MISSION

Remote and hybrid work have profoundly transformed how we work, communicate, and connect with others. While these new ways of working offer greater flexibility and autonomy, they also create new challenges for employee well-being, from digital overload, telepressure, and video-call fatigue to more fragmented social connections.

These changes are also reshaping one of the most important relationships at work: the relationship between employees and their managers. Leading teams across physical and digital environments requires managers to rethink how they communicate, provide support, build trust, and maintain meaningful connections.

Our mission is to better understand these emerging challenges and explore how management practices can promote employee health and well-being. By identifying effective everyday practices, we aim to help create healthier, more supportive, and more sustainable workplaces where both employees and organizations can thrive.

Some Numbers... 

The New Reality of Work

The Leadership Challenge

25% of paid workdays are worked from home

In the U.S., about one in four paid workdays was a work-from-home day in April 2026.

26% of full-time employees work hybrid

Over the past year, 26% of full-time employees worked in a hybrid arrangement, compared with 12% fully remote and 62% fully on-site.

75% of HR leaders say managers are overwhelmed

Three in four HR leaders report that managers are overwhelmed by the expanding scope of their responsibilities.

64% of HR leaders say leadership development is not future-ready

Nearly two-thirds of HR leaders believe their organization’s current leadership development programs are not effective at preparing leaders for future challenges.

Source: WFH Research

Source: Gartner, Inc. 2024.

Themes

Leadership Practices

How do leadership styles emerge, how are they perceived by employees, and how do they shape the workplace? Our research examines how different forms of leadership are defined and measured, how they develop and are experienced, and how they influence employees, workplace relationships, and organizational dynamics.

Our research explores leadership approaches including:

  • Laissez-faire leadership

  • Authentic leadership

  • Leader neglect

Remote and Hybrid Work

What new challenges do managers face in navigating hybrid work? Our research examines how managers experience and adapt to remote and hybrid work, the challenges they encounter, and how different work arrangements and configurations shape managerial practices and the employee–manager relationship.

  • Managers’ experiences of remote work

  • Managerial challenges of hybrid work

  • Remote and hybrid work arrangements and configurations

Employee-Manager Relationships

How does hybrid work reshape relationships and integration at work? Our research examines how remote and hybrid work transform employee–supervisor relationships, including how trust, communication, and relationship quality evolve when employees and managers work apart. We also explore how newcomers build effective workplace relationships and integrate into their organizations when the workplace is partly virtual.

  • Employee–supervisor relationship quality in remote and hybrid work
  • Newcomer onboarding in hybrid work
  • Building effective workplace relationships in hybrid contexts

Employee Well-Being

Our research explores the benefits and challenges of hybrid work for employee well-being, examining how everyday work experiences can both enhance and undermine well-being. We investigate how daily work activities, managerial practices, and remote work arrangements shape employees’ experiences and ability to thrive.

  • Positive and negative effects of hybrid work
  • Daily work activities and employee well-being
  • Impact of managerial practices and of remote work arrangements

Impact

Enhancing Employee Well-Being

By identifying the everyday practices and management strategies that support well-being in hybrid settings, this research offers insights to reduce stress, prevent burnout, and promote healthier work environments.

Informing and Improving Leadership Practices

The goal is to advance knowledge on leadership practices, while helping leaders adapt to remote and hybrid work and foster trust, well-being, and engagement in the workplace.

Guiding the Transition to New Work Models

The research provides evidence-based recommendations for organizations to successfully implement and manage hybrid work arrangements, ensuring smooth onboarding, effective communication, and sustained performance.

Sources:

Barrero, Jose Maria, Nicholas Bloom, and Steven J. Davis, 2021. “Why working from home will stick,” National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper 28731. www.wfhresearch.com

Gartner, Inc. 2024. Top 5 Priorities for HR Leaders in 2025. Retrieved from https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2024-10-15-gartner-survey-finds-leader-and-manager-development-tops-hrleaders-list