It’s probably a result of our 6-hour workdays. Maybe it’s a result of new generations having a different view of work. Why do people expect that they can work whenever and wherever they want?
I hear this all the time. With new technology, you can work anywhere. You can do your tasks in the middle of the night on a beach if you want. I would agree with that—if you have a very limited task and nothing of value to contribute to the rest of the company. Yahoo learned this lesson and called back its 12,000 employees to the offices.
The reason is, of course, that an employee is more than someone who just performs a job—or at least should be. For the same reason I don’t think you should fiddle with your phone during a meeting (or family dinner), you need to meet your colleagues face-to-face. In a well-functioning company, colleagues are more than just people doing their jobs next to you.
A favorite example is a guy who applied for a job with us a few years ago and wrote in his cover letter that the 6-hour workday suited him perfectly—he could work on his own business during the day and then put in 6 hours for us in the evening. From home.
If you were a robot, with a clearly defined task, then this might work. But the whole point of hiring a person, at a company like ours, is not to simply perform tasks according to a schedule and then leave. The job is not about doing the same thing over and over again. The job is not that limited. An employee with us is expected to:
- Listen to and learn from colleagues
- Listen to and provide feedback to colleagues
- Be part of building the company culture that Brath will stand on in the future
- Help engage and motivate coworkers
- Develop personally towards new, more responsible tasks
- Continuously, in daily work, both teach and be taught
- Actively work to improve collaboration within their own department
- Actively work to improve collaboration with other departments
The list could be longer, but here’s an example: When a project manager is on the phone with a client, the other project managers often listen in. Both to be able to give feedback and to learn. The same applies when one of our specialists answers questions or sets a strategy—the others listen, usually to learn. This happens naturally and easily, simply because we sit in the same or adjacent rooms.
Finally, if I were looking for offshore workers, why on earth would I pay high salaries for Swedes? Manila, Madras, or Sri Jayawardenapura have plenty of qualified staff who can work at different times and from home. If I’m going to end up with someone who doesn’t fulfill the expectations listed above, why wouldn’t I just hire someone from there?
Magnus Bråth
Consultant & Adviser
Magnus is one of the world's most prominent search marketing specialists and primarily works with management and strategy at his agency Brath AB.