Are leaders suffering from 'productivity paranoia'?

While many employees today swear that they are much more productive than in past years, it doesn’t look like this message is translating to leaders.

Eighty-seven per cent of workers say they are getting a lot done each day — but only 12 per cent of leaders agree, says a report by Microsoft based on feedback from 20,006 knowledge workers across 11 markets, including Canada, between in July and August.

That “productivity paranoia” is something that organizations need to take seriously, says Jason Brommet, lead for commercial accessibility and modern work security at Microsoft Canada in Mississauga, Ont.

“How do we actually close the gap between what managers believe is actually happening with their employees across the organizations to that, which is the experience that our employees and our team members are actually living? Because today, there is what I’ll call a great disconnect.”

Read more: Happy employees more productive, innovative, and receptive, says Canadian researcher

Is leadership to blame?

With so many leaders and employees disagreeing, these numbers show a lot of work needs to be done to bring them together, says Brommet.

“It’s kind of shocking, I’ll be honest that from my perspective, now that we’re two-and-a-half years into this, in a very hybrid, flexible model, we’re seeing a resurgence of this question, which is: are people working on the right things? And are they doing the work that we need them to go do? And so that idea of that disconnect just becomes super apparent yet again, that we’ve got work to do as it relates to leadership.”

Another problem area is meetings, as the number per week rose 153 per cent globally for the average Microsoft Teams user.

This stark rise points to managers who need to make some changes, says Brommet.

“What’s also really interesting is overlapping meetings have increased to 46 per cent per person in the past year and that also [raises the question:] is there enough time for focus work? For me, there’s really two sides, which is how do leaders actually get very clear with their teams so that they can prioritize what’s most important? And then empowering them to deprioritize the things that don’t ultimately accrue to the goal that the organization and the teams are working towards.”

Read more: Many leaders fear productivity has been negatively impacted by shift to remote work

Managing a hybrid workforce

However, the blame should not all be placed on leaders, as they have also had to adjust their way of working, says Manny Campione, market leader and principal, compensation and organizational performance at Normandin Beaudry in Toronto.

“From an employer perspective, I can certainly appreciate that it has not been an easy ride for the last two-and-a-half years, and measuring productivity has always been a challenge, specifically for office employees but, certainly, managing out of sight is much more difficult as well,” he says.

“Managing a hybrid workforce is difficult to do at the best of times but managing from a distance is hard because you just can’t see them being employees [and doing] the work itself. If you’re an effective leader, and you understand how to engage your team, prioritize work, provide them with meaningful work, having regular performance and developing development coaching conversations, I don’t think it’s a barrier.”

To manage expectations, leaders should step in and provide help to frontline workers, says Campione.

“It’s a manager’s prerogative to help employees be more productive; it’s a manager’s prerogative to help employees be more engaged; it’s a manager’s prerogative to help the employee with some specific coaching and feedback.”

Making things better

The study also found that 42 per cent of workers reported they multitasked during meetings, which might point to their productivity gains and it’s important for organizations to understand this is happening and how to address it, says Brommet.

“Where you have the vast majority of your workforce believing they’re working harder than ever before, leaders questioning that it’s not a good thing, it really isn’t a good thing and so for me, it is an urgent call to action for organizations to say, ‘How do we close that divide? How do we ensure that we have the listening systems in place inside our company so that we better understand what the work is? How do we make the changes in our culture and how we operate to give more clarity and more transparency to what is that connection to the purpose of the organization? And how do we drive more alignment?’”

For employees who wish to prove their worth, there are a number of steps that can show to their leaders, that they are fully engaged in the work, says Campione.

“Scheduling the time with the managers; not waiting for the manager to schedule time, set the agenda for team conversations, rather than have it set for them. Be more proactive about the nature of work, provide updates, ask for feedback, ask for coaching. I do believe employees have the accountability, or should have the accountability, to flip the arrangement in such a way that it works better.”

HR has a role to play, according to Brommet, in bringing on change among the organization so that the disconnect is bridge.

“It’s not just about pay and benefits anymore, it’s about how do we actually change who we are as a company and for HR leaders to really embrace the opportunity and use it as a platform to reshape the company.”