Apple, a successful large MNC, is in the midst of a culture shock as the COVID pandemic restrictions lift off. The Fortune article report 76% of employees being dissatisfied with the return-to-office policy.
It may be tempting to brush this off as employees being “lazy”, “selfish” and “unmotivated”, invoking Douglas McGregor’s Theory X. This is especially so when we find out that the policy only required reporting to office three days per week, out of the usual five. But is this really the root cause?
The COVID pandemic and its ensuing work-from-home policies worldwide has created a significant change in how people feel motivated at work. Previously, reporting to the office was seen as an obligation. The interaction with colleagues was a given part of any job. Because of the pandemic, we have come to realise that for many, this is no longer true.
As we read further, Apple’s workers are mentioning a lack of hygiene factors, complaining about “lack of work/life balance”, “toxic company culture”, “management is tone-deaf as usual”. Without these ‘basic necessities’ that allow workers to feel psychologically safe and satisfied in a workplace, there is no room to bring out intrinsic motivators which will spur us to report for work in the office.
How is your organization coping with coming back to work? Is there a silent dissatisfaction that may threaten the workplace dynamics? Are workers not appreciating the need for co-located teamwork because of certain elements of the workplace that dissatisfies them? At this point when the silently modified culture starts to exert its impact on a workplace, it may be insightful to run a diagnostic on the teams to gauge their ways of working together and their engagement levels.
Speak with us to find out more on how we can do this with a business simulation.
Click here to access this useful article written by CHLOE BERGER for more information
By Sherman Ho
18 May 2022
