So there are reports out there that employers are “demanding” their employees return to in-person attendance. I’m sorry, but an employer that is “demanding” that employees return to the office full-time either hate technology or are micromanagers. In it’s simplest form, a micromanager is a boss or manager who gives excessive supervision to employees. As a business owner myself, I have to say good luck with that!

Employers need to be aware that the tables have turned and employees are now speaking with their feet. They are not afraid to quit! Many of these employees, which include working mothers, need flexibility to address their work/life needs and other major personal and family considerations. Employees are fed up and now they’re saying…enough!

Many employers thought that it was the extra $600 a week in unemployment benefits that people were receiving that kept them from getting jobs. Well, that was a contributing factor. It was not the only factor. Employees are still fed up with low pay and other workplace related issues.

If employers want to attract and retain top employees, they will need to get their heads out of their asses and start paying attention to their employees. They need to start asking about their needs, and understanding that workplace flexibility is the #1 need and will continue.

Remote Work Affects All Generations

There are still some morons out there that say that older Gen X and Boomers have naturally been less comfortable with establishing effective ways of working remotely. Well, that is a load of crap! Although, I can partially with that statement as boomers have more trouble adopting new technology than Gen X. Gen X are what is called digital immigrants. As being part of Gen X myself, we adopt new technology as it comes out. We are a unique population in that we have grown up without technology, and now with technology. We grew up with rotary telephones, those bulky analog flip cell phones from Mobile One, not having a computer until circa 1995 when the internet was born with America online. I started learning computers back in 1991 as a freshman in college learning a program called MS-DOS and WordPerfect. During those primitive times, there were so many commands that we needed to memorize to accomplish a task. Then Windows came on the scene and it was heaven. Since then Gen X will adopt new technology that will make our lives more efficient. Many of us prefer to work from home, and employers need to recognize that or risk continuing having trouble finding employees. Adapt or die as I always say it!

Now, Gen Y and Z on the other hand are digital natives. Digital natives are the opposite of digital immigrants, they have been interacting with technology from childhood. For a deeper dive into the concept of digital natives and digital immigrants, read the seminal self-titled paper by Marc Prensky.

Therefore, as I mentioned earlier, any boss that is demanding that employees return to in-person attendance in the office are considered micromanagers. Micromanagers are a cancer to any organization and should be avoided at all costs. The best solution in this case, is to quit. The alternative is entrepreneurship. When they realize that they cannot find any capable employees because they all want to work from home, they will eventually get a clue. (For more information about what to look for in micromanagement, read 12 Signs You Are Being Micromanaged — And What To Do About It.) Forward thinking managers and entrepreneurs are not afraid of technology and will embrace it.

Remote Work Is Not Suited for All Jobs

There are certain industries and jobs that just cannot allow working remotely. Construction workers need to be onsite to complete their projects. Bus drivers need to drive those buses. (That is until self-driving buses come on the scene.) Pilots and flight attendants need to fly the planes. Hair stylists, dentists, and fast food workers are other jobs that are not suited for remote work. At least for now!

Some hair stylists are re-inventing the industry by doing mobile work where they go to where their clients are located. These hair stylists are no longer subjected to being in a hair salon. Some even go as far as converting a van into a mobile salon.

Fast food restaurants will soon be changing as more robotics take hold in the industry. McDonald’s has already implemented self-ordering kiosks and further developed their app for online ordering. McDonald’s is now testing automated drive-thru ordering in ten Chicago locations that will lead to the elimination of further low wage jobs.

Who is Remote Work Suited For?

Remote work is best for people who make a certain amount of money and commute, but for those of us that do not, there are costs to working at home that are not covered by the employer. Dedicated, private office space with an ergonomic desk and chair that allows for you to be productive at home. An increase in HVAC monthly costs because your thermostat is not set for ‘away’ for at least 40 hrs a week. An increase in Internet costs as you will need to make sure you have enough bandwidth to support working remotely.

How Can Remote Work Succeed?

If a job can be done remotely, it’s considered lazy or ignorant management to need to see people in their seats to believe that work is being done. What are your department goals? Have you outlined them clearly? Do you understand people’s roles, and do they? Are you meeting your goals? Are people performing their roles? So who cares where they sit? Putting someone in a chair in front of you isn’t going to fix your lack of management, or their lack of initiative. For 10 yrs, my work world was online: 5 years in an office, 5 years remote. 5 years in an office and the only in-person meetings were staff meetings or special group meetings. All actual business was done online; even with co-workers in the same building (no one had time to leave their desk) and co-workers and vendors in other states and countries. I would go to work, sit in my cube alone, and accomplish all tasks online. I then worked remotely for 5 years. No one I actually worked with even knew I had switched. Over 10 years of functioning online, you do truly experience a virtual world. Your laptop is a doorway. Meetings feel like you are face to face in a room with everyone. You create friendships, find mentor opportunities, develop work history w/core teams. You get a lot of work done!

Hybrid is effective and helps retain a more diverse workforce. In fact, 56% of employees surveyed said they prefer this type of arrangement. The ability to offer working remotely also widens the talent pool. Employers should take a more forward-thinking approach to in-person collaboration. Also, what will happen with the movement toward a four day work week. It is already happening in Europe, and hybrid arrangements are the most common approach and is here to stay, and what happens in Europe moves over to the United States.

Final Thoughts

It seems the truly innovative corporations like Salesforce, Microsoft, Google and Twitter have a more progressive and thoughtful response to the current State of affairs. The CEO’s who run companies like it’s the 1980 will find most of their really great employees will either not come back or will look for something else. Share prices for the most innovative and forward-thinking companies are at all time highs and yet most of their employees are working remotely and this seems to have improved their businesses. The companies that develop hybrid models will attract the brightest employees and have the most success. The companies that seek to cling to the 1980’s way of doing business won’t find their company cultures are very attractive, and will eventually die off.

So is your company ready for the revolution? Are you a forward-thinking manager, or one that is stuck in the 1980’s? It’s time to change! Adapt or die!

A philosophy that I always live by…

Work is what you do not where you go.

Nick J Roy, MBA