Do bosses believe employees are productive working from home? What new report shows

Bosses and workers disagree on remote work, a new Microsoft report shows. (Representational image)

A new extensive Microsoft report has revealed differences in opinion between employees and bosses when it comes to working from home.

The report, based on a survey of 20,000 staff members across 11 countries, showed that 87 percent workers believe they are just as productive or more efficient while working remotely.

In contrast, only 12 percent bosses have full confidence that their teams are being productive.

(Image credit: Microsoft)

As many as 85 percent bosses also said hybrid work made it more challenging for them to believe that employees were being productive.

The Microsoft report, titled Work Trend Index, highlighted an occurrence called "productivity theatre" -- which is caused by employers tracking workers' activity instead of impact.

"Employees lack context on how and why they’re being tracked, which can undermine trust and lead to 'productivity theater'," the report said.

The "productivity theatre", in turn, gives rise to "productivity paranoia".

"Leaders fear that lost productivity is due to employees not working, even though hours worked, number of meetings, and other activity metrics have increased," the report said while explaining "productivity paranoia".

"Productivity paranoia" poses a risk to hybrid work, the report said, advising leaders to shift from worrying about whether their employees are working enough to helping them concentrate on tasks most important.

Emphasising on the importance of impact, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said leaders must balance organisational success and the interests of employees.

“Thriving employees are what will give organizations a competitive advantage in today’s dynamic economic environment,” he said, adding that the "digitally connected, distributed workforce" of today's world needed a new approach.