Why some CEOs are all in on remote while others are NOT
Why is it, that some CEOs like Scott Farquhar at Atlassian are all in on remote while others like Andy Jassy at Amazon seem to fold ?? on the idea?
Here is my thought on the factors that decide this difference in opinion:
Here is the 3-step formula:
The fourth possible step that I’m still looking for guidance on, is that it’s possible that when a company’s employee count, gets beyond X in size - remote is too hard effectively manage. This might explain why big tech like Amazon, Apple, Facebook, & Tesla have mandated return to office.
However, smaller shops like Zoom or #elonmusk 's Twitter who have far fewer employees than #atlassian are mandating office attendance. So the idea above about size?? may not hold true.
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What seems more likely beyond the formula I’ve outlined is that it’s the POV of the CEO ???? and the stakeholders that pressure that CEO - that end up being the ultimate verdict that determines which direction a company goes in when it comes to Return to office (#rto).
At Swapdesk we have lots of users from Atlassian, and also companies like Pinterest. #pinterest has a program called Pinflex. It was very forward-thinking ?? when it came out during COVID. A recent change in CEO’s ushered in a new caveat to this policy - if someone wants to work from another location using their previous 90 day program, 5 days is cool - any more must go through VP approval. Essentially, making it more onerous on the employee. It screams: "you better have a good reason otherwise stay where you are". I should say that remote work is still highly supported at Pinterest and I hope for our users that they loosen this WFA policy up real soon.
Another example is Salesforce . When I was working there in 2022 - Marc Benioff shared with us that he has always worked remotely and that it worked for him. He also said he really enjoyed going to the office, but his default mode was remote. A few months later, when ELLIOT MANAGEMENT GROUP LTD put pressure on the board - Salesforce started to mandate that all customer facing staff must be in 4 days per week. They also detached themselves from Future Forum and let go of a lot their staff. It seemed not to align to the new narrative. Remember that Salesforce was one of the companies who were all in on remote when the pandemic hit. Another example of pressure, changing the narrative. It's possible that these changes were not caused by ELLIOT MANAGEMENT GROUP LTD - but I think it's somehow related.
I share this because too many people try to paint this debate in absolute truth statements: “remote doesn’t work” or “we are always gonna be remote”. The reality is that if one new leader comes in, or large leases come up for renewal, or a new pandemic comes along, or pressure to drive productivity emerged - these 'truths' tend to disappear ?? - so is there really one truth here?
If you understand this formula you can quickly figure out if what you’re hearing in the market or at your company is driven by circumstance, pressure, lack of good practices, culture or something entirely different…
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1 年I tend to agree with your thoughts on this Allen Boening! For my part, after discussing this subject with several executives, I couldn't help taking the shortcut of thinking that it was even a generational issue. However, I now believe that this is only the consequence of another cause, which lies in the need to go through a huge exercise of changing perception in order to embark on a remote mindset, and those who have long lived their working lives with a traditional mindset have a much harder road ahead of them to succeed in this change of perception and be ready for the future of work! This is why they need new way of thinking to support them in this transition.