The WORST version of hybrid
A siren started in my head the first time I heard someone—at a bank—proposing a hybrid system in which some of the senior people choose where they work… but juniors are required to be in the office, full time.
He felt it was a good idea because junior people:
need more support and input
often struggle with WFH (due to shared accommodation)
are motivated to get a promotion
…while senior people have better judgement about when they need to be the office.
He was surprised his team thought it was a terrible idea. Even the senior ones felt it was unfair to have more freedom than their teams.
Let’s examine this idea.
The questions I posed:
Is this about productivity?
Why do you only trust your senior employees to make judgements about their time?
Who are the juniors going to learn from—if only they are in?
What is junior? A senior PA working this way, who finds herself branded as ‘junior’ says:
“This is BS. The nine people I report into are never in the office but I have to spend two hours a day commuting - time in which I can’t fix their bloody Zoom links or book their appointments. And I now have to pay for my dogs to be walked rather than doing it myself. Frankly, they can do one, I’m not up for this”.
Meanwhile, a few senior people have confessed how they feel more ‘consulted’ and ‘useful’ in the office, because people ask them more things.
Perhaps there’s a group that wants to get back and be surrounded by juniors because their partner/kids are bored with their shit jokes and advice. (Fun fact: research tells us that we laugh when more senior people tell jokes—however bad they are.)
If you’re wondering what those on the receiving end of this policy think, this is from a graduate:
“Oh come on, we’re the generation where EVERYONE got a commendation at speech day: we’ve been taught to expect to be recognised for what we bring—not to embrace needless hierarchy.”
Yes, you should forward this to anyone in your organisation promoting this policy.
Next week:
The return of business travel and new meeting etiquette
See you there!
Christine
