According to Marnie Brokenshire, Australia’s leading workplace culture and emotionally intelligent leadership expert, Australian businesses are making a concerted push to bring employees back to the workplace, as the ongoing work-from-home (WFM) trend is proving detrimental to innovation, productivity, workplace culture, and ultimately the profitability and long-term survival of businesses.
“The reality is, WFM is killing innovation, productivity, relationships and long-term business growth, but those who advocate for WFM either don’t feel it or don’t care,” Brokenshire said.
People need people, and the human connection is fundamental to how we operate as our best selves. People are losing the ability to develop and maintain meaningful relationships in the workplace, and the capacity to have hard and robust conversations that drive learning, growth, and culture simply cannot be created or sustained online. Leadership has become transactional, and clients are relearning the skills needed to drive high engagement and performance, as these skills have eroded or been overlooked in the past four years.
Rich, robust and meaningful conversations and interactions take place when people connect through voice, body language, tone, behaviour and style – some of the most valuable and insightful discussions happen around the water cooler. These things cannot be fabricated or replicated online. They need to happen in person. This is where the power of emotional intelligence comes to the fore – you can’t read the play and tap into the necessary cues for empathetic leadership when the interactions are remote and transactional.
Brokenshire emphasised that while remote work offers flexibility for employees, it has also led to significant challenges that businesses are now struggling to overcome.
Declining innovation
“Innovation needs high levels of engagement, giving space and time to ideas, debating, and challenging the status quo. Spontaneous idea-sharing, brainstorming and organic problem-solving are far less effective in virtual environments,” Brokenshire said.
Reduced productivity
“The blurred lines between work and home life contribute to distractions, disengagement and a lack of accountability. I have three children and a dog – I speak firsthand when I tell you that working from home is anything other than effective,” Brokenshire said.
“Accountability, while measurable, isn’t always a matter for measurement alone. It is also a matter for ingenuity, leadership, attitude and other human elements which help to forge culture, brand and success to add value beyond widget counting.”
Weakened relationships
“Without doubt, the absence of ongoing in-person interactions is eroding team dynamics, collaboration and professional development,” Brokenshire said.
Many people push back on this, saying that it doesn’t apply because they come into the office every two weeks or every month for an in-person meeting. To suggest that this level of engagement has the same benefit as an ongoing in-person connected working relationship is ludicrous and undermines the powerful dynamics of human nature.”
Culture decay
“A strong workplace culture requires physical presence, mentorship and shared experiences, which are difficult to replicate online or in a brief meeting every four weeks,” Brokenshire said. “High-performing teams excel by understanding each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Often, it is not what is said out loud that is said the loudest. You have to be there to understand.”
As Australian companies strive to recover from the pandemic’s aftermath and prepare for a post-cost-of-living crisis, many are reassessing their workplace strategies to drive innovation, sales, and long-term success. Leaders are recognising the need for employees to return to the office to rebuild team cohesion and accelerate business growth.
