Covid-19 Virus

From personal experience over the last few weeks I feel I can offer a smidgeon of advice. Over the last few weeks my company has introduced a "flexible" working policy which is completely not flexible. Every member of staff is being asked to come in for 3 days a week on fixed days, (of their choosing). All were offered the chance to have a hearing if they wanted to work 2 days a week from the office, which turned out to be a farce as every single appeal was denied. Days can't be swapped or done "in lieu" if forced to come in on a WFH day, they're set in stone, that's it.

It has caused massive resentment, especially with our superb coding team, (who work so much better in a quiet environment and are essentially introverts), and those who's personal circumstances mean the extra days WFH will help out enormously. We will 100% lose very skilled staff because of it, absolutely no doubt. The way it's been handled shows our HR team are just out of touch with reality.

The thing I don't get is why so draconian? Here was a chance to introduce a modern flexible working policy that would encourage time in the office as much as time away from the office, giving the staff a feeling of being in control whilst still getting that important office time together. They've completely f***ed it up due to being incompetent and being recruited for jobs they really shouldn't be in.

UEA, once in the office most people like the interaction and the osmosis thing definitely returns, but forcing them in rather than giving them the power to slowly get used to the idea again is a car crash policy that will lead to people leaving for jobs that are truly flexible.

 

They probably just want to keep an eye on you to make sure you don't spend all day looking at football websites

 

Not many. At the barbers recently the young chap with the scissors looked at me like I was crazy when I said I wanted my hair cut "like Enoch Powell's"

 

As I said earlier in the thread, I have been working from home for 15 years, so the lockdowns on the face of it wasn't a massive change other than having my children at home on working days.

Before the pandemic, I would need to be in the office one day every fortnight, and as my boss is flexible I would wander in after doing the morning school run. Watford to Potters Bar after rush hour was a breeze.

Occasionally if we had visitors or clients come in, I would be asked to come in, sometimes it was because I was required other times it was because they wanted to show potential clients that there were bums on seats.

Whatever the reason, I always found that going to the office cut my productivity down on those days. I like being at home, plus as implied in another thread I'm hoping soon to have an extension built to my house, it would certainly help if I'm around.

 

I think a lot of it depends on the personnel - some people will undoubtedly take the piss but if you've got a workforce you can trust then it can certainly be effective. Last August as I knew I would be working from home in my old IT job for a good few months I took on a lot of football teams, simply as I knew I could take the piss with my day job. I did about an hours work a day in my IT job and then spent the rest of the time doing football work and yet I was still in the top 2 (out of a team of 8!) performers at the end of the week, **** knows what everyone else was doing the whole time. I'd made a plan to quit as soon as they announced plans to go back into the office but luckily I got a full-time job in football before that happened

I'm now based from home full-time and love it, I have deadlines that I have to meet but other than that I'm pretty much my own boss in terms of when to work (although usually my hours are about 10AM-7PM with a lot of browsing reddit/twitter/here in between)

 

This is such a lack of imagination from managers who are mandating a specific number of days employees should be in the office. In truth it's a failure of management. I would actually rather they insisted on people coming in full-time rather than an arbitrary 3 days or whatever, which comes across as a grudging compromise on so-called 'flexible working'.

 

Yeah - I see it more that if we can give people a purpose to come into the office, and make sure the environment meets their needs (ie. not rows of desktops and freezing cold meeting rooms), people will probably come in of their own accord. Obviously less than pre-Covid but that's fine.

 

That's a huge error from the management at your place - at least ours are letting you choose your 3 days. Setting them in stone is going to mean that it will almost impossible to align calendars for meetings, let alone the impact on morale.

It's amazing how management / HR think that they know best in the face of facts and data. The job market is saturated now and if you don't get what you want from a role, you get something else.

Ours have also come up with a load of nonsense about how to implement the 3 day policy, with phrases like "be flexible but not too flexible". I have specifically asked at Q&A sessions whether managers should keep attendance records to cover themselves and what are the implications if people don't adhere to the policy - I was told that I shouldn't be going round checking where my team are and taking a register, but it was my responsibility to makes sure they stick to the policy.

 

Surely all those who said they were happy to have the Covid jabs in part out of a sense of civic duty will see going back to the office full time as another opportunity to contribute something positive to the good of the community? So stop whingeing about the commute time, start getting up earlier and get back to spending your money in the sandwich shops, wine bars and restaurants.

 

No one uses a sandwich bar out of altruism. In any case, it may be better for the general good if we cut commuting, reduce our CO2 and have a better work life balance for our kids. Those who really need to commute will thank us for getting out of the way.

It shows how outdated this form of economic model is if it is predicated on ridiculous, outdated daily movements of millions. If you believe in the market, let it decide, but if instead of offices we make space for the young to live in cities there will be a vibrant economy no matter what.

 

Absolutely. I'm happy for my desk at work to be rented to a young family. £400pw, room underneath and on the top and ready access to a printer. What more do people want?

 

I used to do that quite a lot whilst in the office.

 

Are you and the Moog family now fully receovered from Covid - did you actually get any symptoms ?

 

I've said I will spend a day in the office every 2 weeks.
It helps that the guy who runs everything except finance is based in Kent so he doesn't come in much (though far more than I do !). My team are dispersed around the UK and Middle East so again that helps.

 

Utter scum... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-58499899

 

There probly giv my desk 2 sum afgan imigrants rather than help are own

 

The kids are fine. Mrs Moog and I have lingering malaise. I feel better than I did a week ago, but I still don't feel well enough to go to the gym, which is my benchmark (NPI) for how good I feel.

 

If you like eating Chinese food, then surely you will happily put a rusty nail through your balls?

Makes about as much sense as what you said.

 

I'm very happy to support the cafes and sandwich shops in my local area.

 

I've no idea what you do for a living, Comrade, but if you choose to stay away from the office completely why wouldn't your employer replace you with someone equally competent (although I doubt that's possible) based in say, India, for a fraction of the cost of your no doubt obscenely high salary?

 

If they could (they couldn’t) what difference would it make for me to simply do the work from a desk an hour journey away?

If it makes sense to send a job to India companies will do that anyway. UK capitalism has had no loyalty whatsoever. In the 1950s and 60s almost all clothes worn in the UK were made in the UK. That didn’t change because the UK workforce stayed at home.

 

That’s a bit of a throwback. Something the NF and the BM used to do with their stickers in the 70s and 80s.

That’s mad, facist boomers for you. For ever with the nostalgia.

 

It’s an outdated model. It makes no sense to cram 90% of daily commuters onto packed trains and tubes within the space of a couple of hours, then charge them through the nose because it’s ‘peak time’ even though they have absolutely no choice to travel at that time. A lot of all of the Bars and cafes around places like Canary Wharf are closed at the weekends because obviously there are no customers. Forcing people onto trains in the same tiny window then forcing them to spend money in another similarly tiny window for only 5 days of the week is totally illogical.

It’s like how Holidays cost way more during school holidays, but instead there is an easy solution to the problem.

 

Maybe the 9-5 routine is outdated but I think the office environment still has plenty to offer. Not least to those starting their careers. And what about those who like to have affairs with their colleagues? What are they going to do?

 

Yes, damn the bloody poor and their insatiable demand for cheap fashionable tat. Most of my clothing is still made in the UK. But it comes at a price. Buy less but buy quality is something everyone should learn. I think it would be hard to behave like a yob if the average chav swapped his hoody and baseball cap for a tweed sports jacket and a flat cap

 

Er, like in Peaky Blinders?

But yes, poor people are daft aren’t they, buying cheap stuff?

 

Now you’ve finally rekindled my interest in the office environment.

But, let’s face it, online has solved that too.

 

A couple of consequences of my workplaces harder line on five day attendance. Several resignations as people take up jobs elsewhere. at least two mentioned the appeal of more flexible working attitude of new employer. Also people not answering emails/calls once they leave the office. Pre Covid they did and WFH blurred the start and end of day, but now travelling to/from office has seen people decide to turn devices off. I spoke to a colleague who described it as - If they think productivity is better in the office, best not to muddy the waters by working elsewhere like on the train.

 

#Metoo bloody ruined that before I even made it to management.

My childhood TV shows taught me that by the time I hit my mid 40s, I'd hire a saucy secretary who would be crap at her job, but be grateful for a bit of slap and tickle on my desk and the occasional Babysham.

 

I’m only crap at my job because I’m on a footy forum most of the day ….and FFS can you chill the bloody Babyshams.

 

Ahh yes, seducing your secretary….

 

Mad fascist boomers did the same with anti Thatcher and poll tax flyers?

People simply make the mistake of thinking fascistic behaviour is exclusive to the far right.