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.

Wow, and you haven't thought about the ableism in your post? Neurodiversity is not the only disability.

I am hearing impaired. I rely on lip reading and it is hugely problematic for me if people don't put their camera on.

Cameras on makes a huge difference to people with hearing difficulties

Plus a lot of workplaces are insisting on cameras on now for internet security reasons. That, alongside the point I made about how much cameras on helps hearing impaired people, are both pretty compelling reasons

From my notes in 2010

If someone is eating - no one wants to watch each other chewing

Unless it is a (rare) working lunch, you don't eat in a meeting

	<span class="italic">In large meetings when most people are just listening </span>✅

When someone else is presenting in a meeting or the meeting is being hosted in person and the rest of us are dialling in (the tech involved would usually mean either you'd appear in vast size on a display screen or alternatively no one is looking at a screen of people at all)

Acceptable. But just shows you're cosplaying at remote working.

If your Wifi is playing up and the bandwidth isn't there (and this applies to some people more or less all the time - they'll explain to new people generally)

If you work remotely, you make sure you have resilience. Use a a backup 5G router, or your phones 5G

If there's disruption where you are and the visuals would be distracting - eg pet has wandered in

See my point about cosplaying remote working.

If your camera isn't working.

Should be so rare as to be insignificant. Faulty kit gets swapped out by courier

Otherwise they're on but there is scope for individual adjustments in line with the law obviously. I'm sure most people have a bad day every now and then and keep them off but that's rare. ✅

My recommendation (which was accepted) was that homeworkers should be provided with a dedicated internet connection to ensure it was provided under commercial terms with a grown up SLA, not the "in a weeks time" you get with your domestic contracts. That's why I had a BT and Virgin connection for 6 years 😀

Sorry, you did see that I said these were the exceptions to a cameras on policy that is used across the firm? No one is 'cosplaying' at remote working. Although we are hybrid working not remote working which means often at least one person in the meeting is in an office and most if not all of these exceptions apply to them too.

Life happens, people need to grab a late lunch, big meetings don't gain from lots of tiny people watching a presentation, tech issues can and do happen to everyone (even companies - quite often the wifi issues are the people sitting in the meeting in the office) - but for the most part cameras on is the policy and none of these exceptions undermine that.

I was wondering whether there is some aspect of her appearance she is very self conscious about, or whether she is Muslim and usually covers her face in public, whereas at home working remotely with camera off she would not need to?

A work meeting is not a public place.

9/10 it is because they are up to mischief.

A friend of mine is agoraphobic and has massive anxiety. She can cope with 1-1 face to face over a screen but beyond that, it's too difficult.
In this case the other employees seem to feel slighted. But if the person is doing their work to the appropriate standard guidance and timeliness then I can't see how it matters.
People may want further engagement but they don't need it.

If the employee has a condition that makes it difficult/impossible to meet in person or turn their camera on, surely the best thing to do is to disclose it. The OP can certainly make adjustments once they’re aware. It doesn’t sound as if the employee has disclosed any conditions though.

Could it be a technology issue? I had difficulty with teams meetings during covid because I had an ancient laptop and terrible reception on a PAYG dongle. I could only connect if I sat on the floor in DCs bedroom and didn't use the camera. I would be embarrassed to admit that to anyone in real life especially at work where I want to present as organised and savvy which I couldn't be due to circumstances beyond my control.

It isn’t easy to disclose issues like this though, so the OP needs to give her the opportunity by broaching the subject sensitively

This. Managers cannot tiptoe through work life letting every sub par behaviour pass unremarked just in case that employee might have a disability. There is an obligation on the employee.

Agreed but the onus is still on the employee to disclose any conditions. Employers aren’t mind readers, none of us are.

Maybe indicate an in person meet, just the two if you, even if it means you travelling to her? You might get a better feel for resolving this if face to face. That's if she's worth the extra effort. Depends on her employment status , you may be obliged to.

And the law is very clear that the employee needs to disclose. The statutory obligations work both ways.

Neither are employees.

If OP wants her to switch her camera on, she can just tell her straight that her camera needs to be on.

It sounds like she's just hoping that the employee with just know what's expected without actually telling her.

@InMyShowgirlEra Yes, the OP needs to set out clear expectations.

True, if she works in absolutely separate way.

If a few people need to agree on something as a part of our work, the one not turning camera on is making the meeting less efficient. If there is a specific reason for adjustment, we will have to cope, but otherwise it comes to that person's want vs a standard

Why? Can the person not communicate verbally?

Agree about the camera, and face to face if it has an actual purpose. Saying hi to someone isn’t a genuine reason to travel.

At a guess she most probably has some sort of disfigurement. Prepare yourself and your staff so that you don't looked shocked when she comes online. It's the quality of her work that counts not her appearance.

You’ve been watching too many bad tv dramas. That’s a truly unsubstantiated leap

If you check the quote history, you'll see I've started by giving examples including:

When a small group of people is meeting online 2-4 people, the videocall can simulate natural conversation, you see people nodding/looking concerned/ other expressions, you see that someone wants to speak, or is done speaking, not just making a short pause.

It is more efficient conversion.

This would not be allowed in my company and although not explicity stated in the contract there are some meetings where it is mandatory for your camera to be on unless you have valid reason for it not to be. It seems odd if one person is opting out of putting their camera on and raises concerns for me that the person is maybe hiding something. I think you need to speak to the individual and set some ground rules about your expectations. Would they also be off camera if it were a one on one meeting? If there is no good reason for the camera being off then I would insist that it is required going forward. Perhaps try and have more meetings or team catch ups where possible setting out your expectations beforehand. Were there any requirements in order to work remotely i.e do you have to live in the UK, are you allowed to live with other people or flat share, do you have adequate work set up etc. If you have a review/progress meeting perhaps you can raise your concerns then.

Not wanting to mingle with colleagues is normal for some people as they keep work and personal very separate. I would not feel obliged to attend the office if I am not required to but perhaps there is is a deeper reason behind it

That's not probing. It's a massive invasion of privacy and an abuse of the data shared with you.