ETH Zurich is one of the most renowned universities in the world. Since 2017, Compresso has been supporting ETH’s event department with consulting and organizing various events – such as ETH Week, Unitech GA, or CYBATHLON. Our expertise contributes to volunteer management, accreditation concepts, and the framework program. But what does the future of work look like for companies in general? Dr. Nadine Bienefeld ETH expert for Work and Organizational Psychology reveals this to us.
How much has work changed in the last six months?
Very significantly. There has been an acceleration of digital transformation in the working world. In collaboration with KOF, ETH’s Economic Research Center, we found in a representative survey of companies in late autumn 2016 that less than 46 percent of all companies across all industries and segments in Switzerland offer their employees the opportunity to work from home. In Switzerland, we have many SMEs where the possibilities were less available because there was no previous necessity. It wasn’t even a topic. Now it has become a must, and many people have discovered the positive aspects and grown to like it.
Are many employers afraid that their employees are not as productive in the home office?
During the lockdown, we started a current study among all ETH employees and also collected data from other companies. According to qualitative data – statements from various employees – the reluctance towards home office is probably strongly related to the corporate and trust culture. However, many employees reported that they were even more productive in the home office and could work more efficiently. Other studies (e.g., by Deloitte Switzerland) have also shown that the measurable output factors of performance were actually higher. Employers see that they can trust their employees; now we need to enter into dialogue with individual teams. What hybrid forms do we find for working at home and on-site?
So home office will continue to be a topic?
I believe and hope so. We have now experienced a “natural experiment” and there has been a trend reversal. It would be a shame if the advantages of home office were no longer used. It would be desirable to establish a mixed form.
Google has decided that all employees should remain in the home office until summer 2021. Doesn’t that lack personal exchange?
That has a lot to do with Google’s corporate culture. With the employees and what preferences they have. But interpersonal exchange also takes place in digital media. We talk about “social presence” in digital media, where you can use different channels – Zoom with video, for example, enables a much more personal and valuable exchange than via email, chat, or telephone. If handled artfully, social exchange does not suffer. But of course, we are social beings. Anyone who has experienced a digital coffee break or a Zoom apéritif knows that it’s not the same. The exchange is just not the same as when you meet at the coffee machine. It’s not so unplanned and casual. It really depends very much on the individual person and their needs, and on the corporate culture as well as the respective task.
Are there any other trends for the future of work?
All the flexible working “Work anytime anywhere”, for example, the possibilities of co-working spaces. Gig economy – the fact that you’re no longer necessarily affiliated with one company, but rather work on a per-project basis – is also a major trend that is sustainably changing the entire world of work. This is a very important form that sustainably changes and influences the role and status of employees and even the entire corporate structure. My focus research topic is “Teamwork with artificially intelligent technologies”. How will we collaborate with smart technologies in the future? How does this change the work task, work processes, work roles, etc.? How is the increasing automation through AI used in Work Wave 2.0? In one form or another, it will affect us all. Currently, the state of research suggests that the machine will not replace humans, but that it will be a collaboration.
What exactly is meant by Work Design?
The active shaping of work tasks, processes, and systems. The historical origin lies in industrialization, when people first wanted to optimize the socio-technical system. The assembly line at Ford, for example. However, it was noticed that if you only optimize the work system, but the human is limited to minimal execution steps, motivation disappears. Therefore, Work Design has a lot to do with motivation – the way work is designed determines how much we as employees are motivated by the activity. Is the work holistic? Do I have a sense of autonomy? Do I have freedom in deciding when to perform which part? Can I network?
So personal motivation is closely linked to the success of a company.
Absolutely – you can put a dollar or franc sign in front of that (laughs). You can calculate it. We know that motivation has a direct impact on productivity, on the performance of employees. For example, absences or turnover. However, it’s surprising that there are very few companies that proactively think about designing work processes, especially when introducing new technologies.
The world is becoming increasingly individualized, people are increasingly working for themselves, at home or in different locations – how important is teamwork at all anymore?
That might be a paradox. Because compared to ten years ago, the world has become more complex, the employee is on their own. Without a network, without teams, work is no longer possible. Due to the complexity, we as individuals are dependent on working together.
So networking is elementary?
Yes, on the one hand, it’s a basic human need to interact socially. This is simplified by technical possibilities. I just participated in a digital conference with 20,000 participants from all over the world, for a whole week, and it worked great. A few years ago, this would have been almost unimaginable. The basic human need to network will certainly not decrease due to technological developments.
