44% of UK employees said not being visible online caused them to feel stressed. There is a fear that if they are not visible, the perception is that they are not working. Visibility is the new currency for employees, but this means even taking a break creates anxiety.
When we are in the office it’s pretty obvious if we are working, even if we are not tapping away on our pc, our colleagues and importantly our managers can see if we are engaged in work. But it’s not so obvious if we are working from home. The only indicator that we are actually doing something, is if our status light says so. This means our status light is being used by employees to indicate they are working, and the perception is that employers are suspicious if the status light indicates that you are away from your desk, you’ve simply, got your feet up.
The truth is of course, that good managers trust their employees and just because their status light isn’t showing as active, they know that this could be for many different reasons; like reading a document, taking a business call, talking with colleagues or maybe using the loo. But if two thirds of employees are admitting to keeping their status light as ‘available’, even during breaks, are you communicating that trust to your team?
A lack of trust within organisations means employees can’t take a break without it causing stress.
