A renewed debate about the value of working from home, sparked by an op-ed this week from ad industry veteran Sean Cummins, has seen media and marketing figures staunchly back flexibility.
Lara Brownlow, APAC head of channel sales for LinkedIn, offered a rebuttal yesterday, declaring “the traditional workweek no longer suits” and calling for an end to the debate.
Whatever side of the fence, new research indicates the issue is not as black-and-white as some would suggest.
Picture: Kathy Ponce
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The annual Hybrid Work Report, released by marketing software developer HubSpot, found entirely remote workers miss regular in-person contact with their boss and colleagues.
For those working flexible between home and an office, 33% find it challenging to build strong relationships and establish new connections.
And when given the choice, 52% of hybrid workers would prioritise relationships with workmates over a pay rise, the report found.
The benefits of being around colleagues is something Robyn Sefiani has noticed as the business community emerges from the Covid era.
So confident is she of the continued need for physical offices that the Sefiani agency founder is pushing ahead with an expansion.
“It’s a bit counterintuitive for us to be upsizing our offices when everyone else seems to be looking to downsize,” she laughed. “But I’m confident it’s a smart move.”
Robyn Sefiani
The top floor of a heritage building in the centre of the Sydney CBD will house the agency’s work force – at least part of the week.
“I think two or three days at home and two or three days in the office is ideal, depending on the person and their circumstances and preferences,” Sefiani said.
“That’s certainly my preference. I think everyone at Sefiani likes that balance too.
“When you’re working from home, it’s ideal for concentrated work that requires no interruptions and deep thinking. If you’re writing a white paper or developing a pitch deck for a client that needs a lot of thought, it’s perfect.
“I’m a huge believer in the value of collective IQ and learning by osmosis. That really doesn’t happen without physically being together.”
Cummins and other commentators who speak of the need for younger staff to be in the office more tend to attract claims of generational stereotyping.
But for Sefiani, there’s an argument to be made about the career-building benefits of juniors being around their senior peers.
“What we’ve noticed over the past two years is that for the younger members of our team, it’s particularly important to be in some of the time.
“Being in the office, you can pick things up or just simply turn to someone and ask a quick question.
“Overhearing people speak to clients or to journalists on the phone is helpful. I know that’s how I learnt a lot as a young consultant – listening and observing.
“And they tell us that they sometimes feel isolated at home sometimes, so there’s a social positive too.”
Eighteen months ago, PR specialist and Social Diary founder Tiffany Farrington called it quits on Sydney and relocated to the Hunter Valley with her husband.
At the same time, she bid farewell to having a physical office and her 10 staff went entirely remote, working from home – or from wherever suited them.
“It’s not really a new thing for me,” Farrington said. “Social Diary is 19 years old and while I had an office for almost all of that time, I’ve always worked from anywhere I needed or wanted to.
“I spent most of my 30s travelling all over the world and so I ran the business from anywhere with a WiFi connection. And long before Covid, I’ve encouraged flexibility with my staff.
“Want to work from home? Go for it. Prefer starting early and finishing early, or rather sleep in and work late? That’s fine.
“That relies on trust, though – if you’ve got great people you trust to do their job, it doesn’t matter where and when they do it. But if you don’t trust your staff to work, that’s a bigger problem.”
Tiffany Farrington.
While Farrington concedes her approach does not work for all businesses – nor every employee – she thinks flexibility is possible in most situations.
“One of my staff has a two-year-old and another on the way so she loves working from home. Another is now living in London and working remotely. Another is studying so loves the flexibility.
“We all get together and have fun lunches, so there’s still a social aspect. It suits everyone. But it depends on the business you’re running and your individual staff and their circumstances.”
Farrington, a fixture on the Sydney social scene for three decades now, does not see a day when her business returns to a full-time office setting.
“As long as everyone is happy, I don’t see things going back to the way they were. Freedom, flexibility and choice makes for a happy team.”
Kat Warboys, APAC marketing director at HubSpot, said a new frontier in the future of work has arrived – “one defined by connection”.
“While it’s clear that the workforce of today has become used to the autonomy to live and work from wherever they choose with remote work, there’s certainly a trade-off between communication and connection with culture and colleagues,” Warboys said.
“Connection is critical to high-performing teams. When employees feel connected to each other and their culture, it boosts alignment, enables problem-solving, and strengthens productivity.
“At HubSpot, we have employees living all over the country, from Perth to Bathurst to Far North Queensland. There’s no doubt that a hybrid work model improves job accessibility within the tech industry, especially for talent living in regional or remote areas.”
The company’s philosophy is “culture doesn’t need four walls to thrive” and no-one should need to be in a physical location to feel it, she added.
But that also does not mean the office is dead.
“It’s different — and the companies who’ll find success will be those that recognise that connection is the thread that binds together co-workers, their purpose and their productivity.”
The Mumbrella team chatted about the work-from-home debate on this week’s Mumbrellacast at the 12:09 mark.