In Brief: Leadership Comms Can Boost Culture; Public Trust in News Media Drops

Communication from company leaders can establish a workplace culture that values respect and recognition, which in turn increases employee engagement and well-being, a new study says.

Researchers at the University of Missouri surveyed 1,512 full-time working adults, split almost evenly between men and women. Participants were asked to assess their supervisors’ communications, the level of respect in their workplace and whether individual employees receive recognition. Positive communication from leaders was associated with increased employee perceptions of a respectful workplace culture and of recognition for individual achievements, the study found.

Recognizing individual employees for their work is associated with better employee outcomes such as higher job engagement, well-being and resilience, while also helping to foster a culture in which employees respect one another’s contributions, the study’s authors wrote.

Such findings support the conclusions of an earlier study by the same research team, which found that workers ages 21-34 value respectful workplace communication more than they value trendy workplace perks. 

Poll Yields ‘Grim Assessment’ of Public Trust in News Media

The share of Americans who have zero confidence in the news media has surpassed the percentage who trust the media a great deal or a fair amount, a recent Gallup poll finds.

Just 32% of Americans say they trust the mass media “a great deal” or “a fair amount” to report the news in a fair and accurate way, the research finds. Another 29% say they have “not very much” trust in the news media, while a record-high 39% say they have “none at all,” which Gallup calls its grimmest assessment of the media since it first asked the question in 1972.

In the 1970s, public trust in the news media ranged from 68% to 72%. By 2004, it had fallen to 44% and has not risen above 47% since 2005, Gallup reports. Among Democrats polled, trust in the media fell 12 points over the past year, to 58%, compared to 11% among Republicans and 29% among independents. 

Many CEOs Expect Return to In-Office Work, But Employees Differ

A majority of CEOs (64%) predicts a full return to in-office work by the end of 2026, new research from KPMG finds. Only 7% of CEOs surveyed believe full-time remote work will continue long-term. According to KPMG, 87 percent of CEOs say they’re likely to reward employees who come into the office with favorable assignments, raises or promotions.

But as the Society for Human Resource Management writes, many office employees don’t want to work the pre-pandemic way. Sara Murdock, an executive at architectural firm Steinberg Hart, said the company’s 140 employees can work remotely but are requested to “be physically present during times that we are interacting with one another or in interactive-learning mode.”

Amanda Webster, chief operating officer of Fund&Grow, a Florida-based lending program with 55 employees, said remote work “had a negative impact on employee morale and their ability to separate work and home.” Now she only allows remote work for medical accommodations and when approved in advance. 

Hybrid Workers Stopping by Office for Coffee, Then Leaving

In a new workplace trend dubbed “coffee badging,” hybrid-work employees go into the office just long enough to socialize with co-workers or grab coffee, before leaving again. 

As CFO.com reports, in a survey by conferencing platform Owl Labs, 58% of hybrid-work respondents say they have engaged in coffee badging. Only 8% said they don’t coffee-badge, but would like to in the future.

According to the survey, baby boomers were least likely to coffee-badge at work. Millennials were the generation most likely to coffee-badge, with 63% admitting they show up in the office for the sake of being seen.

Nearly 29% of respondents said that to work in the office regularly they would expect a pay increase to offset their commuting costs. A quarter indicated they would forfeit 15% of their annual salary in exchange for flexible working conditions. 

According to Owl Labs, 68% of managers said their remote- and hybrid-work employees are missing out on impromptu or informal opportunities for feedback.— Greg Beaubien