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WE WERE MORE FLEXIBLE...

When we were younger, but we would be more satisfied and experience less stress if our bosses gave us some flexibility at work. Research by MIT Sloan School of Management and the University of Minnesota found that workers at a Fortune 500 company who were allowed to shift their work schedules, work from home more, rethink the number of daily meetings they attended and other practices “felt more control over their schedules” and “reported greater job satisfaction and were less burned out and less stressed” than those who adhered to existing policies. “Crucially, these workers are also more efficient and more productive on the job. In other words, workplace flexibility is beneficial — not detrimental — to organizations,” said Phyllis Moen, McKnight Endowed Presidential Chair in Sociology at the University of Minnesota.

WE NEVER LIKED...

Bullies and now we know that their behaviour can be contagious. “We found that if the supervisor is a bully, then co-workers are also more likely to mistreat others,” say Patricia Meglich, an associate professor at the University of Nebraska, and Andra Gumbus, a professor at Sacred Heart University, who surveyed more than 500 people. They say the result makes a lot of sense since employees want to win favour with their bosses by emulating their behaviour. “This should be a wake-up call to anyone in a management or supervisory role,” they said.

WE CALL ON...

Our tech desk for a variety of reasons — and too often. Turns out, tech professionals are feeling the pressure and want more money, despite the common perception that they are more than well-compensated. A survey by Robert Half Technology found that 31% of chief information officers think their teams should receive higher salaries given the current workload and that the amount of pressure on them has increased from five years ago. “This is particularly true within specialized areas of security and big data, resulting in increased pressure on IT professionals to evolve their skills for efficiency and speed in an effort to meet greater demand,” noted Deborah Bottineau, senior regional manager at Robert Half Technology.