I am stunned to read that UBS, like other companies, is considering drastically reducing the possibility of teleworking in Switzerland. We are witnessing a real step backwards regarding this way of working.
Every company is naturally free to offer its employees the option of teleworking or not. But justifying this step backwards by citing a supposed dispersion of forces, a loss of profitability or an increased need for collaboration is a blatant misuse of language – to put it politely. The real problem lies in increasingly poor management in terms of human resources and organisational leadership.
In companies subject to increasing profitability requirements, there is no longer any room for even minimal flexibility. Add to this the fact that managers are often chosen for their technical skills rather than their managerial skills, and you have the perfect recipe for ineffective leadership.
It is rare to find executives who excel in both technical and managerial skills. However, for the past ten years or so, the preference has been to hire managers who are already technically trained (which avoids training costs), direct or even abrupt (believed to be more profitable), and unlikely to stay in their jobs for long (results must be measurable within a few months). As for corporate culture, subtle management, empathy or long-term vision… we’ll have to wait and see.
And yet, there are a few simple rules for effectively combining face-to-face and remote working:
• Knowing your customers is a given, but knowing your staff is just as crucial.
• Understanding what your employees do and knowing how to estimate the time needed to do it helps prevent abuse.
• Maintaining contact with everyone, whether in person or remotely, is now within everyone’s reach thanks to technology.
• Managing a team, whether on site or hundreds of miles away, can be learned and mastered!
• Not favouring those who are present simply for convenience ensures team stability: it’s a matter of basic fairness.
• Setting one or two days a week for everyone to work in person is far from complicated: all you need to do is define a clear framework in consultation with your teams, and it works perfectly.
The unbeatable argument that working in person leads to better collaboration does not stand up to scrutiny. Let’s be honest: how much of our working time is spent collaborating simultaneously and actively on the same project? Apart from a few specific cases, probably 20 to 30% at most.
If remote working becomes established practice and office occupancy rates fall permanently, it will then be possible to reduce space and infrastructure – and therefore costs. Curiously, this aspect is systematically absent from profitability calculations!
Finally, there have always been people who abuse the system, but to think that they are better monitored because they are physically present is naively simplistic. Those who want to shirk their responsibilities will do so, whether they are working remotely or not. Without a minimum of observation skills, many managers allow themselves to be fooled, whether they are next door or across the world.
In a few years’ time, the pendulum of remote working will naturally swing back to a point of equilibrium in corporate strategy. And these sectarian debates will no longer be relevant.
Enjoy reading and see you soon.