Research upon the evolution of the preference regarding the way of working in COVID-19 crisis times

Abstract

After more than two years, the Covid-19 crisis is still not over, therefore top managers and human resources professionals are investing an important amount of time in finding the right way to keep their employees safe and motivated to ensure the performance and continuity of their businesses. Being interested in this topic, we studied in two distinct moments (beginning and end of 2021) the preferences of the managers regarding the methods that could be implemented in organizations such as working totally remote, totally from the office, or hybrid work while staying healthy, motivated and performant. The method used for the two moments of our research was the investigation based on a questionnaire addressed to managers working in all departments, located in the entire country. In this article, we will present the results of the research conducted at the end of 2021 and we will compare the results in the dynamics. Essentially, the results show the fact that non-sales managers appreciate more the work at distance or hybrid work and wish to keep this facility in the long run while sales managers appreciate it less and want to work as much as possible from the office. The preference of the two categories is very much linked to their job type and their need for direct human interaction. Regardless of their preference, all managers and their teams feel motivated and involved, and on the long term, they all believe that hybrid work will lead to ensuring the motivation and performance of their teams because being from time to time in the office encourages socializing, better access to information, an option to change the environment and even to, sometimes, work easier. Listening to the voice of the employees’ remains key in taking good quality decisions.