It was shocking, to say the least, what executive Tallis Gomes said about remote work some time ago: "(...) it's impossible to build anything in this model. Don't be a hostage to lazy people who want to lounge around at home." Unfortunately, thoughts like these reflect a significant prejudice that the market still carries. For those who perform their activities this way, it is common to hear jokes implying that we do nothing or that we are professional procrastinators. Anyone who thinks that is mistaken, and I will prove to you why.
A first point to consider is how well remote work benefits people.Study conducted by the University of São Paulo and FIA Business SchoolIt points out that 94% of professionals who perform their activities this way say that their quality of life has improved. This happens because some obstacles come from outside, such as long commuting hours from home to the company, a very harsh reality especially in companies located in large cities like São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Balance and quality of life do not mean "idleness" but rather motivation.
Furthermore, working directly from home also allows for more time with family, promoting greater autonomy to balance professional and personal lives. For this reason, working without physical fatigue and having more time to dedicate to personal projects, employees end up more motivated and willing to give their best at the company. And as concluded oneresearch carried out by the consultancy Right Management, after consulting 30 thousand people from 15 countries, motivated people produce 50% more.
And this is also corroborated by companies, since astudy carried out by EY,showed that 74% of employers also noticed greater efficiency in recent years. Furthermore, Brazil is one of the leaders in the global turnover rate.with data from the General Registry of Employed and Unemployed Persons (CAGED)indicating that the national rate reaches 56%. With the adoption of remote work, this number is likely to plummet.since a survey by Robert Halfshows that 80% of Brazilians specifically desire a better balance between personal and professional life to feel happier in their careers.
DData from the Latin America Digital Transformation ReportThey point out that companies adopting remote work see a 41% increase in productivity compared to those that barely allow activities at home. This happens because, at home, people tend to work more, which benefits the companies. This is what a study by the National Department of Economic Research in the United States shows, which confirmed that employees who perform their duties from home end up working, on average, 48 minutes more.
Another point worth bringing to the discussion is the issue of diversity and the increase in employment opportunities for people living far from major urban centers. When in-person work was still the norm, a company in São Paulo, for example, only employed staff who lived in the same city due to logistical reasons. With remote work, people from distant regions have equal opportunities to work in large companies without having to face an unplanned move to a different city.
With this, the exchange of ideas between people from different regions of Brazil increases, enabling access to diverse cultures that, in addition, contribute to making the corporate environment more inclusive. According to aMcKinsey surveyShows that diverse teams ethnically, regionally, and culturally have 33% more chance of achieving better results, precisely because they increase the company's creativity and problem-solving capacity. Mainly in technology, diverse teams bring more innovation and disruption.
Regarding organizational culture, which many claim is impossible to build in remote work, I also disagree. Impulse is the greatest example of this. We were born 14 years ago and have always been 100% remote. We have a very strong culture based on freedom with responsibility. Yes, it is possible to build culture remotely as long as remote is the culture.
Opposing remote work is a step backward. Leaders, like Tallis Gomes, apply the model they believe to be the best for their businesses, but this does not mean that remote work doesn't work. It is more than proven that it works. I have almost 2 years of pandemic. We often tend to blame the "what" and not the "how". The drop in productivity while the company was operating remotely also does not mean that the model is bad. Meta itself shows us this.
Mark Zuckerberg, in September 2023,announced that Meta employees would have to say goodbye to home officeto return to the office. What did he/she claim? Productivity problems, claiming that 2024 would be the "Year of Efficiency". Now, in January of this year, the executive goes public again, this time to announce that the tech giant will probablythe biggest wave of mass layoffs in its historyAlmost 4,000 employees will be laid off. Practically 5% of your global workforce. And what is the justification given? "Want performance." In other words, the problem was not the remote.
The problem is usually in management. It is necessary to understand that different models require different management formats. The biggest mistake is trying to apply the same management approach used in in-person team management to the remote model. Routines, processes, workflows, communication, and even tooling must be different. The impulse did not go from zero to more than R$50 million in revenue despite remote work, but rather because of strong management and culture provided precisely by remote work.
