‘Energy’: Aussie boss reveals why coming into work is important
The WFH debate in Australia is showing no signs of slowing down – but there’s a point we all missed.
One of Australia’s most contentious issues right now is how often, or if at all, Aussies should be able to work from home.
But as the Gen Zers would say, “What about the vibe?”
There have been a string of bosses calling their staff back into offices in the last few months. Amazon boss Andy Jassy announced that all corporate staff would need to hightail it back to the office in January.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns also announced that the working-from-home privileges introduced in 2019 would end, and all public servants will now be forced back into the office.
There’s also been outrage in response, with workers calling it “out-of-touch” and claiming that returning to the office full-time is asking them to take a pay cut.
It is an issue that is dividing Australia, but among the workers begging for more autonomy and the bosses stressing about productivity, there is a lack of discussion around how important the vibe needs to be.
If you want workers back, you need to make it appealing.
Aussie boss Jessy Marshall advocates for the office vibe.
Her PR agency, Hive HQ, has a four-day in-office rule, and yes, she mainly employs Gen Zers.
Ms Marshall told news.com.au that wanting workers in offices isn’t about not trusting them to work from home but rather about wanting to create a culture.
It is simply too hard to make work fun over a Zoom call.
Ms Marshall said if she was genuinely speaking about WFH, she’d have a more nuanced approach.
If someone works best at home, it’s best to leave them there, but when it comes to her team, she finds in-person just makes more sense.
“For us we get energy when in the office and as a PR agency have multiple things that have to be achievedfrom and in the office, in addition it is important to our culture and the energy,” she said.
Ms Marshall, 35, said the office vibe is important to her because it creates better work, a better culture, and strong team morale.
“At Hive, it’s when I see us do our best work. We bounce ideas off each other, a simple question can be answered, and we can jump in and help someone if we can see they are struggling with a task. It builds team morale,” she told news.com.au.
The millennial boss explained that creating office energy is vital when working in public relations and bringing creativity into work.
You don’t want people doing the work with low energy while watching Netflix in the background; you want people in the office talking, sharing ideas, and laughing.
“Energy or dare I say it – buzz is what we need to do our jobs. It’s what leads to the best output for our clients,” she said.
“It helps us to do content, jump in when press packs need to be sent out, plan an event and bounce ideas around. We work in a creative industry and being together in the office is key to our success.”
Ms Marshall has always been an in-office worker.
During Covid, when people were forced to work from home, she was still growing her business and only had two employees, but even then, she realised it wasn’t the most productive way to work.
It was lonely and isolating and hard to connect with each other.
“After Covid-19 I noticed how much I wanted a team that could speak face-to-face, brainstorm ideas and overall justrecreate a team environment and culture,” she explained.
“Hive didn’t have that before as we were so new and in our infancy! Being that I bootstrapped the business and started on my own I noticed I was missing having a team who are in it with you.”
The 35-year-old stressed that going into the office allows work to flow better and leads to far fewer technical difficulties.
“We work Monday to Thursday in the office now and there is just so much more energy. From the moment you arrive in the morning, to face-to-face meetings, having the ability to quickly turn and ask a team member for support through to having the ability to do team building activities,” she said.
“I find all these things help create a strong team environment and one I love to work in. We are all there for each other.”
Corporate Coach Michael Marshall said that certain types of teams work better when they work together in person. For instance, creative teams are usually better off hanging out rather than staying in touch over messenger.
Interestingly, the corporate coach argued that bosses need to consider why they want workers to WFH less or more, and it needs to come from the right place.
“Leaders should focus on their purpose and desired outcome of their WFH policy, if it’s performance, energy and culture – you’re doing it right; if it’s trust, monitoring and control, you’re not,” he advised.
Recruitment expert Roxanne Calder previously told news.com.au that even in the private sector, she deals with bosses who constantly declare they need people back at their desks.
Ms Calder said she’s seeing pushback from clients who claim they “need people in the office more” because workers aren’t engaged.
“When you have employees and teams that are highly engaged, that translates to high-performing teams. When you are working remotely from home, it is harder to maintain that. We need eye contact, body language,” she said.
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