Five office days…really?

Thank goodness for a Chief Executive with some real common sense.

As reported in the FT, “Citigroup chief executive Jane Fraser has told top executives that the bank will continue to allow most employees to work remotely two days a week, in a move that puts it out of step with some rivals and the Trump administration.”

The piece contrasts this move with the crowd of board-level numbnuts who are trying to insist on a return to total presenteeism.

You may not know this but we ThoughtSparkers were pioneers of hybrid working.

Back in 2016 our office lease break clause came up. A quick (& simple) analysis by our FD showed that – one way and another – we were only at 50% occupancy. In other words, each person’s desk was only occupied 50% of the time.

Some further calculations showed that even though flexi-space rental seems expensive per seat at first, in fact it was us silly leaseholders who were really flushing money down the toilet.

So we moved to a serviced office environment with fixed deskspace. We saved on office management staff, hidden service costs and end of lease making-good. Brilliant.

In fact, the serviced premises were MUCH smarter than anything we could ever have afforded to lease. And our floor was sandwiched between two massive and iconic software brands. Smart company!

Then we started thinking about everyone’s quality of life and how it would be nice not to have to commute to work every day. So we went down to three days a week in-office.

Then COVID hit. Everyone was locked up in their houses or flats or bedsits, going quietly mad. Junior staff were particularly hard hit. We heard stories of some of this age group really going quite potty with claustrophobia. Serious.

When the restrictions were lifted, we insisted on just one day of the week when everyone came in.

But that actually causes issues, again especially with junior staff, that they don’t pick up on how seniors and managers do their jobs. You don’t unconsciously absorb styles and skills. And there isn’t that opportunity for a quick chat over the desk or next to the kettle.

So now we’re going to go back to two days a week.

Everyone still makes massive cost savings from not having to commute every day. We can still attract staff from far and wide (literally, nationwide). People’s quality of life improves as the travel time saved is shared between person and company.

I’m not saying every organisation should follow our exact pattern.

Each must plough its own furrow… whether that’s days when everyone comes in, or total flexibility so long as the monthly average adds up to x-days-per-week, or some other equivalent mechanism.

But any foolish, pompous, out-of-touch CEO who thinks that they’re being clever insisting people come in five days a week… just watch all your talent disappear like snow off the proverbial.

I hope you find these bulletins entertaining. I’m happy to discuss all relevant engagements – from customer community creation, to directorial mentoring, to strategy development, to thought-leadership content development, to full campaign structuring and management, and more.

Do get in touch!