So McFresh said that there is no Work From Home (WFH) policy and there was some “mis-information” going around that the company was going away from work from home ( even to the point surplusing based off of it)... But, we are hearing that we have to swipe our badges and watch our VPN usage by management below him... So the question is, who do you trust? What is truth, speculation and what do you think?
45 replies (most recent on top)
AT sweatshop and typing pool mentality has to be abandoned.
-From Peter Drucker’s introduction of Management-By-Objectives in the mid-1950’s, to Six Sigma which was popularized by General Electric’s Jack Welch in the 1990’s, setting and measuring goals has long been held as the key to good management.
• It’s not for everyone
– For some, social needs must be addressed. Telephone, email, instant messaging are a solution for some. Innovative solutions such as virtual outings, online games, and even Second Life have proven successful as well. Occasional telework is also a solution.
– Telecommuters must be self-directed.
– They should be comfortable with technology or arrangements should be made for remote tech support.
– They should have a defined home office space.
– Home-based employees need to understand that telecommuting is not a suitable replacement for daycare unless they can schedule work hours around their children’s needs.
• Career fears from ‘out of sight, out of mind’ mentality
– Some employees cite career fears as a reason not to telecommute. Successful teleworking programs overcome the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ issue with performance-based measurement systems, productivity versus presenteeism attitudes. Teleworkers who maintain regular communications (telephone, email, instant chat, even the occasional face-to-face meeting) with traditional co-workers and managers find career impact is not an issue.
• Co-worker jealousy
– Employees need to understand why they were or were not chosen for telework.
– Employees should see telework as a benefit that is earned, not given.
– Standards of selection should be uniform.
• Security issues
– Almost 93% of managers involved in IRS pilot telework program believe there is no problem with data security.
– Security issues are easy to solve, but must be addressed.
– 90% of those charged with security in large organizations feel that home-based workers are not a security concern. In fact, they are more concerned with the occasional work that is taken out of the office by traditional employees who lack the training, tools, and technologies that teleworkers receive.
– Security training should be provided for all employees.
• IT infrastructure changes may be necessary
– Teleworkers need access to company systems, software, and data.
– Infrastructure changes that support telework improve efficiency for office and traveling employees as well.
– Companies need to address remote technical support issues. Off-the-shelf solutions exist.
• Collaboration concerns
– Some managers feel that distance inhibits collaboration. They need the ‘energy in the room’ when a crisis occurs.
• Double-taxation
– Some cities, notably New York, impose taxes on home-based workers whether they work in the city or not. A Connecticut resident who works at home for a New York company owes taxes to both states.
• Employment law and OSHA concerns
– A few recent accidents in the homes of teleworkers has raised concerns about employer liability.
– The inability to monitor employee overtime is also an issue.
• Local zoning issues
– Some communities and homeowner associations prohibit home offices.
I’ve worked from home for almost 5 years. I never take ‘naps’, work from my bed or even in pajamas unless I’m sick or have been up all night with a work emergency. Even then, I’m dressed by 9 am. IMO, if that’s what you do consistently, I don’t think you should be working exclusively from home. I know if I was an employer I sure wouldn’t want to be paying for that. There is something to be said for being dressed and/or in the office and committed to accomplishing something. Unless you are a freelance blogger type, I don’t feel this is acceptable wfh behavior. Yes - it’s my opinion, I’m sure those who are napping at home have another.
OK, so just think about it --
it is geography, it isn't geography, it's age, it's not age, it's performance, it's not performance. It just is. If you think that you have survived because you are special, get over yourself. It will happen and will continue to happen every year. I just feel lucky in saying this that I survived - yes, survived, LEAVING the company.
I goof off just at much at the office as I do at home, just in different ways. At home I may take a nap, where at work I can "collaborate" with people. The end result is I work just as many hours/day. Only difference is when at home, I stay logged in longer and have a better attitude towards the company and am willing to go the extra mile. The daily commute takes that out of you.
theladders.com
Remote workers are getting comfy working from home. So comfortable, in fact, that 75% of them plan on staying remote for forever if they could, Amerisleep found in a survey of 1,001 exclusively work-from-homers.
Some are even snuggling under the covers while they work – or don’t work. Almost half of remote workers fess up to working from their beds for an average of 11 hours a week, and almost 2 in 5 report napping for an average of 9 hours during the work week. That could be adding up – a recent study found that 53% of professionals are working from home half the week.
While many people say they’re more productive while working from home because of the decline in office distractions, that doesn’t seem to be the case here – while remote workers were 57% more likely to be satisfied with their job than those working from an office, they also said they were unproductive for almost 26% of their day (all that napping!)
Those weren’t even live questions, they were pre-planned. It was blatantly obvious.
He also had 3 hot questions on that one slide but didn’t really answer any of those either.
What a joke!
Most don’t realize the torment some of us have had to deal with the past several years. Our group has idesktop installed on our laptops, allowing supervisors and upper mgt to watch our every move, every key stroke. How is that good for anyone, especially level 2 engineers? We needed to show on their reports logging 8 hrs/day. Ok. But if we had a doctor’s appt we had to make up the time that very same week. I went from working 50 hrs/ wk to 40. Sad, really sad. It’s almost a relief to be surplused.
Too cowardly to take more than 2 live questions. Can’t wait to see the promised communication with the entire Q/A. Who knows how many questions will be skipped? Betting a lot.
If only there was some device that would allow a distant person to communicate with other people
You have meetings where everybody is in the same, physical location ? I haven't been involved in one of those in over a decade. You need to come up with another lame excuse.
@3ywn the flaw in your logic is assuming that everyone participates in those SAFe trains where they can focus on one thing. the reality especially after round after round of surplus is that everyone has 16 different things to work on and has to multitask or they’d end up sitting in meetings all day without any time to do real work
You view the ability to have someone focused on a meeting by physically attending as a drawback, but as someone who runs meetings I have found them to be much more productive. No more "hey you're talking to mute" because someone was busy multitasking, i.e. charging my project for an hour while working on other things. If you need units from that person, and they are in your Safe train, guess where you are supposed to be - in the meeting, too.
I don’t know which WFH people you have worked with, but you couldn’t be more wrong, at least in my area! There are tangible benefits of working from home for the company as well as employee. These generalities about people who work from home being selfish and lazy are just pathetic! I work more hours and am available more than I would be if I was commuting an hour each way. Oh by the way, since the push to ship people back into the office, I am going 2-3 hours sometimes without being able to contact somebody because they’re sitting in a conference room having a meeting or chitchatting. Most people who continue to put down telecommuting are just frustrated that they can’t do it in my opinion.
The company needs to formally end WFH. If an employee can't figure out how to budget her time and funds to get into the office, she needs to go find another employer. The WFH people put an unfair burden on their in-office coworkers. These in-office people have homes, expensive, frustrating commutes, and then need to be available at extended hour whims of the WFH people. The very least the company could do is reduce PTO days for WFH employees. It's not like they are taking days off to take care of sick children, meet repair people, take their cars in for service, or go to medical appointments.
Do Collaboration Zones include the hood for ihx?
The WFH policy was launched in 2012 - https://www.att.com/Common/about_us/files/csr_2012/worklife_balance.pdf.
States:
-Our telecommuting program has tangible benefits for telecommuters and for our company. In 2011 we realized:
• 17 percent lower absentee rate for telecommuters
• 72 percent lower turnover rate for telecommuters
• $6,500 potential cost reduction for every telecommuter who gives up his or her workstation
-Environmental Impact By eliminating their commute, AT do as I want now." Duh.
@1lay - "I am off the payroll on March 29. I was told that it was 100% because I am a full time WFH. (Greater than50 Miles). NOT performance based, I am getting a bonus. And, now work is being rejected back to other business units by my boss because of him losing us. Totally against what the town hall said today..."
To me the town hall is a code of business conduct violation after hearing this from someone who has lost their livelihood. What a joke more "leadership" talking out of you know what. But its all good we still have a plan.
So it's the Dallas dingbats under Freshy who are forcing all to go to an office, when none of them have a clue what jobs can be done from home, ie NO need for collaboration/engagement. Makes perfect sense. NOT
Typical logic from clueless people.
What an embarrassment, and these people are the ones that take us to the promised land of Technology Disruption?.......can't get rid of the sinking ship feeling.LOL
Hope the Andre town hall meeting is better. Can’t be any worse than the Jeff town hall was. Or can it? Left that meeting yesterday feeling worse than before I attended it.
Did anyone hear the word collaboration yesterday and how it is going to save the sinking ship?
What I'm hearing is they don't want me on vpn. fine. When I go into the office, no vpn that day. When working from home, I log in late, logoff for lunch, and barely get in 8 hours and that's it. They're also saying they'd rather me be in the office doing nothing than working from home and being productive because it's hard for me to work in the office with all the noise and distractions.
Didn’t McFresh say “it’s hard to turn the Titanic”... Well Jeffery, the Titanic didn’t turn, it sank!!!
Yup, I heard McElfresh say the Telecommuter Policy had not changed. But he left out that unless you are telecommuting from inside a Collaboration Zone Building and it's network, your employment status certainly has changed! I am a soon to be former approved full time telecommuter in the northeast that was surplus'd for "geographic location". I also got a chuckle when they were saying how we don't just sell products and services in communities across the country, we live and serve in those communities...Assuming, of course, they are a Collaboration Zone community...
I think McElfresh comments regarding telecommuter policy (not changing) was specific to those who are on approved (by VP) contract to work from home (ie Webphone shows the employee occupancy as TW). We heard from our AVP a while back about badge swiping and VPN usage being looked at so if you’re supposed to be in the office, you need to be in the office. That was directed to those who show in Webphone as FTO but don’t show up at the office 5 days a week. As far as VPN monitoring, I’ve heard that it isn’t 24hr monitoring. It looks for amount of time connected during BUSINESS hours.
I recall a time when CRE hired contractors to walk the floors twice a day with a pen and clipboard to take attendance at each workspace!!! (actually it was an iPad). This was used to determine who would be on the list for dedicated workspace vs those who will have to work In first come first served seating. Badge swipes were also used in that audit. This was part of the space planning activity in preparation of office relocation
How far below McFresh does the business unit start? Arnoldi started the snowball rolling when she asked to "be more in the office." How much more? she didn't say... Like a disfunctional organization as it moved down the ladder an extra day kept been added. For our organization this was set at 5 days in the office. Disfunctional because as it moved down the ladder nobody had the pants to say this won't add anything to our operations and will put a burden on our employees. Everybody is more worried about making the boss happy without worried about those in level 1 and 2 who actually take care of business.
With so many restructures and rearrangements in the leadership group & Arnoldi out why did this persistence to eliminate telecommuting continued. I ask leadership to be more quantitative and specific next time. Some orgs. don't seem to comprehend the word "more" and think it means "always" without independent thinking. Tha ladder is too vertical.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fVbaYFVUbLo
Run
While I also think there was a lot of nonsense on today's townhall, I have to agree with the first comment at the bottom, I believe that business units still have the discretion in telecommuting requirements as no one on our team has been asked to report to the office yet. So to me it looks like that part might be honest, maybe the inky honest claim on there (well that and the fact that there will be more layoffs)
You're so wrong that it's not even funny.
They are pulling VPN reports. But, by all means, continue to pretend it's not happening.
Each business unit is making its own policy ( cough, cough .. as I tell them what to do)
Today’s townhall was like the band playing on while titanic sunk. Pay no attention to the water rushing in and people running for the life boats, we are all in this together.
Going to be speaking to the boss tomorrow to find out why so much confusion about WFH, and if Jeffrey Freshy is telling the truth why has our chain of command not been able to clearly define the policy going back to October '17.
Anyone know at what level this decision is to be made? At what level is a business unit defined? I am under Mair.
Forget collaboration, distance, zone and satellite.
All BS.
It is your age, salary, time with the company, seniority, and if your manager / director hates you or not ( for whatever obscure reason ) and you are a gonner... they have to meet the marching orders from above.
T it is in deep financial s#!$. Don't take a rocket scientist to figure that out.
Today it wasn't for us all, it was to calm or dupe whatever investors are left.
Did not worked as intended - as usual with "T".
Absolutely a farce, bad entertainment too...
This was one embarrassing town hall ... or dog and pony show... whatever you want to call it. A web of lies, half truths, and BS at the highest level. What were they trying to do ? Convince us that "we're fine" and dandy ? I have never seen anything like this in my life. Randy, you are really running an entertainment company, and you are the clown in chief.
The good news is can't really say COC violation if they remain vague about the policy.
So does this mean we don't need to collaborate anymore?
I was WFH and I live more than 50 miles from a Collaboration Zone. No warning, good reviews, over 50 years old...So they must have meant more than 50 years, not 50 miles...
I am so glad I am out of this sh+t box. Can't even be straight up about anything. I can only imagine the lies they have told wall street. They have sold their souls...
Question for the person laid off for being over 50 miles. First off, sorry to hear and I hope you find something. Second, do you mean that you live greater than 50 miles from your reporting location or something else?
I was told on my first call with our director that it was geographic but my layoff letter stated my position was being eliminated. Our replacements from overseas were all in Q as "In Training" before my last day on 2/12. Lies, all lies. WOW.