With the pandemic an incident in the past, looks like remote working, which was the only option, is also being revisited by many organisations. Remote working is no longer the norm, but more like a good perk which can be used on a need basis.
The question being asked based on the emphasis given by many organisations on attendance is – “Should there be a correlation between performance and office attendance?” One group would say that attendance measures presence but does not always measure productivity or performance. Yet, many large as well as small companies are now tracking attendance and making it part of performance evaluation and reward process.
In today’s connected world, most people will argue that you do not need to be physically together at a particular place to work effectively. Productivity measures should be around outputs, efficiency and the impact that the person has which could be different for different people. The tradition 9-5 model is no longer the working structure as people are working through different time zones and also whilst travelling and from different geographic locations.
In the last couple of years organisations are using various tools to gather employee attendance data – badge check-in, geolocation check-in, mobile check-in and wi-fi check-in. This is mainly being done to understand the RTO (return to office) efforts that companies are putting in. It is also being used to rationalise the office space that the organisations have and deciding on downsizing or relocating expensive office premises.
Is this the case of employers feeling of lack on control, or is it the fact that face to face meetings and working together have their merits, which cannot be denied. The team bonding and the chatter at the coffee machine is all part and parcel of organisation culture.
JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Amazon are among the companies to have recently asked staff to be at the office for 5 days a week, though this is not always strictly enforced. However, this is a policy which needs more deliberation as mandatory attendance might also result in losing some key employee groups – like employees with young kids, with disabilities, long commutes, care givers and many others. A study by Gartner found that “high-performers, women and millennials, three groups that prize flexibility are the biggest flight risks.” Flexibility needs to be a perk whilst the organisations work towards creating an environment where people want to come back to.