Skip to main content
Best News Website or Mobile Service
WAN-IFRA Digital Media Awards Worldwide 2022
Best News Website or Mobile Service
Digital Media Awards Worldwide 2022
Hamburger Menu

Advertisement

Advertisement

commentary Commentary

Commentary: Managers should stop treating work-from-home as a luxury

The office was never meant to be at home but because this arrangement is here to stay, bosses need to change the way they respond to their employees, says this observer.

Commentary: Managers should stop treating work-from-home as a luxury

Yuki Sato, an employee in a startup company, works from home during the COVID-19 outbreak in Tokyo, as his daughters play and his wife Hitomi uses a mobile phone. (Photo: AFP/Behrouz MEHRI)

NEW YORK CITY: Many managers are treating this year’s pandemic-induced shift to work-from-home as though it were standard telecommuting. 

But it’s not, and operating under the assumption that it is can ultimately harm employees’ morale.

While office workers are typically faring better than essential workers during the pandemic, the abrupt shift to remote work was jarring, and its effects should not be overlooked.

Leadership experts and cognitive scientists can attest that resistance to change is less about the change itself and more about losing control and fear of uncertainty. Humans – and other animals, for that matter – respond defensively when the power to make decisions about their own lives is removed.

READ: Google extends work from home through June next year

READ: Commentary: Phase 3 will bring us much-needed closure to a difficult year

And in a recent study on COVID-19 and mental health, researchers found that adults surveyed in the United States and five European countries who believe that other people or random chance mostly dictates what happens to them also report greater symptoms of depression.

There’s a big difference between choosing to telecommute and suddenly being forced to work from home. 

While eliminating the daily commute has been nice, the average office worker simply wasn’t mentally or financially prepared to turn their home into a makeshift WeWork location while also taking on previously outsourced teaching, childcare, and eldercare duties.

READ: Commentary: Co-working spaces look pretty attractive right about now

READ: Commentary: When Singapore homes become workspaces – huge changes in the house and beyond

Many families do not live in homes that can easily accommodate telecommuting, and some employees’ domestic arrangements are not conducive to success.

SET REASONABLE EXPECTATIONS

Managers can take several steps to ease these burdens for their employees.

Many employees are bearing new burdens and facing pressure from multiple sources. Managers can avoid overwhelming them by eliminating unnecessary reports and redundant procedures, and by being as transparent as possible about deadlines.

(File photo: Unsplash/Chris Montgomery)

For example, if an important client meeting is postponed, managers should inform everyone who is preparing materials for it immediately, so they can re-prioritise the day’s tasks.

Likewise, managers shouldn’t expect immediate replies to emails – a constant sense of urgency contributes to employee burnout.

Sending emails outside of working hours (especially late at night and on weekends) should be avoided, or staff shouldn’t be expected (much less required) to answer after-hours messages immediately.

READ: Commentary: How COVID-19 has forced employers to be more human – and rewards them in the process

Don’t force employees to be “on” all the time: Zoom fatigue is sky high, and employees may have to manage quiet space so that all household members can participate in their respective work calls and video meetings.

SUPPORT AND BE PUBLIC ABOUT PRAISE

Women usually get the short end of the stick, with one author dubbing them “reluctant nomads” in the “battle for space.” 

For example, an employee might find herself perched on the edge of the bathtub, precariously balancing a computer on her knees, so that her partner and children can conduct their business or school work from the living room, bedroom, and kitchen.

READ: Commentary: Please don’t end work from home. It’s not that bad

And women tend to face unfair criticism and pressure over their appearance on Zoom. Managers should ask whether any meetings could be eliminated, shortened, or conducted without video.

FILE PHOTO: A man works in his kitchen while workers are forced to work from home and demand payback for extra home office costs during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Sassenheim, Netherlands October 2, 2020. REUTERS/Eva Plevier

Find more opportunities to celebrate accomplishments: While it’s always a good idea to strike a balance between criticism and praise, employees now face a constant flood of terrible news related to the pandemic, and are likely starved for wins.

Managers should look for small successes that can be publicly recognised to boost morale, and thank employees for their hard work when they see a job well done. 

It costs nothing to show appreciation, and a little positive feedback could be exactly what someone needed to hear on a particularly rough day.

READ: Commentary: Putting in 50 hours while WFH, it’s a struggle to draw the line between work and home

READ: Commentary: Even in a recession, lowballing job seekers is not only poor form but also poor strategy

Capitalise on accessible resources: Managers should look for ways to create more win-win scenarios while leveraging the assets they already have. At Barnard College, for example, we are paying our students to tutor the children of our faculty and staff.

Our undergraduates gain part-time work at a time when internships and entry-level jobs are scarce, and our full-time employees can outsource one task among their many responsibilities.

We are also offering extended childcare and eldercare benefits through our existing contract with an external provider. 

Managers who are unclear about where employees need some help could ask them in an anonymous survey about the biggest challenges they face and allocate resources accordingly.

Adjusting to sudden change requires effort on everyone’s part. Managers owe it to their employees to stop treating work from home like a luxury.

The office wasn’t invited into the home. It turned up like an unexpected guest – and it shows few signs of leaving soon.

Can you say no to returning to the office? We posed this question to one CEO and one HR expert in our Heart of the Matter podcast:

Sian Beilock is a cognitive scientist and President of Barnard College at Columbia University.

Advertisement

Also worth reading

Advertisement