In a closely-watched indication of the post-pandemic future of work, Facebook is giving more employees the option to keep working remotely. The social media company announced a new plan for the future of its workplace in a memo to staff yesterday. Workers can ask to be remote or choose to come into an office at least half the time.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he plans to spend part of his time working remotely well into 2022, which sends a key signal: The personal actions of executives hold a lot of influence.
Come to work three days a week, come only for meetings, come whenever you want: A lot of company leaders have been announcing plans for hybrid workplaces. But business strategist Cali Williams Yost said executives need to model the approach they want to make it work.
“If leaders are in their on-site offices, no matter how many times that leader says, ‘I do not care, this is just my personal preference,’ people will think that’s what’s expected,” Yost said.
Simply allowing remote work won’t be meaningful if the boss sticks to the corner office, said Sara Sutton, CEO of FlexJobs. “They will be still implementing that historical norm of face time measurement — that they need to be there to be seen, to be measured.”
Sutton said leaders who work remotely will also have better insights into how to engage workers who can’t be on-site and which activities are just better in person.