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As Australian business anxiously eye what has been dubbed ‘the Great Resignation’ in the US, new data suggests burnt out employees are most likely to hand in their notice. 

Conducted by ASX-listed employee wellbeing platform Limeade, new research suggests that while Australians are not quitting at the same rates as their U.S. counterparts, burnout and a sense their workplaces failed to support them during lockdowns are driving a local exodus.

In recent months, the US has seen millions of workers quit their jobs, with four million exiting the workforce in July alone according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics — a rate that marks a two-decade high.

While widespread, the movement is showing up more dramatically among mid-career workers, along with those in tech and healthcare jobs. 

And data from HR platform Employment Hero suggests a similar phenomenon may unfold in Australia, with a survey finding two in five Australians are getting ready to leave their current roles within six months. 

Burnout a leading cause of resignations

Limeade’s survey found the strain of working longer hours from home during pandemic lockdowns was the top reason they left their job. 

The platform, which surveyed 500 Australian-based full-time employees who work at companies with 500 or more employees, recorded that 29% of respondents said burnout from the last 18 months of working from home was the key reason they resigned. 

Over 37% of respondents said they were leaving their workplace without another job lined up. 

It follows similar research indicating how longer hours, combined with a loss of division between work and home, drove experiences of burnout globally since the start of the pandemic.

A recent survey of workers across 25 countries, including 1,000 in Australia, found Australian office workers are the most burnt out in the world, ahead of Italy, China, Canada, the US and the UK. 

More than half of the Australian respondents said they suffered from burnout in the last 12 months, with 52% admitting they’ve taken time off due to mental health concerns during pandemic lockdowns. 

Similar research from LinkedIn found 52% of office workers have taken time off during the pandemic to support their mental wellbeing.

Pay and wellbeing top reasons to stay 

After years of slow wage growth, the pandemic has offered new negotiating power to those in in-demand sectors like tech. 

Border closures have given some tech workers six-figure raises, with one in three reporting they expect to see a 10% raise if they change jobs. 

Examining the risks to organisations from the changing power dynamics of the labour market, research conducted by consulting firm PwC found that while there was a spike in those reporting they planned to leave their jobs, remuneration and wellbeing remained the two key reasons employees stayed. 

Its survey of more than 1,800 Australians aimed to clarify what workers valued during a period of change in labour market sentiment. The results showed pay and wellbeing were valued most highly by employees, with 25% and 22% of respondents respectively saying they were the key factors that determined whether they would stay at their current workplace.

Dr Ben Hamer, future of work lead at PwC Australia, said the shift toward power for employees was driving Australian workers to follow those in the U.S. toward a similar surge in resignations. 

“This phenomenon will be in full swing by March 2022, driven by market stability, increased consumer confidence, the likely softening of interstate borders, and the usual post-summer holiday recruitment activity,” Hamer said. 

He said that as competition for talent intensifies, companies would need to “identify what their workers really want”. 

A lack of productivity, trust and engagement are just some of the negative effects that stem from having a boss with a big ego. Learning to ‘manage up’ can make things easier.

Type “My boss is…” into Google and the suggested searches are… interesting. 

My boss is bullying me. My boss is gaslighting me. My boss is causing me anxiety. My boss is toxic. Perhaps this isn’t surprising – you’d be hard pressed to find someone who hasn’t had a less-than-ideal manager. 

Take Jessica*, a high level executive at a multinational software company. She’s respected, successful and at the top of her game. But while outwardly it looks like she’s killing it career wise, she spends her days at work feeling anxious and on edge. Why? 

Her Google search might look something like this: “My boss is a narcissist”.

According to the Mayo Clinic, people with narcissistic personality disorder often have “an inflated sense of their own importance, a deep need for excessive attention and admiration, troubled relationships, and a lack of empathy for others”. 

That’s not exactly the recipe for a great boss. And if you believe the headlines, narcissism is on the rise. In fact, Charmi Patel FCIPD, Associate Professor in International Human Resource Management at Henley Business School in the UK, who has been coaching Jessica, says many consider it an epidemic.

“Often people at high levels suffer from [narcissistic personality disorder] … You can have grandiose narcissism, or covert narcissism, and both are equally dangerous, is what I’m learning through my coaching,” she says.

“When you have a person who is your superior, or even your subordinate or a co-worker, and they have these behavioural issues, your mental health suffers massively. [Jessica] feels she has to watch her every move, because her boss might call her incompetent. She’s always watching out for manipulation and isn’t sure how to respond to his emails or how to communicate with him in a group setting.” 

Even if your boss leaves a lot to be desired, it’s usually in your best interests to make the relationship work. So whether your boss is a raging narcissist like Jessica’s, a ditherer or has an oversized ego, learning to ‘manage up’ could be the solution. 

Not got time to read the whole article? Here are some quick tips from our experts on managing up.

• Implement 360-degree feedback – and use it.
• Have transparent policies that set out the ‘dos and don’ts’ of good behaviour in your workplace.
• Get to know your boss’s personality type and act accordingly. Are you dealing with a risk-averse leader? Make an effort to put them at ease. Have a boss with a big ego? A bit of flattery might actually be a good thing.
• Be empathetic. Having a leader who’s lacking can be annoying, even infuriating. But try to put yourself in their shoes and approach the situation with compassion, rather than anger.

Learn how to manage up

“‘Managing up’ is a polite way of saying we all have to deal with or manage people who have extreme personalities,” says Patel.

“It could include managing bad behaviours, or it could be motivation-related, such as managing someone who is risk averse or who isn’t taking the right steps that are needed for your organisation.”

In all these scenarios, understanding your boss’s behaviour, and their underlying motivations, is key, says Patel. Upskilling in psychology, and being well-versed in different personality types, is a good place to start, she says. Short courses such as AHRI’s Applied emotional intelligence and Having difficult conversations can also help develop your skills in communicating with difficult bosses.

“Managing people is an art, as much as it is a skill, and you need to develop both … At least if you understand why people behave the way they do, you’re able to work through those things with them,” she says.

“It’s all about work and organisational psychology – if you try to understand the behaviours, and the reasons behind those behaviours, then you’re able to tell why your boss is doing what he or she is doing.”

“‘Managing up’ is a polite way of saying we all have to deal with or manage people who have extreme personalities.” – Charmi Patel FCIPD, Associate Professor in International HR Management, Henley Business School

For example, in her research into narcissistic personality disorder at work, Patel found that both covert and grandiose narcissism “stems from deep-rooted insecurity”.

“It might be very difficult to change their behaviour completely, but knowing the psychology helps, because you’re able to work with them and help make them more self-aware.”

The impact of incompetence 

Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Chair of Business Psychology at University College London, knows better than most the impact “difficult” leaders can have on a business. 

In fact, he wrote the book on the topic, releasing Why do so many incompetent men become leaders? (And how to fix it) in 2019. 

He says the main dangers of having an incompetent boss are organisational: wasted resources, bad decisions and risky or threatening actions that can cost companies. 

For a boss’s direct reports, the impact is much more personal – their career.

“Incompetent bosses are not very good at gauging talent, developing others’ potential, or turning a group of people into a high-performing team,” he says.

This incompetence can be separated into two types: ethical and unethical. While ethical leaders tend to be well-meaning, they might lack the ability or expertise to make a positive impact. Unethical leaders, on the other hand, might be smart, technically qualified and socially adept – yet morally corrupt.

“Many bosses are narcissistic, psychopathic, passive aggressive, or just emotionally volatile – but we shouldn’t forget that some are just clueless or incapable of doing their job, even if they are decent human beings,” he says. 

He agrees with Patel that one of the best pieces of advice HR practitioners can follow in these situations is to “learn to know, and even understand, your boss”. 

Be strategic with feedback

Having “transparent, blanket policies for no-nonsense behaviour” is one way to keep leaders in check, says Patel. This means making it clear how colleagues should be treated, and setting out the ‘dos and don’ts’ of good behaviour.

“For example, in a sales organisation, you might say, ‘We value those people who bring in a high volume of sales, but at the same time we value people who share the secrets of getting the sales – those who share the knowledge and create a good work environment’.

“Highlight the softer issues, the behaviour and attitudes that are important, rather than just the performance angle.”

Implementing 360-degree feedback, which is taken into account during performance appraisals, also allows other employees to report on a boss’s behaviour – without it getting back to them.

By tapping into this feedback, HR practitioners can help leaders become more self-aware, and hopefully address some of their negative behaviours.

“If within your 360-degree feedback you have behavioural scales, those issues can be picked up during a performance appraisal by HR managers – particularly those who are trained in psychology or who have a psychology background – and used to help make them better managers,” says Patel.

Not all leaders

Managing up isn’t only required when ego is involved. It can also be necessary if you work with a particularly risk averse leader, or someone who is only a few weeks into the job. You need to get things done, but they’re dragging their heels. How do you manage it?

Again, it’s about understanding the causes of their behaviour, says Patel.

“That person might be risk averse because they think the company doesn’t have the right infrastructure in place, or the right resources in terms of people and their skills, to make that decision. 

“So it’s important to find out why …  That is something one does with line managers, operations managers and HR practitioners. It’s just like with personality disorders – discover the underlying reasons.”

• A Productivity Commission report which investigated how the move to working from home may impact Australia’s economy and wages suggests employees could accept wage cuts to continue to work from home.
• But experts say Australia’s skills shortage is more likely to see pay increases with remote work, particularly in sectors like tech.
• A recent survey from LinkedIn shows almost 40% of Australians now expect flexibility from their employer.

A Productivity Commission report released last week suggested that as workplaces transition toward flexibility, some employees might accept a drop in wages to continue to work from home. 

But experts say in Australia the reverse is more likely to be true. 

The commission’s report, which investigated “how the move to working from home may impact Australia’s economy generally and individuals’ income, employment opportunities and health and wellbeing” said the inadvertent experiment of widespread remote work had revealed it could “unlock significant gains”. 

In a media release accompanying the report, commission chair Michael Brennan flagged that moving forward, the option to work remotely would become a key factor for prospective employees.

“For many employees, working from home arrangements will be a factor in deciding which job to take,” Brennan said, adding that “some employees have even indicated they would be prepared to take less pay in return for the ability to work from home.”

However recruitment experts say while such practices have kicked off overseas, it’s unlikely Australian companies would implement such policies. 

In August, reports emerged that US-based employees at tech giant Google would see changes in pay if they switched to working from home permanently. 

In recent months Facebook and Twitter also cut pay for remote employees in the US who had moved to less expensive areas since the start of the pandemic.

“Our compensation packages have always been determined by location, and we always pay at the top of the local market based on where an employee works from,” a Google spokesperson said at the  time, adding that pay will differ from city to city and state to state.

Research from LinkedIn shows the long-term impact of the pandemic will be increased demand for flexible work from Australian workers.

It found that almost two in five Australians (39%) who have been asked to return to the office have asked their employer for flexibility. 

The findings also suggest workers are no longer willing to work for employers who don’t provide flexibility, with 45% of Australian workers who have an office will continue to work from home in a part or full-time capacity to avoid commuting. 

LinkedIn also found that 13% of employees who were asked to return to the office after working from home during the pandemic considered quitting their job, while 7% chose to resign instead of returning to the office.

Skills shortage could impact remote work pay

Jonathan Jeffries, director at startup growth and talent firm Think and Grow, which works with Australian VC firm Blackbird and start-up art marketplace Redbubble, told Business Insider Australia that trends suggested that it was more likely prospective employers would use flexibility as a bargaining tool, particularly in the tech and startup space.

“From our world in technology and specifically fast growth tech, we are not seeing this at all,” Jeffries said. 

He said that, combined with globally-focused hiring strategies and the pinch of Australia’s skills shortage — the result of 18 months of closed borders — more companies would be pushed to use increased pay as a means of attracting remote talent. 

In June Business Insider Australia reported that closed international borders were leading companies to resort to adding additional incentives on job offers to try to fill vacancies, with in-demand Australian developers negotiating as much as six-figure raises on job offers. 

Jeffries said this was likely to continue, and extend beyond just tech. 

“Talent is asking for more money and a flexible location, particularly in Australia where the loss of international talent has created a skills shortage,” he said. 

The report itself also hedged on how flexibility changes were likely to impact compensation.

“In practice, there are some reasons to doubt whether a negotiated pay reduction would be a realistic outcome,” the report said. 

“First, the valuations expressed in surveys do not always translate into real world behaviour. Second, nominal wage reductions are uncommon.

“In any event, there is also some doubt as to whether such a reduction in labour income would persist – as firms and workers gain individual and collective experience with working from home, the productivity of home-based work is likely to increase, putting upward pressure on wages.”

Jeffries said the future of work in Australia was likely to show changes that moved flexibility culture to be more in-line with countries like the UK where flexible work was the norm rather than the exception.

“I don’t believe there is a strong argument that exists for employees to accept less for flexibility,” he said.

“We live in a world where we can in fact achieve both and use this to drive productivity rather than hinder it.”

In any startup, the interviewing process can be one of the most time-consuming activities there is. Though time-consuming, it is also critical, as it ensures that you are bringing on the best talent to set your company up for success. 

Unless you have an in-house recruiter, typically the founder, co-founder or department leader ends up being the one in charge of the recruitment efforts and screening of candidates. If you are balancing several other initiatives, a few questions arise. How do you ensure that you nail down the interview process? How can you ask the right questions to understand the full scope of who your candidates are? How do you know that ultimately you are making the right decision? 

Think of everything you are trying to accomplish. You want to know about a person’s qualifications, skills and background, but you also want to find out what kind of person the interviewee is. Will he or she fit into the company culture? Will he or she cope under pressure? Does he or she think outside the box? Will he or she stay committed for the long haul? 

At this point, many interviewees are familiar with the common questions that come up, even the ones that are designed to encourage them to think on their feet. Between LinkedIn, Glassdoor and similar resources, they can actually already know the questions you are going to ask. This allows them to pre-plan their answers and ultimately will not give you the real insight on who the candidate is at his or her core. 

To get people to really open up, they need to be asked truly unconventional questions.

If you want your next round of potential hires to give you unique and insightful answers to inform your decision, take a look at the questions below.

1. What is one fundamental truth that you believe in that the majority of the world disagrees with? 

A famous interview question by one of the most successful entrepreneurs and venture capitalists of all time, Peter Thiel, this question shows if the candidate can stand alone in his or her beliefs. Does the candidate have his or her own original thoughts and is he or she unafraid to stand by them? In an interview setting, it’s tempting to simply say what the employer wants to hear, but this demonstrates if an interviewee is confident enough to stand his or her ground.

It can turn the conversations towards politics, society, ethics, morals. This question quite simply demands honesty as it requires quick thinking and confidence. It often brings out a passionate answer with the right candidate and is a great strategy to find free thinkers and passionate people whom you would want to work with.

2. If I gave you $100 million right now, would you be in this seat? 

It’s a big picture one, but also a bit of a trick question. If the candidate gives the honest answer, which is 99% of the time “no,” he or she will usually go on to discuss the things he or she is passionate about, and he or she will inevitably talk about what matters to him or her in his or her personal life. In some cases, it gives you an insight into an entrepreneurial trait as the candidate may decide to go the route of using the money to start a business. 

If the candidate's answer is “yes,” the interviewer must dig into this to decide if it is a lie. If not, then you can conclude he or she is truly passionate about the company and the role. But let’s be honest, this is rarely the case. You can also follow up with questions like, “Why wouldn’t you

just go do this yourself with that kind of capital, rather than working for someone else?” Or lead into a series of questions that ask the candidate about how he or she would do things differently with these kinds of monetary resources. This is a great question to determine someone’s authenticity and learn more about his or her passions. Both answers can prompt equally great responses that give you different types of insight. 

3. Describe your sense of humor 

This one is always a lot of fun but tends to make people nervous. Everyone knows his or her sense of humor, but it’s often something that takes a while to come out in the workplace. This very quickly provides an insight into how a candidate might fit in the company culture, and typically candidates can share their answers very quickly and honestly. 

It tends to bring a few laughs as well, which is a great way to allow a candidate to feel more comfortable. There is no wrong answer to this question, but it does allow you to see if someone may not be the best fit for the company culture. If you aren’t laughing by the end of this answer, or if it doesn’t prompt some type of authentic banter, the candidate may not be the right fit. 

4. Why would we not hire you for this role? 

This is a variation to the common question of “What is your biggest weakness?” It encourages the candidate to be honest with his or her weaknesses and not give a generic answer. It’s a great opportunity to have him or her think introspectively and talk through concerns that are raised as a result. Another way to ask this is: “If you and I had been best friends, and I knew everything about you, what would I be concerned about when I had to make a decision to hire you?”

When a candidate doesn’t have time to prepare for an answer, it often manifests in many answers and leads to productive rambling. This is when the truth comes out as there’s no time to polish the response.

5. What is your purpose both personally and professionally?

This is a question that needs to be asked confidently or it may come off as a little too forthcoming. However, it can also be the most impactful. This is where the interviewer gets to learn about where the individual wants to go in life and what he or she wants to accomplish. Again, it is an alternative way to ask the common question of “Where do you see yourself in three to five years” and get answers that are much more personal and authentic. Big answers here earn big points. You want to bring dreamers and doers into your company who act and operate with purpose. 

6. Bonus question

A bonus tactic to layer on top of these interview questions is to keep digging for answers. Never stop at face value; if you continue to press, you will find what candidates did not prepare for. One tactic, especially with “Tell me about a time” questions, is to ask for another example on top of the first one they gave you. Then, after you receive your second answer, ask a third time. Most people tend to have one to two answers prepared, but the idea is to keep pushing until you get a truly authentic response or no response at all. 

By asking these unconventional interview questions, it keeps potential candidates on their toes, encourages honesty and allows the interviewer to gain some valuable insight into potential hires. Always remember that interviewing is a two-way street and that you are both deciding whether or not you are a good fit for each other. In that spirit, it only makes sense to be direct, honest and sometimes vulnerable. When people are put on the spot, they can produce their best responses and may just say exactly what you want to hear, or the thing you were least expecting. 

Remote work doesn’t mean performance appraisals shouldn’t go ahead, but they do require more forward planning. Here’s what HR needs to know about virtual performance management.

In a standard performance management discussion, there’s already a vast amount to consider. An employee’s progress to date, their goals, the company’s objectives, and opportunities to upskill all need to be covered off.

Add remote work to the mix and things get a little more complicated. Suddenly, working from home arrangements, the possibility of juggling work with homeschooling, and an alarming surge in mental health issues, are all considerations that might need to be factored into virtual performance management discussions, too.

“I think the business needs to be empathetic to an employee’s position… We know people are working from home, and there are additional challenges, says Niall Kennedy, Director of Preferred Training Network. 

“But you need to still be clear in your expectations, and reflect on their performance.”

HRM recently shared some of the legal considerations to keep in mind when conducting virtual performance management meetings. Now we’re looking into the practical considerations of running performance management remotely.

Although a similar set of processes and steps apply regardless of whether performance management is being conducted in person or remotely, there are some additional points that employers should tick off their checklist before heading into a performance review.

Set expectations

Performance management traditionally took a retrospective view of an employee’s performance, and was often designed to address underperformance.

While performance management now tends to be a wider discussion that encompasses an employee’s career trajectory and future development, there will still typically be areas of improvement that factor into the discussion.

This means, before entering a virtual performance management conversation, most employees are going to be feeling some degree of apprehension.

In a virtual performance management meeting, some employees might have privacy concerns about a situation transpiring that couldn’t occur in a face-to-face setting. For example, an employee could worry about the presence of others in the room, says Kennedy, such as people sitting outside the camera’s view.

“They might be looking at their manager, but there could also be a lawyer and a redundancy expert on either side,” says Kennedy. “This could be a very real fear for some employees.”

While the vast majority of employers wouldn’t be so duplicitous, it’s possible this scenario could cross an employee’s mind.

To allay their fears, it’s best to inform the employee of exactly who will be present and what their role will be before the meeting takes place.

“Set the expectations beforehand by saying, ‘This will be a conversation about your performance to date and how we can help you grow from here. It will just be you and I on the call,’” says Kennedy. “Or flag that the HR manager will be there too, if that’s the case.”

Managers should take the time to create a soothing environment by ensuring there is minimal noise or background distractions, such as kids or pets roaming around.

“There’s nothing worse for an employee than having a remote performance management discussion with a manager who hasn’t set the environment properly,” says Kennedy.

“Ten minutes before the conversation, look at your setup and think about what you need to change in your environment so the other person doesn’t have their horns up straight away.”

Better yet, consider whether a video call is the best medium to hold a performance management discussion. 

Video conferencing has become the default option but in striving to build a calming setting for performance management to take place, it’s worth asking the employee whether they would feel more at ease with a phone call. While it’s always best to offer employees a choice, many experts advise sticking with video conferencing, since it can create a more personal and familiar atmosphere.

While some employees may be able to breeze through these meetings relatively quickly and with ease, others might take longer to ease into a virtual performance management discussion, so to be safe, set aside a generous chunk of time for the conversation. This will also allow ample time for any questions at the end.

Setting aside a good amount of time for this meeting also indicates that you are making the employee’s development a priority and not simply scheduling a meeting so it can be ticked off your to-do list.

Measuring performance

In advance of a performance appraisal, employees should be reassured that despite the change in setting, virtual performance management will still cover the same material as a face-to-face one, says Kennedy. This includes reflecting on previous and current performance, strengths, areas of improvement and goal-setting.

What might need adjustment, however, are the KPIs, which will need to align with the change in circumstances.

Pre-pandemic expectations placed on an employee might differ from current expectations that would be considered achievable in today’s climate. 

If an employee is in a sales role, for example, they might struggle to hit the sales targets they would reach in an ordinary year due to business closures.

In this vein, if your company has a rating system, consider whether it might be appropriate to suspend ratings, even if temporarily, to acknowledge that people can’t always give 100 per cent when working in a challenging and uncertain environment.

In a Harvard Business Review article on virtual performance management, Dr Anna Tavis, Clinical Associate Professor and Academic Director of Human Capital Management Department at New York University  suggests opting for a “flexible system that recognises the hardships that many people are enduring”, and doing “more of a narrative assessment” including their strengths and areas of improvement.

Frequency of virtual performance management

While you might be preparing for a formal performance management conversation, bear in mind that regular check-ins and informal development discussions should be occurring on a more frequent basis.

“Do performance management every day rather than once in every blue moon virtually,” says Kennedy. “If you communicate daily, you’re setting expectations and frequently reflecting on their performance.”

This creates a continual cycle of feedback and helps to ensure issues don’t build up without being addressed along the way.

“Performance management should be a way to bridge the gap – an employee is doing X, but you think they should be doing Y.”

This is also a great opportunity to clarify your expectations of the employee, and what you’d like to see from them in the next three-six months as role ambiguity can not only lead to disengagement, Kennedy says it’s also the number one cause of conflict in the workplace.

A discrepancy in understanding about work responsibilities is often reason for conflict whether performance management is happening in-person or remotely, but issues might slip under the radar more easily in a virtual environment when managers have limited oversight.

For this reason, managers might need to seek  additional inputs, such as peer feedback and self-evaluations, when conducting virtual performance reviews.

Doing so will allow them to paint a fuller picture of an employee’s performance in a remote setting in the absence of physical cues about metrics such as productivity or communication skills.

Tavis recommends asking: “How is this employee proactively communicating? How are they connecting with clients and colleagues? Who are they helping? 

“Put those [positive] questions front and centre.”

Should you consider these micro-behaviours as personal foibles or ticking time bombs?

Workplaces are awash in interpersonal micro-behaviours occurring between employees. Many of them can be positive, but there are also plenty of negative examples that can slowly erode your workplace culture. 

A portion of these negative interpersonal behaviours are the product of employees’ personalities. For example, an overly social employee may have a tendency to engage in too much small talk during work hours, distracting their colleagues. 

While these micro-behaviours are different to the impacts of overt harassment and bullying, a when left unchecked, they can still have far-reaching consequences.

Avoiding the snowball effect

I’ve previously conducted a review of interpersonal behaviours that managers and HR professionals should seek to understand, identify and be willing to address. 

The review involved a post hoc analysis of 250+ organisational consulting matters (workplace mediations, team and individual assessments and wellness reviews), that were conducted over more than twenty years, in organisations with employees from entry level to senior management. 

I repeatedly encountered eight negative interpersonal micro-behaviours that were contributing to adverse impacts on the workplace. 

Here’s a summary of what I found:

1. Interrupting others.

A habit of interrupting others in the workplace, whether in meetings or in small discussions, has the potential to impact communications and workplace relationships more broadly. Other than cutting colleagues off, this behaviour can also take the form of an employee asking questions of their co-workers but not allowing sufficient time for them to respond before speaking again.

2. Negative body language.

As social beings, we can be very sensitive to the non-verbal cues that we receive from others and often that leads us to jump to conclusions about their intentions or perceptions of us. Negative body language, such as rolling of eyes when a coworker is speaking or looking disinterested, can lead the recipient to feel disrespected.

Another example could be failing to turn towards someone while communicating with them. When someone is speaking with or listening to a coworker with their back turned towards them, without clear eye contact, this sends a clear non-verbal message that they’re simply not interested, don’t like them or don’t deem them important enough to give their full attention to. Repetition of these negative body languages has the potential to impact work relationships and communication.

3. Irritable or arrogant demeanour.

An employee perceived to have a habitually arrogant or irritable demeanour will impact others around them. Such a negative demeanour may be experienced by others as salient, or it may manifest incongruently beneath a friendly façade.

Regardless of how it appears, coworkers can be affronted by someone with demeanour of irritability or arrogance, and will often respond with avoidance or negativity. This behaviour could signal that an employee is dealing with ongoing difficulties in their life. Regardless, such negative interpersonal micro-behaviours will likely have an impact on communication and teamwork.

4. Complaining or gossiping about others.

A pattern of complaining about another employee without speaking to them directly is a type of gossip that can be particularly corrosive in the workplace. This behaviour can impact workplace relationships and create conflict situations.

5. Inappropriate humour or offensive comments.

An employee may periodically make inappropriate comments or jokes that others find offensive. These can be sexual in nature, racist or otherwise insensitive. In some cases, the employee may not even be aware that they have been offending their co-workers because they have not been informed or have failed to pick up on others’ non-verbal cues.

6. Lack of greetings.

When someone walks into a room and doesn’t acknowledge others, or leaves the room without saying goodbye, you get the sense that they A) Haven’t noticed you, or B) Don’t deem you important enough to acknowledge. The matter is compounded when some co-workers are routinely greeted by the employee while others receive no response. If the individual who greets others unequally is a supervisor or manager, their behaviour can breed a culture of favouritism.

7. Offering unsolicited advice.

When an employee is repeatedly giving unsolicited advice to others, the recipient may see the advice-giving employee as being officious and ignore the advice. Frequently, the advice giver is not aware of this impact on others and can even believe they’re being helpful. Unfortunately, this is often experienced as negative and, when recurring, can harm communications and teamwork.

8. Not completing required work in a timely manner.

When employees continuously fail to meet deadlines, it can be of significant concern. Although, this may not be an interpersonal behaviour per se – it’s more of a performance issue – it nevertheless becomes an interpersonal behaviour since it occurs between employees and can lead directly to tensions and conflict in the workplace. 

Where can you identify these micro-behaviours?

In many cases, these micro-behaviours may be long-term patterns of behaviour.

They’re also often an early warning sign that tensions are developing between specific employees. In either case, they can be ‘ticking time bombs’ that the organisation needs to identify and address before something blows up. 

Many of these behaviours can be observed in meetings or collaborative work projects – situations where power and group dynamics are at play. So HR and managers should keep their eyes peeled in those environments.

In some instances, the behaviours may be reported to the manager by others. In this case, it’s best if the behaviours can also be observed directly by the manager to obviate any issues of hearsay.  

While most managers are trained and equipped to manage bigger workplace complaints – such as claims of bullying or sexual harassment – ironically, the smaller, seemingly less significant, issues can be harder to respond to.

Tackling the issue head on

What inhibits a manager from addressing the matter before it escalates? In my review, I came across two main reasons.

The first is that not all managers are fully cognisant of the potential for these types of behavioural patterns to lead to longer term negative impacts. 

Secondly, managers may be reluctant to raise such issues out of concern that it will offend employees or cause tension. If we can find a way to avoid unnecessary pain or discomfort, many of us will opt for the avoidance route, but that doesn’t help anyone. 

It’s often only when a situation has escalated and is affecting others that managers feel they have the remit to address the behaviour with the employee. 

While these aren’t always comfortable conversations, they can be made a little easier if you follow these steps.

First, educate the managers of the risks of not addressing these issues – i.e. a culture of gossip almost always leads to distrust and impacts your ability to create a psychologically safe workplace.

Next, organise a meeting with the employee and provide feedback regarding the observed behaviours. Here are some things to keep in mind when relaying this feedback:

• The session should be conducted in a private setting, not in a team meeting.
• As the manager, it’s best if the feedback comes from your own observations rather than what you’re heard from another employee.
• It is important to approach the meeting in an objective manner and ask the employee about the behaviour and obtain their understanding of it. The next step will depend on what they say in response.
  In some cases, there may be reasons for its occurrence that can be worked through with the manager. For example, perhaps someone who has a tendency to offer unsolicited advice is doing so because they’re dealing with their own self-confidence issues or they  may have a reasonable concern that their co-worker is not performing and it is impacting the team.
• If they genuinely weren’t aware of their behaviour and want to do something about it, that’s great. The manager can then offer support to the employee and support them with a plan to work on the behaviour.
  For example, if someone admits to being a micromanager, you could help them to set goals around how they can be more hands off, even if just in certain situations.If they deny it and/or take offense, then depending on the situation, there will need to be follow up conversations to address the matter to attain a suitable outcome. In this instance, you might involve the employee’s manager/team members.

If you’re looking for more tips for making this meeting a success, HRM has previously written a step-by-step article on having difficult conversations at work.

It’s also important that feedback is incorporated into your culture, so employees are more amenable to it in one-on-one settings. To do this, you could make it part of your onboarding processes to mention that feedback and consistent check-in meetings occur periodically and are intended to support all employees.

What are some of the common micro-behaviours in your workplace and how do you deal with it? Let us know in the comment section.

Research released on Thursday by the commission shows working just one day a week at home rather than in the office saves the equivalent of seven working days in travel time and $394 in public transport costs over a year.

Before the pandemic about 8 per cent of employees had a formal work-from-home arrangement, with people working a median of one day a week from home.

But the advent of lockdowns to stop the spread of COVID-19 has resulted in a huge increase in the number of people forced to work from their residence. The commission estimates about 40 per cent of people worked from home, with many saying they were happy with the situation.

Almost a third of people would like to work three days a week at home while 20 per cent would like their entire working week to be home-bound.

The commission’s chair, Michael Brennan, said although it was unlikely such a large number of Australians would continue to work from home, there was little doubt the pandemic had awakened many people and their employers to the opportunities of working from their home office.

He said on balance it appeared there were productivity gains from home working while the financial benefits were obvious to many Australians who were no longer spending hours in a car on their daily commute.

While previous working trends had taken years to become established, it appeared the support for working from home had occurred almost overnight.

• Australian cities will likely remain business hubs despite the long-term adoption of remote work, says a new Productivity Commission report.
• Central business districts will adapt to the disruption of the pandemic, which has seen a spike in working from home.
• The economic benefits of workers “clustering together” are expected to remain, it says.

The death of Australia’s central business districts has been greatly exaggerated, according the Productivity Commission, which suggests inner-city offices will remain desirable through the work-from-home revolution.

In a report released Thursday, the Commission said “the central workplace will remain the dominant model for the foreseeable future.”

Cities will adapt to the workplace disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, despite the pandemic proving that “many people could do their jobs at home just as well as in the office.”

The proportion of workers who conducted their duties from home shot from 8 per cent pre-pandemic to as high as 40%, the Commission notes.

The immediate impacts of this “forced experiment” on Australia’s CBDs are obvious.

Office occupancy rates plummeted during the extended lockdowns of 2020, and have taken another battering through the current restrictions facing NSW, Victoria, and the ACT.

While the long-term ramifications are hard to predict, the Commission suggests working from home, at least some of the time, will stabilise above pre-pandemic levels even when restrictions are finally eased.

The rapid maturation of communication software and new management practices means “new business opportunities are opening up in the suburbs and regional areas” for those capable of working from home.

Some businesses, which rely on foot traffic to operate, may eventually consider relocating to suburbs and the regions — which have faced significant growth in the past 18 months, thanks to some workers seeking a ‘treechange’ through lockdowns.

And productivity, oft cited by managers as a mark against remote work arrangements, is likely to lift overall.

“So while the impact on productivity of working from home for an individual worker is ambiguous, it is plausible that at the economy-wide level, productivity will not be adversely affected to any material degree by a sustained increase in working from home, and could generally rise,” the report states.

Australian tech giants including Canva and Atlassian have already embraced this form of hybrid work.

Even so, Australia’s CBDs are unlikely to be rendered obsolete by remote work arrangements, the Commission says.

Hybrid working models, which prioritise in-person meetings for collaborative tasks and remote work for individual ones, will bolster demand for centralised office spaces.

The benefits of “agglomeration” — the secondary economic benefits gained by close-knit, inner-city work — will also convince some firms to stay close to traditional business districts.

The ability for businesses to share infrastructure, the efficient sorting of human resources through “matching labour” to appropriate positions, and the benefits of “serendipitous” encounters are all present in the city, it states.

And office rents, which have fallen through the pandemic as some firms moved exclusively to remote work, may entice other businesses to snap up a deal.

“While increased working from home may change how cities work to some extent, the economic benefits of
people clustering together are expected to remain,” the report states.

Although Australia’s cities are unlikely to crumble because of changing office habits, the report also suggests further work must be done to ensure working from home is equitable across pay grades, education levels, and for those with caring duties.

Further tweaks to how working from home may shift work-life balances must also be taken into account, the report notes.

According to a Microsoft survey of 30,000 workers globally, 41% of workers are considering quitting or changing their professions this year. In April, a record 4 million people quit their jobs, with another 3.9 million in June. This is what has been dubbed as the "Great Resignation." 

Why the Great Resignation is happening

The pandemic has facilitated a shift in priorities for most people. It has served as a wake-up call for most workers as they have been somewhat less engaged at their workplaces. This has given them a chance to explore the infinite opportunities available. This could be a dream job, better pay, more flexibility, better culture or even a more suitable location. The motivations are numerous, and as most organizations are requiring employees to go back to the office, people are re-evaluating their options.

The relationship between the Great Resignation and employee retention

According to a recent survey by Monster, a whopping 95% of employees, motivated by the Covid-19 pandemic, want to seek a change in terms of their job and life in general. The survey has unearthed the following as the core reasons for this shift:

• More flexibility: After working from home for months, employees are seeking more flexibility and freedom in terms of where they work from. Most people — especially young folk — want to work from home for a couple of days a week instead of commuting every day of the week.
• Better quality of life and wellbeing: Most employees have enjoyed an improved quality of life while working from home during the pandemic. Hence, they aren't willing to resume the monotony of the office environment.
• Burnout and fatigue: Sometimes, employees experience fatigue and burnout when balancing a 9-5 with family life.
• Bad treatment: For some, the decision to leave their jobs is due to poor treatment by their employer throughout the pandemic.

While employee turnover is normal, the Great Resignation can blindside companies if they do not seek to understand and address the individual motivations driving this shift.

Why employee retention is critical in the technology industry

It has been reported that resignations in the technology industry have increased since the onset of the pandemic. A major problem with the technology industry is the scarcity of talent, with the industry giants having snatched a huge chunk of the best talent. The tech industry is very competitive, with companies competing for the same talent. Even with the economic shifts caused by the pandemic, it's imperative that technology companies focus on retaining their current talent. With the specialized nature of this industry, losing talent not only comes at a high cost but also means losing unique skills and talent that may be hard to find. You may also lose employees to your competitor's advantage.

How can companies combat the 'Great Resignation'?

1. Extend remote work opportunities

For most employees, the past year is proof that they don't have to be at the office to be productive. While most may be missing the opportunity to socialize with their fellow workmates, a huge number have no intention of working from the office every day of the week. One survey indicates that 39% of employees surveyed would consider quitting their job if their employer doesn't avail an opportunity to work remotely. And the figure goes up to 49% for Gen Zs and millennials. This has forced companies like Twitter to offer an opportunity to work from home perpetually.

2. Invest in supporting your distributed workforce

Even for organizations that extend a remote work option, transitioning to a hybrid work environment can be challenging. Though the technological infrastructure may be in place, lots of shifts are required to successfully support this new way of working. The first step should be training managers to lead hybrid teams successfully.

3. Re-evaluate career development policies

World-changing events like the Covid-19 pandemic are enough to make anyone re-evaluate their priorities in life. You may not be able to retain every employee, but you can take significant steps to help employees make meaningful career decisions. As an employer, employees should feel free to discuss their career and life goals with you.

It's important to note that employee turnover is inevitable. However, it is a problem when companies are unable to retain their best talent, which is bound to negatively impact their bottom line. With industries like technology being heavily impacted by the 'Great Resignation', every company must devise strategies to retain talent.

We ask questions all the time. When is the presentation? Did you get my notes from the meeting? These are straightforward, fact-finding questions, and they get straight-forward, fact-based answers. (It’s at 3. Yes.) It shouldn’t be surprising that my company, JotForm, sees more than two million user questions per hour.

But a thoughtful, well-posed question has tremendous power; opening the doors to innovation, building cohesion among team members and shining light on the dark corners of misunderstanding. 

Even so, many of us still shy away from asking questions, despite how invaluable they can be. Experts offer several explanations for why this is: Some people are egocentric and more interested in sharing their own points of view. Others are overconfident, assuming they already know the answers. Then there’s the other end of the spectrum: Those who worry that they’ll ask the wrong question and be perceived as incompetent. 

“There are so many vulnerabilities surrounding this,” Warren Berger, author of A More Beautiful Question and The Book of Beautiful Questions, tells Forge. “It can really feel like questions are a dangerous thing.”

In fact, the opposite is true — the most successful people in the world ask questions constantly. If you’re not a natural question-asker, learning how can seem daunting. As the mathematician Georg Cantor points out in the quote above, asking good questions is an art. And with practice, it can be mastered. Here’s how to get started. 

Be specific 

Before you ask a question to someone else, it’s important to first figure out what you’re trying to learn. If you’re not sure, it’s unlikely that the person you’re asking will either. 

Most questions can be divided into three types: Factual, opinion or request. Each carries its own message. Asking a factual question shows that the other person has information we don’t; asking an opinion indicates we value their perspective; and making a request implies that we need help. Once you’ve gotten to the heart of what question you’re asking, consider who you’re asking, and whether they’re in the right position to answer it or not. 

As a leader, asking questions can feel like a giveaway that you don’t have all the answers. Which, obviously, you don’t. But far from projecting weakness, asking questions is actually not only a great way to gather valuable information; it shows your team that you respect and trust them. 

Don’t be afraid to clarify 

It’s often the case that asking a single question isn’t enough. Maybe the answer was overly technical; maybe you realized that you didn’t ask the precise right question after all. It happens! 

If the answer you receive leaves room for ambiguity, you’ll need to clarify. Usually, these questions are either open, in which you ask the speaker to elaborate on part of their point; or closed, in which you repeat the ambiguous part of the message back and ask for confirmation that you understood it correctly. 

When asking for clarification, make it clear you’re simply trying to understand, rather than blame the answerer for answering poorly. After all, you’re both working toward the same goal, which is to understand each other. 

Conversation vs. interrogation

There’s a fine line between showing your interest in what someone has to say and making them feel like they’re being bombarded. Rather than asking questions at a machine gun clip, take some time after you’re answered to consider what you just heard. Remember, it’s a conversation, not an interrogation. 

Keeping questions open-ended is a good way to avoid “yes” or “no” answers, and also allow for more creative responses. According to Alison Wood Brooks and Leslie K. John, both professors at Harvard Business School, these kinds of questions can be “wellsprings of innovation.” 

On the other hand, survey design research has shown that “closed” questions can introduce bias and manipulation — leading the witness, so to speak. In one study, in which parents were asked what they considered  “the most important thing for children to prepare them in life,” 60 percent chose “to think for themselves” from a list of possible responses. In contrast, when the same question was asked in an open-ended format, only about five percent of parents gave a response along those lines. 

Find the right tone

Different circumstances call for different modes of questioning, and how you ask a question can be just as important as what you ask. Overly direct questions that seem to come from out of the blue can make people clam up, but beating around the bush can lead to frustration on both ends. Brooks and John found that people are actually more willing to reveal sensitive information when questions are asked in a decreasing order of intrusiveness — as long as the first question isn’t too sensitive. It’s a balance. 

The same goes for context. If you’re making an important request, you’ll want to pick a time when the other person isn’t in the middle of something else or in a noisy, crowded environment. 

Keep quiet

In general, it’s a good idea not to interrupt people while they’re talking to you. This becomes even more true when they’re trying to answer a question that you asked. Interrupting sends a clear message that you don’t value what they’re saying, and also keeps you from hearing what they might have said. 

If the conversation seems to be meandering from the topic you want to focus on, gently guide it back. There’s a difference between doing this and cutting someone off mid-sentence because you had a thought of your own to add. Save your own thoughts and questions for when the answerer is done talking — then, wait a beat beyond that to make sure they’ve truly finished their thought. Sometimes that extra pause yields the most important thing a person was going to say. 

People who ask questions have higher emotional intelligence and a greater understanding of the world around them — plus, people like them more. If you become a good question asker, there’s no end to the knowledge you have the power to unlock.