Do you have a work dilemma, career quandary, or are facing challenges in the office? The i Paper’s work column answers readers’ questions with leading experts in careers and workplace psychology. Email questions to [email protected]
I used to say I had my dream job – great pay, interesting work and independence. But increasingly, one thing I can’t stand is that my boss is really pushy about us going back into the office.
My commute is over an hour each way, it’s so expensive to travel into work, and I find it really draining when I’m there. When I get in, it’s completely silent with zero atmosphere, and there are barely any amenities in the office – basically a tea station and that’s it. What is the point of being here when I do my job more effectively at home, and I don’t have to sit in this depressing office all day?
The worst part is, she’s barely in the office herself. And when she is in, she is constantly leaving early for parenting “emergencies” like football matches or plays. Sometimes, towards the end of the day, she’ll Slack me to check if I’m going to be in the next day, and often I’ve turned up and no one from our team is even in! What’s the point? At the same time, I’ve noticed her getting more irate about me not going in. What can I do?
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Amy Grilli is the co-founder of Five Hour Club, a job board and community that helps parents find professional roles during school hours. A qualified teacher and aspiring psychologist, Amy took a five-year career break to raise her children. Like many parents, she lost her confidence and struggled to find meaningful part-time work that fit around family life. After sharing her story on LinkedIn last year, where her story resonated with over 14 million people, she launched Five Hour Club to support other parents who feel the same. She shares her experiences and opportunities on Instagram @fivehourclub.
Bosses calling remote workers back to the office has been one of the big HR headlines of the year. Big corporate names like Amazon, Apple, Citigroup, Google, Tesco, McKinsey and others have not been shy about getting bums back on swivel chairs, despite many employees vocally resisting the call.
Research by the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership has even found that 50 per cent of UK employees would look for a new job with remote working opportunities if their employer tried to make them return to the office full-time.
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So the negativity you’re feeling in being forced back to the office, when it sounds like you’ve been happily working remotely for some time, is widespread. Your boss isn’t setting an example, and you’re questioning the value of the commute and whether it’s worthwhile.
But you do say that you enjoy the work and it pays well, so I would first think about how much you have to lose by going into the office, when it’s clear that’s what your company and boss want.
Your boss might not realise the impact they’re having by not being in the office, so use your next one-to-one to frame the conversation around wanting to make the most of being able to learn from and collaborate with her in person during your office days, and that you’d also like to work with her on improving the office culture so it’s something people look forward to.
You could say that you want to help her and the rest of your team coordinate the days that you’re going to go in. You can also share that you’d like to make a point of scheduling things like team updates, brainstorms and social bonding time on those days, plus you’d also like to help come up with creative new things you could do together as a team when you’re together IRL.
This will set your conversation up for success, rather than directing a lot of negative energy towards your boss about how dismal you’re finding the whole situation. Going to your boss with compromises and solutions will be a win-win for you both. If your input is met with appreciation, excitement and an open mind, you can leave feeling good that things will turn around, and the office environment can change to become more positive.
Submit a flexible working request
You are also legally entitled to submit a flexible working request, which employees are now allowed to do twice a year. Companies need to respond within two months – and can only refuse with a valid reason (such as burden of additional costs, detrimental impact on work quality and performance, and planned structural changes) after consulting with you.
If you decide to go down this route, you need to put your business hat on and make your case for requesting to continue working from home. What has your track record been like in terms of meeting deadlines and delivering results? Is there a particular project you worked on mostly from home that worked well, whose results you could reference?
What has been the benefit to the business of you working from home? Then you can use the time while you’re waiting for your employer’s response to actually prove that you are more productive at home.
Know the red flags when you see them
However, if your boss shuts your ideas down and says you need to just suck it up and come into the office, that’s a big red flag about what you can expect from the company culture.
If working from home, where you say you’re most productive, is really important to you, and is one of your top criteria for a job, your boss’s reaction in your meeting will tell you whether you have a future at this company. Or, whether it’s time to focus your energy on looking for a role that is either fully remote or has an established, consistent hybrid policy.
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