REMOTE WORK

A Privilege, Not a Right

President Trump has recently pushed for a “return to work” order for federal employees. Among all the yowling and anger, a few things have been forgotten by those it applies to. First, there was never a guarantee of a “right” to work from home (or to move to a cheaper place to live, assuming that remove work would always be allowed). As people who worked for IBM know (also known as “I’ve Been Moved,) an employer can do a lot of things legally regarding your place of work, including making you return to the office. You aren’t being forced. You have the choice to leave your job, as we all do, when work conditions no longer meet with our desires.

And I get it. After working for many years, commuting to San Francisco from the East Bay, I really didn’t enjoy the hours on BART nor the money spent to get there. It made for a long day. When I finally had a remote job (my employer was in Toronto), I found I missed the camaraderie of daily interaction with co-workers, the discussions that led to innovations and more. But I got used to it. With cell phones, IMs, emails and webinars, we can still have face-to-face time. But it isn’t the same.

In fact, a lot of employers saw the problems during Covid. It took my husband six months instead of three to get his passport renewed. Why? The people had the same tech to get the job done. Others reported similar problems with trying to engage with the government.

Some people are simply more able to work hard at home; others find the distractions too great. No matter your personal desires, remote work isn’t for everyone.

WIIFM

Let’s look at the benefits, before we examine the downsides. For the employee, getting rid of the commute reduces transportation costs, increases time with family, can reduce work stress and allow, in some cases, for work to be adjusted to personal schedules. For the employer, it allows them to offer a highly desired benefit to employees, as well as widening the talent pool to anyone, anywhere.

All good. But…

The Costs

Employers cite a variety of costs to them, including the still-cited, but invalid claim that in office jobs, new and younger employees need to be mentored onsite. The truth is that any time I’ve seen this need, the younger person prefers to work thru IMs and texts and perhaps a Zoom call. This happens even if the new person is in the cubicle next to you.

However, teamwork does suffer. It’s much harder to have a meeting via Zoom where one person can dominate the line, blocking out others. You can’t as easily pass things around to illustrate points. In my career, many innovative ideas came from casual conversations around the proverbial watercooler. And, sadly, remote workers are often the first targets for layoffs, as they don’t have enough facetime.

But the elephant in the room is the productivity hit. Understand that the studies cited here are averaging results. Some people are actually far more productive when they don’t have to commute. But too many aren’t as committed or perhaps, more easily distracted. What’s interesting is that people who work from home almost always think they are more productive; in a Stanford study, they claimed their productivity averaged about 7% higher, but managers rated them as 3.5% less productive.

Across many studies gathered by Stanford, actual productivity took a 10-20% hit, which is huge. Why is this? Most people can hazard guesses, including that it is more difficult to communicate with co-workers, although this problem also occurs with people in offices that are spread across the country or the world. Coordination is often impaired. New connections with people in allied groups often doesn’t happen, as both parties are unaware of the other’s existence.

Many people seem to attempt multi-tasking more at home, which causes interruptions in focus and, too often, a loss of creative thinking. The person isolated at home often loses out on mentoring, training, feedback and support. However, bigger hits are from: “Non-work activities such as scrolling social media (75% of people), shopping online (70%), watching shows or movies (53%) and planning trips (32%). They also spend time away from their computer doing things like household chores (72%), errands (37%), napping (22%), going to the doctor (23%) or drinking (12%). Some people (13%) report they work only three or four hours per day when they are remote,” according to data from Upgraded Points.

A Carrot and a Stick

The only rational option for this is managers holding employees accountable. After assigning fair amounts of work to each person, allow those who complete their work within budget and time limits the opportunity (not the requirement) to work remotely, either full-time or part-time. For those who cannot manage their workload and communications properly, full-time office appearance would be required. This might also lead to an incentive for everyone to step up their productivity game.

Remote work isn’t for everyone. You have to know what you can manage and what you can’t. Family members can be a huge distraction and temptation as they don’t view you as really working. Can you close the door and say no?

Let’s stop thinking of remote work as an entitlement. It’s a reward for productivity and responsibility. Perhaps then we can rebuild the work ethic that made America so successful.