Can you give me pointers on what to tell my CEO about the benefits of working remotely? Most of my team takes at least 1.5 hours to get to the office and the same time to get home. Also, my CEO lives very close to the office as a context.
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Director, Experience Design in Education5 months ago
I think the key thing here is to show what's in it for them.- Highlight how it makes your CEO look like a visionary leader.
- Highlight evidence that shows staff who work from home are more productive.
- De-risk it by offering to monitor productivity closely and report on it regularly.
- Show it enlarges the pool of candidates from which to recruit and makes the firm more attractive to job seekers.
Have fallback positions ready - i.e. we'll be there for all-hands events to support the CEO, plus periodic teambuilding events. You may not get everything you want, but you could get some things. Better than nothing.
Pro tip: bring your CEO a cup of coffee, a cookie, or something like that. Doesn't need to be elaborate. Any small gift will do - make sure it seems like you didn't go out of your way too much, you were just being thoughtful. Reciprocity is such an ingrained behavior that even a small thing like a cup of coffee makes the other person more inclined to give something back. (I make homemade jam and have been known to "have an extra jar that I thought you might enjoy" from time to time.)
Good luck!
Angie
Chief Information, Innovation and Digital Officer in Healthcare and Biotech5 months ago
There is "general"advice and specific advice. I'll paste what ChatGPT gave me below after I mention what I believe to be a critical paramenter. My personal view is that there are a few major factors:1. Does the job itself lend itself to remote work? (Most IT jobs do)
2. Is the person be able to work remotely? For example, my best friend who is brilliant, cannot WFH because anything distracts him. In contrast, I personally can focus...
3. Is the culture of the company amenable to having remote workers?
I would urge caution in using the efficiency argument. There are conflicting data with actuals and the vast majorty of the studies are self-reported and likely biased.
Here's ChatGPT's response:
Pros of Work from Home Policies:
Flexibility: Employees can manage their work schedules around personal commitments, leading to better work-life balance.
Reduced Commute: Saves time and reduces stress related to commuting, as well as lowers transportation costs.
Increased Productivity: Many employees find they are more productive without the distractions of a traditional office.
Wider Talent Pool: Companies can hire the best talent regardless of geographical limitations.
Cons of Work from Home Policies:
Isolation: Employees may feel socially isolated, missing out on the informal interactions that occur in an office setting.
Communication Barriers: It can be harder to establish clear communication remotely, potentially leading to misunderstandings or delays.
Work-Life Boundary: It can be challenging to separate work from personal life, leading to either overworking or underworking.
Technology Dependence: Work from home relies heavily on technology, which can be a barrier for those without reliable internet access or adequate home office setups.
Security Concerns: Increased risk of data breaches if proper IT security measures aren't in place or adhered to by employees remotely.
CISO/CPO & Adjunct Law Professor in Finance (non-banking)5 months ago
Ask yourself honestly what the driver is for being in the office? If it was business as usual during Covid then there is probably potential for a fact driven decision. If the IT experience was less than ideal then the CEO could be thinking employees are less productive working remotely due to technical challenges. Working remotely is illogical if the IT infrastructure isn’t in place.Next, you could consider a system outages view. One metric CEOs are probably familiar with is the cost of nonworking systems. Downtime can be broken into seat minutes, the amount of people unable to work multiplied by the number of minutes they are unable to work. If your team takes 90 minutes in and 90 minutes out, then you have 180 unproductive seat minutes. Multiply that by the number of people on your team then by the average rate of your team members (break it down to minutes).
Working remotely will generate or save the company X seat minutes of unproductive time, the unproductive time is worth X per week, per month and per year.
Additionally, remote workers tend to put in more hours. There is also a strong possibility that remote IT workers will be connected to the VPN/remote connection for more hours (than people planning for their 90-minute commute from lunch onward).
Your talented IT workers with transferable skills are also probably considering other opportunities, and turnover is expensive and disruptive. Keeping existing employees is much better for the bottom line. In line with HR concerns, the potential of remote work could be a zero-cost perk to assist with recruiting in demand people.
Director of IT in IT Services5 months ago
Highlight how remote work boosts productivity, saves commute time (which can be redirected to work), reduce stress from commuting, enhances work-life balance, and it can also save costs on office space and utilities. Emphasise that it encourages a happier, more efficient team, contributing to the company's success.
1. Employees spend less time away from the office when taking care of personal items such as doctor visits for themselves or their children. The benefit to the company is the employee is more engaged.
2. Employee's will not have the expense of the commute, hence their is not as much pressure on the employee's to seek a raise.
3. It provides a better work/life balance for the employees. - If the CEO is concerned about less engagement from the employee, schedule monthly or quarterly meetings in person.