WFH favours the work shy

[BorisBooster]

How are managers going to manage the work shy ?

Some parts of my job mean our team needs to go into the office. We agreed that we would be in on certain days together in order to talk matters through and stop the endless zoom calls etc. One particular member does their own thing. In addition often ( more than rest of us) making excuses not to be in office - sore throat, waiting for test etc.

They could be a responsible employee but their track record prior to Covid was poor.

I'm having a rant because the Covid situation has just allowed them to be even more work shy and managers don't manage !

Yawn. It’s happening, get over it.

Do you need to be in the office?

How are managers going to manage the work shy ?
Set targets, if they’re not met then follow whatever procedures you have in place.

Nonsense, we are working much harder.

Sounds like you have rubbish managers.

Bollocks. My husband is at his (home) desk at 6.30 am.

@KateyKontent I know some are working harder but not all.

I'm not a manager so I'll leave it to them

The workshy need to be micromanaged to get them to work wherever they physically are.

The conscientious often put more hours in at home, as they are able to work during the commute time, and it is also very easy to think "I'll just finish this off the evening" which couldn't have happened for many before they were able to work at home.

What I'm saying is that if you were work shy before Covid then wfh plays into your hands.

I know a lot of people, myself included , have never worked so hard and long in last 20 months

Managers need to learn to manage 'what' and 'how' the work is done, not where and when. It's a new and vital skill set,

It should be no surprise that the score for 'my manager treats underperformance fairly' is highly correlated with employee satisfaction

That's pretty frustrating
My job is tracked, heavily. My boss can see if i am making a brew, on a call, typing an email. Calls are recorded and my screen is recorded. I don't think anyone has figured out a way to skive

One of the most destructive types of poor managers is not addressing poor performance. It is so unfair to everyone else.

Nope, the work shy are well able to skive in an office environment too.

It's about monitoring output, not hours spent sitting at a desk.

'Talking things through' doesn't require everyone to be in the office. A talking shop isn't an effective meeting regardless of whether it is in person or online.

Sounds like you all need some training on how to have effective meetings and the managers need training on how to manage workloads and set targets.

Productivity and outcomes are what matters not bums on seats.

If it isn’t directly effecting you I wouldn’t give a toss.

I've worked at least twice as hard and at least 3 times longer hours since covid - any fuckwits should be managed out in the normal way.

I work get more work completed and work longer when WFH. Less/no distractions. No commute time. I can eat whilst working. No going out for lunch as the kitchen is several steps away. No need to take time off work for mild illnesses e.g., colds or due to kids being off from school due to sickness.

Everyone including Managers know exactly who the work shy staff are. Those Managers need to do their jobs properly by monitoring the output of the lazy staff.

Actually, the performance of the never-where-you-need-her, forever "busy" with a "project" member of our team has been transformed by working from home.

Much harder to hide when your Teams shows your availability, now that we have regular team check-ins which she can't be "unable" to travel to, when our tasks are recorded and tracked for everyone to see.

All this could have been done before but the pandemic accelerated the adoption of the technology in our workplace and we had no choice but to use it.

She's definitely contributing more and the rest of the team feel less put upon.

Plus, she did have a really shitty commute so I guess her work life balance must be better too. It can't be much fun skulking in your office all day avoiding phone calls from the boss.

If this person doesn't work for you then it's not really any of your concern.

Most wfh systems are based on targets but there are tools to record start times and % activity at PCs. If someone is doing less than their hours, it's quite hard to hide.

WFH has taught me that what takes my colleagues and I 9-5:30 to do in the office, takes me about 4 hours at home.
I put in 5 hours work a day, so my output is actually better than the start of the pandemic, and then spend the rest of the day wiggling my mouse to keep my Teams open, and just watch Netflix.

I think you're focusing on the wrong thing here. This is a manager problem.

If a member of your team is a lazy twat and making your life more difficult then keep complaining to your manager. If your manager doesn't do anything about it then they are a shit manager and I'd be looking for a new job.

Laughing at the poor manager comments!
Try managing a large team where you have one or two ‘players’ but you don’t want to penalise the majority who do their best
It’s a very fine line and funnily enough it’s always the players who smoke screen with grievances etc
I would love to spend more time on ensuring we all have a job at all in 1-2-5 years time but waste it on managing the ‘players’

Ime, WFH people need to be very self-motivated. It's the ones who sit around the office all day sipping tea and checking on each others' projects and stopping for endless birthday cakes to be cut etc who put in half the amount of hours each day. (I worked in a very slack office.)

@DirectionToPerfection

Nope, the work shy are well able to skive in an office environment too.

It's about monitoring output, not hours spent sitting at a desk.

This! If I don’t do the work it gets noticed by managers, their focus has been on the output and not the hours spent at my home desk.

Flexibility granted to us at work has resulted in us feeling supported and committed to our organisation and they have reported no difference in amount of work carried out. If individuals are doing the work - there are procedures in place for that, they should be used.

I have a colleague who is lazy both in and out of the office (and a manager who seemingly won't address it). He seems to put in more work to avoid work when it's WFH than he would actually just doing the work

Inept management is inept, whether its in the office or at home.

I think it’s easier to look ‘busy’ in the office. People are tempted to meet up for lots of pointless meetings - especially in the hybrid situation (‘make the most of the time you have in office to socially interact’). Personally I can get more work done at home. In meetings which are not really relevant to me, I can actually do some stuff on my laptop.

@NMC2022

That's pretty frustrating My job is tracked, heavily. My boss can see if i am making a brew, on a call, typing an email. Calls are recorded and my screen is recorded. I don't think anyone has figured out a way to skive

Eek red flags. 🚩 Shows absolutely no trust in their employees. I’d run a mile.