Over the last 2 years, COVID has had a severe impact on both private and work life, which Belgian jobsite StepStone has recorded extensively. A new study with over 2000 Belgian employees & managers now shows that the relationship between both parties has been under pressure in the same time period.
While there seems to be a clear mismatch between managers and their direct reports on multiple topics, 4 in 10 of employees have admitted that their professional relationship with their manager has gone downhill during COVID. With this study, StepStone aims to provide fresh insights for both groups in order to map out crucial aspects of the relationship and the impact COVID has had.
The (negative) impact of COVID on professional relationships
For a major portion of the surveyed employees (42%), the health crisis has been having a (severe) negative impact on their relationships with their managers. Yet, this is not the case for everyone, as 48% said that their relations have not worsened nor improved, but have simply stayed the same.
Interestingly, the remaining 1 in 10 employees stated that their relationship has changed in a positive way since the COVID crisis.
The reasons for improving or declining relationships according to employees
When asked what the main reasons were behind these evolutions, employees were clear:
For the negatively impacted relationships, employees stated that a lack of support from their manager during the crisis (according to 58%); a lack of rewards (52%), and increased stress due to their manager since the COVID crisis (46%) were key factors. Additional reasons mentioned were a lack of interaction with the management team (37%) and difficulties to feel engaged at work (27%).
Interestingly, almost 1 in 5 (17%) of employees whose relationship was negatively impacted, said that this happened due to an obligation to come back to the office, while 7% stated that the relationship had suffered due to overall boredom and loneliness while working remotely.
When asked for the main reasons for improvement in relationships, these employees stated that they felt more productive in their work during COVID (according 44%) and that they had more interactions with their manager (33%). Therefore, it makes senses that for 30%, their relation has improved due to the increased support from their manager. An additional interesting result: 15% of these employees said that the improvement came from there being more space between them and their manager.
A mismatch between employee and employer
To check both sides of the conversation, StepStone interviewed 244 Belgian managers. Half (50%) indicated that they felt no changes in their relationships since the start of the health crisis, similar to 48% of the surveyed employees. However, there seems to be a mismatch when looking at the positively and negatively impacted relationships according to both parties.
On the positively impacted relationships, more than 1 in 4 of managers (28%) felt that their relations with their direct reports have improved during the COVID crisis. Comparatively, only 10% of the surveyed employees said the same.
The difference becomes even more visible when looking at the negatively impacted relationships. “Only” 22% of managers said that their relationships with reports have worsened since COVID – while more than 4 in 10 of employees (42%) said the same.
Unfortunately, these are not the only points where the feelings on the assessment of the situation and impact of COVID differs.
Firstly, regarding the eagerness to come back to the office, the surveyed managers scored their own desire to return to the office a 7 out of 10. Employees, however, would rate their wish to come back to the office with their manager a 3,8 out of 10.
Secondly, regarding the effectiveness of communication with their manager while working from home, managers scored themselves a 7,2 out of 10. On average, the surveyed employees would give their managers a 4,5 out 10.
Lastly, a similar conclusion can be drawn when looking at the scores for the managers’ responses to the COVID situation. Managers would self-assess themselves as a 7,1 out of 10, while the surveyed employees gave them a 4,8 out of 10.
Employees suggest these changes to better relations in the future
StepStone also asked employees what a manager can do to establish a stronger working relationship.
According to all employees surveyed, a good working relationship consist of a clear and well-defined job description (54%), frequent one-to-one conversations with the manager (46%) and giving specific feedback on how he/she is doing (43%).
Unacceptable management behaviour would be disrespecting co-workers behind their backs (46%), taking credit for an employee’s work (46% as well), and making informal threats (37%), according to employees.
Methodology
StepStone completed this survey in November 2021. Our analysists have screened the data to ensure both the representation and the validity of respondents’ answers are accurate.
In total, there were 2,031 filled in surveys submitted in Dutch, French and English. Among them were 1,731 employees and 244 managers.