come back to the office
Business tycoon Elon Musk and New York City Mayor Eric Adams have one thing in common: They both want their employees back to the office.Last week, Kim Hyun Joo, in Reuters The analysis, titled “Analysis: Elon Musk Opens Door to Tesla Brain Drain,” states:
“Some of the electric car maker’s nearly 100,000 employees may already be considering their options after Musk gave them an ultimatum to return to the office this week. In a letter sent to employees Tuesday night In the emails, Musk threatened to fire anyone who was out of the office for 40 hours a week, in stark contrast to the flexibility offered by big tech companies competing for the same talent pool.”
Of course, one can satisfy Musk over three long workdays, and I’m assuming most of his people work more than 40 hours a week. Also, not everyone who works for Musk is a “tech worker.” But clearly, he believes that effective organizational communication and management requires real-time human contact, and that three dimensions of interaction are better than two. For Musk, coming to the office helps management. Mayor Adams may feel the same, but his agenda is different. He’s working to revive New York City’s economy, and to that end, he wants New York’s office buildings to be packed with workers. But going back to the office could present similar challenges for New York and Tesla:
According to Elizabeth Kim Gothamists:
“Mayor Eric Adams continues to insist that city office employees work in person as the city continues its economic recovery — but for the first time said he may allow a limited amount of remote work once the pandemic is over…The mayor’s emphasis on in-person work — and his acknowledgment that remote areas may one day be chosen — comes amid ongoing clashes with city workers, who say the city’s inflexibility is prompting many of them to quit. Most city employees have been working in person since last September, although a few have been granted work-from-home accommodation applications.Supporting their argument is that the level of attrition in the city’s workforce has been abnormally high, according to the Independent Budget Office. In early May, the IBO counted 282,000 full-time employees, down 6% from pre-pandemic levels At that time, the labor force in the city exceeded 300,000. ”
Some jobs require physical presence.still got more the best Do it yourself. There are also jobs and parts of jobs that can be done anywhere. In the days before the Internet, I had to go to the library for literature and literature research, and also to the office to write on a typewriter. I had to go to a computer center for data analysis. Today, I can do this anywhere I have an internet connection and a laptop plugged in. On the other hand, while the pandemic has taught us that we can educate students through Zoom, for many (though not all) forms of education, face-to-face contact is better.
As a manager, I think physical presence is important for organizational communication. A casual touch in a coffee machine or in a hallway can convey or receive information in minutes. In a virtual environment, this communication may never happen, or require a 30-minute meeting on Zoom. Body language is best conveyed in three dimensions, and it matters. The ability to visit colleagues with the office door open or sitting in a conference room waiting for a meeting to start provides opportunities for engagement that can foster brainstorming or creativity. I’ve learned to see if my coworkers are on a virtual call before “plugging in” them without an appointment, but I can’t tell if they’re free to talk. But the question of working in an office or elsewhere is not simple, and good management should avoid rigid decrees.
Even before COVID, work schedules became more flexible and employees were required to deal with childcare or elderly care, requiring managers to be less strict about when and where they worked. COVID has led to a dramatic increase in the number of people working from home, with many drawn to flexibility and the absence of commuting. A lot of people like to wear sweatpants to work and hang out in the living room. But others miss the rhythm of the old-fashioned workday, and the separation of work and family life.
There is also an economic class bias in this phenomenon. Jobs that require a physical presence (with the exception of doctors) tend to pay less. Deliverymen, warehouse workers, factory workers, plumbers, electricians, restaurant workers, cashiers, nurses and construction and transportation workers and many other workers cannot work from home. The degree of flexibility in the workplace that management can provide is far from uniform.
While powerful leaders like Musk and Adams may try to force the issue, I suspect workplace issues won’t be resolved by order, but rather by circumstances. In some cases, hierarchies in many organizations may informally motivate employees to simply imitate their bosses. If the boss comes to the office and the employee wants to communicate with the boss and let the boss see their actions – then they will come to the office. If organizational development requires a physical presence, ambitious people will emerge.
In a brain-based economy, however, talented workers will make workplace flexibility an employment condition. This is already happening. That’s the point of King’s article on Tesla. Tech companies that offer workplace flexibility will steal talent from a rigid Tesla. In a tight labor market like ours today, workers often have more leverage to enforce workplace flexibility. This may change during a recession, with management having more leverage to enforce its workplace preferences. Another factor: who pays for the workspace in the hybrid model? If you work from home, you’ll use more energy to heat or cool your house, require more workspace, and possibly a high-powered internet connection. All of this costs money. At the same time, your organization can reduce its costs for workspace and space, energy and even waste disposal. Some organizations see hybrid work environments as a way to reduce space and cut costs.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see two different types of tech businesses emerge. Someone like Musk would appeal to those who want a face-to-face work environment. One second is basically virtual. It will be interesting to see how these two modes develop and how they fare against direct competition.
I am traditional and prefer an in-person work environment. But I also admit that I can easily do this. I no longer have childcare or elder care responsibilities. My children are grown, my parents have passed away, and my employer rents me an apartment five minutes’ walk from my office. So my personal preference is irrelevant to the broader discussion. I believe we are entering a new world where work location will be a variable, not a given. I don’t think traditional offices or downtowns will disappear, but workers will gain more flexibility to complete tasks outside the office. Places offering healthcare, health, education, food and similar services will add an online component, but will still require a physical presence. In New York, just as our financial district now includes housing, we’ll see more apartment renovations and construction in downtown business centers. Our peripheral communities have seen more and more offices pop up, and we will see a reduction in the separation of work and living spaces. Partition restrictions need to accommodate these changes.
Still, for some organizations, location is at the heart of the value proposition they make. New Orleans’ French Quarter is a special place for a special city. People can gamble on their phones, but Las Vegas has a “zone” of gamblers that actually: line. I can watch the Yankees on TV, but there’s no substitute for the kind of rush I get when I’m in the stadium and see the green in the outfield.i work at a school called columbia university in New York City. Part of the reason my students and staff come here is because they want to experience the energy of this incredible city. This is simply not possible to call or experience on Zoom. When location matters, people attracted to these organizations show up in person because they want to be there. When location doesn’t matter, work can be done anywhere. Effective management now requires understanding the importance of location to an organization’s mission and strategy.Organizational management will continue to become more complex and now includes issues Where work happens.
