Why? Because he wanted all employees to be in the office 2 or 3 times a week! Clearly the CE doesn’t want to turn employees into clock watching , work zombies who leave their brains at the office door. In fact I think employees making these allegations are well aware that the organisation wants to encourage problem solving , creative thinking ,innovative , flexibility and highly committed employees. Because these are the characteristics of an agile organisation able to respond quickly and smoothly to a fast changing and intensively competitive market. So is the organisation giving a mixed message or are employees overstating the impact of restricting hybrid working?
Obviously the employees in question think working from home is very attractive but does it make them more independently minded , more willing to take responsibility for the quality of their work, more motivated and more efficient? Is a requirement to come in two or three times a week the thin end of the wedge, backtracking on the vision employees were sold when circumstances dictated that employees had to work from home?
Why have so many organisations decided to bring employees back into the office full time or as in this case 2 or 3 times a week ? Is it because working from home isn’t delivering sufficient benefits to the organisation? The arguments put forward by some CEs for ending hybrid working in the face of employee opposition are not compelling, the most common seem to be around the benefits of face to face contact for improving communication and developing team spirit.
Is this in reality senior management tightening their grip in response to feeling they do not have enough control or the level of control they are comfortable with. An example of leaders having difficulty adjusting to new realities and the expectations of Generation Z.
It appears that working from home, instead of the office ,has become the latest battle ground in the debate about which style of leadership will best equip organisations to meet the challenges of an uncertain future. Those who believe that organisations need to become agile and that agile organisations need a different type of leadership.
Leaders who can live with loosening their grip, live with a greater degree of uncertainty and less risk control, leaders who recognise they don’t have all the answers and want to release their employees creativity, stimulate innovation and win support for change. And those who think leaders need to exercise tight control if organisations are to make unpopular changes in order to be successful.
