Let me work from home or I won’t work for you, it’s that simple

Recently, I interviewed for a role with an all-female, fully remote consulting firm. It was less an interview and more of a conversation. The intro to the firm came via a colleague and although the firm wasn’t hiring, we wanted to explore possibilities.

It was unlike any other job interview. The senior partner spoke about living in the country, and commuting to the city as required. I spoke about living regionally and how COVID-19 had been a game-changer when it came to working remotely.

Truly flexible work is important to me.Credit: E+

We spoke about juggling career and family, and the importance of autonomous, flexible work. We joked about how many women’s greatest achievements – her children – were not included on her curriculum vitae.

“Imagine if hiring managers could ask how many home-cooked meals you got on the table each week,” I said, going out on a limb.

“Or, how many times you didn’t!” the senior partner retorted.

The interview got me thinking. Mostly, I was impressed by the firm’s fully remote approach. It made me reflect on how critical truly flexible work is to me, and how much I value being able to shape my own working arrangements. It also made me commit to seeking out smart, progressive workplaces – employers who know they will get the best out of their staff if they offer non-rigid, truly flexible working arrangements, that make sense for both employer and employee.

I say rigid. In the past, a policy which required people to come to the office two or three days a week would have been incomprehensibly generous. But post-COVID, bosses and staff alike are grappling with the right approach.

The pandemic brought out-of-date work practices into line with new technology. Yet, even during COVID and subsequently, I’ve found myself battling with bosses who wanted me in the office more than seemed necessary.

At the tail end of COVID, I travelled to the city for one of my mandated days in the office. There were four people there, including me. I had to wave my hands above my head every 20 minutes to keep the automatic sensor lights on.

As I sat alone in the cold, dark office, I counted up how much it had cost me to get there – about $100 in food, fuel, fares and childcare. Plus a nearly four-hour round commute. What was the point, I wondered. There were no extra tools in the office that I needed and what I got done that day, I could have done in half the time at home – due to fewer distractions and zero commute.

Knowledge workers everywhere are calculating the “worth it” equation. A July 2022 McKinsey study surveyed 13,382 employees (including in Australia) to find one in four (26 per cent) quit their last role due to lack of flexibility. McKinsey suggests that without real flexibility, workers will vote with their feet.

Here, most knowledge businesses are experimenting with a hybrid policy. Some require two days in the office, some three. And there’s tension between what workers want and what’s best for business.

A 2022 PwC Future of Work report found that most Australian workers want the hybrid split to be in favour of remote work – that is, three days at home and two days in the office. At the same time, independent research released in February 2023 by recruitment firm Robert Half found two-thirds of Australian employers want their people in the office more. Big businesses like Commonwealth Bank have spoken out against fully remote arrangements, with CBA’s HR chief Sian Lewis saying in February that any less than three days in the office was not possible.

So how can we – workers and businesses alike – capitalise on the gains of COVID-19 and come together in harmonious agreement?

The pandemic brought out-of-date work practices into line with new technology.Credit: Istock

McKinsey suggests that business must take a personalised, multi-faceted approach, based on whether workers are traditionalists or non-traditionalists. McKinsey defines traditionalists as 9-5ers who are happiest in the office. Non-traditionalists include people with caring responsibilities, older people nearing retirement, and so-called “DIY-ers”, like me, who value flexibility and autonomy above all else.

For me, the pandemic was a watershed. But it’s only since then that I’ve reflected on what’s most important to me. That is, prioritising work – and workplaces – that allow me to work in ways that maximise what I bring to the business. For me, flexible work means balancing my responsibilities as a worker and a mother – and being as productive, efficient and committed as possible in both realms.

It means stepping away from my desk at 4pm to help my children after school, and sitting back down to work once they are settled. It means having a home-cooked dinner on the table at 6pm, instead of coming home after dark with takeaway. And it means the flexibility to come in to the office as required – for meetings, mentoring or collaborating.

The idea that we need to turn up to an office simply for the sake of it is redundant. Smart progressive bosses will have smart, progressive businesses. And loyal, productive people.

Erin O’Dwyer is a journalist and lawyer.

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