More than 9 in 10 employees experience regular workplace friction, finds a recent report, with factors like technology and change creating hidden obstacles to performance and morale. Use these tips to tackle friction at its source.

Workplace friction is one of the most pervasive yet least visible barriers to performance.

Friction tends to accumulate gradually – through inefficient processes, disjointed systems or unclear communication – and it tends to be noticed only when it has already started to erode productivity and engagement.

A recent report by Dayforce, which surveyed 6000 workers, people managers and executives from six different countries, reveals that 92 per cent of employees experience friction in their work environment. 

The most common sources named by respondents were ineffective communication (41 per cent), overly complicated processes (25 per cent) and lack of resources (23 per cent). See the graph below for a full breakdown.

According to Rob Husband, Vice President ANZ at Dayforce, friction points like these often fly under the radar because they are absorbed into the everyday fabric of work.

“When organisations evolve, people [tend to] accept what’s around them,” he says. “You accept that you’ve got 18 different systems. You accept that you’ve got manual processes. And you don’t make a conscious link to the friction that creates – the impact on performance, on employees and on the bottom line.”

Too often, he says, employers dedicate all their efforts to fixing a “surface” problem, such as attrition or burnout, rather than looking at underlying issues that could be contributing to them, such as the accumulation of friction points impacting the employee experience. 

“Not a lot of organisations are joining the dots between the problem and friction in the ecosystem. If you just plug one hole in a bucket, water springs from another one.”

As a result, understanding and addressing friction requires a broader perspective, he says.

Below, Husband provides insight into the four main sources of friction employees are currently facing, and the steps HR can take to keep them in check.

1. Staffing friction

When resources are stretched, even a single absence can have a ripple effect across teams. 

The research shows more than two-thirds (69 per cent) of employees say that when someone calls in sick, there is often no one to cover their work. Meanwhile, three in 10 middle managers name workforce scheduling as one of their biggest challenges.

While most organisations (93 per cent) rely on contingent workers to manage scheduling gaps, the ongoing prevalence of staffing friction points to the need for a different solution, says Husband.

“A lot of the problems are actually symptomatic of friction, and organisations don’t necessarily quantify and measure all of the impacts,” he says. 

“[For example], maybe the CFO is happy that you’ve only rostered eight people on a certain day. But if you needed 11, what’s the impact on attrition? What’s the impact on revenue, or customer satisfaction, or employee sanity?”

Because staffing friction is easier to measure than most, he adds, metrics such as overtime rates, unplanned absences and turnover can help HR diagnose where operational friction points are emerging, and whether short-term fixes are masking longer-term issues.

“Not a lot of organisations are joining the dots between the problem and friction in the ecosystem. If you just plug one hole in a bucket, water springs from another one.” – Rob Husband, Vice President ANZ, Dayforce

2. Technology friction

Despite an influx of AI-powered technology promising to make work simpler, faster and more efficient, research shows these tools aren’t reaping the efficiency gains many employers had hoped for. 

For example, Asana’s most recent Anatomy of Work Index shows employees are still spending 60 per cent of their time on ‘work about work’ – tasks like chasing updates, attending unnecessary meetings and switching between tools. This marks a two per cent increase since 2022, before the release of ChatGPT.

Employees also say their jobs are made harder by factors such as outdated, slow or underused technology. See the graph below for a full breakdown.

“Lots of great organisations in Australia have grown and made acquisitions, so they often inherit complexity or decisions made by predecessors,” says Husband.

This can make it difficult to see where technology is enabling work and where it is obstructing it.

He recommends taking a step back to assess not just the number of platforms in use, but how effectively they integrate with each other and support essential processes. 

3. Change friction

Change is now a constant in the workplace, but many organisations are still struggling to manage it well. Just two in five employees say their organisation is good or very good at introducing new processes or initiatives. 

Unsurprisingly, that gap in capability is a key source of workplace friction – more than half (55 per cent) of respondents say organisational changes at their company negatively impact efficiency.                                                                                                                                                                                                        

The research also reveals an interesting disconnect in how employees and leaders feel about change friction. 

Many leaders attribute resistance to employee mindset. Sixty-one per cent of executives somewhat or strongly agree that their people are resistant to change. However, employees are 20 per cent less likely to share that view (see graph below). 

Meanwhile, employees were more likely to attribute change friction to their organisation’s lack of effectiveness in communicating change (see graph below).

This means improving communication flows and ensuring information reaches the right people at the right time is an impactful way to manage change resistance.

“It’s about consistency and clarity of communications,” says Husband.

By ensuring that employees feel well-informed and engaged in the process, change can shift from a point of friction into an opportunity for better alignment and engagement.

4. Agility friction

Agility friction occurs when an organisation’s structure or talent systems prevent employees from adapting or moving into roles where they can create the most value.

More than half of employees (54 per cent) believe they could add more value in a different role, yet only 39 per cent say their organisation has a structured process for upskilling or reskilling.

“Skills development and clarity of career path in organisations is key, and a lot of workers are unclear,” says Husband. 

“Employees don’t want to do a bad job – they want to do a good job, and that all comes down to the crispness of their role and career path. [For example], ‘My core job is this, but I may get asked to cover that, and here are the skills I need to do it.’”

As well as making this information clear and accessible, leaders and managers can also reinforce agility by creating opportunities for employees to apply new skills, take on stretch assignments and see tangible progress in their careers.

When employees understand how their capabilities, development and daily work align with business goals, agility feels far more natural and sustainable, says Husband.

Stopping friction before it starts

Friction is ultimately not a single problem to fix, but a sign that the organisation’s moving parts aren’t working in harmony, says Husband.

“The mission of the CHRO and the CFO is [usually] to do more with less,” he says. “They don’t say, ‘My mission is to reduce friction in my organisation.’ But once you’re switched on to it, you can start to see where it’s slowing you down.”

When HR can make technology, processes and communication work together, the organisation functions as a more coherent ecosystem where friction is far less likely to arise in the first place.

Learn how to take a systematic, data-driven approach to organisational design that will help reduce friction and boost role clarity with AHRI’s Organisational Design short course.