Where is Everybody?

After every cataclysmic event, someone is certain to say that we are changed forever and life will never be the same again. In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, prognosticators noted the surge of patriotism and proclaimed that from that moment forward, America would be one nation, wounded but indivisible and resolute.

That feeling is long gone. Once the immediate danger passed, people slipped back into their old habits. Getting along with everyone involves sacrifice and compromise. It’s hard.

On the other hand, some of the changes brought about by the COVID pandemic, particularly the idea of working from home, are very appealing to many people. One of the biggest challenges in today’s business world is to re-create a workplace that incorporates the best innovations from the COVID period while taking advantage of the renewed ability to move about freely.

Some businesses are built on the concept of a remote workplace but most, prior to the pandemic, were not. Until March 2020, the vast majority of administrative employees reported to an office five days per week, usually from 9-5 or thereabouts. When the pandemic hit, virtually all businesses had to shift to a model where many, if not all, of its employees, worked from home.

Had we faced a similar situation in 1980, it would have been nearly impossible to continue to do business. But with today’s technology, companies were able to perform essential functions. People who’d never heard of Zoom were zooming in several times a day. We learned how to communicate and access information in new ways and made it through.

Now, restrictions have been lifted and virtually everyone is free to return to the workplace. I have a sister who works for a large insurance company, and when the head of her division announced that employees would return to the workplace, someone asked, “Since the work’s getting done, why can’t we keep doing what we’re doing?” His answer was succinct and accurate. “We’ve been getting by,” he said.

Everybody was “getting by,” but very few companies have mission statements that say things like, “We keep the roof from caving in,” or “We manage to stumble through somehow.” Most organizations at least talk about striving for excellence, surpassing expectations, and innovating. That doesn’t usually happen without the type of collaboration and recurring interaction that occurs when people are in the same workspace.

The best companies focus on their customers, and while employees may say they’re doing a great job at home, a survey of the company’s customers might produce a very different result. Delays and inconveniences were expected during the pandemic, but customers are entitled to higher expectations at this point.

Some jobs, like data entry or phone-delivered customer service, are conducive to remote work.

Some people are better suited to work independently. Part of the divide is generational; young people are much more comfortable communicating through technology than older workers and are generally better at it.

Related: Employee Satisfaction Affects Top Resorts

There are more than 160 million workers in the United States, and their work habits vary. Some are self-motivated and will work hard without direct supervision. Most of the 160 million is not, which doesn’t mean they’re lazy. They rationalize. Many talks about the long hours they work but forget about the time spent on non-work tasks. They may have responded to emails at 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., but if people were truly working 15 hours a day at home, they wouldn’t be so insistent about continuing to do so.

Others say they get their work done in far less time because they’re much more efficient without the interruptions of the workplace. But many of those “interruptions” include helping co-workers, brainstorming and kicking ideas around, or solving a problem you wouldn’t have been aware of if you weren’t there. The absolute essentials get done, but who knows what great ideas might have emerged from those informal brainstorming sessions that didn’t take place.

Rationalization is one of the ways we maintain our sanity, but it tends to be self-serving. I saw a recent survey of the days people chose to work remotely, and by a remarkable coincidence, the day they felt they were most effective working at home was Friday.

If you’re working from home and take offense, don’t worry. I’m not talking about you. You’re doing a great job. The problem is that on a global basis the current situation is difficult to manage and not conducive to long-term growth and innovation.

It’s unquestionably more difficult to manage on a remote basis. An old management guru coined the phrase “management by wandering around” and I refer to my style as “management by eavesdropping.” Overhearing a phone call or a conversation may provide information that, combined with what I already know, unravels a mystery, points out a problem or helps me identify a trend. It’s difficult to manage to eavesdrop when there’s no one to listen. People are also more likely to poke their heads in my office to tell me something than they are to make a phone call or send an email. Zoom meetings have to be planned and scheduled; office interactions can occur spontaneously at any time.

It’s also difficult to train new employees in a remote environment. I know recent college graduates who started a job during the pandemic and spent months without meeting their boss or co-workers in person. In addition to absorbing job knowledge, new employees need to understand the culture of an organization, which comes from informal interaction. The working world is a lot different from college and it’s important to acquire the social skills of the workplace. A lot of my early learning was accomplished by watching older professionals as they handled various situations. There are far fewer opportunities to do that when everyone’s in different locations. The impact of a failure to assimilate and effectively train new employees won’t be immediately apparent, but the long-term effects are significant.

Aside from the business aspects, there are societal advantages to having people spend time with other human beings. I was taking a road trip recently with a couple of friends who’ve spent extended periods of time working from home and getting their knowledge of the world through cable news. They were anxious, distressed, and had a wildly pessimistic view of current affairs. Imagine! It would do them good to get out in the world and learn that people holding different political opinions aren’t evil and that the entire world is not coming to an end next Thursday. Diversity and inclusion are priorities for most companies and that’s best fostered by spending time with people who are different than you.

Related: Answering Resort Industry HR Challenges

I think I’ve made it clear that I believe in-person work schedules are preferable for most employees. The question is how to return to that model in the face of employee resistance and a nationwide worker shortage. If you tell your workers they need to show up in the office, they might just find another employer who tells them they don’t.

Managers are paid to manage. I heard a CEO of a large company say recently that employees should work wherever they feel they are most efficient. That’s not managing. If customer needs—and long-term corporate goals–are better served in person, companies need to find a way to get employees back in the workplace, either through incentives, mandates, or a combination of the two. We did it before and there’s no valid reason we can’t do it again.

Reprinted courtesy of the Colebrook Chronicle

Bill Ryczek, RRP—Partner, Colebrook Financial Company. With more than 40 years in the timeshare industry, Bill Ryczek is well-known and a frequent speaker at conventions on the topic of receivable financing and has authored numerous articles about the timeshare industry. Colebrook Financial, approaching its 20th anniversary, is highly regarded for its innovative approach to lending. based in Middletown, Connecticut, it specializes in providing financing for the timeshare industry and can offer a variety of facilities in amounts ranging from $100,000 to $30 million or more.