Working from Home – Is It the New Permanent Normal and is It Feasible for all Businesses?
Companies worldwide were forced to adapt when the threat of COVID-19 made working from home the new normal. While some company cultures and business models might not support permanent work from home, other companies including Twitter have told employees they can work from home forever.
In-Person Interactions
WHR Group, Inc. (WHR) is one company that believes in-person interaction among coworkers is essential to maintaining its culture. “Personally, I feel it’s really hard to develop a culture on Zoom,” says WHR Founder and CEO, Roger Thrun. “It’s like dating online versus dating in person. Think about catfishing, you don’t really know if someone is pretending to be someone they’re not. Think about authenticity. Nothing beats meeting someone face-to-face and nothing can replace looking that person directly in the eyes.” Thrun believes instilling values and culture is very hard to do digitally. “Our culture is developed by values, and those values are much harder to convey and enforce online.”
“The Implications of Working Without an Office,“ article in the Harvard Business Review addresses an all remote workforce, “One key reason to think twice before going down that path is the loss of unplanned interactions that lead to important outcomes. Physical offices cause people who don’t normally work with each other to connect accidentally — bumping into each other in the hallway or the cafeteria — and that interaction sparks new ideas. Steve Jobs thought such serendipity was so important that he specifically designed the building for Pixar Animation Studios, in Emeryville, California, to maximize such interactions.”
Culture & Values
WHR’s core values include hard work, empathy, proactiveness, trustworthiness, and being results driven. Thrun thinks in-person interaction is especially important for new hires. “How can a new employee learn about our company culture via Zoom? How do they form an attachment?” asks Thrun. WHR’s business philosophy embraces the entire team creating a culture of success. A key ingredient of its client engagement is people working together. “Human experience cannot be substituted online,” says Thrun.
According to The Wall Street Journal article, “Remote Work Forever? Not So Fast, Jobs Guru Says,” CEO of Addecco, Alain Dehaze states, “By being with colleagues, you align, you share a lot of things. You cultivate your values and you cultivate your purpose. If you are permanently alone, I don’t know how you can cultivate this.”
Teamwork & Camaraderie
WHR believes it is successful because of the camaraderie and teamwork that guides its client interactions, along with the ability of staff to support one another daily. “A football team cannot play or function effectively if everyone is playing from home. Like a sport, we want our people working hand in hand to deliver great results,” says WHR President Paul DeBoer.
Some believe that “proximity boosts productivity, especially in industries that rely on workers collaborating with one another,” according to the SHRM article Why Are Companies Ending Remote Work? Although some workers have said they get more work done when at home uninterrupted, collaboration may suffer according to the article.
DeBoer believes when all employees are not together you lose the water cooler experience and spontaneous collaboration, you miss the opportunity to ask a quick question; and you lose out on interactions that may produce the next big idea. He believes those brief interactions make life easier and more productive. “Sure, you can put your head down at home and get lots done on an individual level, but you can get even more done when you are surrounded by people and working collaboratively with spontaneous communication as opposed to setting up digital meetings,” says DeBoer.
How is your organization adapting and what will your new permanent normal look like?
