Hotly debated, but the discussion often misses the point
Hardly any other topic is discussed as emotionally as the home office: in staff meetings as well as in private circles
No more freedom to work from home? Then I quit!
England, with an average share of 1.5 days working from home per week is the highest in Europe. (Europe 0.9). Up to 40 percent of all employees work from home. At the same time, England is the country with the longest working hours in Europe.
In addition to these figures, the Guardian cites a recent study according to which 25 percent of those surveyed stated that they would quit if they were to work exclusively for the company again.
Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, usually very clear in his announcements, spoke cautiously of a pilot when he announced that Apple employees would once again be expected in the office three days a week: Tuesday and Thursday, plus a third day that the team can decide for themselves. The outcry was too great at the first memo on mandatory attendance after COVID.
The company Zoom also wants to see employees who live up to 80 km away from the company headquarters in the company office at least twice a week and is meeting with fierce resistance.
Wall Street is more fearless
The big banks in the USA have been following this path for a long time and many expect to be present at the bank five days a week. This can be sweetened, for example, by the office of the future that JPMorgan Chase is currently having built by Foster + Partners at 270 Park Avenue.
The 60-storey building exceeds all previous sustainability standards, has a sophisticated fresh air concept, allows maximum flexibility of the office walls and experts such as Deepak Chopra were engaged for all wellness aspects, so that rooms for yoga, Pilates, meditation or simply rooms for silence are a matter of course.
Wallstreet or Mainstreet?
The familiar arguments: traffic jams on the highway or full suburban trains, which are often canceled, are no fun and cost time, money, nerves and CO2.
In a digitalized world, many tasks can be carried out from almost anywhere. A doctor’s appointment can be scheduled more discreetly from the home office. It’s easier to fight a nagging cold from home with tried-and-tested home remedies.
However, the discussion usually misses the real reasons:
Toxic working atmosphere
Even if he or she is equipped with perfect gender-speak and all other political correctness, an incompetent manager ad personam is hard to bear. Any storeroom seems more attractive than a home office.
Bullshit jobs without development opportunities
Anthropologist and professor at the London School of Economics David Graeber, who died young, called them bullshit jobs: work that nobody actually needs and that even those who are paid for it feel is superfluous.
If the supervisor and the HR department are not worth their salt and there are no development opportunities, then the work is better done at the kitchen table at home, even if the light, chair and table are completely unsuitable ergonomically.
Managers who do not lead, but control
Good managers are and were flexible even before the terms home office and working from home existed. They value their employees and allow flexibility when it is desired and possible. They trust their employees and know that performance (and loyalty) is even higher thanks to the individual flexibility they experience.
Jobs that are really just places
Of course, not everyone can work in a building that has been perfectly designed by Foster + Partners. Ambitious but unprofessionally designed workspaces often do not allow for concentrated work. Not everyone likes to wear headphones for hours on end. Some old-school workspaces may not be suitable as lounges, but they do allow concentrated work at the company headquarters,
No desire
Without personal motivation to want to work in an organization, it is simply hopeless – as long as workers are scarce. Here, the desire for maximum home office flexibility is nothing more than leisure time optimization.
For highly motivated employees, on the other hand, a number of recent studies suggest that working more hours from home means even more working hours. No wonder, in a really well-equipped home office it is more pleasant to work into the night without having to rush to a dark parking deck or a late-night suburban train station.
If you would like to delve deeper into the topic, the management expert and a philosopher demystify many a supposed trend such as agile working in the discussion and dispel illusions: “Brave new world of work” recommended in the SRF Kultur media library.
The point at which we all lose
A company or other organization we work for is a great opportunity to meet people we would otherwise never meet. We all discover new perspectives and develop further – but only if we actually engage with them personally.
Electronic chats are no substitute – that’s where we exchange ideas with those who are already similar to us.
Official meetings are usually well-staged plays. The really important information “between the lines” is exchanged over coffee.
Alamy Stock Photo
An outstanding corporate culture can only be experienced live in everyday life. It has a positive impact and both sides benefit from it: the company in terms of its balance sheet and income statement, and the employees in terms of the quality of the many days, weeks and months they spend at work.
A good corporate culture creates a natural network that lasts for decades, even if everyone is already working in other companies. Sometimes friendships develop that last a lifetime.
The supposedly cozy home office can become very uncomfortable in the medium term: More housework instead of a career, because very few people succeed in making their mark from the Webex, Teams or Zoom tile, and often not the most capable.
Cover photo © Alamy Stock Photo; Frankfurt Main skyline © GloriousMe 2023
