RTO vs. WFH - choose your fighter

RTO vs. WFH

one of the largest debates in tech over the past 5 years has been RTO vs. WFH. should we be forcing folks back into the office or letting them tear it up from their couch?

there’s a million perspectives and most people are right to some varying degree. however, what’s right for the company or employee next door might not be what’s right for your team and your situation.

so i’m going to try and break down a few talking points that i think will make the decision a bit more digestible and give you some takeaways that help you touch grass and have a more realistic approach.

hiring managers:

there is no one-size-fits-all approach to this conversation and if you’re not careful, you’ll place a mold meant for a specific season on your company for far too long that will hold you back in ways you’ll never see.

“we’re building something special” isn’t an excuse to refuse to change your point of view. if you’re having to defend your decision, there’s a good chance you’ve missed the mark.

your team at seed, series a, series b, series xyz, will all look different…. if you allow it to. however if you’re hell bent on building through the same lens all along you’ll always be held back by your own trivial perspectives. your company should look, feel and operate differently stage after stage. you can keep your identity and change its application.

so when it comes to onsite vs. remote vs. hybrid, there are 3 questions you should ask yourself

1) location - will top talent be willing to come here?

2) function - what value is my office bringing to this team?

3) flexibility - am i committed to the principle or the result?

if you’re going to honestly and earnestly evaluate what’s right for your business at every stage, you have to stop thinking like a founder and think like an employee. your team will never care like you do, for any sustained period of time. they’ll never sacrifice what you did, and they shouldn’t. so if you’re thinking like a founder when evaluating issues that impact employees, then you’ve already lost.

thinking like an employee not only reminds you what empathy is, but it allows you to better understand what you can push the limits on and why there are boundaries in the first place.

candidates:

to be blunt, i think wfh is a death sentence to anyone under 30 that wants to build a meaningful career.

can you still grow, win, advance, whatever as a full time remote employee? for sure.

are there remote orgs out there that are industry leaders? 1 or 2?

is remote right for you? probably not but sometimes

is on-site best for the vast majority? yeah

this isn’t about capitalism, commercial real estate leases, or some other trivial bs that tiktok or some dumb linkedin recruiter influencer said it was. this is purely about working with people, building meaningful and memorable relationships and putting yourself in the best position to advance in ways that you want to.

now, if you don’t care about growth, developing skills, career trajectory or making more then ignore this. but… if daddy’s trust fund doesn’t exist or you’d like to avoid a life of poverty and no retirement… read on.

in-person employees earn more, get promoted more, have higher levels of connection to colleagues (78%) and report experiencing less depression, loneliness and isolation.

i can confidently say that if you’re wanting the best outcome from your office/corporate career… you should get your ass onsite as much as you can.

TLDR:

remote has it’s place in the world; exceptions and the past.

music for your friday