While it seems more efficient and better for the worker to stay in a work from home environment, however as someone who has spoken to several different Dell employee's ever since the work from home had become popular, I can aptly say that the quality and experience of the consumer has dropped.
From first hand experience I have custom built several Dell products, conversated with technical support, and spoken with a Dell rep numerous times ever since Covid hit and Dell began its work from home allowance. While the experience has not always been bad when talking with these employees while they were at home, I can say that there were a lot of instances where there were issues that would not have happened had they not been at home. Additionally, the security risk of the employees working from home that are able to remote access into computers is a significant one compared to when they are in office on Dell secured computers.
Security is the biggest issue. A lot of technical support, especially for businesses, can be solved when someone remotes accesses the computer. As future lawyers, I think if you had technical support remoting into your computer with client files, you would want the max security. But this is similar for most businesses, that security for files and information is a must. But a lot of that security could be compromised when the employee from home is able to access your computer on their home network and from their home computers, albeit from dells software, but never-the-less, it increases the potential security risk. I had one instance where a technical support person was remoted into one of my computers when he wife and kid came into the room while he was combing through my computer trying to find the issue.
Another issue is professionalism. Dell is a major company that deals with a lot of big and small business people alike. The last thing they want when a customer is trying to build a a custom order large ticket PC or order a a large quantity of computers, is that there be distractions or nuisances in the background. I have been on numerous calls with a Dell employee where their dog was continuously barking or their cat had walked onto their desk and into their way. While I am very lenient cause I like animals, it definitely distracted or added time to the call that otherwise would not have happened.
Thus, while I understand the convenience and benefit of working form home, I can understand why Dell would want a more professional setting for their customers, especially when the consumers calling in to buy products or for the higher end technical support buy the big ticket items and big ticket quantities that are looking for quick professional service because they are running businesses.
The WFO v RTO debate may be the defining issue of our time, at least when it comes to employment. Another great Scott Galloway quote from his "Pivot" podcast with Kara Swisher: "The desire to work from home is inversely related to the employee's level of ambition." I don't necessarily agree with that.
ReplyDeleteHowever, Prof. Galloway makes a good point that WFH is great for people in their 30's who have kids, pets, and other responsibilities to balance. However, it is not so good for people in their 20's who need to be in the office to build the "soft" skills related to relationships with others in the workplace, communication, etc., that cannot be learned remotely. Thoughts?
Prof. Bassett,
ReplyDeleteMy former unit has a probationary period before allowing full WFH, so they have the opportunity to experience build or demonstrate some of those soft skills. They're also generally assigned a "field training officer" to keep tabs on their professional development and demeanor. I suspect this isn't the norm in the private sector.
Clayton,
Something I've kicked around as we've seen the WFT v. RTO back and forth is breaking up large, central offices to smaller, more regional spaces. For example, we have a designated geographic area - it would potentially be cheaper (and more efficient) to have a few "regional" offices with a smaller footprint for when we need the physical spaces. You'd have the advantage of smaller commutes, but still have that team presence and professional background noise (no barking dogs, etc.) Of course, we have seven employees reporting versus a larger company like Dell.