I'm saying that the highly skilled people aren't gonna put up with it because they are in the drivers seat..
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Last: 3 yr ago by Petrino1
Yeah, I think you 2 are in agreement.
Ok. Either I misread it or your edit fixed it
JDCAG (NOT Colin) said:Complete Idiot said:We definitely have had employees ask us to buy monitors and docking stations and other hardware for their home, things we've already bought them in our physical office since we were a full work in the office company until the pandemic. It's usually the same employees that say "I'm saving thousands on gas and tolls and car maintenance, and have tons of free time" but oh can you buy me a $150 monitor.Comeby! said:
At what point will WFH employees start calling on employers to cover their wifi and other WFH support? Also what will the IRS and Dept of Labor have to say about it? I know it's considered a perk to WFH but I see a scenario where an employee is wanted to get compensated for holding a home office.
If a company has always relied on remote workers, with no physical location, I get offering home office supplies, gym memberships, maybe coffee/snack stipends - they traditionally competing with in office employers who offer their employees all those things in the big office building. But if a company has always been a non-remote work environment, but due to competitive environment is forced to shift to WFH options, and has already invested in break rooms and coffee and snacks and gyms and office equipment - it seems a bit whiny and needy for the employee to now ask for all that same stuff for free at home.
To me this is another example of a company trying to lay WFH on top of a traditional in-office culture, and I agree - it's going to be very difficult to make it work. It will be interesting to see if some of those pivot how they allocate equipment and how they spend their money to support in-office comforts.
I think the key in your statement is "to be competitive". You can say it is whiny, but just as somebody else pointed out that it isn't the businesses problem if you aren't located conveniently...it isn't the potential employees problem that you spent a ton of money to build a nice office with creature comforts for folks. Ultimately it may be better for both parties to seek other options at that point.
We were old school as far as no work from home, invested in many global office buildings, then pandemic hit and I guess new leadership learned that many of our employees can be effective working from home.
A year passed, then more, and we were still largely work from home. I started to hear rumors about building changes, we weren't fully utilizing our office space even before the pandemic and I assumed they are going to consolidate down to half the space, sell or lease the remaining, use hot desking and other space optimizers in reaction to going from 0 to 60% WFH options.
But, no - it was finally announced they were spending millions to build new state of the art collaboration space - adding square footage and finishing out previously unused parts of the building. So, in my opinion, it is a bit murky what the company thinks is happening, or what it should do in relation to increased WFH.
Both parties save money.
Employer doesn't have to rent out a seat for the employee if they are leasing the office space.
Employee saves by not having to spend time and money getting to work.
Employer doesn't have to rent out a seat for the employee if they are leasing the office space.
Employee saves by not having to spend time and money getting to work.
Yeah it wasn't clear on my part.
I'm in sales and alot of my clients and prospects are now at home. Kinda sucks. I miss the days of being able to find people at their office. They were more willing to go to lunch or HH then too. Now, they're out in the burbs and don't want to leave the house to meet you.
Personally, I'm working more from home now as a result. Doesn't suck, but not great either. I don't care what you say, it's better to have a relationship, face to face, with a person you are looking to sell (or buy from if you are on the other side). All kinds of advantages for both parties.
Been like that for hundreds of years, now it's half gone in a relative instant.
Personally, I'm working more from home now as a result. Doesn't suck, but not great either. I don't care what you say, it's better to have a relationship, face to face, with a person you are looking to sell (or buy from if you are on the other side). All kinds of advantages for both parties.
Been like that for hundreds of years, now it's half gone in a relative instant.
thousands even...and the world's oldest sale's profession definitely required face to face interaction.Aust Ag said:
I'm in sales and alot of my clients and prospects are now at home. Kinda sucks. I miss the days of being able to find people at their office. They were more willing to go to lunch or HH then too. Now, they're out in the burbs and don't want to leave the house to meet you.
Personally, I'm working more from home now as a result. Doesn't suck, but not great either. I don't care what you say, it's better to have a relationship, face to face, with a person you are looking to sell (or buy from if you are on the other side). All kinds of advantages for both parties.
Been like that for hundreds of years, now it's half gone in a relative instant.
Our brains and bodies haven't evolved fast enough for this technological leap.
Stat Monitor Repairman said:
I'm saying that the highly skilled people aren't gonna put up with it because they are in the drivers seat..
I think this could be true in certain staff positions, but not management roles where they have a vested interest (dedication). That being said, everyone is replaceable and no one stays in the drivers seat long. Unless you are driving a Chevy Nova.
My last job was for a US subsidiary of a larger British corporation. On the phone or emailing the UK every day. As I rose in the company I was going to the UK every 3-4 months and my observation was that stuff that languished through frequent emails or phone calls just got knocked the F out when the same people were in the room in person getting it done. I'm definitely not a believer in fully remote work for that reason.
That said, the idea that I need to spend an hour and a half each day commuting so I can answer emails in an office for eight hours is obviously nonsense. My team meets 100% in office on Tuesday and other days are at discretion and as needed to get your work done. My team has their business as usual tasks that are highly visible and automated KPI metrics reviewed on powerBI for 1:1s, and projects that are supposed to take up about 20% of their work week they have weekly accountability for milestones they are supposed to hit. If my employees want to go to yoga class at 2PM or sneak in an episode of She-Hulk attorney-at-law during the day, I don't really care. If the work is done to the quality expected and met the deadline then great and if it's not we're going to have a conversation about it.
That said, the idea that I need to spend an hour and a half each day commuting so I can answer emails in an office for eight hours is obviously nonsense. My team meets 100% in office on Tuesday and other days are at discretion and as needed to get your work done. My team has their business as usual tasks that are highly visible and automated KPI metrics reviewed on powerBI for 1:1s, and projects that are supposed to take up about 20% of their work week they have weekly accountability for milestones they are supposed to hit. If my employees want to go to yoga class at 2PM or sneak in an episode of She-Hulk attorney-at-law during the day, I don't really care. If the work is done to the quality expected and met the deadline then great and if it's not we're going to have a conversation about it.
In my profession it's important to get beyond the daily tasks so you can be proactive on more strategic goals.
WFH hasn't been good for that because people answer their emails, complete their tasks, and then check out. I'm the same way, it's harder to be focused and keep going at home.
This I've started going back to the office more and more because I don't want to stay in the same position the rest of my life.
WFH hasn't been good for that because people answer their emails, complete their tasks, and then check out. I'm the same way, it's harder to be focused and keep going at home.
This I've started going back to the office more and more because I don't want to stay in the same position the rest of my life.
Frok said:
In my profession it's important to get beyond the daily tasks so you can be proactive on more strategic goals.
WFH hasn't been good for that because people answer their emails, complete their tasks, and then check out. I'm the same way, it's harder to be focused and keep going at home.
This I've started going back to the office more and more because I don't want to stay in the same position the rest of my life.
This has been my experience as well. "Check the box" tasks still get done, but it is significantly harder to get traction on more strategic initiatives. That amplifies if those initiatives require cross-functional support.
I'm more productive from home because Im able to get all my work done without any distractions. In the office, I used to have coworkers that would stop by and chit chat and interrupt whatever I was working on. It was impossible to complete a task from beginning to end some days because Suzy would want to chat about her sons t-ball game, or Mike wanted to talk about his fantasy football team. Meanwhile I had to sit there and pretend to be interested without looking like a dick lol.jh0400 said:Frok said:
In my profession it's important to get beyond the daily tasks so you can be proactive on more strategic goals.
WFH hasn't been good for that because people answer their emails, complete their tasks, and then check out. I'm the same way, it's harder to be focused and keep going at home.
This I've started going back to the office more and more because I don't want to stay in the same position the rest of my life.
This has been my experience as well. "Check the box" tasks still get done, but it is significantly harder to get traction on more strategic initiatives. That amplifies if those initiatives require cross-functional support.
In a lot of ways my work-life balance was better working in an office. When I left for the day, I would leave my laptop in my office and leave work at work. Now that I work from home, I regularly check emails at 7pm and will fire up my laptop to complete a simple task after hours. I do this on the weekends as well. But with all that said, I would still rather work from home.
I'm more less productive from home because Im able unable to get all my work done without any due to all the distractions. In the office home, I used to have coworkers kids and a wife that would stop by and chit chat and interrupt whatever I was working on.
Now that school has started it's a bit easier to focus, but summer was brutal.
Now that school has started it's a bit easier to focus, but summer was brutal.
Spot on . Kids, kids friends,dogs barking,doorbell, deliveries, etc. What a zoo. Kids going back to school has only eliminated half that though.
Ditto. There is a certain collective creativity and problem solving (in some jobs) that are better off when the right collection of people are interacting. The spontaneous, "Would this work...?" type of comments that benefit the organization.jh0400 said:Frok said:
In my profession it's important to get beyond the daily tasks so you can be proactive on more strategic goals.
WFH hasn't been good for that because people answer their emails, complete their tasks, and then check out. I'm the same way, it's harder to be focused and keep going at home.
This I've started going back to the office more and more because I don't want to stay in the same position the rest of my life.
This has been my experience as well. "Check the box" tasks still get done, but it is significantly harder to get traction on more strategic initiatives. That amplifies if those initiatives require cross-functional support.
I think context of job, department, time of year, and individuals make this a unique issue for different organizations, departments and groups. I think it would be bad policy for companies to enact policy based on the needs of certain departments at certain times of year.
100% WFH, my team is 100% WFH
Not Engineering.
Summer is BRUTAL lol
Not Engineering.
Summer is BRUTAL lol
The people WFH and taking care of kids when before they were working and sending kids to childcare are the ones that will ruin it at some companies. It was acceptable during covid. Now its being greedy.
I am in sales and have WFH exclusively with this company - since 2019. Pre-covid we would go on-site to customers. Now with everyone working remote, we cannot do that as the prospects are working out of their house. Sales have been lower as a result.
I did find that WFH gives you more time to interview for your next position. No need to take the call in your car or at lunch.
We have had a high turnover rate in the entire company.
I did find that WFH gives you more time to interview for your next position. No need to take the call in your car or at lunch.
We have had a high turnover rate in the entire company.
AggieMainland said:
The people WFH and taking care of kids when before they were working and sending kids to childcare are the ones that will ruin it at some companies. It was acceptable during covid. Now its being greedy.
Absolutely. With modern HRs you can't call them out on that either. I have a coworker who always has her kid with her during calls. There is no way she is more productive at home while taking care of a child.
I have not found this to be the case. There is a significant portion of the working population (I'll call it around 40%) that are good employees, but they need to get their work clothes on and get to the office in order to perform.AggiEE said:
So fire them
Problem solved
The reality is that those that didn't do **** in the office don't do **** at home. Nothing has really changed much
The ones that produce in the office produce at home, and if their job is all on the computer they can probably perform it better at home. Don't let outlier abusers ruin it for everyone.
been WFH since about 2018...early 2019 took a new job but we met at a place in Austin (called Fibercove) because we needed Giga upload speeds. I did that 2-3x/week. Took another job early 2020 that had a global WeWork account, so I was able to use that whenever. That was nice - got some WFH time, got to get out a bit when the kids' schedules necessitated it.
March 2020 until now - 100% WFH. I sometimes go up to the library and work, but with so many zoom calls that is hard to do.
I don't need the office environment for the socialization, I need it for the quiet. The distractions are just different, but manageable. A WeWork situation where you know nobody is perfect. Sit at a desk and nobody bothers you.
I will say I am probably less productive at home, but with so much attention put on work life balance, mental health, etc. the pressure from work is more self-inflicted these days. Maybe that's because I work for a woke startup, but that is my perspective.
March 2020 until now - 100% WFH. I sometimes go up to the library and work, but with so many zoom calls that is hard to do.
I don't need the office environment for the socialization, I need it for the quiet. The distractions are just different, but manageable. A WeWork situation where you know nobody is perfect. Sit at a desk and nobody bothers you.
I have said the same thing about a certain percentage of the Corps at A&M...some of those students wouldn't survive college without that environment around them. Same can be said for some coworkers.Quote:
I have not found this to be the case. There is a significant portion of the working population (I'll call it around 40%) that are good employees, but they need to get their work clothes on and get to the office in order to perform.
I will say I am probably less productive at home, but with so much attention put on work life balance, mental health, etc. the pressure from work is more self-inflicted these days. Maybe that's because I work for a woke startup, but that is my perspective.
Stat Monitor Repairman said:
Our brains and bodies haven't evolved fast enough for this technological leap.
Mine has.
Maybe you are behind.
Fortune 200 company in distribution and most of our company is on a hybrid schedule as of earlier this year (most of the company had been full-time WFH until then). It's up to manager's discretion depending on your role, but for the most part it's 1-3 days in the office for our company. I'm full-time remote after my wife's career moved us to the other end of the country right after Covid, so I was allowed to stay permanent WFH within my same team.
So let them go to the office then, if thats where they feel most productive. Leave the rest of us alone who are productive working from homeDRE06 said:I have not found this to be the case. There is a significant portion of the working population (I'll call it around 40%) that are good employees, but they need to get their work clothes on and get to the office in order to perform.AggiEE said:
So fire them
Problem solved
The reality is that those that didn't do **** in the office don't do **** at home. Nothing has really changed much
The ones that produce in the office produce at home, and if their job is all on the computer they can probably perform it better at home. Don't let outlier abusers ruin it for everyone.
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