Dr. Sean Gallagher is one of Australia’s leading experts on the future of work. He works with leaders to help their businesses effectively leverage their workers in the digital economy and disrupted environments. This leads to improved complex problem solving, new idea generation and enhanced growth and impact. Based on national surveys of Australian workers, the twin reports “Peak Human Potential” (2019) and “Peak Human Workplace” (2021) set out how organisations can create value in the digital economy through reimagining work as a pathway to innovation. Both reports have been widely endorsed, including by APEC, Engineers Australia, TAFE Directors Australia. His research helps shape policy outcomes, including the Victorian Government Inquiry into the On-Demand Economy.
This year Sean has undertaken a comprehensive research study and released a report entitled ‘Hybrid working 2.0: Humanising the office’. The report reveals insights on the flexible working experiences of white-collar workers and what the office could look like in the future. Conducted in August during the second year of the pandemic, the survey also reveals how we’re currently balancing work across physical and virtual domains, the rise of flexible working, and the perceived purpose and importance of the physical office in a hybrid working future.
Our discussion with Sean covered the findings of the report and provides a very interesting insight into understanding the expectations that office workers now have in regards to their work arrangements.