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Dr. Linda Duxbury on the Future of Work

In today’s New Economy, few researchers have been as pivotal in examining the impact of workplace transformations as Dr. Linda Duxbury, Chancellor’s Professor in Carleton’s Sprott School of Business.

Photo of Linda Duxbury

Dr. Duxbury’s research on employee wellbeing originated in the 1980s, when teleworking – the process of working outside of your main office space – was rapidly gaining popularity.

After earning her PhD in Management, she received two large research grants to take a closer look at how the workplace was impacting employees and to better understand how employees felt about their organizations. For more than three decades, Dr. Duxbury has interviewed and collected survey data from over 150,000 Canadians on topics ranging from work-life balance to the evolution of the workplace.

When asked what drew her to these research topics, Dr. Duxbury explained that she’s a people person and has always been interested in how broader societal change impacts people’s relationships with their work.

“People instigate change, they respond to change, but they try not to, all of which is very interesting,” said Dr. Duxbury.

Her research currently focuses on topics related to changing work environments and global circumstances, and how this impacts recruitment, retention, stress levels, and engagement. She explained that, in 2024, companies who don’t manage their people well are dealing with financial consequences.

“The problem is that some organizations talk good management, but they don’t give people time to manage,” said Dr. Duxbury.

Dr. Duxbury gathered interview data from over 70 dual-career parents at 19 points in time during the COVID-19 pandemic and survey data from 100,000 employees. She said that organizations who want to support their workforce post-COVID and well into the future must acknowledge that employees at different life cycle stages will have vastly different wants and needs.

Instead of offering streamlined benefits to all, organizations can offer specific benefits for working parents, education benefits for employees who want to gain new skills, and other packages with built-in flexibility for greater employee wellbeing and satisfaction.

Now in the era of hybrid, remote, and flexible work arrangements, Dr. Duxbury advised that organizations should aim to capture the diversity of positions and people in their flexible work policies. While hybrid work is the most complicated to manage, Dr. Duxbury said that socialization, developing a workplace culture, and getting to know colleagues is key to employee satisfaction. It’s also important that employees who have hybrid arrangements are in the office on the same days as their peers.

“Nothing makes people angrier than coming to work on one of their in-office days and then having to spend all their time on a Zoom call,” Dr. Duxbury said. “Flexible work is not a simple problem, so you have to spend time to get it right,” said Dr. Duxbury.

Generational differences also play a role in how employees view their work. Watershed events – events marking a unique or important historical change of course – regularly impact people’s attitudes towards work too. Dr. Duxbury clarified that after COVID-19, employees across the board are putting more emphasis on their personal lives and loved ones than ever before.

“Everyone now puts family and life higher on their priority list, which has increased conflict, stress and turnover,” said Dr. Duxbury. “It also makes succession planning more difficult.”

When it comes to preparing for and adapting to the evolving landscape of work, employers can best support employees by acknowledging the unique needs of their workforce and building a culture that makes employees feel like they’re a part of something bigger.

“When we’re talking about professionals, they want to feel their work is more than just money and a paycheck. They want to feel they’re contributing.”