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.

It’s a really nice thing to have given her her first proper job after graduating as so many struggle without experience to find a job. I would have stated right from the start though that at least one day a week was mandatory to come into the office, we have a teams day once a week. Also I think you will have to be firmer regarding the cameras. Perhaps suggest a one to one meeting where you can discuss all the issues you have listed. If it’s dragging morale down amongst your team you are definitely going to have to address it and quickly.

Have you simply said ‘everyone, cameras on for a sec while we work through x y z, it’s such a better vibe for teamwork’ or something like that….. just tell her?!

https://www.tiktok.com/@loewhaley/video/7411153290890644742

This lady covers this in her videos often..US based though..

You would not include anything about cameras on/off in her contract of employment. Ridiculous suggestion. Just tell her and explain why, if she doesn't follow what is a reasonable instruction you will have to deal with it appropriately.

To be perfectly honest, she's new and you've made a mistake in her contract. I'd try and negotiate a change to that so it works for the company, if not I'd be re-thinking her employment status.

You need to deal with this promptly.

Or she just calmly refuses when her employer tries to change the very clear terms on which she was employed for "reasons". Not being pushed around or being a doormat/people-pleaser, "no is a complete sentence" etc. It's exactly how I'm raising my kids. (And also probably encouraging them not to make daft generalisations based on people's age.)

If everyone else has their cameras on, it seems really odd she doesn’t follow their lead.

You need to take a firmer approach. If personal contact is important to the team and role, it should have been an instruction not an invitation with a nice hotel as a softener. I know you're trying to be a good employer, but unless you're prepared to indulge all your staff should they decide to refuse you, then you shouldn't treat this person differently.
The lack of a mention of 'occasional office days required' in the contract doesn't help you, so you need to change this for future staff. However you can insist on the camera being on. If she refuses without good reason, then you can consider short service dismissal. It may seem extreme, but a person refusing to obey a reasonable management instruction is a liability.
You should prepare for 'reasons' which will likely be connected with mental health. In that case I'd strongly advise you to seek professional HR advice as that will be tricky to navigate.

Some people can’t do “a few days” to just meet colleagues in the office. Why not just suggest a day? Until my partner moved in with me, I’d have to do all my travel in one day because no one could look after my dogs overnight (nor should they be expected to) and I was not going to be footing the cost of a kennel for a work meeting that could be done over camera. However, I would regularly do day trips down south from the north but they’d often mean a 4am start and 11pm by time I got home, and it needed to be on a day where someone could either dog sit or collect them from doggy daycare. People have different lives, shockingly. And you’re not being nice by offering to pay - she’s a remote worker so of course the business would foot the cost of work travel.

The camera on thing is an issue though, and it is a thing in my workplace too that we’re working through but we’re hybrid (not all in the same location though). funnily enough it’s the 30-40 year olds doing this though.

I will say, if hybrid / remote working isn’t working then you’re not doing it right. Having remote workers means that you need to adapt what you’re doing and how you work too. I’ve worked in places that did it brilliantly because they made the effort, and others where they wasted a lot of money on travel costs for very little reason because the leadership team didn’t want to learn how to use a virtual whiteboard properly… maybe have a think

I would organise a mandatory training day at a venue away from the office which all new staff have to attend. Make sure it’s within working hours and not far to travel for them though.

Perhaps she shouldn’t be giving out remote contracts if she doesn’t want a remote worker. Just a thought.

The contract is a red herring. Not every single thing can be written into a contract. Time to tell her you’re issuing a reasonable management instruction for her (a) to travel to the office to meet colleagues and (b) to put her camera on in meetings. If she doesn’t like it she can be shown the door.

Odds on she’ll claim “anxiety” next however 🙄

I think the key thing is that you believe this is impacting the overall performance of your team whether or not she does some aspects of the job well (can you quantitate this?). On the basis of this she is not a good fit for your company.

I would give her reasonable opportunity to improve but if not let her go (assuming she is in a probationary period). I think in any job we have bits we like and bits we dislike or find challenging but this does not mean we can elect to do only the bits we want if we want to keep our jobs.

My friend is like this and has been pulled up on it numerous times. She made up excuses why she couldn't go into the office e.g. new cooker being delivered, car needs fixing etc. When the manager gave an ultimatum she started going in, but soon left. She hated commuting and just wanted to do her job from home, which she was good at. Certain people do not want to socialise, they just want to get the job done. If you force her, she may quit. I work from home and love not having to commute, I also turn my camera off for meetings because I'm very shy! But if I was told to turn it on then I would! Must be a generational thing because most of us have our cameras off and participate by typing in the chat box.

Even if it specifies remote working it is usual for contracts to say workers may also have to work from elsewhere

Surely an hour is a normal
commuting distance even for daily travel? It’s not unreasonable to expect her to attend the office to meet colleagues, although it would be better if it was a clearly outlined contractual expectation.

The camera being off in meetings I wouldn’t accept. Manage her and tell her cameras are kept on during calls and meetings.

The problem is (and I know I am generalising here) that a lot of the younger generation now seem to shy away from any mild inconvenience or discomfort instead of going out of their comfort zone or pushing through. I don’t think pandering to it helps.

There's a thread on here at the moment about the age at which people realised they are just a number to their employer, loyalty/going above and beyond counts for nothing and isn't rewarded. It's a surprisingly high age for many responders.

To this generation's credit, many of them seem to have realised this from the off.

Here we have a young woman whose employer has taken her on based on very clear terms and conditions. Now, a short time after starting, the employer is already saying "in addition to what we agreed - could you please do these extra things that were never mentioned before? No, of course there's no extra remuneration, tee hee, but it will make you well thought of and will be good for your career (honest!)"

The employee (perhaps suspecting this will be the first of many "small" requests if she goes along with it) is simply and politely saying "no". Good for her.

except that it isn't team policy.

OP have you ever seen her face or an image of her? I know its a leap but some people have facial deformity or injuries which they want to hide.

I can’t understand anyone just starting out refusing to come in and meet the team. To me suggests they have zero interest in learning or progressing in the company.
You weren’t asking for a return to office, just a one off that would have been for their benefit.
Id expect to have to do some in person training and events when starting a new role.

The camera off thing, has someone told them they can blur the background, or shown them how to add a standard backdrop if they want to hide their room?

Id schedule a one to one and set some expectations on the camera etc and set them some goals around team integration. Then decide whether they are a fit for your team. So many grads from the last few years are still doing survival jobs while trying to break into a career, it’s not like there are not other options out there.

It is if everyone else is doing it!

It's your job to manage your staff. Why haven't you asked her to put her camera on before now? It's pretty standard in most companies for team meetings. Going forward inform the whole team that cameras are expected on for team meetings. Instead of a few days in the office I'd arrange a team building/training day, break the office days in gently. If her refusal to travel for office days is now affecting team performance this will need to be dealt with going forward, though if this is an essential part of the job I've no idea why you would enply a fully remote member of staff.

You follow these people in their personal lives when gathering these statistics? Or, have you assumed your problems apply to everyone?

No that doesnt make it policy. It's their preference.

Can you point me to that other thread please? I’m going through this realisation myself and would love to read it.

Hopefully you have a probation period in her contract. If it isn't working I'd get rid - problems will only grow.