Work, Reinvented
Simon, my recent college graduate, started his first job out of college in the middle of June. It was supposed to be a full-time, in office position in Greensboro, North Carolina. Due to the changing COVID landscape, he was informed in March that he didn’t need to be in the office until October 4th.
A couple weeks after he started, he was informed that he would now be a fully remote employee and he didn’t need to work, or even live, in Greensboro. While Simon liked the idea of being able to live wherever he wanted, he did not like that he would not be in an office. He felt he was and is going to miss out on the learning that occurs in an in office setting that can’t be created virtually.
Like many things in life, when change occurs, we tend to swing the pendulum too hard in the opposite direction. I believe that this is what is occurring as companies rethink work.
While many people, young, old and every age in between like the idea of working from home, I believe it has drawbacks for both the company and its employees.
Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors, said remote work makes it difficult to manage culture and to innovate. I agree. And by the way, culture and innovation are the two most significant ways for a company to differentiate itself from its competitors.
When Simon received his job offer he was informed he would be part of the company's Leadership Development Program. Naturally, he was very excited by that; but being a remote employee makes it more challenging for younger workers to get the training and development they desire.
Several years ago, I took a client to gain insight into the innovation culture and model of the famed 115-year-old office furniture company, Herman Miller. There, the VP of Innovation shared that it is Herman Miller’s belief that 70% of knowledge transfer occurs in informal settings and situations at work. These informal knowledge transfer opportunities will almost certainly be completely lost for remote employees.
Working remotely makes it much more difficult to build relationships. This is a significant downside to remote work. Relationships are the foundation of all accomplishments. Do you want to live in a house with a weak foundation? There will certainly be a lot fewer “let’s get drinks after work” and company softball teams. This missing will, in my opinion, unquestionably negatively impact employee wellbeing and company performance.
While some may think work relationships or drinks with colleagues aren’t important, I say they are. I had two colleagues who met their wives when we were out socially, one at a simple midday lunch and the other when we went out for drinks one Friday night.
In Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the second tier of needs is safety, which includes employment. The third tier is love and belonging, which includes friendship and connection. Fully remote employees will be losing the sense of belonging to their companies, which I believe will negatively impact both employees and the company.
Human beings are social creatures. This became abundantly clear to us when we all experienced the first COVID lockdown. While we all had to persevere through the situation, no one I know liked it. Quite the contrary: we missed getting out, seeing friends, socializing, going to parties, movies, the beach, traveling, living a full life.
The fully remote employee isn’t new, as sales people are frequently fully remote. I believe making a significant part of your workforce fully remote is swinging the pendulum too hard in the opposite direction to the detriment of our organizations and employees' mental well being and professional development.
While many have asked their employees their working preferences, if you haven’t, you should. I’m willing to bet very few employers have asked them the why of their working preference? The “why” is always more important than the “what.” Obviously, there are many jobs that can only be 100% in person, I’m not speaking about these jobs.
I’m a big advocate for hybrid working conditions. This enables companies to tend to, manage, and ongoingly cultivate their culture. It creates opportunities for teams to come together, be creative, and innovate. It enables co-workers to build and grow their relationships. And, it provides companies the ability to train and develop their employees.
I believe we can create hybrid working conditions that are in the highest and best good for all concerned. That said, for those employees that want to work full-time in an office, companies should make that possible.
I like Monday as an office day. It enables us to create context, set priorities and get the week off to a strong start. Tuesday is long believed to be the most productive day of the week, so to me that should be a work from home day as should Wednesday, also thought to be a very productive day of the week. Thursday and Friday are considered the least productive days. So Thursday should be an office day. We can review progress and recalibrate what needs to get done so we can finish the week strong. We can also conduct in person training on Thursday and Friday morning as well as conduct collaborative work like creativity and innovation sessions, leaving Friday afternoon for people to wrap up their week and prepare for the next. This model puts the emphasis on how to optimize work performance and not a work philosophy or principle.
I previously did first-level leadership training. In that program, we shared a list of the top 10 things people are motivated by at work. It was based upon a study that was done twice over a 20 year period and the data had not changed. After training over 1500 employees, no one ever got the first three 100% right, which were (in order): 1) Interesting Work, 2) Appreciation, and 3) Being an “Insider”.
While working from home wasn't on the list, working conditions was and it came in #7. Where was money, you ask? #5.
For many of us, one of the things we look for from work is to be part of something bigger than ourselves. That can be seen as part of interesting work, the #1 motivation. It is difficult to feel part of something bigger than yourself when you are working 100% of the time from home.
I believe a hybrid working situation is where most companies will end up once the pendulum settles in the middle. Why not start there?