Work telling us we wont get opportunity's if we don't show our faces?

[lovemenomore]

Hi all,

Wanted to know if IABU for being peed off/demoralised at this message from the owner of the company I work for.

Basically started the job in Jan & it has been 100% remote due to Covid/office closed etc. Since the restrictions have lifted I have been in and met colleagues but continued to wfh as do 75% of the company. There has been talk of us never having to go back in full time and people can choose what to do. Nothing formal has been announced. If we do want to go in we have had to book in. However the other day this was posted on our internal comms site;

"While booking is now no longer required, we are noting who turns up. Expect those that do to get the best opportunities and progression. It's obvious that being 'front and centre' means you are top of mind. We've always been a company that prioritises what you do and achieve over simple time served, this is just one aspect of that."

What are your thoughts? To me that is saying if you dont come in you will not be given the opportunities....

Lots of the staff arent local and live all over the country/world. A few of my colleagues are miffed but some friends have said all companies are like this?

It always amazes me how many posters on here are vociferously anti-WFH. Some seem to despise those who have the option to work from home.

I can't help but wonder if these posters work themselves. Or have ever held down a job in their lives.

It always amazes me how many posters on here are vociferously anti-WFH. Some seem to despise those who have the option to work from home.

Yes, very true. I find a lot of people who are anti WFH have a job that can’t be done from home, or wish they could WFH. They seem a bit jealous to be honest. And people seem to forget that a lot of companies are taking the hybrid approach. So neither one extreme nor the other.

I can see both sides here.

For some WFH offers them a better work-life balance and therefore better around wellbeing, bit that doesn't mean they aren't dedicated to their jobs.

Some people want to be in that office environment, they feel they are more productive and enjoy that go getter I'm here lifestyle, which is in turn better for their well-being.

Some prefer a half in half out approach as it offers them a balance of go getter and comfort.

Everyone is different. I can see why a company have been honest and said it as it is though. Because well if you are seeing someone two or three times a week you get a feel of them, their personality their work ethos and their demeanor. So from a recruiting point of view you are seeing what you are getting. So makes sense to promote what you know to someone you have never met before and have no idea of. Doesn't make it all around fair, but makes sense in a way.

I don't blame you for being upset though OP but their honesty is to be commended.

I agree with the employer, and it's about time more people went back to work- they did it before, and the need for WFH is now over.

WFH makes for poor service- just look at how bad banks and call centres have become, and Government departments are chronically poor with huge delays to get vital documents (Driving Licences, Powers of Attorney, Probate to name a few).

COVID has just become an excuse for poor, slow work, and abysmal service.

I think some posters are missing the point. It isn’t about presenteeism, it’s about a “can do” attitude, about being flexible, about being willing to engage with people in real life, not just via a screen.

What about passing on your knowledge to younger, less experienced colleagues, being an ear to bend over and issues, supervising others work etc,etc.

And about this ^^

Surely they are just saying “out of sight, out of mind”. Sometimes the best opportunities are not advertised, they come from water cooler chats and so on. These impromptu meetings are very valuable to how employees fit into a business, how they network across the organisation, how other employees see them. They just don’t happen when WFH.

Spot on @BikeRunSki. I suspect the ones who hate the idea of going back to office work are very introverted people who just don’t enjoy being with other people.

I am going back to the office this week and can’t wait. I actually like and get on with the people I work with and can’t wait to see them again face to face. We will be working to a hybrid model BTW.

It would be a miserable and lonely world if we all had to WFH and never meet new people. Not everyone has the luxury of an office at home with a desk and comfortable office chair.

I genuinely can’t see how anyone can construe this as presenteeism.

I agree. I think it comes from posters who basically don’t want to go back to working in an office.

COVID has just become an excuse for poor, slow work, and abysmal service.

This 100 per cent.

@Snoozer11

It always amazes me how many posters on here are vociferously anti-WFH. Some seem to despise those who have the option to work from home.

I can't help but wonder if these posters work themselves. Or have ever held down a job in their lives.

I can’t quite get that leap!!

Trying to contact Miele for a service repair

The call waiting message driving in about protecting their employees so working from home

It seemed laughably out of kilter with reality and so… unnecessary

these threads are always so divisive & often don't relate to RL. lots of people wfh or did hybrid pre covid.

@VladmirsPoutine

This is terrible. WFH has been a godsend for so many people!! For example if you have kids, have disabilities, are an ethnic minority! The only reason they want people back in the office is pressure from middle managers whose job description involves annoying junior members of staff and having pointless meetings; and also the pressure from commercial landlords.

I think you mean WFH has been completely abused and people now think they have the right to be paid by their employer while they do the school run and take care of their children. I worked from home long before the pandemic and probably would have been sacked if I was trying to juggle looking after my children at the same time.

And now that employers are fed up of paying people to go about their day to day chores people are moaning.

I’m honest about why I love WFH

I get to Potter about and do bits around the house
And have a nice lunch - on my own
And accept deliveries / engineers etc
Etc

Productive? Yes
But my motivation for working from gone is most definitely not altruistic

@Blossomtoes I thought that so decided not to move house but I regret that now as prices have jumped about 40/50k where I was looking.

[quote rottd]@Blossomtoes I thought that so decided not to move house but I regret that now as prices have jumped about 40/50k where I was looking. [/quote]
I think you’ve had a lucky escape. A lot of people who have bought in the current boom are going to lose money when the inevitable recession hits. The next one’s going to make 2008 look like a walk in the park.

Wfh from home will be like working part time for career progression

A disadvantage

A fairly I would argue

(And I work from home, and I’m part time!)

'I think you mean WFH has been completely abused and people now think they have the right to be paid by their employer while they do the school run and take care of their children. I worked from home long before the pandemic and probably would have been sacked if I was trying to juggle looking after my children at the same time.
And now that employers are fed up of paying people to go about their day to day chores people are moaning'

This ^

Back in the day my WFH colleagues had to prove they had childcare and were not trying to do both.

I am fed up with trying to get hold of HMRC, renew my driving licence, or speak to the council re the business rates. It's impossible. Everyone working from home and seemingly no one doing any work. BUPA, usually amazing ,had the phones set to cut off after you'd gone through the rigmarole of pressing all the various buttons to get the department you needed. Not just once but for hours and hours on end.

A friend works in the public sector. She has done fk all since April 2020. I get lots and lots of emails about how the systems are down again. she's now on a PIP due to low productivity. I'm not sure how much is systems and how much is doing the school run etc, but she isn't alone. She has her head completely in the sand and is insistent she won't go back to the office despite the PIP.

WFH largely isn't working for the clients. It might be for the employees, but there is a massive disconnect somewhere along the line.

Its sometimes interesting how people get "noticed" and their names subsequently put forward for opportunities in a workplace.

When I was 16 and a junior in an organization we sometimes had to supply relief to another location when someone was off ill or on holiday. I nearly always volunteered, even in bad weather. It helped me get to know the city and the numerous other locations of the organization. However I often used the travelling from one location to another for my own purposes: shopping, going to the bank (no ATMs back then) or even stopping for a coffee. So long as I arrived in reasonable time no one ever challenged me. And if they had done:-

I got off the bus 2 stops early and got lost
Sorry I dont know this part of the city
I got the wrong bus

And so on.

In other words I used the system for my own purposes. However when my name came up for a place on an over subscribed course, my manager told his boss I was a "hard worker and a very willing girl who never complains about going on relief". I also used to play chess with my immediate manager and talk about classic novels we read.

The result is that the big boss put forward my name with his personal recommendation and I got a much desired place on a training course.

They say its not "always what you know but who you know" but in order to know the right people in an organization you need to get noticed.

@Blossomtoes that was my thinking but now i'm not sure. I feel the government will do everything in their power to prop up the market as it's almost too big too fail & the only economic "success" story we have.

I do think it could be very contentious if people with more job security eg police, civil servants can wfh more whilst those with less security eg retail & hospitality can't.

[quote rottd]@Blossomtoes that was my thinking but now i'm not sure. I feel the government will do everything in their power to prop up the market as it's almost too big too fail & the only economic "success" story we have. [/quote]
The government won’t be able to prop up the economy, let alone the housing market for much longer. Sunak is very soon going to stop being Father Christmas and turn into Scrooge because there’s no choice.

I've made 3 necessary phone calls today. All were preceded by the 'due to covid' message 'protecting our staff, working from home, long delays' blah blah

The Drs surgery took 59 minutes to answer. DWP took 1hr and 7 mins, and my house insurance company just over 45mins. Last week I just gave up on EE (vulnerable people only) Sky (not answering at all) and Student Finance (wait time of 90mims).

The customer service industry is appalling right now and I personally have no evidence at all that wfh is just as efficient.

I don't care where people work to be frank. But I don't want to be speaking to people on the phone after waiting for an hour to get through to hear their dogs barking or their child crying (then cue interrupting conversation about said child or dog). If distractions and efficiency can't be managed at home then you need to be in the office.

great, loads to look forward the! we only just starting recovering from 08. 😩

I think for a lot of businesses that are providing shit service it's not necessarily just because staff are wfh, they probably haven't invested in tech & have cut staff or put some on furlough as well.

I think there is a lot of personal bias in many of these comments.

Frankly the employer was being "honest" but perhaps did not exactly communicate their stance as well as they could have done.

Many, many companies are asking employers now to start coming back to working in the office, albeit booking days in advance, but expecting at least one or two days a week office based.

My own DBIL (really quite senior) had initially thought office base would be 2 days per month for him going forward, but is now expecting two days per week from September onwards. My DP has started one day per week and it is being very much noticed those who are unwilling to do so where no medical reasons apply. There is constant communication encouraging staff back to a hybrid model of office combined WFH.

I think some people will come unstuck who have moved significantly far away from their offices (know of one already) who anticipated that WFH would be the new norm. I just don't think it is sustainable going forward in the long term.

I personally think that there may well be a mixed approach in the short to medium term and there may well be a greater flexibility to allow more WFH in the long term on a limited basis, but in years to come I think things will very much return to normal working practice as they were pre Covid.

I agree that WFH 100% of the time in the future is not a good idea for anyone.

But it's completely possible to be noticed for doing great work, being productive, managing a project well or picking up extra tasks when you're working remotely.

A good company with effective management and strong communication within teams and departments will mean that this is passed on and people hear of it, and it's not forgotten about.

I've developed relationships with team members I didn't interact much with pre-covid whilst working remotely and I don't believe it has hindered me.

Of course people need to adapt to their situations and if they're given a new opportunity, I agree going into the office more may be required for a time.

But the world of work has changed. Companies are modernising, and covid has simply increased the rate at which this is happening.

15 years ago I would have been working alongside colleagues and we'd all be wearing suits. Workplaces have moved with the times and now we have a casual dress code and can wear jeans and trainers of we wish. It makes no difference.

Same principle with remote working. On a case by case basis working from home 2 or 3 days a week isn't going to hurt someone's career. Times have changed.

Those decrying people working from home on here will likely be the same who think not wearing a tie to sit behind a computer screen should result in an instant dismissal. They're out of touch.

I'm reminded of one of the most batshit posts I've ever seen on mumsnet, who demanded her staff be dress and fully made up whilst working from their kitchens, and turn their webcams on to prove it as she "wasn't paying people to sit in their pyjamas".

The world has moved on, and those who don't move with it will be left behind.

Last week I just gave up on EE (vulnerable people only) Sky (not answering at all) and Student Finance (wait time of 90mims).

That's weird. I called EE on Friday, got straight through and they had removed the message about only helping vulnerable customers.