The Continuing Remote Work Fight

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I am struck by how many CEOs and top execs are still vociferously against remote work. I genuinely believe it’s mostly a trust issue. The misinformed and not so subtle belief is, “if they (our people) are on site, then they are working.”

What’s so hard about going to the office?

For most executives, or financially successful entrepreneurs, it’s been years since they’ve lived like their average employees. Many have lost touch with the complexity, struggles and exhaustion of everyday life. Executives earn lots of money, and can afford things that make going to the office much easier (child care, housekeeping, private healthcare, expense accounts, comfortable, personal offices, free parking). On top of that, most of these big wigs have personal assistants that tend to their every wish. Etc, etc. It’s not too inconvenient driving to work in a Tesla, listening to your favorite podcast, and not even needing to wear an overcoat on the walk from the heated garage. And of course, because most of these folks have the money to live where they want, the commute is probably short. Think San Francisco, Vancouver, Seattle, Boston, Toronto, etc. If you are a mid-level employee, a commute to affordable housing can be more than two hours per day. I know, because for much of my career, I was one of these executives.

Living is just a little easier with the ability to remote work.

There are obvious reasons employees say they like working remotely: They want to avoid the time and costs of commuting, they focus better without office distractions, they feel it’s better for their well-being to be at home, they can often juggle home duties more efficiently with their working partners, if applicable, etc.

According to a recent NY Times article, “when McKinsey, the consultancy, asked 12,000 job seekers last year about their reasons for looking for a new job, ‘flexible working’ came in just behind ‘greater pay or hours’ and ‘better career opportunities.’ In a survey conducted by ZipRecruiter, the employment search site, job seekers on average said they would take a 14 percent pay cut in order to work remotely.”

Get over it: Remote working is here to stay.

Organizations and leaders that turn their attention on how best to optimize this wonderful opportunity and integrate remote work as a key part of the culture, will find themselves on the winning side of this battle. More top talent will be attracted, managers will learn to coach for value instead of activity, self-accountable people will flourish, productivity will increase and total employee costs will go down.

As a CPO of a public company, I introduced organization-wide remote work in 2012, well before 2020. Over time, the data supported our belief that our remote work was an advantage for all. Make it work uniquely for your organization with an open mindset, versus a reluctant giveaway.

Think Big, Start Small, Act Now,

- Lorne

One Millennial View: A joke, layered with honesty, goes “A boss approaches an employee and says, ‘hey, why aren’t you working?’ and the employee responds ‘oh, I didn’t see you coming.’”

We have a truth problem, not a productivity problem. We ALL have to get our work done AND acknowledge we will be sidetracked, we just need to prioritize being self-accountable regarding our commitments. This has always been the way of every workplace. It doesn’t matter if you’re remote or not, if an executive is narcissistic enough to think they’re the one who’s watchful eye will eliminate work diversions, even their own experience should remind them, they will not. However, if we embrace and optimize remote work, we can forget fighting about the faux hindrances, and concentrate on the benefits of promoting productivity from anywhere.

- Garrett

Edited and published by Garrett Rubis.

The Continuing Remote Work Fight

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