A Remote Bite Out of THE Apple

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What It’s About: There is a conflict stewing at the most profitable company in the world. Apple announced that it expects workers to be on campus at least three days per week. A remote advocacy group has two active petitions requesting that workers be given the opportunity to work remotely, full-time. Of the 140,000 worldwide employee group, the remote advocates are relatively small but fairly “noisy.” These folks have gotten top management’s attention, although no agreement to change course. So far, Apple execs are sticking to the 3-day policy. (I encourage you to read the Vox article for more extensive coverage).

So What?: Employees in every industry who have experienced working remotely over the last 18 months want more flexibility, as plans for returning to physical locations are being considered. While not every employee wants the same degree of remote flexibility, the overwhelming data is that they want the option, and many are willing to quit over the matter. The Vox article notes: “All this employee backlash at Apple over remote work is a testament to how important the issue is for knowledge workers across industries. For many, remote work during the pandemic made their lives better. Skipping a commute or being able to duck out in the middle of the day to run errands or shepherd children gave people a better sense of work-life balance. For those who felt left out from office camaraderie and extracurricular activities, the ability to work from home has been less isolating.”

If you’ve been following this topic at all, it is becoming clear that many organizations are using their remote policy as a recruitment edge: “‘We definitely think it gives us a competitive advantage,’ Jennifer Christie, Twitter’s head of HR, (Twitter is giving employees full remote choice). The company, she says, is telling prospective employees, ‘If you don’t want to wait and see what happens with your company’s work-from-home policy, come work for us.’ It’s a selling point for people who don’t want to be in limbo.”

Now What?: Management should be more honest and analytical about their real reasons for demanding zero or limited remote work. If you have a policy that involves two or three days minimum in the office, then frankly you just don't understand the issue. What two or three days? Who decides? Why? Setting a number of days is mostly counterproductive, and a lousy compromise.

The biggest myth is this idea of innovation happening because of people bumping into each other. “‘There’s this idea that people skateboarding around tech campuses are bumping into each other and coming up with great new inventions,’ said Cher Scarlett, an engineer at Apple who joined the company during the pandemic and has become a leader in, among other issues, organizing her colleagues on pushing for more remote work. ‘That’s just not true.’”

There may be some evidence that face-to-face interaction and contact with people outside the immediate work groups helps innovation. However, technology platforms are so robust it is now possible to be even more spontaneous in remote environments. Seriously ask yourself what great innovation breakthrough happened to you by accidentally running into someone. Most of the time, we can barely make back-to-back meetings while trying to find that obscure conference room.

Please give yourself the opportunity to really use your remote policy to: Reinforce self-accountability, create more respect for the unique circumstances of every employee, and focus on value creation rather than counting hours. At the same time, the most creative and clever organizations will use their remote policy to increase productivity AND attract better talent. And afterall, a bruised Apple is less tasty.

Think Big, Start Small, Act Now,

- Lorne

One Millennial View: I think a lot of people are sick and tired of arbitrary rules. I wonder if previous to these past 18 months, leaders at places like Apple assumed employees were just blind and dumb followers. How come using common sense and asking “why?” is apparently a threatening concept these days? When these potentially baseless policies are implemented, challenging them is not only a worthwhile fight, it might even look good on your resume for your next professional destination.

- Garrett

Edited and published by Garrett Rubis

A Remote Bite Out of THE Apple

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