[Offers] Hybrid working

FatSuperman said:

I am very confident that the reason we are being pushed back to the office is solely because WFH and flexible working makes the workers happy. And if they are happy about something, then it must be bad for the company. It must be because they aren't really working, and therefore we need to put a stop to it.

It is absolutely not about productivity - which is 99% of the time the reason they quote - because if that were true, they'd actually have some measure of productivity.

It's basically shit management. For me, the only sensible model for workers that don't physically need to be in a location, is to say to them "you are all adults, we pay you for this outcome, you should be wherever you need to be on a given day, to best deliver on that outcome". I have no doubt that people who work in teams are mostly more effective when they are co-located. But to enable that you should create an environment that makes it really easy for people to do so. For example having absolutely boatloads of meeting and collaboration space, having a nice physical environment, etc. Most companies have a shit office, totally open-plan and insist everyone comes in for 'productivity'. LOL idiots.


Rant ends.

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It's tricky to sack people nowadays, especially if you hardly ever see them. So when there are people who don't self-motivate and who are inclined to do as little as possible (yes, such people do exist) then it's easier to keep giving them a metaphorical kick up the backside in the office, than it is to sack them while working from home.

dsr-burnley said:

Train drivers working from home as well?

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Is there a yawn emoji?

dsr-burnley said:

Train drivers working from home as well?

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Yes, it works well for driverless trains apparently…..

beorhthelm said:

trouble with this discussion is that it get's dominated by those that see benefits from WFH, see it works for them. very little heard from those that quietly skive off, long lunch breaks, walking the dog in the afternoon, watch a boxset, play some golf etc. some say it's more productve at home, then we hear complaints when people contact government and company services that are manned by WFH staff. maybe it's productive for those that are inclinded to be productive, and not for others?

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The bulk of research is saying that overall productivity goes up when hybrid / flexible / WFH policies are in place. Yes, there are some individuals who may take advantage - but the boosts you get from those who don't take the P outweighs the losses from those who do. Partly because those who skive off at home are also very well practiced at doing the same in the office. It's not that hard to "look" productive and busy in an office and actually get not much of anything done.

goldstoneseagull said:

If you are in a job where output is not monitored then are you really doing a job. Effective line management means, anyone wfh will have their output monitored in the same way as in the office. In other words, there may be quiet periods, there may be very busy periods. If it is quiet in the office, is it better they spend their time browsing or is it better they are able to use their free time productively.

WFH probably is more inclined to those who are already productive but by the same token people who are lazy af in the office, will do nothing at home lol.

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^^ This. If line managers are doing their jobs properly, then they will know who in their teams are being productive and who are not ... regardless of whether they are in office or WFH.

timbha said:

Probably correct, however there are more non work related distractions at home like cutting the grass, picking up the kids, collecting deliveries, nipping out for a quick haircut, etc …….. then taking a break for lunch!!

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Plenty of in-office distractions that can be dressed up as "work related" as well. I glossed over it, but in my previous post I mentioned that the research into WFH policies has categorically shown that employees make fewer mistakes when WFH. That implies they are less distracted.

Kinky Gerbil said:

They have gone one step further in cancelling WFH for those not hitting targets/goals

I cant recall all of the tests they used, but basically it was LCR/revenue/tasks achieved/employee development and training and they were all higher in the office.

What also rang alarm bells was staff saying they hadn't seen certain managers/team members in months.

Some office jobs just can't be done from home without service/standards dropping

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This sounds like the sort of thing that needs to be handled case-by-case and that this particular workplace didn't have the right processes / policies / infrastructure in place to ensure that WFH was viable. My employer leaned into it heavily during covid and it's paid off - we've got meeting rooms in the offices with some pretty slick tech for running hybrid meetings, all the tools we need for replicating the vast majority of work in online spaces to the point that doing something in the office is a choice that we make as opposed to being a necessity. We're now able to hire people from anywhere in the UK and not have to ask them to move. We even have a policy that allows us to work from abroad 1 month per year.


Probably fairly obvious that I'm very pro-hybrid/flexible/WFH. That's because I've experienced it working very well. And I know it works for my employer as well. There will be other businesses out there where it doesn't make as much sense and doesn't work as well. But that will mostly be because the work requires physical presence. If the work involves being mostly sat at a computer, there's no need to be in an office. Research says it's better to be hybrid, research says that for every year that passes the benefits of hybrid increase (due to the rapid rate of improvement of online tools), and if you dig deeper into what's implied by the research businesses could save themselves a lot of money (downscaling on expensive office space, employees who give extra time for "free" because they don't have to flee to commute, etc).