Keeping people
at the centre
Strengthening connection, collaborationand culture in the new era of flexible work

Supported by

Keeping people at the centre – Strengthening connection, collaboration and culturein the new era of flexible work2

About the research

Making work more human is a multi-phased research programme, conducted by Economist
Impact and sponsored by Google Workspace, focused on emerging and sustainable models ofwork. Building on our foundational study “Making hybrid work more human”, which was publishedin 2021, this edition presents insights from a fresh global survey conducted between April andMay 2023. In addition, it also features a new set of expert interviews and a literature review on theevolution of hybrid work to present recommendations for organisations that aim to build humancentric flexible work models.
We would like to thank the following experts for their time and expertise:• Daniel Acuña, associate professor, Department of Computer Science, University of Colorado• Ben Armstrong, executive director, MIT Industrial Performance Center• Andrew Barnes, co-founder, 4 Day Week Global• Heejung Chung, professor of sociology and social policy, University of Kent; author of The
Flexibility Paradox• Kaumudi Misra, associate professor, department of management, California State University
East Bay• Fang Ruan, global lead for people and organisation, technology sector, Boston Consulting Group• Tom van der Lubbe, co-founder, Visii Mortgages• Anita Williams Woolley, associate dean, Research; professor of organisational behavior,
Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University
This report was produced by a team of Economist Impact researchers, editors and designers, including:
Monica Ballesteros, project director
Sofia Economopoulos, project manager
Lavanya Sayal, research analyst
Jeremy Gantz, writer
Amanda Simms, copy editor
Susana Ferraz, designer
Economist Impact bears sole responsibility for the content of this report. The findings and views
expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsor, partners or interviewed experts.

©Economist Impact 2023

Keeping people at the centre – Strengthening connection, collaboration and culturein the new era of flexible work

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Contents

4

Introduction: Flexible work is here—and a work in progress

6

A new barometer for a new era

8What sets leaders apart

10

Culture challenges loom large

12Strategies for sustaining flexible work

14

Emerging technologies and the future of work

18

Conclusion: Keeping employees front and centre

19

Appendix I: Assessment framework

23

Appendix II: Cluster analysis methodology©Economist Impact 2023

Keeping people at the centre – Strengthening connection, collaboration and culturein the new era of flexible work

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Introduction:
Flexible work is here—
and a work in progress
Over the last three years, a new era of flexible work has arisen. It has
evolved beyond allowing people to work from home when they want,
to seeing shifts in when and how work gets done.1 But these new norms
are by no means static, as organisations have seen their emergency
pandemic responses on flexible work become more permanentarrangements and policies. Building on the 2021-22 research
programme, “Making hybrid work more human”,2 Economist Impact,
supported by Google Workspace, conducted an updated global survey
this year. This encompassed more than 900 executives across four
regions—North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia-Pacific—andseven industries. These findings informed the creation of a first-of-itskind flexible work barometer that measures companies’ progress on the
adoption, implementation and evaluation of flexible work models.
Our initial research found that hybrid work was in its infancy asorganisations grappled with its design and implementation amid
conflicting evidence about its relative costs and benefits. Our playbook,
based on a survey of 1,200 knowledge workers,a emphasised that theshift to flexible work could only be sustained if organisations adopted“human-centric” work models, which put employees at the centre ofcorporate policymaking and implementation. It included a toolkit forbuilding successful hybrid work models that prescribed trust, transparency,
empathy and inclusiveness as cornerstones of a human-centric culture.
This year’s flexible work barometer confirms that executives are
confident that flexibility improves wellbeing and performance.
However, it also shows that organisational challenges persist. Theseobstacles, coupled with increasing economic pressures, could threaten
the recent progress made to push the flexible work revolution forward
and keep employees at the centre of work.

a

A knowledge worker is defined as a full-time employee whose work relies heavily on digital tools
and consists primarily of intellectual labour and problem solving, as opposed to physical labour.
©Economist Impact 2023

Keeping people at the centre – Strengthening connection, collaboration and culturein the new era of flexible work5

Key findings

Overall, the barometer reveals that most organisations are well into their flexible work journey, but
it’s still a work in progress. The key findings of our research include:• The vast majority (90%) of surveyedorganisations offer both flexible working
hours and location options to some or
all employees. The knowledge workers
surveyed in 2021 were not as optimisticthat flexibility would take hold, as only
roughly 50% said they expected theirorganisations to continue offering timeand location flexibility post-pandemic.
• Flexible work “leaders” score higher
than “laggard” organisations across thebarometer’s four key pillars: culture
and strategy, work policy design,
implementation, and evaluation andimprovement. A key difference that sets
leaders apart? Prioritising employee
wellbeing.

and direct reports, and disconnection
between new hires and existing
employees. As they have dived head-first
into flexible work, it seems there has
not been enough emphasis on building a
conducive flexible work culture.
• Solutions for making flexible work
succeed should focus on strengthening
workplace culture via four key areas:
management, trust, connection andcollaboration.

• Barometer scores vary widely, ranging
between 30% and 84%, with differences
across regions and company sizes.

• Many executives view technologyrelated deficits as being among the top
obstacles to implementing more flexible
work policies. However, advanced
technology could also prove beneficial.
The overwhelming majority (~84%) of
leaders believe that artificial intelligence(AI) has significant potential to support
flexibility, innovation and creativity.

• Within the four pillars of the barometer,
culture (measured on trust, employee
autonomy and commitment to diversity)
stands out as a problem area acrossregions, industries and company sizes.
Notably, compared with laggards, leader
organisations are experiencing greater
culture-related challenges, including
decreased trust between managers• Cluster analysis on survey data about
AI and its effects on the future of work
identified two groups of executives:
those with an "ahead of the curve"
approach and those with a "wait andsee" approach, which have diverging
viewpoints that could determine therole of AI in corporate strategy moving
forward.

While the advancement of flexible work is fluid and complex, these findings suggest that thecompanies thriving in this new era of work are those that keep humans at the centre and prioritise
strong connections, creativity and collaboration.

©Economist Impact 2023

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A new barometer
for a new era of work

Although changes in how, where and whenpeople work have been significant andwidespread since the onset of the covid-19
pandemic, there have been few data-driven,global studies to understand differences acrosssectors and regions.
Our barometer’s scoring framework is madeup of 80 indicators that incorporate the golden
principles identified in our previous research forsupporting an organisation’s flexible work efforts.
These indicators are organised across four key
pillars: culture and strategy; work policy design;
implementation; evaluation and improvement(see figure 1). Based on the executive survey’s
results, each company was scored acrossspecific indicators within each pillar. These data
produced the overall barometer scores, as well
as average scores for specific pillars, regions,industries and company sizes.

Figure 1: Flexible work barometer frameworkb

Cultureand strategy

Work
policy design

Implementation

Evaluationand improvement→ Strength of→ Informed→ Effective→ Effective→ Favourable→ Inclusive design→ Adaptive→ Continuous

flexibility cultureorganisational
culturedecision-making
process→ Equitable

experience

communication
managerial
practicesevaluation
improvement→ Accessible

technology→ Support for

employees→ Manager

empowermentb

See appendix for barometer framework©Economist Impact 2023

Keeping people at the centre – Strengthening connection, collaboration and culturein the new era of flexible work

Our data show that most organisations
are making progress on their flexible work
journey. The vast majority (90%) of surveyedorganisations offer both flexible working
hours and locations to some or all employees.
While this suggests a broad consensus among
executives on the value of flexibility, whenassessed across all of the barometer pillars,companies only received an overall score of 65

7

out of 100, suggesting room for improvement(see figure 2). There was also significant
variation between the top performers, whoachieved a score of 84 out of 100, and thelaggards, who came in as low as 30. This
indicates that while most organisations aremaking progress, they still haven’t perfected
designing inclusive, equitable and supportive
policies and practices.

Flexible work is still a work in progress
Figure 2: Flexible work readiness scores

55 Culture and strategy

65
GLOBAL AVERAGE

62 Evaluation and improvement
65 Implementation
70 Work policy design©Economist Impact 2023

Keeping people at the centre – Strengthening connection, collaboration and culturein the new era of flexible work

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What sets
leaders apart

The barometer found notable disparities
across all categories, highlighting what sets
leaders and laggards apart. Overall, leadersscored between 70 and 84 across the fourpillars, with laggards scoring between 30 and
59. The greatest disparity between the twocame in the evaluation and improvement
category. Leaders are more likely to haveinstituted employee consultations on theirflexible work policies, illustrating theircommitment to, and prioritisation of, theiremployees (see figure 3).
Leaders, compared with laggards, believethat their organisation’s performance acrossall fronts—company performance, employee

wellbeing, culture, sustainability and talentmanagement—has strongly improved since
adopting flexible work (see figure 4). Thus, themost notable differentiator between leadersand laggards is in prioritising people. Employee
wellbeing—covered by the “implementation”
pillar, which queried respondents on workers’
physical, mental, financial and professional
wellness—is a top consideration for leaders.
They received a score of 71 out of 100 for how
they evaluate policies and practices relative toemployee wellbeing and support, whereas thelaggards scored 39. And while 24% of leader
companies say they place employees at thecentre of work policy decision-making, nolaggard companies said the same.

Leaders and laggards: the greatest disparity is in evaluation and improvement
Figure 3*: Average readiness scores between leaders and laggards, by pillar
Overall score

Cultureand strategy

Work policy
designImplementation

Evaluation andimprovement

Leaders

75

63

77

77

78

Laggards

52

48

59

52

42

*derived from barometer analysis©Economist Impact 2023

Keeping people at the centre – Strengthening connection, collaboration and culturein the new era of flexible work

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Flexible work leaders are more likely to see progress in key areas
Figure 4: Percentage of executives who believe performance across key metrics has significantly
improved since the adoption of flexible work
Laggards

Leaders

Company performancec

30

45

Employee wellbeingd

29

44

Corporate hierarchiese

29

44

Sustainability targetsf

30

46

Talent managementg

Visii Mortgages, named the best place towork in Europe in 2021, is a good example ofa company that places its employees at thecentre of its work policies.3 The Dutch mortgage
advice company challenges the traditional
corporate governance model and structures
itself as a “multi-stakeholder society” instead.
By this, it means that employees come firstand shareholders last. As Tom van der Lubbe,
co-founder of Visii, explains, “decision-makers
need to zoom out and ask themselves a simple
question before enforcing policies, how would
you like to be treated as an employee?”
When employees feel that flexible work policiesalign with their needs, they are more likely
to comply with those policies (for example,

2949

commuting into the office on required days).
The barometer found a greater likelihood of
employee compliance among flexible work
leaders versus laggards (see figure 5).
Greater employee engagement supports
productivity and accrues benefits on thetalent front. Most workers want flexibility, andmeeting that need drives an organisation's
ability to attract and retain the right talentin persistently tight post-pandemic labour
markets. “When we talk about new ways
of working, it’s not only about flexibility intime and location,” says Fang Ruan of Boston
Consulting Group. “It’s how to win the talent,
how to build a trust-based organisation. It’spart of the people strategy.”

A good sign among leaders: employees more likely to show up in the office
Figure 5: Percentage of executives who report employee compliance with flexible work mandates(eg, in-office days)

46%
Leaders

33%
Laggards

Average of employee productivity, innovation, financial performance and cost savings.
Average of physical, mental, financial and professional wellbeing
Average of co-creation, team strength, employee engagement and breaking corporate hierarchiesf
Average of ESG targets, carbon footprint, DEI performanceg
Average of talent attraction and retentioncde©Economist Impact 2023

Keeping people at the centre – Strengthening connection, collaboration and culturein the new era of flexible work

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Culture challenges
loom large

While human-centric flexible work policies candrive employee engagement, culture-related
problems are liable to arise too. The barometer’s
results reveal that the foremost challenge, felt
regardless of region, industry or company size,
relates to workplace culture. Put another way,
this means the cohesion between managers
and their teams, and between new and moreestablished employees.
What is surprising is that when the culture andstrategy pillar is broken down by leaders andlaggards, the former are experiencing greater

culture-related challenges than the latter (seefigure 6).
While it can seem counterintuitive, this finding
could indicate that organisations that led therapid rollout of flexible policies did not evolve
their hybrid workplace culture at the same
speed or with the requisite intentionality. Whileleaders struggle, the laggards, who have beenslower to implement flexibility, can use this as
an opportunity to think carefully about how
to strengthen their workplace cultures as they
prepare to roll out new flexible work policies.

Leaders experience greater culture-related challenges than laggards
Figure 6: Current relationship between culture challenges and flexibility©Economist Impact 2023

Keeping people at the centre – Strengthening connection, collaboration and culturein the new era of flexible work

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Leaders struggle with trust and connection
Figure 7: Percentage of executives who report distrust and disconnection
Decrease in trust between managers and direct reports

63%
Leaders46%
Laggards

Disconnection between new joiners and existing employees

35%
Leaders28%
Laggards

About 6/10 agreed that trust between
managers and direct reports has deteriorated
since the adoption of flexible work.

(64%) say they complete collaborative tasks
primarily through meetings, they are also
frustrated with meeting inefficiency or fatigue,
the third most common challenge when
implementing flexible work policies.

That said, workplace trust was an issue flaggedby most executives. About six in ten agree thattrust between managers and direct reports
has deteriorated since the adoption of flexible
work. Importantly, this decline in trust has had aspillover effect, contributing to other problems
such as poor, asynchronous collaboration. A lackof real-time collaboration was the most common
challenge cited by surveyed executives when
implementing flexible work policies, which was
followed by employee disconnection (see figure8). And while about two-thirds of executives

Collaboration challenges in the flexible
workplace can also manifest into meeting
inefficiency or fatigue, as 32% of our survey
respondents note. Too many meetings canbe a result of managers’ and leaders’ uneasewith a flexible work environment, notes Anita
Woolley, a professor at Carnegie Mellon
University’s Tepper School of Business.
Leaders and managers may be nervous about"how to know that people are working," shesays. “And then you end up with all thesemeetings as a way of seeing people.”

Executives cite collaboration and connection as their top flexible work
implementation challenges
Figure 8: Key challenges in implementing flexible work policies→ Lack of real-time collaboration among people working across different time zones→ Disconnection between new joiners and existing employees→ Inefficiency or fatigue from too many meetings→ Lack of visibility/information on the outcomes of flexible work models→ Frictions or inefficiency in collaboration among employees working across locations©Economist Impact 2023

Keeping people at the centre – Strengthening connection, collaboration and culturein the new era of flexible work

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Strategies for sustaining
flexible work

As companies continue to experiment withflexible work, there are specific steps leaders
can take to ensure long-term success. We
have identified four key areas, informed byboth survey data and expert interviews, to bestrengthened for flexible work models to be
successful: management, trust, connection
and collaboration. To this end, the following
solutions can help improve workplace culture
and create a thriving and sustainable flexible
work environment.
As leaders assess how to adapt to this new
era of work, they should think of flexibility asa “work better policy” rather than a “work-lifebalance” gift, says Heejung Chung, a professor
at the University of Kent. “Flexibility is a way
to enhance performance, and a significant
opportunity to be able to use human capital to
the fullest,” she argues.

“As leaders assess how to adapt
to this new era of work, theyshould think of flexibility as a‘work better policy’ rather thana ‘work-life balance’ gift.”
Heejung Chung, professor of sociology and social policy,
University of Kent

But, to seize that potential, new policies need to
be implemented successfully.

Evolve manager roles for a new era
Flexible work models have changed therelationship between organisations andemployees, thus changing the role of middle
managers. If these managers do not receive
targeted training for managing distributed
teams, companies increase the risk of running
into the implementation challenges detailed in
the previous section.
In the new era of flexible work, managers are
not there to monitor workers, argues Professor
Chung. They should act “more as a facilitator
or a coach to help guide people to maximise
their labour potential." Middle managers needto enforce the company’s flexible work policies,
while ensuring those rules are serving theirteams, who are often spread across space
and time. This evolved manager role requires
additional training and support—yet 42% ofsurveyed executives say they have not instituted
mandatory training for managers to manage
distributed teams.
“It is essential that middle managers aretrained to be able to strike a balance between
delegation and control,” Ms Ruan says. “Theyneed to roll up their sleeves and get their hands
dirty. They need to be more trusting to makeflexible work work.”©Economist Impact 2023

Keeping people at the centre – Strengthening connection, collaboration and culturein the new era of flexible work

“Project management software,
instant messaging platforms andother tools enabling real-timeor asynchronous work are thelifeblood of flexible work models.”
Empower workers to build trust
Flexible work requires trust between
organisations and employees. Yet nearly
two-thirds (62%) of surveyed executives
acknowledge their organisation uses online
tracking tools to assess the work progressof employees, undermining the trust that’s
fundamental to sustain flexible work models.
Ideally, employees should feel empowered
to make decisions that support their own
efficiency, productivity, and wellbeing.
“Empowering the workforce to rethink theirwork gives them the liberty to point out what's
stopping them from being more efficient,” says
Andrew Barnes, co-founder of 4 Day Week
Global, an organisation that conducts pilot
studies of shorter working weeks.

Foster connection, both in-person
and virtually
To build strong workplace relationships,
company leaders should foster connection
within teams and across their organisations,both virtually and in-person. For example,
younger employees should ideally be trained
in-person, says Mr van der Lubbe. They
benefit from in-office onboarding and skill
development, and it also strengthens theirconnection to an employer, he says. “We’reseeing younger people are more obliged tocome back to our offices to exchange ideas
with their peers and experience a ‘student
atmosphere’,” Mr van der Lubbe notes.
It is encouraging that even as their organisations
implement flexibility, 70% of surveyed

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executives say they require junior employees tobe in-person for onboarding and training.
On the virtual front, it’s also encouraging that
66% of respondents say their organisation
creates opportunities for virtual interactions ofhybrid and remote employees, such as online
happy hours or “water cooler” sessions. But a
third (32%) of executives say their company
does not do this—signalling many missed
opportunities for forging workplace connections.

Leverage digital tools to fuelcollaboration
In a flexible, hybrid working environment inwhich employees work in different places (and/or times), collaboration is deeply connected
to digital tools. Project management software,
instant messaging platforms and other tools
enabling real-time or asynchronous work are thelifeblood of flexible work models.
And yet, more than 50% of executives say
basic tools facilitating formal and informal
collaboration are only rarely or sometimes usedat their organisation. “There are still a lot oforganisations that haven't been in the habit ofusing tools to coordinate asynchronous work,and hence have meetings that get exhausting
and ultimately impact productivity,” Professor
Woolley says.
The solution is clear: organisations need tohelp employees leverage digital tools that fuelcollaboration across time zones and physicalspaces. In a flexible environment, companies
should ensure that all employees—including
those working in the office—embrace a digitalfirst work environment. Companies need to set
employees up for success, providing people
with “easy access to all information, tools androutines that enable them to collaborate,irrespective of time and location,” Professor
Woolley says.

©Economist Impact 2023

Keeping people at the centre – Strengthening connection, collaboration and culturein the new era of flexible work

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Emerging technologies
and the new era of work

Successfully adopting new, flexible work models
requires access to tech tools that support
distributed collaboration, connecting employees
across different locations and roles. However, asizable portion of surveyed executives flagged
technology-related deficits as some of the top
obstacles to adoption (see figure 9).
But when it comes to workplace technology,
organisations need to envisage more than justhome office support. Emerging technologies,

including artificial intelligence (AI), are likely
to offer a range of opportunities. For example,
by streamlining or automating mundane
tasks, AI can free up time for distributed
teams to collaboratively tackle more creative
high-value tasks.
Our survey found that executives see thispotential and are keen to invest in newtechnologies like AI. An overwhelming majority(86%) of executives agree that AI can eliminate
mundane tasks and contribute to increased
innovation and creativity. And a similar portion(84%) agree that AI can enable more flexibility
for those with manual jobs (eg, frontline
workers). Jobs that may currently require inperson employees may evolve into remote roles.
Instead of operating a factory line, for example,
workers might remotely oversee AI-supported
robots and sensor equipment.
Such a future will require more than justinvestments in technology. Organisations
will also have to train workforces able toleverage the power of AI and other emerging
technologies. “The need for skill development
will continue to increase with the growing
presence of AI,” Professor Woolley says.
“Organisations will need employees with special
skills to make full use of the AI capabilities thatcan facilitate flexible work.”
Amid the current generative AI boom, many
workers could feel pessimistic about the coming©Economist Impact 2023

Keeping people at the centre – Strengthening connection, collaboration and culturein the new era of flexible work

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Technology poses some of the top adoption obstacles
Figure 9: Key challenges in adopting flexible work models→ Leadership’s inability to adapt to new working practices→ Insufficient policies to achieve pre-pandemic levels of productivity→ Lack of managerial skills to manage workflows among flexible/remote workers→ Poor/few technology tools to support distributed collaboration→ Unequal access to technology tools among employees from different regions orfunctions (eg, knowledge vs frontline workers)

waves of automation-driven job elimination.4
But our survey found that executives worldwide
are optimistic about AI’s role in the future ofwork; 84% believe that job quality will improveas a by-product. A slightly higher percentage(86%) of executives believe that humans will
stay at the centre of the workplace, with AI

playing a supporting role. Ben Armstrong,
executive director of the Massachusetts Instituteof Technology’s Industrial Performance Centerand co-leader of the Center’s Work of the Future
initiative, concurs, “I would say that humans
remain in the centre, and AI tools become aquality check and productivity boost.”
As organisations evolve in terms of both flexible
work models and emerging technologies,
leaders should expect employees to voice
concerns about the future of their roles. Careful
stakeholder management, including proactive
communication about the supportive roles that
AI can play, can help build a cohesive workplaceculture that is resilient in the face of rapid
technological change (see box 1).

©Economist Impact 2023

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Two sides of the AI coin
Economist Impact conducted a cluster analysis on the survey results and identified two groups ofexecutives that hold different views on emerging technologies like AI and its effects on the futureof work. While the majority are optimistic about the effects of these technologies on workers andthe workplace both now and in the future, a smaller fraction of executives think their potential is
overblown and are not planning for their integration in the new era of work. This divergence could
produce two starkly different types of corporate strategies, and shape the way companies prepare
for the AI transformation.

Overall, executive perception about AI’s impact on the futureof work is positive
Figure 10: Survey responses by clusterh● Ahead of the curve● Wait and see

AI will incrementally change the futureof work in the next 3 years

Strongly agree

Strongly disagree

Strongly agree

My organisation will increase investment in training and up-skilling ourworkforce to incorporate technological changes (eg, AI, robots, etc.)h

NA responses have been excluded from this chart.

©Economist Impact 2023

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Ahead of the curve
Executives that we describe as “ahead of the curve,” are those who believe their organisation
will increase investment in training and up-skilling their workforce to incorporate technologicalchanges (eg, AI, robots, etc.) and that AI will incrementally change the future of work in the next
three years. These executives are optimistic about the AI-driven future of work, with humans at
the centre. They:• Report regular use of AI and value its benefits, such as improvement of job quality;• Believe training and upskilling workers is a key strategy to keep pace with technological changes;• Support employees to work seamlessly, regardless of working arrangement.

Wait and see
The second type of executives are those that are adopting the “wait and see” approach. This
includes executives who do not think technologies like AI will incrementally change the futureof work over the next three years, and their organisations are not going to increase investment
in training and upskilling their workforce to incorporate technological changes (eg, AI, robots,etc.). The “wait and see” executives are wary of the impact of AI on the workforce as well as theassociated cybersecurity risks. They:• Do not believe humans will remain at the centre of work as AI technology continues to evolve;• Are more likely to feel that their organisations have not benefited from the adoption of AI
technology, and don’t believe it will improve of job quality or increase creativity;• Have limited experience with AI capabilities and are less likely to have a set strategy or plans
to navigate technological change;• Are less likely to invest in training and upskilling their workforce, and are unprepared to upgrade
their cybersecurity and data privacy solutions.

©Economist Impact 2023

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Keep employees
front and centre

Flexible work policies and practices now enjoy wide-scale global adoption.
But going mainstream and reaching maturity are not the same thing:flexible work remains in a nascent phase and many companies willneed to continue to iterate policies to improve workplace collaboration,connection and culture. At the same time, leaders view technology tools
as an important factor enabling the success of those policies and arealigning investment decisions accordingly.
There is a real risk, however, that economic uncertainty and the cultural
challenges highlighted by our barometer could challenge the futureof flexible work. These factors, coupled with stubborn, office-boundmindsets, could tempt executives to roll back flexible policies despite therisk of undermining the benefits of flexibility.
But such decisions are increasingly out of touch with what workers arelooking for. Employees want and expect at least some flexibility in where
and when they work, and that expectation is here to stay. The risks facing
hidebound organisations appear to be growing, as talent gravitates
towards companies with flexible work policies. A report published in Julyfound that these companies are growing headcount faster than thoserequiring people to be in the office full-time.5
Executives grappling with this new reality and weighing the adoption offlexible policies should keep a simple idea top of mind. What employees
need and want should be at the centre of work policy decisions. There’s noturning back the clock. The good news is that flexible models, if designedwith culture as a focus, and implemented with the right technology, canbe a win-win for employees and companies alike.

©Economist Impact 2023

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Appendix I
Flexible work barometer

Economist impact built a conceptual framework to examine the gaps in implementing humancentric flexible work models across industries and regions. This assessment framework informed
the development of the executive survey and the flexible work barometer. The framework wasdeveloped based on the key principles of building human-centric flexible work models identified
in the Year 1 program, supplemented by findings from our desk research and expert interviews
for Year 2. Given that there is no one-size-fit-all flexible work model, the framework is focused onhigh-level “golden principles” (eg, inclusive decision making, accessible technology), as opposedto specific practices (eg, number of days of remote work per week).

Flexible work barometer: Assessment framework
PILLARS

INDICATORS

I.D.

WHAT TO MEASURE?

HOW TO MEASURE? SURVEY• Four-day work week
• Fully remote work
• Hybrid: 1-2 days a week in office• Hybrid: 3-4 days a week in office• Semi-flexible working hours (working hours
1.1.1

1.
CULTURE &STRATEGY

Does the employer offer work
flexibility in any form (eg, hybrid
work, flexible time, flexible
location)?

1.1 Strength offlexibility culture

flexible, within boundaries)• Fully-flexible working hours (working hours set at aworker’s discretion)• Shift work (ie, working day divided into shifts

allocated to employees; most often used to give
frontline workers flexibility)• Job sharing (ie, two people are employed on apart-time basis to fulfil the job of one full-time
employee)• Other, please specify:• A corporate business strategy that incorporates aplan for flexible work

1.1.2

Is work flexibility incorporated
into corporate business and/or
ESG strategies?

• A designated remote/flexible work representativein the HR department• A corporate commitment to providing more work
flexibility in the near future (1-3 years)• Integration of flexible work into the environmental,social and governance (ESG) strategy©Economist Impact 2023

Keeping people at the centre – Strengthening connection, collaboration and culturein the new era of flexible work

PILLARS

INDICATORS

I.D.

WHAT TO MEASURE?

20

HOW TO MEASURE? SURVEY• Trust between managers and direct reports has

1.
CULTURE &STRATEGY

deteriorated since the adoption of flexible work

1.2.1

How strong is the trust between
managers and employees?

• Employees are given full flexibility to complete tasks
per their schedule as long as deadlines are met• Online tracking tools are utilised to assess the work
progress of employees• All employees are required to be online andresponsive constantly throughout the work day

1.2 Favourable
organisational
culture1.2.2

To what degree do employees
have autonomy over their workroutine (eg, schedules, working
hours, location)?

• To the extent possible, employees are given

autonomy over their work routine (eg, schedules,
working hours, location)• Updated DEI policies that ensure flexible

1.2.3

To what degree is the employer
committed to employee
wellbeing and DEI?

2.1.1

How well do data/evidence backflexible work policy decisionmaking?

2.1 Informed
decision-making• Decision-making related to flexibile work policies isdriven by employee experiences• Decision-making related to flexible work polcies isbased on data/evidence

2.1.2

Does the employer conduct
internal consultation (eg,stakeholder surveys, interviews)
before making flexible work
policy decision?

2.2.1

Is the design process inclusive of
employee perspectives acrossseniority levels (eg, junioranalysts, mid-level managers)?
Is the design process inclusive of
employee perspectives acrossoccupations (eg, frontline
workers, knowledge workers)?

• Flexible work policies are tailored to accommodate

2.2.2

2.2.3

Is the design process inclusive of
employee perspectives acrossregions?

• Flexible work policies are tailored to the needs of

2.2.4

Is the design process inclusive of
the perspectives of employeeswith different gender or family
status?

2.3.1

Are flexible work policies
designed to ensure an equitable
experience for all workers
regardless of their seniority
levels?

2.3.2

Are flexible work policies
designed to ensure an equitable
experience for all workers
regardless of their location?

• Frontline worker are given the option to work in

2.3.3

Are flexible work policies
designed to ensure anequitable experience for all
workers regardless of function/
occupation?

• Team meetings are scheduled to not conflict with

2.3.4

Are flexible work policies
designed to ensure an equitable
experience for all workers
regardless of gender or family
status?

2.2 Inclusive
design process

2.
WORK POLICYDESIGN

work is offered to all employees with special
accommodations for specific needs• Regular mandatory trainings sensitising seniorleadership/employees to DEI initiatives• Hiring processes that include measures to ensure
inclusion of demographic and minority groups• DEI as a metric/KPI in performance reviews• A C-suite level DEI officer, eg, chief DEI officer

2.3 Equitable
experience• My organisation conducts internal consultations(eg, stakeholder surveys, interviews, representative
committee workshops) before making decisions onwork arrangements• Flexible work policies are tailored to the needs of
employees across different seniority levels

feedback/concerns of employees across different
occupations including frontline staff/office staff/
admin staff

regional offices and its employees• Flexible work policies are tailored to the needs ofspecial employee groups (eg, parents, caregivers)• All employees are offered flexible work

arrangements regardless of their seniority level• The extent of flexibility is decided by theheadquarters and followed across regions• Onsite workers have access to more opportunities
for career advancement and development thanremote workers
shifts to offer time flexibility• My organisation awards additional benefits (leave,parking space, bonuses) for frontline staff who
cannot be granted time/location flexibility

standard school pick up/drop off times• To the extent possible, working parents areafforded additional time flexibility©Economist Impact 2023

Keeping people at the centre – Strengthening connection, collaboration and culturein the new era of flexible work

PILLARS

INDICATORS

I.D.

WHAT TO MEASURE?

21

HOW TO MEASURE? SURVEY• Communications about flexible work protocols andprocesses are open

• Communications about flexible work protocols and
3.1.1

To what degree are new worknorms, flexible work protocols
and processes communicatedopenly and clearly?

3.1.2

To what degree has theorganisation provided easy
and equal access to company
information, policies and plans
to employees?

3.1 Effective
communication

processes are clear• Managers and direct reports have regular (eg,weekly/biweekly) check-ins to discuss tasks,
responsibilities and work progress• Leadership regularly updates all employees
through formal channels (emails, town-halls, etc)
on new work norms and flexible work protocol andprocesses• Employees have easy access to company
information about flexible work

• Employees have equal access to company
information about flexible work

• All employees can access company information,

policies and plans regarding work policies (eg, on
cloud, shared drives, organisation website, internal
employee site)• Opportunities for virtual interactions of hybrid/

3.2 Adaptive
managerial
practices

3.2.1

Are there diverse opportunities
for in-person and virtualinteractions?

3.2.2

Do managers adapt
workstreams or work
assignments to allow for the
hybrid of synchronous andasynchronous collaboration?

3.
IMPLEMENTATION
3.2.3

Have employee performance
evaluation systems been
adapted to flexible work
settings?

remote employees (eg, online happy hours, virtualwater cooler discussions)• Regular in-person team building sessions• Regular in-person/virtual cross-functional teamcatch-ups• Requirements for junior employees to be in-personfor onboarding, trainings and/or networking
opportunities• Workstreams or work assignments are adapted bymanagers to facilitate real time and offline work

• Designate hours for meeting-free focus time
• Complete tasks primarily through calls/meetings[score down]• Performance review metrics• Employee evaluation systems that help conduct
performance reviews in a flexible setting• There is a higher emphasis on output and outcome
rather than time spent working during employee
evaluations• Messaging platforms for informal employee
interactions (eg, instant messaging)• Platforms for virtual meetings (eg, videoconferencing software)• Tools for formal peer-to-peer interactions (eg,
3.3.1

To what degree do technology
platforms at the organisation
facilitate flexible work?

corporate emails)• Tools for formal manager-employee interactions• Tools for real-time collaboration (eg, online
documents)• Project management platforms• HR management platforms to track time/attendance• Customer relationship management (CRM)
platforms• Tools for asynchronous collaboration

3.3 Accessible
technology
3.3.2

Does the organisation
incorporate the needs ofdifferent groups of employees(age, location, department,
seniority, family status) into tech
investments?

3.3.3

Do employees, regardless of
their location, working hours
or function, have access totools that allow them to fully
participate in flexible work
settings?

• Employee surveys on workplace technology tools

guide investment in remote/telework technologies• New tech/software can be adopted on a team/department basis irrespective of company-wide
adoption• Employees, regardless of their location, working

hours or function, have access to tools that allow
them to fully contribute in flexible work settings• My organisation has invested in office spaces (eg,meetings rooms) to update the tech needed tocollaborate with hybrid/remote employees• Since the adoption of remote work, myorganisation has upgraded cybersecurity measures©Economist Impact 2023

Keeping people at the centre – Strengthening connection, collaboration and culturein the new era of flexible work

PILLARS

INDICATORS

3.
IMPLEMENTATION

3.3 Accessible
technology

I.D.

WHAT TO MEASURE?

22

HOW TO MEASURE? SURVEY• All employees are required to complete training in

3.3.4

To what degree is technologicaltraining and on-demand support(tools) available and accessible?

operating new remote work/telework technology/
equipment/software• We have an on-demand IT support team forremote/hybrid employees to provide real-time
solutions• Software/hardware explainers are accessible online(eg, shared drive) for all employees• My organisation conducts regular training forupskillling employees with new tech (eg, training
frontline workers in using AI-enabled tech)• Employee support resources (eg, access to mental
health programmes, counselling services)• Career growth opportunities (eg, mentorship,

3.4.1

How strong is the employer's
support for employee wellbeing
in flexible work settings?

3.4.2

Does the employer provide any
training/guidance for employee
to adapt to flexible work settings?

3.5.1

Are training sessions/guidelines/
tech tools provided to managers
to improve their skills for
managing hybrid teams or
flexible workers?

3.4 Support for
employees

networking, clear promotion structures) to all
employees regardless of location• Financial resources/help (eg, student loan
assistance, 401k) to all employees• Employee home-office benefits/resources (eg, astipend for office furniture)• Employee physical wellbeing (eg, office buildings
have gym access, benefits package offers gym
membership, discounts on gym membership) to all
employees• Guidelines and/or training for employees to adapt
to flexible work settings• Mandatory training for managers to manage

3.5 Manager
empowerment

hybrid/remote teams• Investments in project management platforms to
support middle managers• Investments in HR management platforms to track
time and attendance to support middle managers• Investments in customer relationship management
platforms to support middle managers

3.5.2

Are managers able toindependently solve the uniqueproblems of each employee they
manage?

4.1.1.

Are employees given an
opportunity to share feedback
on work policies?

• Managers are given leeway to tailor work policies
to individual employee needs, especially parents
and caregivers• Formal methods (eg, workplace surveys) for
employees to share feedback• Informal methods (eg, coffee chats, informal
check-ins, events with senior leadership) for
employees to share feedback• Formal process or measurement system to review
4.
EVALUATION &IMPROVEMENT

the effectiveness of flexible work

4.1 Effective
evaluation
4.1.2

Is the employer measuring andevaluating outcomes of flexible
work models (eg, productivity,
employee satisfaction) via
certain metrics?

• Employee satisfaction scores based on regular
employee surveys• Employees’ individual KPIs
• Employee productivity or team/department/
business output• Financial performance (eg, revenue, profitability)of teams/departments/business units [score down]• Insights from internal interviews• Real-time feedback to managers, HR or IT
4.2 Continuous
improvement

4.2.1

Does the employer assess
flexible models regularly andmake adjustment as needed?

• Senior leadership regularly revises and upates

flexible work policies to reflect organisational needs©Economist Impact 2023

Keeping people at the centre – Strengthening connection, collaboration and culturein the new era of flexible work

23

Appendix II
Cluster analysis methodology

Economist Impact conducted cluster analysis on survey data. Cluster analysis is a statistical method
for processing data that works by organising items into groups, or clusters, on the basis of how closely
associated they are. The goal is to identify natural groupings among items. Analysis was run on two
particular questions, which were not included in the barometer calculations (see below)

Q17: Impact of AI on work
Disagree

NeutralAgree

Not sure

My organisation regularly uses AI tools
4%

10%

85%

My organisation has benefited from the adoption of AI tools
4%

11%

84%

Humans will stay at the centre of the workplace while AI plays a supportive role
4%

9%

86%

AI exposes my organisation to additional cyber risks
5%

12%

82%

AI can support agile learning and employee upskilling/reskilling
5%

11%

84%

AI improves job quality
4%

11%

84%

AI streamlines manual processes
3%

8%

87%

AI enables more flexibility for those with manual jobs (eg, frontline workers)
4%

12%

84%

AI will incrementally change the future of work in the next 3 years
4%

12%

83%

I understand how AI will impact workplace dynamics in the future
4%

10%

85%

AI can eliminate mundane tasks and contribute to increased innovation/creativity
4%

0

10%

85%

50

100
©Economist Impact 2023

Keeping people at the centre – Strengthening connection, collaboration and culturein the new era of flexible work24

Q18: Organisation preparedness for changing the future of work
Disagree

NeutralAgree

Not sure

My organisation has made significant changes to how people work together remotely since adoption of flexible work
4%

13%

83%

My organisation has invested in company culture to foster a sense of belonging since the adoption of flexible work
6%

13%

80%

My organisation has adequately supported all employees to work seamlessly regardless of work arrangement
5%

11%

84%

My organisation has implemented methods that preserve and encourage creativity in a flexible setting
4%

13%

83%

If the economy declines, my organisation will provide less work flexibility to reduce risks
9%

13%

77%

Despite the economic environment, my organisation has prioritised employees in work policy decision making
5%

10%

84%

My organisation has been able to attract and retain talent due to its flexible work policies
5%

13%

82%

My organisation will increase investments in solutions to protect sensitive data using different techniques (eg, predictive analytics, data visualisation, computer vision)
6%

10%

84%

My organisation’s strategy team is prepared for future technological advances (eg, adoption of AI)
5%

10%

85%

My organisation will increase investment in training and up-skilling our workforce to incorporate technological changes (eg, AI, robots, etc.)
5%

0

12%

83%

50

100

An agglomerative hierarchical clustering method was used to determine the clusters. The distance
between all individual survey respondents was calculated first. The Gower similarity is utilised, with
Podani’s extension for ordinal numbers, given the suitability of this measure for ordinal survey data.i
In plain terms, this method determines the distance of all respondents to one another (see Fig 1),
using equal weighting for all the questions used to determine clusters, based on comparative rankorder and frequency of responses to the survey questions.

i

The non-metric version is used, which is suitable for complete-linkage clustering.

©Economist Impact 2023

Keeping people at the centre – Strengthening connection, collaboration and culturein the new era of flexible work

25

Figure 1: Density plot of distances of all survey respondents to one another12

Density

9

6

3

0
0

0.25

0.50

0.70

Survey respondent distances

Then, in an iterative fashion, the closest two objects (either individual survey respondents or clusters)
are combined. A “complete” linkage was used, which means if clusters are being compared for
distance, the furthest distance from within the clusters is used to determine the cluster’s distanceto a survey respondent or another cluster. This linkage helps create tight clusters, and is appropriate
for use with the chosen distance measure. Through this process, all items are combined until they
form a single cluster. Following this procedure, a split point is chosen based on the optimal number ofclusters. Analysis of the silhouette score indicated that if clusters are to be defined, two would be thebest number.jFigure 2: Agglomerative clustering silhouette plot

Average silhouette width

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0

4

6

8

10

Number of clustersjThere are a number of evaluation measures that can be used to determine the optimal number of clusters, of which the silhouettescore is a methodologically robust option. For a task such as the one here (as with many tasks), choosing the optimal number of clusters
requires subjective determination and domain knowledge. For instance, the “elbow method” could suggest the use of four clusters, but
post-hoc analysis determined that three of the four clusters were quite small, and poorly differentiated, so two were ultimately used.
©Economist Impact 2023

Keeping people at the centre – Strengthening connection, collaboration and culturein the new era of flexible work

26

Limitations
Cluster analysis, including for exploratory data analysis, ultimately requires subjective
determinationk, domain knowledge and consideration of the end usel. In this case, clustering shouldbe treated as a complementary method for identifying related survey respondents for the purposeof investigating patterns in the data. Other groupings could reasonably be used, as there are myriad
clustering algorithms available, as well as a number of evaluation measures that can be used todetermine the optimal number of clusters. While the silhouette score, used in this case, is considereda methodologically robust optionm, other conventional choices would have led to different results.
For instance, the “elbow method” could suggest the use of four clusters, but post-hoc analysis
determined that three of the four clusters were quite small and poorly differentiated, so two were
ultimately used. Together, evaluative metrics and subjective expertise led to the use of two clusters,
broadly representing groups more optimistic and pessimistic towards AI and flexible work.

Jain, A. K. (2010). Data clustering: 50 years beyond K-means. Pattern Recognition Letters, 31(8), 651–666. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
patrec.2009.09.011
Von Luxburg, U. (2012, June 27). Clustering: science or art? PMLR. https://proceedings.mlr.press/v27/luxburg12a.
htmlpatrec.2009.09.011
mXu, D., & Tian, Y. (2015b). A comprehensive survey of clustering algorithms. Annals of Data Science, 2(2), 165–193. https://doi.
org/10.1007/s40745-015-0040-1
kl©Economist Impact 2023

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27

Endnotes

1

Swan, M. (2023). A flexible work model equals more than remote work. Tercera. https://tercera.io/resources/a-flexible-work-model-remote-work/

2

Making work more human. (2021). Google Workspace and the Economist Group. https://impact.economist.com/projects/make-hybrid-human/

3

This was recognised by Great Place to Work. Viisi was also named the best employer in the Netherlands for four consecutive years (201922). Sources:
https://thinkers50.com/biographies/tom-van-der-lubbe/
https://twitter.com/ViisiNL/status/1440246930081140743

4

Vallance, B. C. (2023, March 28). AI could replace the equivalent of 300 million jobs - report. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/
technology-65102150
Semuels, A. (2023, July 18). Companies requiring Full-Time In-Office are struggling to recruit new employees. Time. https://time.
com/6294640/remote-work-winning/

5©Economist Impact 2023

Keeping people at the centre – Strengthening connection, collaboration and culturein the new era of flexible work28

While every effort has been taken to verify the accuracy of thisinformation, Economist Impact cannot accept any responsibility
or liability for reliance by any person on this report or any of theinformation, opinions or conclusions set out in this report.
The findings and views expressed in the report do not necessarilyreflect the views of the sponsor.

©Economist Impact 2023

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