Not immune to the pressures and pulls of the Great Resignation, managers often feel trapped between the conflicting pulls of their employees and their superiors, according to a report released March 15 by Microsoft.
After analyzing work trend data from LinkedIn and polling more than 30,000 people, Microsoft's 2022 Work Trend Index revealed that managers are having a hard time at work.
Managers hear their employees' worries about the workplace, but don't feel empowered to make changes for them. More than half of managers surveyed said the leadership team of the company is out of touch with employees, but 74 percent said they don't have the influence or resources to enact change.
One major source of this tension is the issue of remote work versus returning to the office. Half of leaders surveyed said they expect to return to full-time, in-person work from the office this year. However, half of employees responded that they are considering switching to remote or hybrid work this year, and 80 percent said they were as productive if not more when going hybrid or remote.
This leaves managers to bridge the gap in expectations between leadership and employees, giving them a difficult job of translating wishes as a messenger.
"There's no erasing the lived experience and lasting impact of the past two years. Empowering managers to adapt to new employee expectations helps set businesses up for long-term success," Corporate Vice President for Microsoft 365 Jared Spataro said in the report.