‘Camera-shy hybrid and remote workers put careers at risk’

As we enter this challenging era of remote working, business executives are placing a premium on engagement. According to a survey carried out for UC analytics and room insights firm Vyopta, 92% of US executives report that employees who are less engaged, either frequently on mute or don’t turn on their camera during virtual meetings, probably don’t have a long-term future at their company.

It appears that executives view the lack of employee engagement as a sign of subpar performance to come, with 93% of executives saying employees who turn their camera off are generally less engaged in their work overall. Notably, more than two in five (44%) strongly agree with this.

The lack of engagement opens the door to executives making assumptions about employee behaviour. More than two in five executives (43%) suspect that employees who are on mute or off-camera entirely are browsing the internet or social media, texting or chatting (40%).

That said, many of these executives take responsibility for failing to keep their workers engaged. In fact, nearly half of them (46%) say they are not providing the tools to allow their workers to be as engaged as their in-person counterparts.

It's generally agreed that technology is essential for the promotion of greater collaboration. Most (54%) say their company established channels on messaging apps such as Slack or Teams to encourage further collaboration between colleagues. Half (50%) required more participation on virtual calls/meetings and another 50% instituted formal training on remote collaboration.

With plenty of work ahead to improve engagement, companies are going to continue to rely on technology to bridge the gap. In fact, 92% of executives say it’s extremely or very likely that their company will invest in technical solutions to increase engagement.