Face Time is Making a Comeback

What a great idea we had to have employees working from home. They could avoid rush hour traffic, dress comfortably and have more time and energy to focus on the work they needed to accomplish for the day. Companies had less cubical space to pay for and could be more efficient.

In profitable times being a home-based employee was a nice perk for the employee and saved on some overhead for the employer. Business had grown up to have a better trusting relationship with employees. They no longer had to be under thumb.
In the last year as employers lose profits and become more concerned about every employee action they are recalling home-based employees to work places. Suddenly, face time has become more important.

Are companies no longer trusting employees to get their work down or is it a reaction to losing money where employers just want to have a better handle on what is really being accomplished?

Companies pulling workers back to the central locations are reacting to bad news out of fear. Employer concerns are causing the new to be abandoned for the old reliable. Managers are demonstrating that type of reaction and the old style of leadership seems more comfortable, so it is returning.

It's possible employers went too far in creating home-based employees; however, it is also possible this reaction will damage employee morale and create an atmosphere of distrust. What should an employer do?

If an executive felt confident employees were not taking advantage of being out of sight to slack off or kick back, then the idea of home-based employees is still a sound one, regardless of profitability. In this case, the employer needs to avoid the knee-jerk reaction of going back to old ways.

By pulling everyone back into offices in a central location as a reaction to challenging economic times sends a bad message. Ask yourself: Do I believe we need more face time where people can brainstorm and team up to work on projects and continue to function as a team? Or, do I believe I need tighter controls and thereby need to call the workforce back in the workplace?

There is nothing wrong with needing more face time with employees to give direction, share ideas, and increase interaction. Getting more face time with employees because you suddenly feel the need to hover over people while they work so you can closely monitor them is not a good reason to be increasing face time. Increased face time with employees is all about the motivation. What's yours?