The pandemic offered some redemption
from the tedious time spent on roads and rail and a return to office
working will bring back this headache for some.
Structural challenges to how you get to work are more
pronounced in cities like Lagos, Nigeria where the infrastructure is
underdeveloped and, in parts, decrepit.
It is these challenges that can have a significant impact on the
employees’ physical and mental well-being, says Ms Akinkugbe-
Filani, CCO of Mixta Africa, a real estate developer based in Nigeria.
“You have to pray that grid power is on if you want to work late,”
Ms Akinkugbe-Filani explains. A woeful power supply forces the
country to resort to diesel-guzzling generators, spending $22 billion
annually to supplement the grid. The average business cost
is about $2,500 a month.25 Most firms switch theirs off around
5.30pm to keep costs down.
This is not ideal for those commuters opting to commute hours
later, rather than face torrents of peak-hour traffic back to their
homes. Some workers start their commutes at 4am to take small
buses or drive to the office to avoid the morning rush, making up
for lost sleep in the car park.
A long commute can affect productivity and prevent employees
from pursuing enough quality time outside of work.
Not only the duration but also the cost and safety of the commute
matters, exacerbating the overall stress employees endure to be
able to get to their workplace.
“In African cities that are hugely under invested in terms of
transport infrastructure, how you get to work contributes to your
well-being just as much as being at work,” says Ms Akinkugbe-Filani.
19
Conversely, these same factors may provide a
reason for more frequent remote working for
employees who are hybrid. The rising cost of
fuel, reduced train services and increasing strikes
make commuting more expensive and difficult.
Developed world workers may increasingly face
difficulties their developing world counterparts
have dealt with for years (see case study -
Getting stressed before even getting to work).
The impact of more expensive fuel will vary by
situation. For those driving to work, it may be
a reason to stay home. For those able to take
public transport, it may push them into the
office – where they do not have to pay the
heating bill. At this point, the effects are unclear.
Ms Courtney says she and her fellow managers
have questioned whether they would see more
people wanting to use offices as energy prices
go up.
Rising bills could have a more significant impact
in bringing back older workers who left the
labour force during the pandemic. “I think there’s
going to be a real kickback, as people realise
that their pensions aren’t going to last,” says
Dr Gratton. “Already in the US, you’re seeing the
over 60s coming back to work, and I think that’s
going to happen in Europe as well.”
© The Economist Group 2022
Rewriting the rules: Building a healthy hybrid workplace 20

© The Economist Group 2022

Rewriting the rules: Building a healthy hybrid workplace 21

“The snowflakes are not

snowflakes – they’re not scared
to say they won’t tolerate what
their parents tolerated to pay
the mortgage. And that is the
real driver of change.”

Cary Cooper, professor,

organisational psychology,
University of Manchester

© The Economist Group 2022

Rewriting the rules: Building a healthy hybrid workplace 22

Conclusion:
The future of work

Will some older workers coming back be enough to affect the labour shortages that are
keeping business leaders up at night? Will it change the employee/employer dynamics that
have helped drive the shift to greater mobility? In the past older workers accepted working in
the office five days a week, but they may not be so accepting now that they have had a taste
of retirement – and have seen the example of younger workers demanding more flexibility.

While a myriad of factors stemming from economic instability may have a temporary
effect on workers’ ability and desire to work away from the office, the consensus amongst
interviewees is that there is no going back. The shift that had been slowly building since
the 1970s passed the point of no return during the pandemic. But to see it mainly as
a product of the pandemic is a simplification. It is a result of changing demographics,
lifestyles and technology, as well as profound transformations in the way we view life and
work, and our expectations from each.

Much has been said about ‘millennial snowflakes’, with the term usually used derogatively
to imply that those born between 1981 and 1996 are overly sensitive and entitled. But Mr
Cooper instead sees them as being the generation that began the pushback on a way of
work that has been ingrained in our culture since the Industrial Revolution – a way that
put the work before the worker.

“The Zed generation and young millennials are not going to tolerate a poor working
environment,” he says. “The snowflakes are not snowflakes – they’re not scared to say they won’t
tolerate what their parents tolerated to pay the mortgage. And that is the real driver of change.”

Dr Gratton hopes that the upheaval of this decade will push companies and employees
to have frank debates about what is important, and for that to lead to more and better
ways to work. “My prediction would be that we’re going to see a great deal more diversity
between organisations in terms of how they set up work. And that’s good because it gives
employees more choice about what they want,” she says. “What we need to do is stand
back and ask ourselves, what is work about? How do people remain productive?”

© The Economist Group 2022

Rewriting the rules: Building a healthy hybrid workplace 23

References

1 “Why Reporting Workplace Well-Being Metrics Is A Good Idea”. 2022. Deloitte Insights. https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/insights/environmental-social-
governance/employee-workplace-wellbeing-metrics.html.
2 “The Rise of the “Corporate Nomad””. 2022. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2022/03/the-rise-of-the-corporate-nomad.
3 Gallup, Inc. 2022. “State of the Global Workplace Report”. Gallup.Com. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace-2022-
report.aspx.
4 “Why Reporting Workplace Well-Being Metrics Is A Good Idea”. 2022. Deloitte Insights. https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/insights/environmental-social-
governance/employee-workplace-wellbeing-metrics.html.
5 “Mental Health in the Workplace”. 2022. GOV.UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/mental-health-in-the-workplace.
6 Gallup, Inc. 2022. “The World’s $7.8 Trillion Workplace Problem”. Gallup.Com. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/393497/world-trillion-workplace-
problem.aspx.
7 “Why Reporting Workplace Well-Being Metrics Is A Good Idea”. 2022. Deloitte Insights. https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/insights/environmental-social-
governance/employee-workplace-wellbeing-metrics.html.
8 “Why Reporting Workplace Well-Being Metrics Is A Good Idea”. 2022. Deloitte Insights. https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/insights/environmental-social-
governance/employee-workplace-wellbeing-metrics.html.
9 “Randstad Workmonitor”. 2022. Randstad.Com. https://www.randstad.com/workforce-insights/global-hr-research/randstad-workmonitor/.
10 PWC, 2022. https://www.pwc.com/workforcehopesandfears.
11 “Majority Of Workers Who Quit A Job In 2021 Cite Low Pay, No Opportunities For Advancement, Feeling Disrespected”. 2022. Pew Research Center.
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/03/09/majority-of-workers-who-quit-a-job-in-2021-cite-low-pay-no-opportunities-for-advancement-
feeling-.
12 “72% Of Muse Survey Respondents Experienced “Shift Shock””. 2022. The Muse. https://www.themuse.com/advice/shift-shock-muse-survey-2022.
13 PWC’s Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey 2022.” 2022. PwC. https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/issues/workforce/hopes-and-fears-2022.html.
14 “Why Reporting Workplace Well-Being Metrics Is A Good Idea”. 2022. Deloitte Insights. https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/insights/environmental-social-
governance/employee-workplace-wellbeing-metrics.html.
15 Choudhury, Prithwiraj (Raj). 2020. “Our Work-From-Anywhere Future.” Harvard Business Review. November 1, 2020. https://hbr.org/2020/11/our-work-
from-anywhere-future?ab=at_art_art_1x4_s02.
16 Everson, Miles, Steve King, and Carolyn Ockels. 2021. “Your Company Needs a Digital Nomad Policy.” Harvard Business Review. July 12, 2021. https://hbr.
org/2021/07/your-company-needs-a-digital-nomad-policy?ab=at_art_art_1x4_s01.
17 “Working Remotely for Your UK Employer While Overseas | Low Incomes Tax Reform Group.” n.d. Www.litrg.org.uk. https://www.litrg.org.uk/tax-guides/
employment/working-remotely-your-uk-employer-while-overseas.
18 Glaveski, Steve. 2021. “Remote Work Should Be (Mostly) Asynchronous.” Harvard Business Review. December 1, 2021. https://hbr.org/2021/12/remote-
work-should-be-mostly-asynchronous?registration=success.
19 Gratton, Lynda. 2021. “How to Do Hybrid Right.” Harvard Business Review. May 1, 2021. https://hbr.org/2021/05/how-to-do-hybrid-right.
20 “The Boss Factor | McKinsey.” n.d. Www.mckinsey.com. Accessed October 4, 2022. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-
performance/our-insights/the-boss-factor-making-the-world-a-better-place-through-workplace-relationships?cid=eml-web.
21 Harvard Business Review. 2022. “Managers Can’t Do It All,” February 14, 2022. https://hbr.org/2022/03/managers-cant-do-it-all.
22 “JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon Rips Remote Work and Zoom as ‘Management by Hollywood Squares’ and Says Returning to the Office Will Aid
Diversity.” n.d. Finance.yahoo.com. Accessed October 4, 2022. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/jpmorgan-ceo-jamie-dimon-rips-062715020.
html#:~:text=JPMorgan%20Chase%20CEO%20Jamie%20Dimon.
23 “Is the Work from Home Debate Is Already Over? | Gene Marks.” 2022. The Guardian. August 28, 2022. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/
aug/28/remote-work-home-office-debate-pandemic.
24 Fernández-Aráoz, Claudio. 2022. “The Rise of the ‘Corporate Nomad.’” Harvard Business Review. March 30, 2022. https://hbr.org/2022/03/the-rise-of-the-
corporate-nomad.
25 This reflects the cost to own and operate a diesel generator. This equates to an effective cost (Levelised Cost of Energy – LCOE) of NGN 113.36/kWh
produced. This is 3.8x the average cost of getting electricity from the grid. “Your Diesel Generator - What Does It Truly Cost Your Business? - Kpakpakpa.”
2019. KPA. January 20, 2019. https://kpakpakpa.com/diesel-generator-cost-business-nigeria/#:~:text=In%20summary%2C%20an%20average%20business.

© The Economist Group 2022

Rewriting the rules: Building a healthy hybrid workplace 24

While every effort has been taken to verify the accuracy of this information,
Economist Impact cannot accept any responsibility or liability for reliance by
any person on this report or any of the information, opinions or conclusions
set out in this report. The findings and views expressed in the report do not
necessarily reflect the views of the sponsor.

© The Economist Group 2022

LONDON GENEVA
20 Cabot Square Rue de l’Athénée 32
London, E14 4QW 1206 Geneva
United Kingdom Switzerland
Tel: (44.20) 7576 8000 Tel: (41) 22 566 2470
Fax: (44.20) 7576 8500 Fax: (41) 22 346 93 47
Email: london@eiu.com Email: geneva@eiu.com

NEW YORK DUBAI

750 Third Avenue Office 1301a
5th Floor Aurora Tower
New York, NY 10017 Dubai Media City
United States Dubai
Tel: (1.212) 554 0600 Tel: (971) 4 433 4202
Fax: (1.212) 586 1181/2 Fax: (971) 4 438 0224
Email: americas@eiu.com Email: dubai@eiu.com

HONG KONG SINGAPORE

1301 8 Cross Street
12 Taikoo Wan Road #23-01 Manulife Tower
Taikoo Shing Singapore
Hong Kong 048424
Tel: (852) 2585 3888 Tel: (65) 6534 5177
Fax: (852) 2802 7638 Fax: (65) 6534 5077
Email: asia@eiu.com Email: asia@eiu.com