The Media Lab NZ : Why we’re opting out of WFH

Working from home: significant, a triumph, a boon? Not so much

First appeared in National Business Review (paywalled)  - 22 April 2022

Work From Home (WFH) has been heralded as one of the most significant revolutions in the workplace in generations.   A triumph for work/life balance.  A boom for suburban cafes.  And possibly the only good thing to come from Covid.

As an employer we’ve required all our employees to be back in the office immediately since the lockdown ended.  And here’s why …

A better learning environment.

As much as technology learning tools have advanced, nothing beats being present.  Face to face meetings make it easier to spot the body language if someone isn’t quite getting it.  Asking a question and getting a reply on the spot is so much more helpful than emailing your manager to ask if you could chat, sending a meeting request, and then sitting on a Zoom call. 

Learning isn’t just about improving technical skills.  It’s also about acquiring softer skills.  When I first started working it was those morning teas and after work drinks that exposed me to many more people and perspectives different to my own.  I also credit those work - social events that helped me get over my shyness to be a more confident person. 

GenZ centric workplaces

As the first millennials are now in their 40’s, GenZ’s are poised to be the most important employees in your company.  Are you shaping an organisation that’s going to give them their best experience?  GenZ’s want to develop and grow.  They want to be stimulated.  They want a social environment.  A few words of spontaneous encouragement or a chat with a colleague when they’re having a bad day can make a difference.  Most of them, don’t have the luxury of a home office set up, and are doing their Zoom calls from their bedroom or lounge sofa – that’s not the most conducive to an engaged workplace. 

The work productivity argument

Many people argue that they are more productive working from home.  I have no data that proves or disproves that.  But what I do know is that self-assessment isn’t the most reliable source of truth. There’s that famous US study that found 94% of College professors rated themselves above average relative to their peers!  As a marketing agency, we put a premium in creativity and collaboration.  Nothing beats the chemistry of a team generating and sharing ideas.  I absolutely subscribe to work/life balance.  And I like that when staff leave our office, their work day ends.  With a work meeting takes place in your home, that line between work and personal time blurs.  Having that break from work physically and mentally must be better for both employee and employer.

It's not that people don’t want to return to the workplace…

They just want to avoid work [full stop.]

Somewhere along the way, the corporate world lost their employees. 

They don’t see work as important as they used to.  You could blame Covid, but I’d argue that has been the case for a long time.  The push for productivity.  Endless re-orgs, re-sets, re-structures becoming the norm.  Meaningless mission statements, glass ceilings and age-ism preceded the pandemic.  The one difference today, right now, is that employees have leverage.  There aren’t enough qualified people to fill the jobs.  From architects to apple pickers there’s a shortage.  And so the workers have said they don’t want to come back in.  Companies out of fear of losing talent are caving.  Whatever way they want to spin it, that’s what’s happening. 

At The Media Lab we’re encouraging working at work. 

We think it’s a good thing for our staff, the better thing for our product which will translate to the best thing for our clients.  Fingers crossed!

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Antony Young is a co-founder of The Media Lab, a digital marketing firm based in Wellington. He spent twenty years heading media and digital agencies in New York, London and Asia, before returning back to New Zealand.  He also a blueberry farmer in the Horowhenua.