The internet has changed everything in our world, especially the way we work. Where few use to be able to dream of working from home or anywhere they pleased, the internet now makes it possible to put in a days work from anywhere on the planet you work best.
But while a growing number of workplaces are allowing employees to work remotely, there are still those that aren’t okay with the idea. Here’s why some bosses aren’t cool with employees working remotely.
Why Some Don’t Like Workers Working Remotely
There are piles of data that show remote workers are more productive than those forced to do their work from a traditional office. FlexJobs’ 5th Annual Super Survey found that only 7% of workers say they’re most productive in a traditional office. That means 93% of the workforce believe they’re more productive outside the office. Knowing that, why would anyone want their staff to work from an office where they’ll be less productive? Here are a few of the reasons.
Perceived Negative Reflection
I once worked for a boss who was rarely in the office. While they worked the majority of their time from home, they didn’t want other employees to work remotely, even though the company ownership was cool with it.
Why would someone think it was fine for themselves to work remotely while their employees must be in the office? It seems many managers recognize that their lack of time in the office may reflect negatively on them. If their employees are allowed to be absent from the office setting too, they believe others may assume they’re not doing their job as a manager. Lack of employee in the office means they’re allowing a ‘while the cats away the mice will play’ situation to take place.
If they feel their lack of presence in the office might reflect poorly on their ability to manage, maybe they should consider coming in more often, rather than taking it out on their employees.
Doesn’t Want To Lose Control
For many managers, having their people in the office is about control. They feel they have greater control over their employees in a face-to-face environment. They worry they lose that control if their people are remote.
Some also believe that if others don’t see them managing their people, they’ll assume the manager is less powerful (or maybe even not needed). A king without a court.
These bosses need to realize that they’re judged on the performance of their people. If your team was performing 35% better by working remotely, like the team at Best Buy, don’t you think people would notice that far more than if they’re in the office or remote?
No Trust For Their Team
Some managers simply don’t trust their employees to do their jobs when they’re not in the office. Simply put, if you can’t trust your people, why are they still working for you?
For managers that don’t trust employees to work remote, it’s time to figure out if this trust issue is due to real issues with trusting their ability to work when unsupervised, or other issues outside of their ability to do their job.
Lack Of Knowledge
Lack of knowledge is a common reason bosses don’t allow people to work remotely. They don’t understand that remote work not only makes employees more productive but it also makes employees happier.
Helping these bosses to understand the big benefits to allowing their employees to work where you work best can bring them around to the idea of remote work.
Where You Work Best
The big benefits of working remotely can no longer be ignored. As businesses big and small embrace a remote workforce we’re seeing big payoff in letting people work from a place you work best.
For those that have a boss that won’t allow them to do their best work remotely, maybe it will just take some convincing to make them change their turn. But for most, getting a company or boss to embrace remote work, when they’re currently against it, it’s likely to happen. If that’s you, it may be time to look for work elsewhere. While it may be hard to move on, why stay in a place that doesn’t want what’s best for them and best for you, their employees?
