It seems like every day there’s another news report about a company’s decision to have their employees return to the office. Of course, if you’ve been following the leadership space for some time, this isn’t too surprising.
After all, it was only a few years ago that organizations were limiting smartphone use in in the workplace to company-approved devices, only for their leaders to turn around and offer bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies to attract and retain employees.
Of course, the current debate over when and where employees work is not likely to be resolved as quickly as the BYOD debate. Creating conditions that allow your employees to work whenever and wherever they want is not just about giving employees a choice.
It also represents a disruption to how we understand the nature of work, not to mention changing many requirements for what will be needed to succeed at leadership in this new world of work.
Seen from that vantage point, it’s not surprising to see such resistance from organizations to offering employees flexible work options. Though that doesn’t mean this resistance and desire to ‘go back to the way things were’ is a good thing – both for the present and future.
That’s why in this episode of my “Leadership Espresso Shot” series, I share the story of Kodak and what a critical decision made by the organization’s top leadership can teach us about how leaders should be approaching the current debate over the future of work.
Trust me when I say it’s a powerful lesson leaders and their organizations can’t afford to ignore … if they want to ensure their continued growth and success.