Returning to work in real life

[Sandra15]

We are having a Zoom call about returning to work. Regardless of the need to feel safe, a member of staff has said that she can find quiet places to work at home, and she is stressed and anxious about people coming in and out of the office and will find it distracting.

What? That was normal 18 months ago. AIBU to think this is snowflake-ish?

@DolphinFC the employer gets to decide if an employee is more productive at home or in the office. But even if they are more productive at home, if the employer wants them in the office then they'll come back to the office.

Plenty of children are natural introverts too, yet they don't get a choice, they are just expected to go to school and get on with it.

@DolphinFC

Am I allowed to carry on posting Angel?

My god. Did I say you weren't?

I was trying to figure out exactly what information you were wanting. Its clear you are leading somewhere, but don't want to say outright.

@Moonface123

Plenty of children are natural introverts too, yet they don't get a choice, they are just expected to go to school and get on with it.

This is a trickier one. Even introverted children need to be socialised, and other children need to learn how to interact with more introverted children.

My point is clear.

I made it several pages ago.

Here it us agsin:

Good employers will work to find ways of working that are mutually beneficial. But ultimately employers have the right to call workers back to the office to do the job the workers applied for and said they wanted to do if the emplyer decides that is the best way for the company to operate.

@DolphinFC

My point is clear.

I made it several pages ago.

Here it us agsin:

Good employers will work to find ways of working that are mutually beneficial. But ultimately employers have the right to call workers back to the office to do the job the workers applied for and said they wanted to do if the emplyer decides that is the best way for the company to operate.

Unfortunately, my memory is not that good that I can remember exactly who posted what, hours or even over a day ago. I was just answering your questions as you asked them.

Yes, you are right to a point. Employers will ultimately decide.

However, as was mentioned earlier, in alot of jobs employees can influence that decision. In many ways. Not in all jobs or with all employers though, granted.

I agree 100%.

I don't see why this is your concern.

I'm not concerned about it. It doesn't affect me in the slightest, as I'm not their employer but I mentioned it because it's relevent to the topic being discussed on this thread.

If productivity is the same at home and work I don’t see why more companies don’t make a permanent move to wfh at least some of the time or at least as a non-compulsory option. I think we live in a culture where you we run ourselves ragged at work and could all do with better work life balance! I’m a teacher so it’s never going to happen for me but I think other people should get the choice, better for the environment in terms of traffic too.

@valnevavaxx

This might not be a popular opinion, but so long as people are getting their work done- who really cares if they're gardening or putting a wash on?

If they're massively under performing then that's a separate issue, nothing to do with WFH.

This is the approach we're taking with employees. It'll be immediately obvious if someone isn't working as hard - projects will take longer or not get done, stats will go down. If you want to go and walk the dog, watch a boxset or batch cook spaghetti bolognese between 9-5 and the work still gets done, crack on.

My husband has severe anxiety about going back to the office. I have told him working from home has actually been detrimental to his mental health (barely sets foot out the door ) and have asked him to raise it with his employers but have also told him I think he NEEDS to go back to the office for his own sake as he has become enshrined in our box room /now man cave

We have around 100 people all not wanting to come back with a million excuses. They will only be doing 50/50 and they did 2 days at home pre pandemic. They don’t know how good they’ve got it. I personally am looking forward to leaving this house 2-3 days a week. I appreciate not everyone is but they just need to accept it and stop trying to become a home worker as we won’t be doing that. I mean one person wants to be a home worker so she can continue breastfeeding. Surely she needs childcare regardless and shouldn’t be working at home with a baby, how she will meet her targets I don’t know. This is what the managers are dealing with. What did people do pre pandemic? I mean surely before getting pregnant you consider affording childcare etc

I’ve missed the office, but I can totally understand that things have changed. On the rare occasions that I have been in I have found it exhausting. I’m not really used to driving any distance or socialising all day. 18 months ago going into the office was a daily event. Now it’s become quite a big deal and I think it may take a little while to adapt again even though I’m really looking forward to it.

It’s not a stretch to imagine that returning to the office might be disconcerting for some people. Struggling doesn’t make anyone a ‘snowflake’ and your first post seemed a little insensitive. It’s great that you are coping but others may have experienced difficulties and they deserve our support.

I'm one of the snowflakes. I am also autistic and would bet good money that there are many more undiagnosed women out there, like I was until a few years ago.

My life used to revolve around struggling to survive. I spent decades in offices and most recently hot desking offices. Things which physically disturbed me all day included people moving, eating, talking, the smells, the noise, the endless endless sensory stuff, the temperature, the clothes, the shoes, the toilets, the food, the drink, the commute, the germs, the surfaces, the small talk, and then on top of that trying to do a job. It was like being on animal on high alert for hours on end.

I spent an hour at the end of each day just lying in bed, shaking, waiting for it to stop, for all the images to stop running through my head, My weekends were spent trying to recover and feel human again. I sometimes had nice Sundays but that was it.

As soon as I could work from home, my life was magically transformed. I wasn't sick. Work suddenly didn't physically exhaust me anymore! I had evenings and weekends. I had time. I had health.

I lost weight, changed my diet, started exercising, became known at work as being really good, got promoted. I'm not the same trembly anxious wreck I was pre lockdown.

So, yes ... I am physically terrified of going back. Yes I am a snowflake. I'd love not to be though. I'd love to be one of you people who waves it all off.

We're having this conversation at work currently, we're expecting a hybrid model from maybe September but just discussing the details of how it'll work and what HR policy will support it etc. I've just about got used to wfh now, it wasn't something I wanted to do. We can't currently meet colleagues during working hours even offsite.

This is being taken as an opportunity to reduce overheads, most people will continue to wfh the majority of the time now permanently, those who've been working from dressing tables and dining tables for the last 18 months might feel differently about doing that for the foreseeable future and want to get back into the office, those who are saving money on petrol and after school childcare etc. will want to stay at home. Most people at my organisation want a balance, I'd like to meet my team occasionally even if it's in a Starbucks at lunchtime.

I work in the public sector and some people definitely had an easy ride for a while, lots of the normal "day job" work was put on hold for at least six months, lots of us were busier than ever supporting the pandemic response, others kept their heads down or had young children at home with schools and nurseries closed and were left alone, keeping an eye on their emails and catching up on online training etc. Most of the "day job" was back up and running in the autumn, line managers should know who's busy and productive and who's slacking off. We're encouraged to be flexible, take breaks, nip out if we need to as long as the work gets done.

Let's just say I am really annoyed at attending zoom calls of colleagues pushing to work from home permanently, in their cosy spacious home offices, while I dial in from the floor of the hallway of my flat because it's the only place quiet enough to take calls.

My favourite is people saying they can't come back to the office because they've now moved too far away...

I think the last fifteen months have demonstrated to many more enlightened employers that more flexible working patterns can be beneficial to both employer and employee; both in terms of part time hours/flexible working and a mix of home/office based working.
All the ££ to be saved on expensive office space, travel...

@Pedalpushers

My favourite is people saying they can't come back to the office because they've now moved too far away...

That, is something I can't get my head round. I want to move house and I wouldn't have dreamed of moving far away from my normal office.

I worked hybrid anyway because I do travel to our other offices and wfh. But sometimes I need to be in head office 3 days in a row, for weeks. We have been completely wfh since it started and will be until April next year, at least.

I wouldn't move miles away on the presumption that I won't ever have to go to head office on a regular basis. Unless I had that in writing as a change of contract.

I don't get why people did this. I have been really clear with my staff when they have asked about wether wfh will continue. I have no idea. We are going fully hybrid according to the MD with the focus being on management having to actually manage. Unfortunately, in my company the wfh has really shown which managers can't really manage staff that well. Extra support is being brought in for them.

But until the MD puts it in writing. I am not communicating that in any official capacity. Because hybrid could mean lots of different things to different people.

Making huge life decisions based in the assumption that you are going to wfh forever, is really really ridiculous.

I do notice a very defensive tone from the posters who obviously want to stay wfh, a lot of oh the employees can tell the employers what they will and won't do, trouble is that's not really true. You can ask but if your workplace says no what will you do? It's fine to have a dialogue but thinking you have the upper hand is a bit foolish

@DolphinFC

What should happen when people who are less productive when WFH ask to work from home?

be told they are less productive at home and refused flexible working? - or maybe allowed a trial period to improve?

another poster has suggested that flexible working requires better management skills, which I agree with.

Interesting the calling of people snowflakes because they're anxious ( for whatever reasons ) to return to office. What about the 'snowflakes' who find WFH tough ?

Blimey people come on !

Most organisations I know are going to a hybrid situation which is good. Both employees and employers get positives from it.

I went into office twice last week. Left house at 7am got back through the door 11 hrs later ! Having WFH during the pandemic I've had a better work / life balance and if I was told I needed to be in office 5 days a week I would be anxious too !

@Daleksatemyshed

I do notice a very defensive tone from the posters who obviously want to stay wfh, a lot of oh the employees can tell the employers what they will and won't do, trouble is that's not really true. You can ask but if your workplace says no what will you do? It's fine to have a dialogue but thinking you have the upper hand is a bit foolish

I don't think anyone has said employees can tell the employers what to do or have the upper hand.

But they can impact change. Employer A decides they want every back at the office full time, but employees don't really want to. Employer B is in the same industry might not be so close, to home but offers hybrid or wfh. People who really don't want to be back in full time will start leaving. It's already formed part of many companies decisions. Looking at what other similar businesses were offering. It can impact change.

No one said they could definitely change things. Sometimes the employer A would still refuse to change things then moan their staff are leaving. But most employers also get that things change and evolved and people will leave for better terms of work.

No one said an employee, who doesn't want to go back absolutely can't be made to. That's simply not correct.

I had an interesting conversation with a business owner the other day who had chosen to not renew the lease on his office. The reasoning was that when discussed with employees, not a single one wanted to return to the office.

My thoughts on this were that, either his office did not have a good atmosphere, or he didn’t have a very diverse team - as I cannot believe that out of 20 prople not a single one wanted to return.