Disclaimer: We let two of our team take opposite sides to explore a highly relevant topic a little playfully. We hope you enjoy!
We’ve been listening to and getting a range of questions from clients and our community about flexible work and returning to work. It still feels like there is a great divide between pre-COVID flexible working arrangements and what they might be moving forwards.
Introducing James Hancock – playing the affirmative, he is pro flexible working and super flexible (less so physically).
Introducing Sally Woolford – who for this article will be playing the naysayer, the anti-flexible work and stubborn mule about moving flex forwards. (Note to our readers this is totally not Sally’s personal position on flexible work and its super important you know that!)
“Flexible work only benefits those with dependent children”
Sally:
This is so true, particularly during COVID-19, I don’t have children and it was super lonely. It feels like only those that have children really reap the benefits that flexible work provides.
James:
If anything, from those I interact with, I’d say that COVID-19 has changed the way schooling and care happens for those with dependent children. It has actually made flexible work particularly important for those people, and balancing everything challenging. Whatever our personal circumstances, our colleagues, friends and network need to lean in so we are not feeling too lonely!
“I’m more productive because I work flexibly”
Sally:
I’m calling this one out, unless you measured productivity prior to your people going on flexible work then really it is just everyone saying this. Is it real productivity or simply that people have more time and are spending the time they would commute on work emails?
James:
I don’t think productivity is the ultimate measure of success at work, and least of all for flexible work. I think we should be measuring outcomes, not how people go about it. There needs to be some guardrails and support, a fairness lens and also an individual lens. Flexible work for me personally is most productive when I can structure the things I need when I need them (a mix of human connectivity, face to face interaction, virtual interaction, quiet thinking time, deep working time, whacky whiteboard time listening to a range of music).
“Can’t we just continue as we are? You directed us home, we quite enjoy it so why can’t we continue it like we are doing now?”
James:
We’ve seen the full spectrum of views on this – “I can’t wait to be back to work in an office” (my personal preference) to, “I never want to go back to the office”. I think the issue here is the lack of agency people had over the decision – a global pandemic is able to do that pretty quickly! It (quite rightly) wasn’t just about making it work for you, it was about doing the right precautionary steps for ourselves and others – those we know and those we don’t!
Sally:
Oh yes, so we should simply adopt the same arrangements from a worldwide pandemic that disrupted the world and just carry on at home? That’s not going to help my business deliver the outcomes I need. I have responsibilities as an employer about my employees work health and safety, equipment provision and insurances – it’s all good to say let’s carry on like we are now but I can tell you that at some stage in the future there will be a claim against me.
“I don’t need all the WHS checks – it’s my home, I am perfectly fine”
James:
There are inherent risks in any environment – home or otherwise. And the risk comes from the fact we’ve altered the same space, for a different purpose. When we went to COVID-19 stay-at-home orders here in Philadelphia, we didn’t have a home office or desk or chair, and the heights of the couch of the hi-top table and stool were not sensible. We do need some guardrails, and again, balance and sensible application, but not be too legalistic!
Sally:
It’s only a matter of time until I will get my first workers compensation claim or injury – I can’t ensure that what we establish in our offices translates back to your home. How do I know you won’t be lounging around working? I’m going to discharge my responsibilities by making you complete a 12 page WHS and risk assessment before we continue with this flexible working.
“Do I really need to put in an application for a flexible working arrangement?”
James:
Ultimately, you shouldn’t have to. It makes it command-control, it creates the implication of a power mismatch, instead of a conversation between adults on making it work for everyone. If flexible working is totally new to you, it may help support people’s thinking and action, plus you get some measurement around uptake. But the measurement is not to let ‘trustworthy’ people have these arrangements and decline less trustworthy ones. If that’s your going in proposition, there are bigger issues in your culture.
Sally:
You absolutely need some process and procedure around this, people will surely abuse it otherwise. And at least then if I have some form of agreement, it means I can monitor. You can keep tabs on what you are doing and when. Oh and it will give me the opportunity later to change the arrangement if I don’t like it.
“We need a strict policy around this”
Sally:
Yes we do, strict policy and procedures – we can’t have everyone working flexibly willy-nilly – we need to know who is doing it and that they’ve gone through a proper process. How will I know who is working and who isn’t on any given day?
James:
Again, having a policy that is too strict takes away people’s agency, and having no guidelines or principles for people to understand if this is newer to your organisation is not the right answer either. I’d say it’s more important to know what people are working on, and the value it adds, not where they sit, or stand, to do it.
“How will I know my workers are working and aren’t just off doing school pick up or at the shops?”
Sally:
I definitely need to see them and know where they are. If they aren’t responsive to my emails or calls then that must mean they aren’t working. We have set hours of work and I need my employees to be available when I need them.
James:
When we expect the worst of people, we are more likely to get it. When we expect, guide and support the best, we get better. Is there an issue with someone integrating their life in their work? It requires trust and communication to make it work, and an understanding of accountability – for yourself, your peers, your team and your leader.
“It will be easier for those that work flexibly, those of us remaining in the office will have to pick up the slack”
Sally:
It is inevitable that those in the office will pick up the slack, its far easier to simply ask someone next to you rather than someone not in the office. I’d agree with this – it’s a downside for those of us who prefer to work in the office.
James:
Working flexibly takes effort from everyone to make it work, but unless every activity has some central tendency or need to be in one location, then, picking up the slack comes from bad job design, bad processes, bad communication and bad leadership.
“Out of sight, out of mind, if I am not present in the workplace, I will be overlooked for training and development opportunities or promotion”
Sally:
From watching those that work flexibly I can see this being true – hence why you see them progress much slower than others. Working flexibly means less commitment in my view!
James:
This one has an element of truth when we look at the data historically, for instance, with parents on parental leave and dependent on timing. This is not acceptable, and has nothing to do with commitment. Nobody ever said leading people well was easier than it is to lead them poorly..but some simple guidelines on this can help.
We’ve probably all heard all of the above sentiments and arguments expressed by various people. So what is the answer?
Flexibility does not mean you never come to the office. It goes both ways. We need to be able to fit our work in around our lives, and sometimes we need to fit our lives in around our work. This is flexibility in action.
Do we need some guardrails to ensure people have a safe working environment? Absolutely, but individuals have a responsibility for their own health and safety as well as the employer.
Like many work problems, if we work together as humans, we can come up with sensible solutions to make work, work for all of us.
