Hi All,
Quick check on how folks are finding the RTO? From my side, yes, we started back on 3 days per week. But I can already see ( and hear in other teams), that people are gradually moving to 2 days in office. Nothing being said yet, officially or otherwise, as the company line is firm on 3 days.
So just curious on how others are finding it in application and oversight. ( reminders weekly and or monitoring)? Or are first line managers in the dark too on this? My take is that 1st line managers might also prefer WFH and also are unlikely to sacrifice good relations with team members, just to ensure in-office attendance.
I am EMEA based. As this is global, please feel free to comment, wherever you are based.
Thank you,
Tim.
9 replies (most recent on top)
RTO is not mandatory in Nordic.
Everyone can decide if they want to go to office or work full time from home.
If your manager really said that, they're a mo--n.
- Because it's not true. Your manager and their manager have no access to the data.
- If they got the data through backdoor channels it is still illegal to use it for tracking attendance.
Re badge-swipes. There is a subtle distinction here. We have an "access + security" system, but not a "timekeeping + attendance" system. Both are essentially the same. But from a "best practice" /legal + compliance perspective, one cannot replace the other. For example, Info and reports from an Access/Security system cannot form part of a formal investigation or decision making where timekeeping and attendance is the primary goal, and vice-versa.
So while mgrs may "say" certain things, it cannot be done.
Now, of course, informally.....well thats a different story. Not one I am willing to discuss. Lets not be naive.
@2hxm+1sKduxFw
Which country?
Also EMEA based. I have been told by my manager that they are actually tracking it and he could get intro troubles if we don't beep the badge tree days a week, so he is requiring us to at least show up in the office for that.
I don't think going to the office will affect whether you get laid off or not. Those decisions are made by people way above your manager. But if you have a cr-ppy manager, it might affect your bonus or promotion.
My take is about the same as @wzj+1sKduxFw's. My direct manager recognises that our team functions perfectly well WFH, because we've been together for 5+ years and don't need to stand around gabbling to work effectively together. When we need each other's help, we jump on Teams. When we don't, we leave each other alone to get our overabundance of work done.
Until recently my manager's boss looked the other way when we didn't slavishly come in for the required number of days; but there's been an org change, and our new master is OBSESSED with metrics and estimates and cheerleading for everything the board says. So we're going to have to drag all our kit back and forth to a noisy, overpopulated office 3 days a week.
Before Covid, we were in the office 3 or 4 days a week. That's what we hired on for, and no one knew anything else. And that's the argument that's made. The difference is that before Covid, we each had an assigned workspace, where we could stash our stuff, have keyboard, mouse, and docking station that were there every day. Now, you never know where you're going to have to sit, and unless you want to write and debug code on the cr-ppy laptop keyboard and touch pad, you've got to schlep all your cr-p back and forth every day. If the layoffs weren't enough to make you feel like a replaceable temp, this cafeteria style hotel office cr-p drives home the point.
Hi @@wzj+1sKduxFw,
Thank you for your comment. Very straight talking, ( a good thing). I'm inclined to agree with you. Ego driven managers will use it as a stick. My only concern being, the remaining job cuts, ( think its approx. 20%), relative to this being used as an excuse for pushing some one on to a "cut" list.
In reality , I know I'm over-stretching, and being paranoid. ( a symptom of absence of trust). Its difficult not to catastrophize.
Again, thank you for getting back to me on this,
Tim.
It's just a mandate from the board that nobody actually wants or cares about.
Only dogshit managers over teams of support ticket pushers actually care and are enforcing it.
If your manager tries to force it ask what their reason is. Be real with them. It's not being tracked, they aren't reporting anyone, there's no consequences... It's just your manager making your life worse.