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Culture Change

By Madison Hanscom, PhD Whether it is wrapping up a deliverable, venting about a hard day, or preparing for the next day ahead, many of us bring work home. But has research been conducted to examine the effects of leadership characteristics spilling over into the home domain of their followers? A recent study was conducted to examine the impact that empowering leaders have on their employees’ home lives. Empowering leaders were defined as those that give employees autonomy, meaning to their work, opportunities for self-leadership, participation in decision-making, and support for employee development through coaching and modeling. The result of the study showed

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By Madison Hanscom, PhD An interesting study was published recently in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology exploring the effects of standing desks. Employees who worked in sedentary jobs were randomly assigned to a control group (no change in their usual behavior) or an intervention group (were provided with adjustable sit-stand desks and instructions on how to use them). Do Sit-Stand Desks Work? After 6 months of using the sit-stand desk, the intervention group reported significantly fewer musculoskeletal problems in the neck, the back, and the shoulders than the control group. They also reported significantly less psychological tension, less mental tiredness, and more

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By Madison Hanscom, Ph.D. Whether it is full time or part of the time, more people are working from home than ever. Although it is becoming clear that many individuals enjoy working virtually, tensions can build between different groups of employees who work onsite as residents, those who work flexibly between the office and home, and those who work entirely from home. There are two sides to the story — and the grass might be greener on either side for both. The first is from resident workers; they might view the teleworkers or remote workers as having a privilege. It is possible

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By Madison Hanscom, Ph.D. As many businesses are considering (or have already decided) moving some employees to a permanent telework model after the COVID-19 outbreak, the question comes up often — will flex work change my culture? So, yes, the culture can change when entering a more flexible environment. Though the extent to which the culture will change depends on several factors. For example, how large is the change? If the company is moving to a 100% remote model, this will have different implications than if moving to a 50% telework model. How strong was the culture to begin with? If the

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By Madison Hanscom, PhD Introducing telework into a culture that does not support flexible work arrangements can set up a business for failure. It is important to deeply consider culture before, during, and after changes to the company that involve employees working from home. If the attitude is that telework is not going to succeed - it will not. A company’s culture is composed of the beliefs, assumptions, norms, and core values that the members hold (1). Norms and assumptions run deep, and they are all around (staying at your desk late to symbolize commitment to the boss, how long to

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By Brie DeLisi A consistent feature of most organizational change efforts includes employee engagement and communications, and this is even more important during work transitions. Employee engagement impacts the quality of the changes, as well as the buy-in from the greater workforce, while communications reduce ambiguity, assumptions, misunderstandings and confusion. Consider the call center example used in the previous blog; first and foremost, this is typically a highly engaged and social workforce. Call center employees are regularly meeting with one another, sharing information and insights, supporting or seeking support, and celebrating wins together. These highly engaged individuals will already have the enthusiasm

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