47 - You’re fired! Working from home, and the emerging trend of promotion bias

Blended

Welcome back to Blended!

Today, we’re talking about changing working environments, and promotion bias.

The debate of working from home versus working from the office has been gaining traction over the last few years, and people have been discussing the different pieces of it, from work/life balance to in-person versus online meetings to loneliness to productivity.

But where you work, and it’s impact on career progression, is one of the biggest conversations right now.

At a recent event, I overheard two gentlemen talking about promotion at work, and they explicitly stated that they would only promote people who worked from the office – that they wouldn’t even consider promotion for those working from home. No discussion of individual merit, personal achievement, passion, dedication, talent, success. Just a blanket statement, no negotiation.

Thinking about how much workforces have changed over the last few years, and why – and reflecting on how I benefit, as an entrepreneur, from a global workforce – that conversation has stayed with me.

So our panel are taking a deep dive into this complex topic here on Blended. They’ll be talking about the changing landscape of work, and how workplaces haven’t caught up; why bias is slowing down change; how we can create cultures that support balance and provide personalized ways of working; and the importance of re-designing management styles and KPI’s, so we measure success, not time.

IN THIS EPISODE:

[01.24] Introductions to our Blended panellists.

· Srividhya – Global Supply Chain Strategy and Process Transformation at Shell

· Pam – Founder of Blue Rebel Works

· Jose – Procurement Excellence Lead at SpendHQ

· Jen – Founder of Freight Hero and Ship Happens

[11.24] The group discuss how workplaces have changed over the last few years, from the impact of the pandemic to changing demographics; and they share their stories of what they’ve seen and experienced.

“When the pandemic hit and people all of a sudden were forced to work from home – and it worked! – I said: ‘This is amazing! For the world of work, this is the catalyst that will finally make the changes that we’ve advocated for, for so long’... It had a profound impact on people’s lives.” Pam

· Impact of pandemic

· Positive impact of working from home

· Individuals re-evaluating what’s important in their lives

· The great resignation

· Social justice issues

· Pendulum swing back to work from office

· Dated leadership styles

· Keeping women in the workforce

· Changing demographics in workplaces

· Responsibility of child care and elder care for millennial workers

· Impact of housing affordability when it comes to living in big cities to work

· Accessing the best talent pool, then figuring out how to secure it and leverage it

· Rise of technology

· Trust

· Greater focus on diversity and inclusion

· Rise of digital nomads

· Impact of typical commute

o Cost

o Loss of community

o Loss of balance

o Burnout

o Wasted time

· Impact on collaboration, teamwork and connecting with others

· Structure and routine

· Learning to adapt

· Importance of flexibility

“Because leaders have been leading in the same way for so long, it’s almost like they don’t know how to manage work without managing presenteeism.” Pam

“The one thing that kept me sane, and in the workforce, was flexibility.” Srividhya

“A lot of managers were promoted because they were good at their job, not because they were good leaders. And that’s an issue – you have to understand people to manage them from afar – you have to understand them, what motivates them, what drives them.” Jen

“The younger generation are more aware of what they want. They’ve grown up digital-first and they don’t see the point in going somewhere else to get work done.” Srividhya

“For people with children, or households to manage, being able to work from home changed their lives… It made things more productive, they got time back. And time is energy, freedom and power.” Jen

[36.33] The panel explore what the world of work looks like now, in light of the changes we’ve seen; why workplaces and working styles aren’t evolving at the same rate of change; and why some organizations are still attempting to force workplaces to conform to the 5-day, 40-hour workweek, which was popularized in 1926.

· Resistance to change

· Comfort in control

· Importance of personalization

· Challenging assumptions

· Ego vs self-awareness

· Intent

· Out of touch leadership

· Lack of understanding of how work really gets done

· What are you rewarding?

· Shift recognition away from time

· Moving away from tradition

“We get taught how to lead people by what we saw in the past.” Pam

“A lot of the people making these decisions are wildly out of touch with what the general people in their company deal with day-to-day… they don’t see the blend of life and work.” Jen

“There’s a theory called Parkinson’s Law that work expands to fill the time allotted. If you’ve ever seen how much work you can complete the day before you go on vacation, you’ve see this in effect! But a lot of organizations still reward people for time. You can almost see the badges people wear: “I’m so busy, I was here all weekend!” – and that’s what you get rewarded for.” Pam

[57.55] The group discuss bias – the legalities of promotion bias; the impact of bias on minority groups; why promotion bias is culturally accepted; the psychology of proximity bias; and why working from office is still seen as so desirable, despite the wealth of evidence that supports the positive outcomes of working from home.

· Empowering leaders

· Psychology of proximity bias

· Looking at diversity in a holistic way

· Adjust decision-making with different parameters

· Authenticity

· Impact on protected groups

· Impact of not being able to be yourself

· Comfort of home

· Culture

“There’s a difference between working from home, and not being involved in the culture of your company.” Jen

[01.14.52] The panel share tips and advice for how organizations, leaders and individuals can drive change.

· Bias training

· Managers working from home more often

· Adjust performance management

· Creating cross-department connection

· Model behavior

· Zoom parties and pods

· Trying different things

· Being creative and fun

· Getting to know your people

· Embracing flexibility

· Empathy

· Motivating people to drive change

“Wake up – it’s not 1926! You’re going to lose the war on talent if you’re not more attuned to how things are changing.” Srividhya

[01.24.21] The group sum-up their thoughts from today’s discussion.

RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED:

You can connect with Srividhya, Pam, Jose and Jen over on LinkedIn.