Boss reveals question he won’t ask employees

A boss is going viral after revealing the one question he won’t ask his employees and people are divided.

A boss is going viral for sharing the common workplace question he doesn’t ask his employees.

It is no secret that the way people work has changed since the pandemic, and no one can agree on whether this is good or bad.

Working from home has become routine but controversial, with some employers happy for workers to be away from the office and others desperate for staff to return to their desks.

It has also led to many new questions. How many days can I work from home? Where can I work from that isn’t the office? And how often do I need to come in for a face-to-face conversation?

Every workplace has its rules, and employees usually plead their individual cases for flexibility.

But one boss has shaken things up by revealing he doesn’t care where his employees work from, or why.

The post amassed over 300,000 reactions. Picture: LinkedIn

Tom Hunt is the CEO of Fame, a B2B podcast company based in the United Kingdom.

On LinkedIn, he shared a story about a team member who asked him if she could work from another country for six weeks.

“She went on to explain why … I jump in: ‘It’s all good; I don’t need to know why.’ You decide how the work is done,” he wrote.

“Different country each month? All good. Work from the garden? All good. Couple of hours off for a doctor’s appointment? All good. Work from Wetherspoons after dropping the kids off at school? All good.”

Tom runs a B2B podcast company. Picture: X/TomHunt

The response amassed more than 300,000 reactions and 9,000 comments.

Mr Hunt explained that he doesn’t think employees owe their workplaces explanations to why they need flexibility.

Online, his opinion was met with plenty of gratitude from those who value flexibility and don’t want to be tied down to a desk, or even a country.

“Your life is your life. We don’t track time; we track output. And we trust you to deliver. Flexible work is the future,” one wrote.

“Yes! This is exactly the kind of work environment so many of us need,” another added.

“Absolutely agree! Your approach highlights the importance of trust and flexibility in the modern workplace. By focusing on output rather than rigid schedules, you empower team members to find their most productive and balanced way of working,” one shared.

There were also plenty of people who disagreed and thought the idea was better in theory than in practice.

“The thought process you have is correct however. Having employees all work from home with zero interaction apart from teams or zoom is dangerous. All of my best ideas have come from experiences and sitting round a table provoking thought in real life scenarios,” one argued.

“If that were true, remote work wouldn’t be suffering like it is. In theory yes, but in practice managers want to see their employees,” another pointed out.

“Unfortunately, I do not agree, unless you have a good measurement of output, working remotely does not work,” one wrote.

Mr Hunt reckons people should work from wherever they need too. Picture: LinkedIn

Mr Hunt often shares photos of him enjoying WFH. Picture: X/TomHunt

Brett McAllen, CEO of Workspaces, believes that coming into the office shouldn’t become completely obsolete because it can have substantial benefits for your career.

“The water cooler effect is alive and well across most workspaces. Whether you bump into others in the kitchen or catch up for coffee during a break, this is where most of the conversations around what is happening in the office occur, i.e., new job openings,” he said.

Mr McAllen said that this is still the way core relationships are built and isn’t something possible to achieve when working from home.

He explained that he thinks working in the office involves a level of “immersion” you can’t achieve from your living room.

“When the office gets super busy due to big projects or nearing deadlines, the energy, buzz and excitement is palpable. People share ideas, throw around thoughts, bounce ideas off the cuff,” he said.

“The workplace becomes a place of innovation and spontaneity. This is difficult to achieve when working from home.”

Instead, Mr McAllen believes that you need to come in if you want to get to the guts of what is happening.

“When you are working in the office, you are working in the heart of what is happening; you are immersed in and part of the activity,” he added.

“You are present for key workplace moments. The perception is that if you are in the workplace, you are more in touch with and in tune with the organisation.”

Originally published as Boss reveals question he won’t ask employees