People who wfh think it’s an entitlement

[Tiggermad]

I manage staff who wfh 3 days a week. Office 2 days.
It’s like they now feel coming into the office is an unreasonable request and the excuses are constant.
ive always been quite flexible however am increasingly fed up of the constant excuses, moaning, requests to work from home because of the kids, the dog, having house improvements done, late night flight so will be tired the next day. I’ve had got a spot on my nose excuse! The excuses are constant.
They don’t realise they are now ruining it for themselves because I’ve clamped down on any excuses. I’ve warned them and now they get No flexibility.
Anyone else finding it the same ?
What is with this sense of entitlement firm people who wfh ?

Yes, we only have to go in once a week and the amount of pushback I get is unbelievable (and it’s the younger colleagues)

Why the knee jerk to go back?

We were working from home loads more and the work got done in my place. Fair enough if it didn’t in yours.
But if your place functioned fine wfh why not just continue more days per week if people want that.

They don’t realise they are now ruining it for themselves because I’ve clamped down on any excuses. I’ve warned them and now they get No flexibility.

You sound a bit like a teacher who punishes the whole class because one or two people have been messing about.

Do they need to be in the office to do their work? Can they be equally effective at home? Are they coming into the office to sit in Teams meetings? I’m happy to go into the office for in person meetings, or because there’s a project I need to collaborate on, I object to going in just for a bums on seat headcount, or to meet some random quota.

I don’t really mind where my team are working, provided the job is getting done and they’re contactable. And in return they’re pretty good about coming in when it’s required

Does the buck stop at you or are there consequences? Our TL made it perfectly clear it had come from above and they would be monitoring Monthly, it seemed to be non negotiable

You have just reminded me OP of a colleague who i used to work for afew years ago in the public sector. I was always in the office on Fridays and he worked from home. i used to have to contact him but he never was available. I worked out later that he used Fridays for a long bike ride. WFH is great but I think it is a huge privilege and i think lots of people abuse it which is a shame.

My team never go into the office either, in fact only a handful of my colleagues do. It’s very frustrating when you don’t like wfh but that’s just how it is now.

It's been 5 years since more people started working from home. Are they supposed to constantly be grateful for WFH?

Yes we do need to be in to meet the needs of our customers.
The requirement comes from above. It’s not my personal directive.
I’ve been very flexible in that they can choose their days and their contracts are not wfh.

Can you not go into the office without your colleagues?

Well if it’s in their contracts it is an entitlement.

you do sound like a bit of a dinosaur 🦖 though

If you have been wfh for three years since all Covid restrictions were lifted, it becomes custom and practice.

Part of the resistance to it must come about because of transport costs, or some of the people you work with. I am lucky now to work with good people, but there have been times in my working life where I would have been glad to wfh simply to avoid being in the same room as them.

Sounds like they have not much of a work ethic. I understand your frustrations with it. I would start to get rid of them and replace with people who are interested in working.

Twice a week in my workplace too and there’s so many folk never in, or hardly in or just seem to do one day. I do one day as I’m part time. Sometimes I’m there myself I think wtf, what is the point, I mostly abide by the rules. It’s def worse in the winter and don’t get me wrong some days I’m like aw I can’t be bothered going in. Def harder in the winter. It’s a long drive and then 10min walk from car park in city centre.
So many folk oh I’ve got a cold I’ll not come in and spread it, but they seem to have it so often! I’ve got back problems etc. I’m glad they aren’t strict on it though sometimes u do need flexibility. I don’t go in as much over summer holidays as no one else goes in the day that suits me!

They don’t sound very bright, to be honest. We’ve been hybrid since Covid, no one whines or takes the piss.

Be careful OP. Think carefully about who you can afford to lose.
Despite having a fully remote contract, my boss wanted me back in the office full time because he had moved in to town.

I declined, he insisted, so I was able to claim constructive dismissal. It cost him a lot of money and all my skills and experience. And I have a lovely local job now.

Employment is a two way relationship. They don't have to work for you.

True they don't have to work there but equally they don't get to dictate where they work if contractually office based. If they don't wish to comply with the rules and expectations of the business, then they should work elsewhere.

We have 2 offices. Most live nearest to office A but I’m closest to office B. Both need cover. I drive to office A once a week… team asked to drive to office B 3-4 times a year. Omg, the moaning about distance (it’s an hour for them) when I do it weekly! All in their 20s. They’ve stopped saying it to me since I laughed at them and pointed out I do it weekly. I have to do it because my organisation merged, they joined knowing the set up!
The team I directly manage are pretty good re wfh though.

What’s the point, then? It’s super lonely.

I do but it’s so pointless, and possibly even more depressing than sitting at home on my own all day!

My team are good at coming to the office as and when they need to. There’s no reason they should be here more than a couple of days a week.
WFH isn’t a privilege, there are lots of examples of where having WFH employees benefits the business just as much if not more. And many companies and organisations are willing to offer it.
If you’ve got a productive team who prefer to WFH and the work gets done to a good standard that you’re happy with, I would try and keep them sweet. Losing capable staff is a pain in the butt.

As long as they are getting the work done, it shouldn’t matter too much?
Instead of clamping down on this, can you not just give them the flexibility but sanction when they actually do something wrong like miss a deadline or show that they aren’t being productive?
But then if they do need to be in on a particular day to meet a client, insist on that. If that’s part of their job, and they need to be in for it, they surely can’t say no, they want to WFH as they had a late flight the night before.
A bit of give and take?

DH is supposed to be hybrid working but his boss is very flexible about letting him WFH unless it is absolutely necessary. In return DH puts in loads of extra hours and does lots of favours. DH will also be flexible about what days he goes in if he is needed, so he will go in on a Monday instead of his contracted Thursday for example. If you are too rigid, be prepared for your staff to do the bare minimum in return.

If you expect them to work in the office for more than they are contracted to, then with the costs associated with commuting you are cutting their pay.

I manage a team. To be honest, most people handle WFH great. They’re professional and productive. But there are a few who are really testing the limits.

They rarely pick up calls, call back hours later without any apology or explanation, and often respond to emails more than a day later. What’s even more frustrating is that when they finally do work, it’s rushed and sloppy, clearly done at the last minute just to create the impression that they’re meeting their targets. They keep insisting that they can manage their workload perfectly fine from home, but the quality and timing of their output tell a different story.

The frustrating part is that I’m not even sure bringing them back to the office would solve the issue... these are the same people who spend hours chatting at the coffee machine when they’re onsite. The problem isn’t location, it’s attitude and accountability.