Companies that despise remote work, are they too out of date or do they have a reasonable concern ?
I recently sat down with a Manager at a Advertising company who talks up the culture, etc. Even saying how her company is very out of the box and fun BUT they do not do flex schedules and do not support working from home. What are everyone's thoughts on remote work vs being in the office from 8 to 5? I can see it from both ways.
I can understand the need for collaboration. However, Covid has changed the way we work & hybrid work is here to stay. People want their time with family, pets, themselves & do not want the stress of commutes, etc. They also want the option to go in the office so I think employers will have to meet them in the middle on this to stay competitive.
I've worked remote for over 10 years - way before covid - so I say hell no to being in an office every day. End of.
If you're forcing your employees back into an office 5 days a week (for jobs that can be done remote), if you're not allowing any flexibility in schedules, you are most certainly not an out of the box thinking company. That is as old school as they come.
Employees have seen the light. The majority are not interested in long commutes, being stressed before you even start work - and they're not interested in going backwards. Companies who refuse to meet the needs of a 21st century workforce by insisting a 20th century workforce, will lose the war for talent.
Thank you for this! I agree but wanted a second opinion
It sounds like you might be looking for a job with some flex hours or a hybrid schedule. If that is what you need then hold out for that.
Some companies do not have the ability to offer hybrid schedules or flex hours but most do. It is possible there is still a trust issue. I have been in the workforce for decades and remote and flex schedules have been an option these many years without many companies taking advantage of the possibilities. I have heard from many managers they think their employees will take advantage of the work from home schedule and not get as much work done. I have actually seen that the exact opposite is the true.
My company offers flex, hybrid, in office or remote because we are all different and have different work styles. I do think it is a bit old-fashioned not to offer options where possible. After the last 18 months if companies are not offering options they are losing employees to companies that do.
I'm personally a fan of the hybrid model. I like the camaraderie of working in office, but I find I get more actual work done when I am able to work from home (and usually in less time).
Meetings for me are better face to face, less likely to go off the rails. It's easier to rein people in when you are sitting around a conference table or standing (even better) keeps everyone focused. So much group work gets accomplished via Slack these days it really doesn't matter if you're in the office or not.
It's a great collaborative medium in my opinion, cuts down on folx just talking to one or two people in the group and getting real-time feedback from everyone.
I understand there are some jobs that require people to be in the workplace full-time for example social work in a group home or skills based program, nurses, doctors, etc. But I don't believe it applies to most jobs any longer, I also believe most employers will realize they need to make a change to hybrid workplaces within the next few years. A few of my old colleagues in the tech industry had their offices close during the pandemic and now everyone just works from home and if they need to gather for a large meeting rent a space for a few hours and call it done.
Doesn't sound very out of the box!
Every week, my husband and I get couples massages in our home. Every week, we both are SO creative during that time. I also find I'm most creative in the middle of the night (dreaming).
When I'm sitting in a corporate office, not so much. I can see something hybrid where people meet once a week, but then again, Zoom meetings fill that need to collaborate, as well as MS Teams or other platforms.
Last thought . . . I taught university English for 8 years. People have different circadian rhythms. Teen/young adult students learned very little in the mornings. However, if the afternoon, they were like sponges.
Why force people to work on a single schedule in a single space when every person is unique?
Cheers
Joanne
Excellent points!
I am seeing that the hybrid work arrangement is serving as a nice compromise for a lot of companies. It allows for flexibility on both sides.
More old school traditional companies will need to see an impact to their recruiting and retaining of staff efforts before they will revisit the issue of remote work. They believe they can stop the trend simply by saying No.
I am all for remote work, but this type of flexibility is not possible for all roles. I think flexibility should come with clarity and transparency. I know of some organizations classifying each and every job with "permanently on-site" / "hybrid" / "permanently remote" and having cross-functional teams making the determinations for each role (and providing justification for each decision). These classifications and justifications can then be used in recruitment advertising and in conversation with recruiters. It's amazing how refreshing clarity can be so early into the process. You might not always agree with it, but at least you know the organization put serious thought into it and can explain their WHY.
I think that many organizations really need to rethink how the value/evaluate/manage employees for remote work to be successful (as evidenced by the new article highlight exempt employees holding 2 full-time daytime jobs at the same time).
Companies that struggle the most with wfh, likely struggle with management training/effectiveness. They have also, likely, had a culture of "whomever spends the most hours in the office must be the most productive/hardest worker" (which we all know is flawed).
If they want to attract a productive workforce into the future, they will need to address these shortfalls so that they can allow some flexibility re: where the work is to be done.
I think that's seriously outdated and super limiting - they probably have a lot of turnover.
Personally, I love being at the office. A break from home.
And I love being at home, a break from the office.
A real separation.
I wish I could work from 4a to 6a at home and leave work 2h early to get work done better in the quiet though