The ‘great detachment’: How to help workers feel connected at work

This article was originally published in Canadian HR Reporter – written by Jim Wilson.

'Employees that are engaged are happier and happier employees perform better'

The ‘great detachment’ is taking over Gen Z workers at many workplaces, according to a report.

That’s largely because of the remote work setup, finds a previous Gallup study.

The great detachment refers to “how employees – and I would say in particular, younger employees – don't feel connected,” says Janet Candido, founder and principal of Candido Consulting Group, in talking with Canadian HR Reporter.

“They don't feel engaged with their employers. In its simplest terms, they don't have that connection.”

The average Canadian remote worker speaks to someone else only 4.2 times a week - or about once per day, according to the survey published in the Financial Post. As a result, 50 per cent of Gen Z participants noticed a decline in their social skills, and 25 per cent reported a decline in verbal skills.

Similarly, a previous Preply report found that over four in 10 (43 per cent) Canadians believe that their social skills have declined due to limited in-person interactions during remote work.

This should be a cause for concern for employers, says Candido.

“When employees aren't engaged with the company, their performance is not as good,” she says, adding that it can spell as much as a 10 per cent difference in performance. 

“Also, employees that are engaged are happier and happier employees perform better. So, if you have a team of people that are disengaged, what that means is you have a team of people that don't really care how well the company is doing: They don't see how their work matters, they don't recognize the contribution that they're making, they're not linked to the company's success, they're not linked to each other.”

Why are so many employees disengaged at work?

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many interns who experienced remote working viewed their experience negatively, according to a previous Glassdoor report.

Workers who came into the workforce during or after the health crisis simply do not have the in-office experience to be able to connect with the company, says Candido.

Before the pandemic, “whether we were conscious of it or not, we were learning social skills,” she says. “We learned how to read body language. We learned how to talk to our colleagues. 

“People who were hired either during or post the pandemic don't have that office experience to fall back on, especially if they're working fully remotely. But even if they're coming in and they're in a hybrid situation, they don't have the experience of working with other people. So, they don't have the social skills, they don't have the communication skills.”

Most Canadian workers are OK with heading back to the office – but employers do not seem to be ready to meet their needs, according to a previous report from Cisco.

How to engage a younger workforce

Making the return to office experience worthwhile is a good place to start for employers to fight the great detachment among young workers, says Candido.

“You have to create experiences during the day that bring them together, that, first of all, justifies for them why they came in. Because if they're just going to sit at their desk and work, they might as well be at home. 

“So, justify why they came in, but also create those opportunities to connect with other people in a more meaningful way, so that they do start to develop those skills.”

Another important option is mentoring – especially when it comes to soft skills and people skills, she says.

Also, communication is key to engaging Gen Z workers, says Candido.

“And by communication, I mean two-way communication, not just you as a leader telling people what's going on. Although that's important – telling them what's going on, what they are doing that's good, help them connect their contribution to the company's success — all those things are good. 

“But to really engage them, you also need to have communication from them. So, give them opportunities to contribute their ideas, their opinions, their suggestions. It gives them more of a sense of ownership over the work that they're doing and more of a connection with the company.”

Employers might want to re-evaluate their employee recognition and feedback mechanisms, because employees are finding them uber-important in the conduct of their work, according to one expert.

Candido also suggests team-building activities, sharing meals during lunch or dinner with workers and other bonding experiences for workers. It’s also important to engage both people who are in the office and those who work remotely in these activities, she says.

Benefits Canada: Employers can help gen Z workers feel less isolated through social activities, mentoring: Experts

This article was originally published in Benefits Canada – written by Sadie Janes.

Generation Z workers may be feeling more disconnected or isolated due to the effects of remote work, but employers can help by providing opportunities for connectivity, says Alexandra Duba, people experience advisor at Xero Ltd.

“It has so much to do with how the [coronavirus] pandemic impacted in-person connection, as well as the impact technology has had on in-person connection over the last decade. Even though we can feel like we’re more connected because of technology, sometimes I think it also inhibits us from feeling a genuine sense of connectivity. And the younger generation seems to be impacted the most.”

Janet Candido, founder and principal at Candido Consulting Group, agrees young workers may be at a social disadvantage due to the effects of the pandemic and remote work. “Older generations have pre-pandemic experience of working in the office, so they had the ability to hone their social skills. A lot of gen Z workers were hired during the pandemic, so they started off working remotely and many still are. Because of this, many don’t have that exposure to know how to read social cues and interact with a colleague. It sounds pretty basic, but it [can lead to feelings of isolation].”

Duba recognizes gen Z workers are more technologically savvy, which can help them adjust in a new work environment, but if they haven’t had much organic in-person experience working with others, it can feel unsettling.

The best way to overcome these feelings is through practice, she adds, noting employers can help by creating platforms for connectivity through in-person meetings and social activities. “When you’re in a remote or hybrid setting . . . it’s on the employer to build programs and engagement opportunities. But when you have a mix of workers at home and in the office, it can be hard to coordinate that. I don’t think there’s a one-size-fits-all solution, but it’s mainly about trying to create opportunities for people to have those moments of connectivity.”

If employers have concerns, Candido suggests they try to bring younger workers into the office periodically, even those who are fully remote. Also, it would help if they ensured the trip to the office is worthwhile for these employees so they’re not just heading straight to their desks to work with their head down, she adds.

“[Foster] those social connections by having group meetings or brainstorming sessions. Get them all together for lunch or something that allows employees to mingle so they can develop the social skills needed at work. General social awareness . . . can be improved [through] coaching and mentoring [as well].”

Benefits Canada Interview: Rise of remote, hybrid working leading employees to a ‘Great Exhaustion,’ says expert

This article was originally published in Benefits Canada – written by Lauren Bailey.

While remote and hybrid working arrangements have revolutionized the modern workplace, they’re also fuelling unrealistic expectations for office communications, leading to what some have coined the ‘Great Exhaustion.’

In the pre-coronavirus pandemic office environment, employees understood that it would take a couple of days for colleagues to respond to an email or phone request, says Janet Candido, founder and principal at Candido Consulting Group, noting employees are now expected to respond to requests right away via email or another chat messaging system and the time spent following up is cutting into their workplace productivity.

“It’s not unusual for [employees] to spend an entire day answering emails or chats, which means they’re often catching up on work at home in the evenings.”

Being inundated with email requests for their time can be overwhelming, frustrating and tiring for employees, she adds. “In many cases, people are working far in excess of what would be considered a normal workday. And it’s not unreasonable to assume that people who are working remotely may be a victim to that even more than [in-office workers]. If they’re spending too much of their day on internal communications, they’re not actually getting their work product done during working hours.”

Indeed, the average employee spends 57 per cent of their time communicating (in meetings, email and chat) and spend the remaining 43 per cent creating (in documents, spreadsheets and presentations), according to a May 2023 survey by Microsoft Corp. It found the heaviest email users (those in the top 25 per cent) spend more than eight hours a week on email and the heaviest meeting users (also the top 25 per cent) spend 7.5 hours a week in meetings.

This exhaustion is also creeping into the office culture, says Candido, noting it’s making employees hesitant to socialize with co-workers or participate in social work events. “They just want to get their work done and go home so the culture becomes much more sterile [lacking] . . . camaraderie.”

But a full return to the office may not be the best solution to this problem, as in-office workers are also experiencing this exhaustion due to long commutes or having to balance caregiving duties with their work hours. While they recognize working in-person is better for collaboration and, in some cases, productivity, she says there’s a real disconnect between what’s better for employees and what’s better for the company and their colleagues.

No matter the preference, people are entrenched in their preferences for working remotely or in-office, which is permeating into other aspects of the workplace, says Candido. “That may be part of where . . . microaggressions [are] coming from, with remote employees feeling [pressure] from leadership who really want them to come into the office.”

She says it’s important that employees — whether working remotely or in-office — have quiet time to focus on their work product. Many employers have addressed this need by blocking off a day or certain hours once per week in their staff calendars for focused work or they’re establishing email etiquette to guide employees on reasonable times and ways to communicate virtually.

Candido doesn’t recommend employers draw a line in the sand and mandate all staff to work in the office five days a week. “Try to do it in a more . . . staggered schedule [and] give people notice, so they can plan around their childcare . . . or elder care. Otherwise, [they’re] all going to come in on those days . . . put [their] head down and not emerge until the end of the day.”

This Ontario CEO told her employees they can work from anywhere. Here's how the policy works - Interview in CTV News

This article was originally published in CTV News.

Co-founder and CEO of Toronto estate management agency Willful, Erin Bury has announced that Willful has given their employees a ‘Work from Anywhere’ policy.

By summer 2021, vaccines were rolling out to the general public and there appeared to be a break between COVID-19 waves, so Bury once again opened her office up to employees by choice – but no one came, she says.

By that time, many employees had moved farther away from the office, or had adjusted to the routine of working from home. Bury says this realization, paired with employee feedback, prompted her and her husband to get rid of the space, take their company of just about 20 employees permanently remote, and implement a ‘Work from Anywhere’ policy.

The policy states employees can work from anywhere, and, as long as they are available from the 'core hours' of 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. EST, they can put whatever additional hours in they like.

Janet Candido, founder and CEO of Toronto-based human resources consultancy group Candido Consulting, says many companies are opting for a hybrid model right now, where employees work from home some days, and attend in-person others.

“Some people have developed a comfort level working from home, some are afraid of getting sick,” Candido told CTV News Toronto Wednesday. “Some have school-aged children, who can't go in one day because they have the sniffles… or immunocompromised people at home.”

“People are dealing with all sorts of different challenges. It's not that cut and dry.”

But no matter what policy companies choose, Candido says the successful companies tend to be the ones that provide more flexibility and listen to employee feedback.

“I always recommend when companies want to bring employees back to the office to consider the emotional and mental health of the employees."

‘It’s not a support function any more, it’s a leadership function’: How the pandemic changed the role of HR – The Globe and Mail

Read the full interview in The Globe and Mail.

Until recently, human resources was largely dedicated to administrative tasks. Today, however, the department is core to business operations, as teams add new positions, adopt new skills and use new technologies to meet the needs of a rapidly changing work force.

Janet Candido explains that during the initial pandemic-caused transition to remote work, there was a general sense that such changes would be temporary. As restrictions eased and resignation rates skyrocketed, employee management, flexible work policies and recruiting became a top priority for organizations in Canada and around the world, she says.

“We have a labour shortage. Right now employees want what they want, and if you’re not prepared to give it to them they will go somewhere that will.”

Employees, who have spent much of the past two years under lockdown restrictions, are looking for more freedom, flexibility and greater mental health support. They also expect their employers to address pressing social issues head on.

The transition to hybrid work, a widespread mental health crisis, a reckoning on racial injustice, and the “Great Resignation” each brought significant challenges to HR practitioners, as well as opportunities. Meeting these moments, however, would have been nearly impossible with the resources, processes and tools that had historically been allocated to the department, according to Ms. Candido. Now, business leaders are making changes on several fronts for practitioners within HR. Many relate to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG).

Visit the link to read the full article.

Does Ontario's paid sick leave go far enough? – Interview in HRD Canada

This article was originally published by HRD Canada.

The plan may be great for overall wellbeing, but what about employees who fall through the cracks?

Late last month, the Government of Ontario announced an extension to their paid sick leave program – applicable to March 2023. And while it’s good news for employees worried about picking between their income and their wellbeing, does the proposed scheme really go far enough?

“The government will reimburse the employer for three days but the mandatory isolation period is five days – furthermore, it’s possible for an individual to catch COVID more than once,” explained Janet Candido, founder of Candido Consulting Group. “Under these scenarios, employers may have an individual coming to work while still sick because they can’t afford to lose the wages.

“A bigger issue with the program is that employees (or their families) get other illnesses that they should stay home for, however the government won’t reimburse the employer for an employee staying home with a cold, for example. This means that the employee will go into work and spread that virus around to their colleagues. The pandemic really made the public conscientious of spreading viruses and illnesses to others, so it’s important to continue with this mentality and provide alternative solutions for sick employees so they don’t have to choose between not getting paid or going into the office sick and getting others ill.”

And COVID isn’t employers’ only concern right now. The recent rise of hybrid colds are having a knock-on effect on employees and their work attendance. With Ontario gearing up for the winter months, and with them the inevitable peak in illnesses, employers really need to start considering upping their game when it comes to wellbeing leave.

“Many employees don’t have the luxury of paid sick days from their employer, so if they don’t work, they don’t get paid,” added Candido. “The lack of a paid sick day program disproportionately affects low-income workers. As many of these employees can’t afford to lose one or more days of pay, this will result in them going to work, risking the spread of the virus to their colleagues.

“When looking back to pre-pandemic days, there was one year throughout the winter where a cold virus made its rounds in my office. Most of us caught it two or three times that year. A reason being that many people didn't have enough sick days and couldn’t afford to have unpaid days while they were sick.”

As the past two years brought us the harsh reality of the global impact of a virus, it’s crucial to have a permanent sick day program to avoid spreading these viruses further and risk severe viral outbreaks such as COVID, where it brings on additional challenges such as business closures and travel disruptions.

Return to work policies

For HR leaders, the issue is less about ‘policy’ and more about overall wellbeing. If the pandemic taught us anything it’s that, in order to retain top talent, organizations need to be sincere in their health offerings. One-size-fits-all approaches aren’t enough for tired employees – and they certainly won’t help employers win candidates in the Great Reengagement. Flexibility is key here – as Candido suggests asking yourself these very important questions before blanket recalling staff;

• Do employees really need to be in the office?

• Do they need to be in the office full time? If not, can a hybrid approach work? 

• How can we successfully implement a hybrid approach? I.e., assign in-office days, in-office by team or let employees choose.

• What can you do to support employees returning to work?

“Employers need to remember that this has been a long period of disruption,” she explained. “Mentalities have changed so it’s a good idea to consider a staged return to the office to allow employees to build confidence and get them comfortable. Also, ask employees what it will take to make them comfortable coming back to the office and be flexible and prepared to make accommodations throughout.”

Making accommodations

If an employee is genuinely uncomfortable about return to the office, HR leaders should look at making some sort of accommodation. Look at rolling out flexible working schedules, take note of commuting fears, allow for more remote models – and most of all ensure that your workplace is up to health and safety codes.

“HR and employers can implement a transition period that allows employees to ease back to the office,” Candido told HRD. “It’s also important to be completely open and transparent so employees trust you have their health and safety in mind. This means, continue to be diligent in enforcing the COVID protocols in place – be visible with the extra cleaning and masking requirements – and track the cases of employees who have tested positive and advise anyone who was in the office at the same time to self-monitor or test.”

The future of work: The workplace trends that are here to stay

This article was originally written for and published in CEOWorld Magazine.

As we’re approaching better times ahead, employers are planning for the future of work. There are a lot of questions and conversations surrounding workplace trends and how organizations plan to move forward.

Prior to the pandemic, there may have been employers who were reluctant to initiate a work-from-home culture/policy for several reasons. One of them being that it was difficult to fully trust that employees were capable of being productive with all the distractions at home – i.e. kids, pets, electronics, etc. At the office, managers are able to physically see their staff in the office, at their desks, doing their job, reassuring them that they were getting the job done. There was also the notion that in-person meetings and collaboration were invaluable and could not be done remotely.

However, once the initial stay-at-home order hit back in March 2020, employers were forced to quickly adapt to a whole new way of working while equipping their teams with a home office setup. The result – employees continued to be just as, if not more, productive from the comfort of their own home. The pandemic completely changed the notion of the office and changed the mindsets of both employers and employees.

Workplace trends:

Work-life balance

The pandemic has created a shift where a flexible work-life balance has now become the norm, making it imperative for a company to prioritize and integrate it into the company’s culture as we transition through the return-to-workplace period.

During the pandemic, employees started to observe the things they value most, in not just a workplace, but also in the quality of life that was available to them at their current company. Over the past two years, we’ve seen a mass number of employees switching careers/jobs and this is a big indicator of this. With more employees re-evaluating their current job and looking for alternative opportunities that suit their work-life balance needs, HR professionals are finding it a particularly difficult time recruiting and retaining top quality talent.

Now more than ever, employees are more focused on working for an organization that matches their values so employers will have to work harder to engage their employees and attract new talent. With this in mind, one of the workplace trends we can expect to see is companies being more creative in their offerings to employees, such as the opportunity to work somewhere abroad for a period of time where the employer could potentially subsidize the cost. In addition, 4-day workweeks look to be another offering that may become available to employees in the future. Companies like Bolt, Buffer and G2i are trialing or already started offering a four-day workweek to their employees, which has shown positive results in employee productivity and retention, as finding work-life balance becomes increasingly important over time.

Workplace flexibility 

In order to retain employees during a return-to-workplace transition, employers will need to create a plan that takes into account both the needs of the business and those of the employees, allowing for accommodation – within reason. A 2021 report from Accenture revealed that 61 per cent of Canadians prefer a hybrid or remote work model, so if the business is able to work within these structures, this would be a reasonable accommodation to ensure talent retention.

For the future of work, one of the trends that employers should take note of is “flexibility”, in all its forms. For instance, the one-size-fits-all approach will no longer work as employees have proven their capabilities without being at the office from 9 to 5 and under constant surveillance. However, while there are a number of employees who prefer working from home, there are also those who look forward to returning to the office where they can have a separate space from their personal life. That’s why, as organizations begin to navigate the office return, employers should remain flexible in various approaches to ensure their employees are satisfied with the decision and company policy. Employers should have the ability to offer employees a choice of onsite, hybrid or fully remote while maintaining the work of the business. If employees choose a hybrid work style, employers will need to determine how to schedule the hybrid option and if they need to reconfigure the office layout. Providing these options to employees will allow them to choose a work style that will allow them to do their job to the best of their ability and keep them engaged.

Personalized benefits/perks

Fairness and flexibility in the workplace will create a positive corporate culture, while also preventing employee burnout – just another reason why many Canadians are uprooting their careers in favor of jobs where these “perks” are present. As a result, another key workplace trend will include an increase of personalized benefits/perks – meaning not simply the flex plans of the past 20 years, but more likely something that will allow employees to design their own plan. During the stay-at-home orders, mental health conversations have grown and become more normalized. Now, mental health has become top of mind after employees, managers, CEOs, etc. experienced a traumatic, isolated and unpredictable event together. According to combined data from Statistics Canada’s labor force survey and Canadian income survey, for the Canadians who were employed during the first four months of 2021, more than one in five (21.5 per cent) had a physical, mental health, cognitive or other disability – when compared to 2019, there was an increase of 2.7 percentage points (18.8 per cent), continuing a long-term upward trend associated with population aging and other factors. Creating awareness surrounding wellness and mental health will be a significant workplace trend that we’ll see more of across various organizations.

Individualized leadership models 

The pandemic took a toll on people’s mental health, causing increased stress and anxiety. As a result of the past two years, employees are looking for a different style of leader than prior to the pandemic. For instance, the World Economic Forum states that employees want to be seen as a whole individual, acknowledging their lives outside of work. This means having a leader who is more compassionate, empathetic and authentic, and willing to listen, learn and adapt. During the countless Zoom and Team calls, we’ve seen into people’s homes more intimately than ever before – we’ve seen their in-home office setup, children trying to learn remotely, pets in the background, etc. – and have seen the everyday stresses both employees and employers endured because of this traumatic event. Going forward, a trend we can expect to see evolving in the workplace is having leaders navigate through a newer leadership technique where they’ll be more mindful and understanding of the impact on their employees. This means providing a more individualized model of leadership, adapting to offer employees what they need.

The Globe and Mail: Provincial flip-flops on vaccine mandates are creating confusion for businesses

This is an excerpt of an article written by Rita Trichur originally published in The Globe and Mail. Read the full article here.

As more provinces prepare to relax COVID-19 restrictions, our premiers are seeking political cover from recent social unrest by punting the divisive issue of vaccine mandates to businesses.

“We’ve spent two years being terrified of catching COVID and I think it’s going to take some time for people to lose that level of fear,” said Janet Candido, a human resources expert who is also the founder and principal consultant of Candido Consulting Group.

“I hear from people who are saying ‘I don’t want to go back to the office because I have to travel, I have to use public transit and I don’t know who I’m sitting next to. I don’t know if they’re vaccinated or not.”

Businesses should also pay close attention to staff interactions in the office because vaccine mandates are proving to be a very divisive issue, she said.

“You’ve got to make sure you don’t have the two factions: the vaccinated sitting over there and the unvaccinated sitting over there,” Ms. Candido said. “Try to stay on top of people bringing their personal beliefs into the office and affecting the ability to work.”

Managing social tensions is tricky. But if the recent trucker blockades have taught us anything about managing risk, it is the importance of proactive problem-solving during this pandemic. Too bad that lesson seems to have escaped our elected officials.

“It’s easier to try and address it before it gets really bad than it is to wait three weeks and then try and fix it,” she added.

What you need to know about vaccine mandates in the workplace - CityNews Toronto

This is an excerpt of an article written by Dilshad Burman originally published in CityNews Toronto. Watch the interview and read the full article here.

If an employer chooses to frame a vaccine policy for their workplace, Human Resources expert Janet Candido says it is essential that they remain accommodating and adaptable.

“The issue as we’ve seen is very divisive and you’re either on one side or the other,” said Candido. “So employers have to be very flexible about how they approach any policy around this to their employees.”

Provide options and have good reasons

Candido suggests employers should offer three basic options to their employees:

• Get vaccinated and attend the office/workplace to work in-person

• If unvaccinated and attending the office/workplace, agree to COVID-19 testing at least twice a week 

• If able to work effectively from home, do not go into the office/workplace and work remotely, whether vaccinated/unvaccinated

She adds that working from home may not be the best solution long-term for some employers and in that case, they could consider a hybrid solution to help employees ease back into the routine — where people work from home for some part of the week and attend in-person for the rest of the week, working towards returning to in-person work full time.

“For two years, we’ve been hearing about the transmission of this and how dangerous it is and how easily transmitted it is. We can’t expect people to suddenly, come Monday, be prepared to all be in the same room together,” said Candido.

Candido says there are many benefits to having all employees in the office like being able to “access the collective brain of the people in the office, which you don’t have the same access to when you’re working remotely.”

“Anything that is improved by collaboration is best in person,” she added.

However, if an employer insists on having employees work in person, Candido says they should be able to back it up with some solid reasoning.

“Be prepared to answer the question ‘why?’ Why do you need me to come back to the office? What was not happening before that will be improved by my being in the office?” she said. “You really need to think through — do you need people to come back to the office and if so, what does that look like?”

Day-to-day management

Candido says while policy-making is tricky to navigate, it’s also important to be just as cognizant and careful when managing day-to-day workings once the vaccine policy is in place.

She cautions against unwittingly creating an ‘us versus them’ environment among employees based on who is vaccinated or unvaccinated and who chooses to come to the office as opposed to those who work from home.

“You have to be careful .. that you’re not pitting one group of employees against the other,” by treating them differently, she said.

In addition, Candido says to guard against the “out of sight, out of mind” mentality.

“It’s easy to fall into a trap of … inadvertently favouring the employees you can see, the ones that are there in front of you, at the expense of the ones that are working from home,” she said.

Most importantly, Candido says employers should focus on the work that is required from the employees and leave aside anything that is extraneous to that.

“It is not your place to convince them to get a vaccine or to not get a vaccine. It’s your place to make sure you’re accommodating their personal decisions in how the work gets done.”

Why managers must develop new skills to manage remote teams - Talent Canada

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, employers felt the pressure as they were required to quickly deploy staff to work from home overnight. Most of us thought that this was going to last a couple of weeks and we’d back in the office in no time, however after almost two years, many organizations are still working remote.

When looking ahead to the future of work, employers need to rethink the remote workforce environment and ensure that in-person office experiences are being reworked to accommodate a virtual environment.

Janet Candido’s article in Talent Canada outlines various techniques to help and guide managers in leading a remote team successfully.

How to Manage in the 'New Normal' - Canadian HR Reporter

Employers can no longer pay lip service to collaboration, diversity, mental health.

From vaccine policies to new ways of measuring employee productivity, employers need to change their mindset and adapt to the new workplace "normal". Janet Candido discusses this and more in a recent interview, originally published in the Canadian HR Reporter.