This is getting ridiculous. Look, I talk a lot about running an innovative school, but I’m also the Founder and CEO of one of the top 50 fastest growing businesses in the UK – and we’re 100% remote. It works. Minerva's Virtual Academy is proof. It enables us to find the absolute best talent wherever it may be. It enables us to send people almost anywhere in the world with ease and flexibility. It means we can adapt to almost any situation with minimal disruption. We do actually have an office in Brixton – it can fit about 5 people max and it’s the headquarters of a business with 160+ employees in 10+ countries and customers around the globe. If remote workers are not getting work done, it’s not because they’re remote. It’s because you’re not managing them correctly. And if you think the only way to do that is to physically be in the same building – you probably never were. This push for a return to the office is a step back and, I think, a sign of poor leadership (or at the very least an unwillingness to adapt). I know you’re not supposed to call remote work a benefit anymore, but when every big corporation is demanding a return to office, and even my colleagues in the startup/scaleup space are moving to 2-3 days in-office per week, how is it not a benefit? Employees are happier, healthier, and more in control of their own lives - sounds like a real benefit to me. And not one I’m about to drop.
Leo Critchlow
10mo
One of the potentials from the adjustments required by Covid's dreadful impact on our lives was to trial run working in a different way. A way that reduced commuting, reducing environmental impacts and huge down time in peoples lives that generally was stressful, uncomfortable and quite draining. But it seems we are to turn our backs on it. No debate, no balanced compromise, the dinosaurs know best. We have to hang onto those Victorian ideas about hot housing workers, putting them through the process in reality of often unnecessary journeys each and every day when we have the technology to allow and support working from home.
Jai Khan
10mo
I think you've nailed it here. It's an unwillingness to adapt. We introduced the option to work from home 10+ years ago and never looked back. When it comes to results and performance I can't see any difference between the days where I was in the office more vs less. The one thing that does have a different feel is the culture then vs now but that's why you need to invest and put more effort into it & create opportunities for staff to bond - or as you said, limit your talent pool and employee happiness!
Tim Tottenham
10mo
100% agree. I love this paragraph: "If remote workers are not getting work done, it's not because they're remote. It's because you're not managing them correctly." More specifically with the second line: It's because you haven't given them a reason to value the work to the same degree that you do. If your vision is inspirational, your strategic direction realistic, and every worker knows how the part they play combines with their peers to achieve it, they'll work anywhere.
Louise C.
10mo
I think if you hire competent, hardworking people they'll be more- not less- productive at home. Someone who isn't motivated would find a way to 'slack off' at the office anyway! We're shifting to more companies realising that output is what matters, regardless of where that output happens.
Careers Collective
10mo
As another virtual business, we also agree that working out of the traditional office environment is 100% possible and, for parents, a game changer. There is one concession to give Lord Rose, and that is that his experience has been as the leader of at least two of the UK's largest supermarkets where 'boots on the ground' are key requirements for any supermarket to function! Without Delivery teams, shelf stackers, and staff who can guide us to specific items or serve behind counters, supermarkets (in their current guise) fail. As you have shown, Hugh, challenging the status quo is not impossible and can facilitate numerous alternative models.
Tutor and counsellor.
10moWhen the move to online tutoring happened during Covid I was initially against it. I had always taught either in schools, prisons and and then as a tutor. It took some adapting but now it is my preferred way to work, whilst still offering in-person, when suitable. There has been a slight shift towards parents wanting in-person, but as they say you cannot ‘unring that bell’. I can work with a wider range of ages, locations and abilities whilst tutoring either online or at home. I can fit my work, which is obviously important, against any caring responsibilities that I have. Working from home does not work in all industries, that goes without saying, but with tutoring it does. The need for more flexible tutoring for those who are bring homeschooled, which is where most of my work comes from, is only going to increase. I probably put in the same, if not more hours, then when I was in a school, as is usual for someone who is self-employed. I do think that trust and belief in your employees is key - those that are motivated in their work will put in the hours, even if it is outside the usual work day hours.