Leadership Transformation Expert @ APS Intelligence | Evidence-Based Advisory Interventions
It is no problem to ask people to return to their offices… But there are caveats. For the next 2 weeks, I will be sharing my thoughts on the ongoing contentious debate that pits our offices against our homes as practical places of work. If this is something you’re interested in and you’d like to hear my thoughts, you can join the Find Your Giant community by joining the link in the comments.
I'm deaf. I was given my wings when meetings suddenly went online complete with Teams captions. No more struggling to hear accross echoing rooms, or fighting against traffic noise and windows open on hot days. Having to constatly ask for adjustments, making me feel 'other' and different. At external meetings explaining over and over again about my 'special needs'. After 30 years in the workplace it had completely demoralised me and wore me down to a being the disabled person I'd never throught I was. In the end working at home is about trust isn't it? If you don't trust your employees then there is something fundamentally wrong with your company culture. The people that would abuse that trust will find just as many ways to do it in the workplace as at home. Effective, and fair, management will address this. However, I get that there is a major hit on business that depend on commuter footfall, like transport and hospitality, and that their breakeven margins collapse. We need a creative and fundamental rethink how our economy and high streets work. We've failed completely to address this since well before the pandemic. Its not a recent issue. Tech is changing all of our jobs. We have to address it, not swim against the tide.
I was saying this exact thing to someone on Friday. It isn't a problem to ask people back in to offices but don't pretend that it's about productivity or collaboration. If this were the case, every company would've ceased trading during the pandemic. The office needs to present value to people. What value, genuinely, does the office present that will make people's lives easier? Being in the office reduces personal heating and electricity bills, it has super-fast wifi, it enables greater personal and professional separation. Like any product, sell the office to people. Senior leaders needs to stop treating people like they're stupid.
A friend of mine is a proofreader. Her job involves sitting in a cubicle looking at documents she gets sent to her through a platform, with zero oversight or human interaction. She thrived working from home! Ate healthier, was happier, more active, more social. But now the CEO has said everyone has to be in the office 4 days a week (no justification whatsoever), so she has to spend an hour every morning preparing for work (shower, dress, makeup, make lunch, eat breakfast earlier than she wants to) and drive 45 minutes each way to sit in a cubicle with no human interaction. Even her manager is still checking in by Slack. When are these executives going to be held accountable for these ridiculous decisions?
It’s partly to do with government pressure. Businesses and transport that depend heavily on commuters and workers flooding into city centres passing by for a latte, croissant, grabbing lunch , and perhaps getting some drinks in before heading home as well as dropping off their dry cleaning during the working day. So many businesses lost this vital trade during the pandemic and they’re now trying to claw it back. Current revenue, profit, and loss are always measured against the dizzying heights of pre-pandemic levels. I don’t agree with the return to office coercion. Attendance at an organisation’s site should be approached in a strategic way. What’s the reason for my presence? Do I need to attend a meeting where others will also be present in person? Do I need to collaborate with others? Is there a brainstorming session or workshop with a social element that will help me to form and/or strengthen relationships that are pivotal to the success of my project? There are also people who don’t have nice environments and going into a workplace setting offers some respite from a chaotic and even threatening environment. Much to chew on and mull over…
This was delicious! Every point well said! I however do have a problem with company's arbitrary request to return to the office. Remote work for many improved their quality of life. I calculated how much time a person might spend in non-revenue generating work related activities i.e. dressing, commutes, lunch prep and more, and it was approximately 11 hours per week. What can you do with an extra 11 hours? A lot! Companies want ownership of their employees. The problem is managers who are not trained to successfully manage remote workers. These leaders believe they need employees present so that they can snap the whip! Remote work greatly benefited women with children and we know society does little to support women. And let's not forget the land owners who have lost leases because companies require less space. Money and greed always drives the treatment of employees.
I hear you, I think, as from the some of the comments, some people seem to think you are advocating office or home. That's not the point I'm taking and have supported the point I think you are making. What I hear is a 'simple' call for leaders to... Ask questions unloaded of opinion, To be open in their discussions, and Honest in building their rationale and to Not misinform or be disingenuous in their communication. Surely those things make sense, and are a solid foundation that allows flexibility and sensibility to be built on. The home or office convo will roll on, relevant to each operation, let alone each business. But let's not take away from the other points about how we engage and make decisions. That's my 2p worth anyway!
As a disabled senior leader, I’m less able to engage in person as accepted office cultures (generically, not specific to my workplace or clients) are modelled around exclusion. Think post it notes, white boards, flip charts, non-verbal cues for negotiating conversations, visuals, office layouts, you name it. Remote working was a great leveller, many disabled employees were/are frustrated by the ‘return to normal’.
Yes. Thanks for sharing this. I like working from home/hybrid working. I like the balance that it brings back to my life. The 40-hour work week was originally for people working full-time who had someone else at home taking care of personal and household tasks...working full-time in the office adds a level of pressure where we always feel that there's no way to do it all. Before COVID, many workplace cultures were broken. The dawn of hybrid and remote working has just shown us the cracks. Hybrid working adds a layer of complexity that shows how well companies are engaging with their employees (read: actively building and maintaining positive relationships). Building meaningful relationships takes work and is not something you can take for granted and only put the effort in when you want someone to do something. Often organisations become the "friend" that only calls when they want something, and we all know how that is met: IMMEDIATE RESISTANCE. Hybrid working definitely works for me and I do appreciate the time I spend with colleagues when I am in the office.
It's very annoying that companies that want their employees to go back to the office are crucified this way by these "leadership experts". It's unprofessional and unacceptable, albeit, I understand, it's an easy applause-catching topic. I'll keep saying this: some companies may have perfectly legit reasons for wanting their employees to work from the office. The office is an environment where *different dynamics* happen. An office is where people get together just because they want to, but because of fortunate circumstances. Those companies don't want their employees to work, in the office, the same way they work from home. Note that the advantages of working in the office were known for decades before the last pandemic, which is now ridiculously perceived as a mind-awakening event. I keep mentioning cross-fertilization as described in "The New New Product Development Game", a 1986 paper. Companies that want their employees in the office for genuine reasons do not deserve this bashing. Stop. Humans are funny: they are quick at saying that "one size does not fit all" when it comes to protecting their own practices, but remote work is perceived as one size that should fit all, and if it does not fit you, it's your fault.
Leadership Transformation Expert @ APS Intelligence | Evidence-Based Advisory Interventions
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