Workers should expect the same company benefits if they choose to work from home. Let's talk about why.
- By Leni Rivera
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- 29 Sep, 2021
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The pandemic has shaken up a lot of things in our lives, and for many of us, we’ve been forced to face things we never wanted to have to encounter: uncertainty, loss, utter madness, and endlessly binging on junk food. But at the same time, after a year and a half of swimming through its messiness, we’ve also realized we can be incredibly resilient, and kind and compassionate, and productive, creative, and pretty awesome human beings. And the thing is, once we’ve tapped into this powerful knowledge that our lives matter, and that how we choose to live it is a one-shot deal, then the way we start to see things changes. We start to appreciate the value of true, meaningful relationships, and that time is both short and irreversible.
Earlier this year, very shortly after companies started announcing their plans for their workers to return to the office, the Great Resignation began. That’s not a coincidence. Just as many of us started coming into the realization that we are pretty awesome human beings, we also realized we just couldn’t go back to face a workplace where, as reinforced by an article by Gallup, we felt undervalued, disengaged, and lacking of a sense of purpose in our work.
Today, workers are more empowered than ever. They’ve not only reconnected with what’s important to them, but they also now have proof that they can be productive, successful, and contribute to their organization’s business growth while working remotely.
With this environment as the backdrop to all things related to a workplace, it is a big wonder why companies are now starting to either implement, or considering to implement, huge cuts to employee salaries and benefits if they choose to continue to work remotely. Their rationale, which is based on HR policies developed pre-pandemic, is that their salary structure is based on the difference in the cost of living per geography. In most cases, the “geography” refers to the location of the office, and not where a person lives. So, by choosing to work from home, an employee’s “workplace geography” may change, and as a result, so may their corresponding salary structure.
The problem is that there is a failure for these companies to understand that just like the physical workplace itself, all policies related to the workplace experience from 2020 onwards are evolving. And rightfully so.
Let’s start by taking a look at the cost of a workplace experience for employees who were forced to work from home from the start of the pandemic. The only real difference is that employees didn’t have to spend anything on commuting to work anymore. But at the same time, they now have to cover the costs of a proper home office set-up, increased utility and Wi-Fi bills, higher costs for food and coffee, and new expenses like video conferencing equipment, a printer, and a shredder. And most companies acknowledge that even remote workers will need to come into the office a few days a week or a month, so you can’t really knock out commute expenses altogether either. So how would a pay cut justify the increase in all these expenses that are directly related to work?
And then let’s look at the humanistic effects, which, in this new pandemic environment, are more tangible than ever.We’ve seen since early this year that if employees don’t feel that they are valued by their employers, they will join the 4 million others who have walked out in favor of companies that will. And the only message that cutting a remote worker's salary and benefits gives to workers, is that by choosing to work from home, they will be valued less. Well, we already know that kind of messaging hasn’t been working out very well.
If the cost of turnover of one employee includes the total cost of hiring for that position, training the new employee, any severance or bonus packages, and managing the role while it is still being filled, then how exactly would cutting the pay of an employee benefit the company itself? Doing so could be an expensive gamble.
The only message that cutting a remote worker’s salary and benefits gives their workers, is that by choosing to work from home, they will be valued less.
This time of the pandemic has shifted our perspectives inwards. We’ve come to understand ourselves a little better. In the same way, companies need to shift their perspectives inwards as well. Come to understand that truly, their success rests on one word only, and that’s their People. Empowering them to be successful should be the main focus, and not where it is they’re working from. And valuing them as people, as well as workers, is the key to their loyalty, dedication, and happiness.
This time last year, virtually every company around the world shut the doors of their offices, and those that could, asked their employees to work from home. The definition of a workplace began its unforeseeable transformation from a physical office space to a virtual room from anywhere… or did it?
The reality is that this transformation had already started occurring over a decade ago. The pandemic that struck the world simply caused our perception of the workplace to finally catch up with this reality.
In 2019 (12 months before the pandemic struck), The International Workplace Group (IWG) released their annual Global Workplace Survey report, in which they examined responses from over 15,000 professionals from 80 countries. This report revealed that 70% of professionals globally work remotely at least one day a week, and more than half work remotely at least half of the week.
Working remotely is not a new concept, it was just perceived differently. Companies considered those who worked from home and those who worked in the office, as separate entities. They invested their resources on the workplace experience of the physical workplace, while disregarding the home workplace environment. But the pandemic has altered that perception. Everyone from the top executives down were forced to work from home, and thus experienced together the importance of a consistent conveyance of the company’s culture for all employees, regardless of where they work.
Taking this new perception into consideration, the corporate world is now facing an evolution in how they will redefine their “workplace” moving forward, post-pandemic. Some companies have evolved to a fully remote workforce, shifting the workplace to the home environment. Some have a hybrid approach. And others are adhering to a fully office-based work environment. Regardless of how this is defined, what is undoubtedly clear is that resources need to be invested in both environments in order to ensure that the corporate culture is consistently felt by all employees, anywhere.
To demonstrate how this is possible, here is a model of a potential hybrid scenario with employees working in both locations.
I have been a Workplace Experience specialist for 8 years now, and moved to the Bay Area because this is where the industry is prevalent. When I began developing and running a workplace experience for a company all those years ago, I didn’t even realize it had a name, much less understood the impact it would have on the productivity and happiness of people at work.
What most people seem to get wrong is that Workplace Experience is not – should not be – a mere collection of facility perks and benefits. I learned from that mistake early on, and still witness that mistake being made frequently, even here in the Bay Area. Just because you have a corporate gym on premises, or offer food in a company cafeteria, or designate a space in the office for a pool table, doesn’t mean that (1) your employees will even use it, (2) it will be appreciated, or (3) it will have any significant impact on employee engagement. I have seen free shuttle services for employees being underutilized, food in corporate cafes wasted, free gym classes underpopulated, and facility events fall flat. This is because the biggest misconception about a Workplace Experience is that it will generate a fun, unique, engaging environment all on its own. The mistake is a dependence on a Workplace Experience to create a corporate culture, and not the other way around.
The establishment of a corporate culture that is true to its values, principles and overall mission, is where it all begins, always. This forms the foundation of the relationship between the company and its employees. A solid corporate culture attracts the right employees because people want to invest in relationships that are based on mutual respect, trust, personal growth and a shared vision. But people are also wise to recognize when the company is sincere about its culture, or whether it’s just lip service.
Workplace Experience is the measure by which employees are able to quickly and easily gauge the culture’s authenticity. This is because it is the only element of a culture that can be experienced physically through all the human senses – touch, taste, sound, smell and sight, and so it bears witness to the sincerity of its purpose. That’s why placing a pool table in the office or sleep pods in the corner without having a reason behind their existence will cause more doubt than anything else.
Only if a company’s culture anchors itself on being truly invested in its employees’ health and wellbeing, for example, will facility features such as fitness classes, various healthy food offerings, placement of living plants in offices, allocating special parking spaces designed to optimize step counts, and facility programs aimed at helping people achieve their health goals, succeed. In the same respect, if the office areas of the company executives have vastly higher-end finishes, lighting, comfort and appearance than the work areas of the rest of the company, do you think that employees will believe the company culture supports equality and inclusivity?
And let’s not forget, the purpose of a Workplace Experience is far more than just offering attractive features in a workplace. Its primary function as a tool of the corporate culture is to enable and empower employees to be fully engaged and happy with their work. The scope of Workplace Experience includes the entire journey of an employee throughout their workday – from their transportation to work, their entrance into the facility, the ease with which they are able to access their needs (a meeting room, an appropriate work space, work tools and equipment, locating people and departments, etc.) and collaborate with each other (in engaging spaces, over coffee, with meals, through facility events and programs, etc.), and even providing relief by accomplishing chores before ending the day such as dry cleaning, car wash, or bringing home ready-cooked meals. That’s why Workplace Experience is such a powerful tool. It has within its very purpose, the capacity to directly impact employees’ productivity as well as directly influence their happiness at work.
If a company just throws in facility “perks and benefits” without anchoring them in their corporate culture, this investment will not only be a waste of money, it will be the large elephant in the room that constantly reminds employees of how inauthentic the company is. And conversely, as the only physical manifestation of a corporate culture, Workplace Experience can be the company’s most important tool in expressing to employees their sincerity.
Watch out for my first book on Workplace Experience, coming out this year!
