New employee (Gen Z} doesn’t want to meet in person

[outofofficeon]

I took on a graduate for a new position, she’d been job hunting for a few years, I felt good about giving her a hand up into a great career.
She lives about an hour away so works remotely. She bright and polite and reliable and a good member of the team.

The problem I have is that she doesn’t want to visit the office in person or meet her colleagues in person, I offered to put her up in a nice hotel and pay travel costs so that she could spend a few days with us in person. She declined. My latest issue is that she doesn’t put her camera on when we are communicating at work as part of daily work or chats. I understand she might not be very confident but I think that you have to get out of the house / your comfort zone if you want a career.

im not sure what to do- any advice oh wise ladies.

Hmm, it sounds like she is very comfy in her comfort zone. She could be putting her work first too, forgetting the fact that it's people that make the company not the work that has to be done. There as skills that need to be practiced and developed and admittedly, I can be like that myself at times. A colleague gave me a push to develop my skills a bit and I'm glad they did. You could try organising a more enjoyable meeting, like a work function or something. You could give her a job to do there so she has to attend in person. You could then take the opportunity to gently include her in conversation and try suggesting that ye meet up in person again on a specificied day and time. Worth a try anyway!

Keep in mind also that she could be concerned about keeping up with her workload and may be find it harder to get as much done with others there. Some people are more neurosensitive and need a quieter environment to think properly. You could try lighten her workload for a bit and at the same time suggest a meet up, just to make sure she hasn't some task she needs to get done on her mind. And if all else fails, talk to her, gently telling her you would love her to be a part of it (some people find it more difficult and she may need to take it slowly)

😂

My dc has just started a grad job and despite the office being hybrid, new grads are fully office for the first year or so - he’s really pleased about that, it’s so much better to start a career in this way

It is impacting work.

When a small group of people is meeting online 2-4, the conf call can simulate natural conversation, you see people nodding/looking concerned, you see that someone wants to speak, or is done speaking.

When a bigger session is running, there is a big difference between talking to your own screen and talking to a set of small heads.

It sounds to me like she might have become / becoming agoraphobic. Does your company have wellbeing, mental health support, duty of care?

I posted on MN before about a neighbour of mine who increasingly becoming withdrawn and then developing agoraphobia (she had a full nervous breakdown when leaving the house to go to the doctors) after 4 years of working remotely from home. Her husband is now seeking to sue her employer as she is still very sick.

@Charlize43 What’s her husband suing the employer for? Is her employer responsible for causing her agoraphobia?

Just saying but perhaps some of your employee's traits may be tied in with Autism? Having several family members and friends who show high functioning (Autistic) traits, the social side of work can be problematic for them. You will probably find them to be pretty efficient and to have good work ethics, but the social side of things can continue to be difficult for them even when in the same workplace/job for several years.

Very rarely. We were a team working from different ends of the country and some
of those people I never met other than via email or on conference calls.

Personally I have no issue with my camera on, but I reckon if the OP set out her expectations going forward this could be resolved and a lesson’s been learnt that maybe these things need discussing beforehand.

And yeah, I’ve worked from home from years, exceeding my very measurable targets continuously. Whether or not I had my camera on during the occasional meeting had very little to do with that.

You need to update her Ts&Cs to stipulate working from office x times year.

Camera on is not a Tx&Cs issue but a culture one.

But You need a practical discussion with her about cameras on. Is it she doesn’t want it on. Or does she have a bandwidth issue. Or a camera issue.
you are the boss and you need to set out some ground rules and find out how she can fit with them.

otherwise she doesn’t make it through the probation period.

Maybe she doesn’t go to the shops because she avoids any social contact? You know nothing about how difficult her life may be.

Or if she's still on probation don't pass her. Then hire someone without all these issues and who is going to hit the ground running.

Snd neither do her employers, and that's the problem

Yes, the OP needs to have a conversation with her to understand WHY she refuses to have her camera on and come into the office. I really doubt that she is just being lazy or deliberately difficult

You need to communicate your expectations as her line manager, simple as that.

Boss comes from the Latin word Bossy... so tell her 'cameras on are mandatory, bitch'... OK maybe leave the word bitch out...

All of this, 'Is she alright? Is she asleep under that lettuce leaf?' Is going to get you nowhere. Time to put your big boss pants on.

Have you met her in person? Is she definitely UK based?

This from Google (but I’d take legal HR advice too!):

As a UK employer, you can request an employee who works remotely and online under a contract to attend in person, provided the request is based on
"reasonable business grounds" and you have genuinely tried to find alternative solutions and considered the
consequences of refusal. You cannot unilaterally change a remote-working contract; the employee's consent is generally required for a permanent change, but you can request attendance for valid reasons like meetings or training.

OP u need to toughen up - you are the boss here! Make expectations clear, have regular reviews where these expectations are discussed, recorded & monitored & where she gets feedback on her performance & working style plus discuss any reasonable support she needs . Address refusal to a reasonable request (eg come in/ turn on camera) as a performance issue. Are you new to leadership? If so, it might help you to get some advice/ coaching in this area.

Good luck! x

I would dismiss her as this awkwardness and refusal to comply with a perfectly reasonable request doesn't bode well for the future.

I only infrequently lead meetings on Teams, but I find it massively annoying to ask a question of one of the members without their camera on, only to be met with silence. Because they're not actually there or listening to a word.

We had a recent questionnaire about the efficiency of board meetings and if there were any changes we'd like to see. I suggested that everyone should have cameras on.

I bought my webcam myself from Amazon. It cost me less than £25 and is going strong five years and three jobs later. Not an investment I resent having to make!

I don't think it matters whether the contract requires cameras to be on during meetings. You wouldn't expect an employment contract to deal with that level of detail. Even if it is not stated expressly, it is an essential part of any employment contract that an employee complies with reasonable requests and directions from the employer, and requiring that they be visible during meetings is eminently reasonable. I think OP needs to issue a reminder to all employees that they need to have cameras on throughout meetings. If this person disobeys, they will have to go through the disciplinary process and be dismissed if necessary.

This. I'd actively discourage going into details like this in the contract. It will be a slippery slope wirha having to add more and more things and giving the ability to push back. Employees need to adhere to readable company policies even if the specifics are not in contract.

Surely you can just move a keyboard out of the way or something to set up the laptop? Or just put the laptop on another surface?

An organisation with a cameras off culture would be highly unusual. Most people want to know that everyone involved in the meeting is actually there and engaging.

This is one of the most ableist posts I’ve read in a long time, what a lot of inflexible responses.

Anyone with any knowledge of the equality act would not insist on a blanket ‘cameras must be on’
the woman was hired for a remote job and that’s what she’s doing.

I work for a huge public service employer and at most meetings there’s at least a quarter of attendees with their camera off, including people from other agencies.

OP, if you are not happy with the terms and conditions you’ve hired her on then you need to take some legal advice or refer to your hr/ personnel team before you start enforcing the opposite of what she’s applied for