According to the researchers, along with the reduction in attrition, WFH employees increased individual messaging and group videocall communication, even when in the office, reflecting the impact of remote work on modes of communication, while WFH had no impact on performance ratings or promotions, lines of code and employees’ selfassessed productivity increased, suggesting a small and potentially positive impact on performance. “Less attrition means a more stable workforce, which can directly reduce training and hiring costs, and indirectly boost productivity,” the authors wrote. Working from home also alters the work week, according to the study. Their data show employees worked fewer hours on remote working days but increased the number of hours worked on other days, and they made up for any lost hours by working over weekends. In all, employees worked about 80 minutes less on home days but about 30 minutes more on other workdays and the weekend. “This suggests that WFH spreads work outside of the core 9 a.m.to 5 p.m., Monday-to-Friday period into evenings and weekends,” the report said. Flexibility Rules Employees at Trip.com say working from home afforded them the flexibility to attend a dentist appointment, pick their children up from school, exercise or travel. Additionally, workfrom-home employees increased individual messaging and group video call communication, even when in the office, the study said. The study said the flexibility shows remote working changes employees’ behaviors. “This increase in messaging is greatest for team members and existing close contacts, suggesting hybrid WFH may lead to some mild silo-effect for individuals, highlighting the importance of the office days for employees to network and build up weaker ties,” the study’s authors wrote. Having registered the benefits in terms of job retention, job satisfaction and productivity, Trip.com extended hybrid work to its entire workforce after the experiment. “Overall, this highlights how hy0 2 4 6 8 10 VPN Use Time on Mon, Tues, Thurs & Weekend Volunteers Non-Volunteers Attrition Rates Over 2021H2 Source: Stanford University; Trip.com What are th top 3 benefits of working from home? Source: www.wfhresearch.com Hours Percent of respondents 5.0 4.5 6.1 9.6 7.2 4.7 0 2 4 6 8 10 Control Treated Control Treated Percent Percent 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 60.4 49.1 46.9 37.8 15.7 36.7 No commute Less time getting ready for work More time with friends/family Flexible work schedule Quiet Fewer meetings 3 4 5 0 2 4 6 8 10 Volunteers Non-Volunteers Source: Freeform Dynamics, March 2022 Attrition Rates Over 2021H2 Source: Stanford U iversity; Trip.com What are the top 3 benefits of working from home? Source: www.wfhresearch.com Percent of respondents 75% 47% 68% 43% Agree Neutral Disagree Sgrongly disagree As we move forward, it doesn’t make sense to just perpetuate old ways of doing things We need to get away from IT teams having to spend so much time on desktop delivery 5.0 4.5 6.1 9.6 7.2 4.7 0 2 4 6 8 10 Control Treated Control Treated Percent Percent 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 60.4 49.1 46.9 37.8 15.7 36.7 No commute Less time getting ready for work More time with friends/family Flexible work schedule Quiet Fewer meetings 31 REMOTE WORK SOLUTIONS rwsmagazine.com
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