Are you a splitter or a blender?

Research: Flexible Work Is Having a Mixed Impact on Employee Well-Being and Productivity

According to Gallup research, workers around the world who are working in hybrid or remote roles say they experience more stress and anger than their colleagues who work onsite full-time. At the same time, these remote and hybrid employees say they’re consistently more engaged than full-time onsite workers. This presents a complicated challenge for company leaders: Full flexibility means employee well-being might be in jeopardy. But if you’re going to require employees to be in the office full-time, you may need to mitigate lower engagement and lower productivity. So what can organizations do to promote both well-being and productivity wherever employees are working? This article offers three strategies.

Harvard Business ReviewJeremie Brecheisen

The article by Jeremie Brecheisen in the Harvard Business Review highlights a key finding of Gallup's research regarding employee work style preferences: the distinction between "splitters" and "blenders."

• Splitters prefer a clear separation between work and personal life, working from 9 AM to 5 PM and attending to personal activities outside these hours.
• Blenders prefer to mix work and personal activities throughout the day.

The U.S. workforce is evenly split, with 50% preferring to be splitters and 50% preferring to be blenders. Preferences vary by job type: 45% of white-collar workers and 62% of blue-collar workers prefer to be splitters, while 55% of white-collar workers and 28% of blue-collar workers prefer to be blenders.

Understanding and accommodating these preferences can significantly impact employee well-being and engagement. Organizations need to accurately gauge employee preferences and design flexible work policies accordingly. Misalignment between work style preferences and actual work conditions can lead to higher burnout and turnover.