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80% of bosses say they regret earlier return-to-office plans

cnbc.com

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Re: 80% of bosses say they regret earlier return-to-office plans

#31

Post by zuminator »

itronitron wrote: post #14

>> The sunk cost of unused office space has been a major factor in companies’ decisions to change their RTO approach, says Kacher. I'm not sure that the author, or the company executives, know what a sunk cost is. Just to clarify, since there is a younger generation on HN now, 'sunk cost' is something you have spent money on that you can't get back. The 'sunk cost fallacy' is the mistaken belief that you have to use…

I'm not quite seeing your point. Are you saying the article's usage is inconsistent with the meaning of sunk cost? In some cases companies have multi-year leases for office space that is drastically underutilized due to WFH. Does that not count as a sunk cost in your opinion? It's true rent is paid on an ongoing prorated basis but to quote from Investopedia, "Sunk costs also cover certain expenses that are committed but yet to [be] paid." [0]

Like I said, maybe I'm just missing the point you're making?

[0] https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/sunkcost.asp

(edit: upon posting I see others have already raised this question)

Re: 80% of bosses say they regret earlier return-to-office plans

#32

Post by evantbyrne »

I was recently offered a long-term contract job that was double anything I would expect my salary to be. Why? Because the company instituted a policy of not hiring new remote employees. So the workaround to get the help they need is to hire contractors that aren't beholden to silly employee policies.

Re: 80% of bosses say they regret earlier return-to-office plans

#33

Post by dmoy »

justrealist wrote: post #24
ahi wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The passive aggressive fix for this is to meet in the conference room and put him on the big screen. In the before times I worked on teams with just 1 or 2 remote and this practice was (unintentionally) awful for them.

Make sure to mutter whenever possible, and make all decisions via 1-1 asides. If possible, have a whiteboard way at the back of the room where it's visible but incomprehensible. And order food! Have some cookies, croissants, pizza delivered right as the meeting starts.

> If possible, have a whiteboard way at the back of the room where it's visible but incomprehensible.

Bonus points if it's at a steep angle from the camera, making only one side of it slightly comprehensible, as the other side diminishes into unreadable scribbles

Re: 80% of bosses say they regret earlier return-to-office plans

#34

Post by dylan604 »

darth_avocado wrote: post #18

They’re not regretting the decisions. They’re regretting the fact their poor decision making capabilities are on full display. Most of these “bosses” would still be caught doubling down on the RTO narrative and threatening people to show up to work. Bosses with Elon style of management, please take a warning. A weekly email threatening to fire people if they don’t show up in the office 5 days a week only works the fi…

Doe these threatening emails convey any kind of warning to prospective new employees? Not just in the WFH/RTO topic, but if they are this draconian in one area, would it not be safe to assume it would span other areas as well?

Even if I was looking for a new job where the WFH issue didn't exist, I'd personally still be hesitant about working at a place managed by people doubling down like that

Re: 80% of bosses say they regret earlier return-to-office plans

#35

Post by dylan604 »

kzrdude wrote: post #17
lnsru wrote: post #13

My brilliant manager still has his home office day during team meeting. So the whole team sits with headsets on their desks and talks to the manager who’s sitting at home. That’s how return to the office plan works for the peasants. Good that I am leaving soon.

In that situation we would use a meeting room. The dynamic would make the manager feel like they are the outsider in that case, though.

They literally are the outsider in that case though

Re: 80% of bosses say they regret earlier return-to-office plans

#36

Post by wildrhythms »

kzrdude wrote: post #17
lnsru wrote: post #13

My brilliant manager still has his home office day during team meeting. So the whole team sits with headsets on their desks and talks to the manager who’s sitting at home. That’s how return to the office plan works for the peasants. Good that I am leaving soon.

In that situation we would use a meeting room. The dynamic would make the manager feel like they are the outsider in that case, though.

You seem to think these managers have even a shred of self-awareness...

Re: 80% of bosses say they regret earlier return-to-office plans

#37

Post by pengaru »

lnsru wrote: post #13

My brilliant manager still has his home office day during team meeting. So the whole team sits with headsets on their desks and talks to the manager who’s sitting at home. That’s how return to the office plan works for the peasants. Good that I am leaving soon.

> Good that I am leaving soon.

I get the impression the manager is thinking the same thing.

Re: 80% of bosses say they regret earlier return-to-office plans

#38

Post by dylan604 »

justrealist wrote: post #24
ahi wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The passive aggressive fix for this is to meet in the conference room and put him on the big screen. In the before times I worked on teams with just 1 or 2 remote and this practice was (unintentionally) awful for them.

Make sure to mutter whenever possible, and make all decisions via 1-1 asides. If possible, have a whiteboard way at the back of the room where it's visible but incomprehensible. And order food! Have some cookies, croissants, pizza delivered right as the meeting starts.

>And order food! Have some cookies, croissants, pizza delivered right as the meeting starts.

as if the snacks one has in their own home are so undesirable that this is the compelling factor. such a good post left on such a weak point.

Re: 80% of bosses say they regret earlier return-to-office plans

#39

Post by ChuckMcM »

I had lunch, not too long ago, with a senior executive of a silicon valley tech company that was moaning about how much of a pain it was to get people to come into the office and how it felt like things would never return to the way they were. And I told them I actually knew of a way to get 100% of their employees to return to the office happily. When they asked what this magic bullet was I said, "Go back to offices, with doors."

It isn't that complicated. Even if you have to work out of your bedroom when you are home you can close your door and focus, that just isn't the same in open plan office space.

Re: 80% of bosses say they regret earlier return-to-office plans

#40

Post by alfalfasprout »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #39

I had lunch, not too long ago, with a senior executive of a silicon valley tech company that was moaning about how much of a pain it was to get people to come into the office and how it felt like things would never return to the way they were. And I told them I actually knew of a way to get 100% of their employees to return to the office happily. When they asked what this magic bullet was I said, "Go back to offices,…

that would require folks moving back to the bay area. No way in hell I'd want to do that. That would require sacrificing my wife's career and our quality of life significantly.
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