That’s a common comms challenge, isn’t it?
It’s all about differentiating technical correctness from real resonances.
Take my fun fact for this week.
You can’t demand flexi-working.
Or rather, you do not have an automatic legal right to work remotely in the UK.
But you do have a statutory right to request flexible working arrangements, including remote work, from your first day of employment.
What does that mean?
Your employer must consider a flexible or remote working request reasonably and can only reject it for one of eight specified business reasons.
You can ask, but you may not get, if they have a solid reason for refusal… which usually amounts to a rationale why you can’t actually do your job properly if you try to do it remotely. For the employer to build such a rationale is actually quite hard.
So it’s not such a bad piece of legislation.
Yet it may not really be so much about the rules as about the optics.
Think of the employer who refuses the employee’s request, even though they know that the employee would be happier, less stressed and equally effective if they didn’t have to come into the office so often.
The optics? Not exactly that of a model employer. Not exactly a firm that the employee will stick with. And that can easily then become infectious with other employees… like most unreasonable employer behaviour. And that could inspire a mass exodus.
Alternatively, think of the employee who requests such flexibility despite the fact that they know they won’t be so effective in their job – perhaps because they would build better client relationships if they were in the office more… or because they won’t pick up tips & techniques from colleagues so well if they’re fully or mainly remote.
The optics? Well, they won’t be impressing the employer as someone to foster, invest in and promote, will they?
Many of us do not realise that there could be a wider impact for the employee.
An employer in the UK CAN dismiss you for refusing to return to the office full-time.
Oh yes.
Of course, the dismissal must be fair and follow a correct procedure, especially if you have over two years of service. A refusal is unlikely to be considered unfair if it lacks a good or justified reason, or if your employment contract requires office attendance. However, dismissal could be unfair if the demand to return is unreasonable for your circumstances, if it’s discriminatory (e.g., due to a disability or health condition), or if the employer fails to make reasonable adjustments.
Anyhow, in marketing and comms, the best judgements are often made by taking into account the optics and the repercussions. And we must all stay true to that principle and standard.
When the chips are down, or when an adverse, difficult business situation arises, how often do senior management start arguing the ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, the ‘correct’ and the ‘incorrect’… totally ignoring what people are likely to THINK.
Rules and technicalities are an important part of our social and business structure.
But the best marketing thinks about perceptions, optics, feelings, impressions.
And we marketing people are the ones who know how to do it. Don’t let the executives tell you anything else. And make sure they listen to your sage advice.
