I see many professionals expressing the desire to have more flexibility at work. Recently we conducted a survey of 620 employees in Brazil and almost half of them (49%) revealed that, weekly, they would like to work more often from home than from the office. I think it is too early to hit the mark on this decision because we are in a period of transition. I believe that, as much as it seems, we still don’t really know what we want or need.
To better illustrate my reasoning, think of a child who receives a packet of candy in his hand for the first time. It is possible that she will eat everything and ask for more. However, it can also happen that, in the middle of the pack, she gets sick, starts to feel bad, and realizes that the excess of sweets is not good for her health. We are that child and the home office is the packet of candy. In my opinion, we are still in the process of understanding how this work model can positively or negatively impact our life, routine, career, quality of life and company.
Some professionals are still very focused on the advantages of working from home. They really do exist. But I believe that we can only evaluate better when we have the option to choose. There are those who are working remotely due to a company decision, others have no one to leave their children with and some need to preserve themselves more because they are part of the risk group, among other particular reasons. But what will our real desire be? Whose costs are internet, computer and maintenance of technologies? Are all organizations able to afford these extra expenses? I’ve been thinking about it a lot.
I understand that we were programmed to live in society. That dialogue at the coffee break, the exchange of experiences between one activity and another, the fraternization at lunchtime and the opportunity to help or be helped immediately in the face of difficulty in some project, among other events that permeate the routine of an environment formal, make all the difference in the development of the organization and our career. I know that technology helps a lot in this approach, but I have my doubts if it is enough. I still believe a lot in the eye to the eye.
With this, I do not want to undermine the initiatives of remote work, be it partial, more often or definitive. My intention is to leave an alert so that decisions regarding it are made with planning and caution. Will the professionals really feel full? How to guarantee the integration and training of new employees? How to maintain the corporate culture? Will we also be able to trim edges in the relationship between group members from a distance?
I understand that there is natural anxiety of some collaborators to understand how the new normal will be, but, from a more macro point of view, the situation is more complex than it seems. The tendency is for each company to learn from the process, be inspired by organizations that are innovating in management, and find the best path within their reality, which is very guided by the financial condition. At the moment, what we have for certain is a lot of discussion, little definition and some small occasional changes.
