An article recently published in Fortune.com by Gleb Tsipursky, a thought leader in cognitive bias risk management, predicts a grim future for companies that refuse to embrace remote work as the pandemic promises to stick around. Anyone who has studied business, owns a business, or works for a business knows that a company’s ability to pivot when appropriate can be the difference between success and failure. And yet, many company leaders are choosing to skirt the problem, ignore the problem, or offer temporary solutions to what will likely be a long-term issue.
Gone are the days when the working class was simply grateful for a steady paycheck regardless of the working conditions or leadership styles. If the great resignation taught us anything, it’s that employees are fed up with the status quo and traditional working environments. During the lockdown, many companies had to find alternative work solutions, such as teleworking, in order to stay in business. As a result, many employees learned that they could be equally productive from home without the endless hassles of commuting to the office. And, while the pandemic wreaked havoc on our way of life, many employees were given back an immense amount of treasured time with their loved ones and were able to experience that rare and beautiful phenomenon known as “work-life balance.” It’s no wonder that more and more employees are interested in remote companies.
Yet, many company leaders remain fearful of embracing permanent remote work solutions. Fortune.com describes this as the hammer-nail syndrome. “When you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. That syndrome is called functional fixedness. This cognitive bias causes leaders who are accustomed to an office-centric culture and ways of collaborating to reject any alternatives.” And listen, we get it. There is value in collaboration and in-person communication. But the reach of that value extends only as far as the enthusiasm of the people in the room.
At REAL, we offer solutions to help you build and maintain permanent and reliable remote work solutions. We can help you partner with skilled professionals to help your business thrive with the added benefit of support staff from our team. It’s time for companies to accept new ways of successfully conducting business, and we’re here to help along the way.
