We are not living in the same world as we were 2 years ago and yet we still have not grasped that flexible or hybrid working is a viable and attractive way to manage and retain talent. Why are we forcing people back into the office under the guise of culture, connection and collaboration. Businesses need to be more honest and transparent with their teams and be clear on why they want people in the office and those reasons might not be as attractive to employees. And let's be clear, when we talk about flexible working, that talks straight to inclusion and employee engagement.
I left my corporate role before I had to have the conversation around hybrid working, so I am now in the extremely fortunate position of working for myself, in my own space and I could not be happier. However, if I did have to have a conversation about returning to the office, I probably would have had a few thing to think about.
Now I am not saying that I would never return to an office in person again, but I am saying, that I pause and think about all of these things from an inclusion lens.
All teams are not equal
I was part of a distributed leadership team with colleagues across different timezones. Team meetings were at their most inclusive when we were either all in the room together or we were all on our laptops. But regular team meetings cannot be in person when you work in a global team, so having everyone on Teams, on their own laptop, from their own space, made things more equitable. People had to be mindful of meeting etiquette, they had to raise their virtual hand to speak. People were heard.
No favourites allowed
I led a remote team, and although I was physically located near one of my team members, I didn't think it was fair or inclusive of me to favour one team member over the other. I wanted to build relationships with my team on an equal footing. I didn't want one team member to miss out on the informal conversations - thats what WhatsApp group chat is for! It is worth considering whether you are inadvertently excluding team members by building stronger relationships with the people physically next to you. Proximity bias is a real thing, I was accidentally missed off an invite list to a social gathering, because people were looking around the office for the guest list.
Be selfish
Working from home really suited me, my husband was working overseas, I parenting two boys, running a house, my job was very busy, I had calls early in the morning, late in the evening, a commute was the last thing I wanted to add to the mix. Recognising that I was struggling to look after my wellbeing, I went one step further, I asked to go to 4 days. I knew that I did not always need to 'be in the room', meetings were recorded, I could catch up on them later, when outside walking my dog. I think it is critical that employee experience is personalised and leaders are in the optimum position to facilitate this.
Staying sceptical
Finally, my senses always start to heighten when I hear that returning to the office is going to be great for collaboration and culture. In one way, I think this could be true if you are bringing people together for a specific reason, to connect and learn together. But if you are bringing people back to the office and they are going to be sitting at their desks all day, on Teams calls without in person engagement - rethink it. Having the agency to choose whether you are remote, hybrid, in person or flexibly located is grounded in an inclusive culture. ( And hopefully not grounded in a mountain of paperwork to justify the choice). Be certain, that your real motivator isn't the lease on the building, or the inability of line managers to manage remote teams - your employees will see through that.
"Unresponsive managers and a failure to develop relationships with remote workers are primarily behind the exodus, says Korn Ferry. “Many employers have not done a good job keeping remote teams engaged.”
Be clear on the why
To all employees and potential employees out there, there is no right answer to the work location, what is important is that there are options to personalise the experience based on your needs. Be clear on what you want from your working life, if you are early in your career or new to an organisation, you may benefit from some face time to establish yourself, to build your network, to learn on the job from others around you, to maintain your mental wellbeing. If you are well established in your career, ask yourself whether being in the office is making a different to your productivity, to your performance, to your well being and if it is - go for it. However, if you are like me, able to perform remotely, thrive on achieving balance and have people around you who support you to do it - go for that!
To all employers out there, culture is everywhere and it requires investment and action, irrespective of the working model that is operationalised.
Get in touch, if you need support on inclusive policies and practices
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