New Starbucks boss Brian Niccol induced many to spit out their espresso with the information he’ll commute round 1,000 miles from his dwelling in California to the corporate’s HQ in Seattle. It’s true that he’ll have the posh of the corporate jet for his journeys to the workplace, which the espresso big says will imply he’s assembly its coverage of exhibiting up for work in particular person at the least three days per week.
However are the arguments about personal jets and company existence lacking the purpose? We must always actually be asking whether or not any employee must be within the workplace three days per week if they’ll carry out the function equally properly from their dwelling. Niccol will work flexibly, with a mix of being within the workplace and dealing from dwelling. In fact, many disagree strongly with this. Funding analyst Dan Coatsworth advised the BBC that in his opinion a frontrunner “must be on the coronary heart of a enterprise, not sitting on the seashore”.
Different enterprise leaders speaking about dwelling or distant working have used phrases like “an aberration”, “lazy gits” and “morally flawed”“, whereas Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan stated distant working doesn’t work for individuals who need to hustle.
That is “flexibility stigma” – the notion that staff working from dwelling are in some way are much less motivated or dedicated, and are much less productive.
Sadly, this bias towards versatile employees is frequent. In a current consultant survey of employees throughout Europe and the UK, about one in three respondents felt that versatile working was seen negatively by managers or colleagues or that it broken profession outcomes.
Though we noticed these views decline through the peak of the COVID pandemic when homeworking was enforced, they’re coming again as extra managers ask employees to return to the workplace, usually citing issues with productiveness or dedication as the primary causes.
However the place do these concepts come from? There may be rising proof to counsel that distant employees usually are not solely extra dedicated and dependable to their job, they’re typically extra productive than their in-office counterparts.
In my e-book, The Flexibility Paradox, I present how versatile employees are likely to work tougher and longer than different employees. In truth, going again to the brand new Starbucks boss, he already has a monitor report of pulling one other franchise, (Chipotle), out of disaster – and is more likely to do the identical for Starbucks, the place gross sales have been down for a 12 months or extra.
Somewhat than proof, these beliefs round distant employees come from one thing known as facetime bias – when managers typically understand those that they’ll see working as being dedicated and aligning with the notion of the perfect employee.
In lots of societies, together with the UK and US, individuals consider that the perfect productive employee is somebody who prioritises work, has no different tasks, and is working lengthy hours (ideally within the workplace and all the time related).
Distant working, particularly when it’s assumed that it’s achieved for work-life stability, goes towards this concept. As such, we presume the particular person is a slacker. For this reason employees find yourself going into the workplace – not as a result of it’s extra productive or as a result of they need to, however as a result of they’re pressured to or as a result of they need to appear to be they’re productive (even when they aren’t).
This stigma can go away distant employees affected by damaging profession outcomes. It’s the cause why versatile working may end up in staff feeling the have to overwork or present “digital presenteeism” (spending an excessive amount of time being seen on-line). It’s why versatile working typically leads to worse work-life stability outcomes – with work encroaching on personal lives moderately than the opposite manner round.
A brand new manner ahead
However right here’s the excellent news. These views usually are not inevitable. My two papers printed within the Journal of Household Analysis and in Social Indicators Analysis (with Hyojin Web optimization, postdoctoral researcher at Tilburg College within the Netherlands) present how altering the best way we take into consideration work and gender roles, and offering higher safety for employees, can deal with the biased views towards versatile employees and make sure that it leads to optimistic outcomes for his or her wellbeing.
These research present how in international locations with beneficiant household insurance policies, the place an excellent work-life stability turns into the norm and isn’t seen as antithetical to productiveness, and the place it’s anticipated that each women and men have caring tasks, individuals typically don’t assume versatile employees are slackers.
In different phrases, we have to deal with the outdated picture of the “very best employee”, which is predicated on factory-based modes of manufacturing the place males have been the breadwinners who may give attention to placing in lengthy hours at work, supported by ladies as full-time caregivers. We have to help the event of a new commonplace productive employee, the place staff of all genders have tasks exterior work. And we should always change our work tradition in order that ample relaxation is seen as key to being productive, and offering care doesn’t imply you’re much less of a employee, however moderately could make you a greater one.
Related Press/Alamy Inventory Picture
In truth, not like Niccol, the boss of Santander UK Mike Regnier was upfront about taking on the job was as a result of he may work at home a couple of days per week. Regnier stated it doesn’t imply he’s much less productive and, from what I can see, he appears to be proper.
Niccol, if he can present he is a good supervisor even when working extra days in California, couldn’t solely combat off these sceptics but additionally make sure that others take pleasure in the identical advantages as he does.
Who cares if you happen to’re sitting at a seashore, and never in wet Seattle away from household, so long as you get the job achieved? As a bonus, with extra dwelling working and fewer three-hour commuting flights, he would possibly assist Starbucks meet its emission targets.
