The COVID-19 pandemic forced many businesses to allow their employees to work from home. This prevented the spread of the virus and allowed people to continue working without having to worry about getting sick. However, it seems that many CEOs are now asking their employees to return to the office. So, why would they do this? And is this the end of remote working and hybrid working arrangements?
There are a few reasons why CEOs might be asking their employees to return to the office:
- First, they may feel that it is time to get back to normal. Working from home has been the new normal for over a year now. CEOs may feel the need for people to return to their old routines.
- Second, working from home can be lonely. It can be hard to stay motivated when you’re by yourself all day, and many people crave human interaction.
- Finally, CEOs may feel that their employees can get more work done in the office. With everyone in one place, it can be easier to collaborate and get things done.
Lack of Trust?
One motive few businesses have been willing to explore is whether there is a distinct lack of trust by CEOs. Do they trust their employees to be actually doing the work they are paid to do? Is it because CEOs are no longer able to see periods of inactivity or free capacity from employees? In the past, any such “free time” would imply a capacity to take on more work. Making sure that employees are maximising their 8 hours a day was effectively the measure of productivity.
We need to understand where the 8 hour day came from in the first place. The modern movement of fixed working hours stems from the Industrial Revolution in Britain. The working day was set at 12 hours to match the amount of time that people could work in factories. This way, businesses could get the most out of their employees and make the most money possible.
Robert Owen, the 19th century social reformer, advocated for there to be only an 8 hour work day. He coined the slogan: “Eight hours’ labour, Eight hours recreation, Eight hours rest”. This was particularly needed to protect women and children who were doing manual labour in factories.
The Eight Hour Day has since been adopted as the standard for working hours across the world. It was codified in the Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919, and ratified by over 52 countries to date.
However, times have changed substantially since the early 1900s and technology has totally reformed how work happens. It will continue to do so.
New Ways of Working
So, does this mean that a new convention for hours of work is required by the UN’s International Labour Organization? Is the concept of fixed working hours now defunct for office workers? Was hybrid working merely a temporary strategy during the pandemic and no longer the preferred way of working?
The answer to these questions are complex and constantly evolving as to what constitutes ‘best-practice’ in our world today. What businesses need to accept is a substantial shift in how people want to work. Their employees have tasted what work could be like during the pandemic. They no longer wish to return to what it was like in the past. Long unproductive hours in the office is no longer an acceptable badge of honour.
While there were predictions that this would lead to “the Great Resignation”, the reality has been different. Many employees have been more patient than expected. Rather than jumping ship, many have chosen to initiate discussions with their employers.
In a recent survey by Gartner, 86% of employees said that they would like to continue working remotely, at least some of the time. Without remote working, many businesses would not have survived the pandemic.
Remote working is here to stay. HR policies need to be updated so that employees can work remotely as an option. More importantly, management teams need to start talking about what work could look like in the future. The focus needs to be on recruiting the right people that would thrive with hybrid working arrangements and training them on how they can increase productivity through tools like Kanban boards.
The Right Stuff (…and Staff)
The pandemic has forced businesses to change and adapt. There is no doubt that many aspects of work will never be the same again. Businesses should embrace this change and use it to create a better world of work. They should not return to the way things were. New employees need to agile and have the right aptitude for change. This could mean a different and new way of recruiting.
CEOs should spend less time focusing on the existing workforce and more on recruiting the right employees. They need to explore how to make their business more attractive to the right potential employees with the right attitudes and attributes. They won’t see that on any CVs so talent acquisition and recruitment processes will need to change.
HR Managers are some of the busiest people in the office right now. Many are still playing catch-up in terms of revising HR policies and procedures required over the past few years. The reality HR Managers face is that much of those policies will probably need to be overhauled again soon. The ways of working will inevitably continue to change. There’s nothing they can do to prevent that. CEOs demanding for employees to return to the office isn’t going to fix it. It may make things worse.
What can businesses do to attract the right people? Comment below.