Disney forces employees to four-day-per-week in the office. Why this is a huge mistake
Really?
Disney CEO Bob Iger told hybrid employees they must return to corporate offices four days a week. This new rule starts March 1, according to CNBC.
“As I’ve been meeting with teams throughout the company over the past few months, I’ve been reminded of the tremendous value in being together with the people you work with,” Iger wrote. “As you’ve heard me say many times, creativity is the heart and soul of who we are and what we do at Disney. And in a creative business like ours, nothing can replace the ability to connect, observe, and create with peers that comes from being physically together, nor the opportunity to grow professionally by learning from leaders and mentors.”
I want to analyze some passages from the message above.
tremendous value in being together with the people you work with.
Anyone who has had a lousy colleague or a bad boss knows this is false.
creativity is the heart and soul of who we are and what we do at Disney.
The sentence is correct. Disney depends on creativity. The mistake is to assume that creativity only flourishes in person. I've met several professionals who are much more creative and inspired at home.
nor the opportunity to grow professionally by learning from leaders and mentors.
There are absent leaders both in face-to-face or homework. It is perfectly possible to teach your team remotely.
As I said in the introduction to this newsletter, I am not a work-from-home extremist, but a determined supporter of a flexible model.
Most CEOs and senior managers have the wrong view of working from home and don't accept that the world has changed during the pandemic.
By imposing such a high frequency of face-to-face work, they do not realize that they are demotivating a large part of the team, who would be satisfied with two or three days (and there is always the possibility to go every day if you prefer).
Most of these employees encountered the possibility of working without having to commute daily, facing traffic or crowded public transport, spending money on gasoline, waking up two hours earlier, etc.
Since they've been doing this for nearly two years, they've asked themselves why it's necessary to return every day.
Speeches like Bob Iger evoke in me outrage feelings. This newsletter intends to advocate for more flexibility at work, so that more digital nomads can arise worldwide.
“Anyone who has had a lousy colleague or a bad boss knows this is false.“ I totally agree with this. A lot of people discovered that can be more productive at home