Less productive employees working remotely? Microsoft CEO puts bosses in their place

The COVID-19 crisis has brought the issue of teleworker productivity back to the fore. Are we more or less productive at home rather than at work? Annoyed by this endless debate, Satya Nadella, the boss of Microsoft, has decided once and for all to put an end to it by expressing how wrong business leaders are to doubt the benefits of teleworking.

Since 2020, video conferencing applications have experienced a phenomenal gain in popularity, as have remote work offers. But for many business leaders, productivity and telecommuting are still incompatible.

Microsoft and telecommuting: a relationship ready to last?

Last April, Microsoft told us that Teams would be better optimized for teleworking. On this occasion, the company announced a rather welcome redesign of the “Together” mode as well as a new feature when scheduling appointments via the calendar. A few weeks later, the multinational goes even further in its commitment to teleworkers by telling them that they will soon have the possibility of having fun with games while working from home, as if to replace coffee breaks for company workers. . Original.

As you will have understood, the Redmond firm’s position on the issue of teleworking is not new. But it is clear that for more than two years now, with the health crisis as a trigger, many professional sectors have in turn defended the relevance of teleworking. As a result, they adapted to the situation, leading to a deep questioning of the legitimacy (or not) of working from home. However, not everyone shares the same opinion. And obviously, with Teams, Microsoft finds itself fatally involved in these questions. Who is right, who is wrong ? According to Satya Nadella, the question no longer needs to be asked.

When Satya Nadella supports the benefits of teleworking

There are many studies to support the fact that working from home can dramatically increase productivity. But, of course, not everyone shares this view. That’s why Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella decided to speak out on the issue in order to put an end to the skepticism that still reigns with regard to the productivity of teleworkers.

Here is what he declares, like our colleagues from Windows Central shared: We need to move past what we describe as “productivity paranoia” because all the data we have shows that over 80% of people believe they are very productive, except that their management thinks they are not. This means there is a real disconnect between expectations and how they feel. »

Employers and employees: differences in perception

Important, this statement from the boss of Microsoft highlights the dissonances that exist between employers and teleworkers. According to the data cited by Nadella, 80% of the members of the managerial branch within the American firm believe that employees are less productive at home while the latter declared, at 87% all the same, to have the feeling of be more efficient from home.

That said, as we mentioned a little earlier, the pandemic has made it possible to see the benefits of telework in a number of sectors, including sometimes in areas that were until then, a priori at least, unsuited to such a configuration. There is no doubt that a cultural change has now taken place, even if it will probably take a few more years before this ” productivity paranoia “, as it is qualified by Nadella vis-à-vis telework, is completely ousted.

Source : Windows Central