Employers who force staff back to office full time are 'dinosaurs', expert says

Several companies have been calling their staff back to the office, completely doing away with remote work. Now a leading expert who coined the term “presenteeism” has spoken up on the matter and called such employers “dinosaurs of our age,”The Guardian reported.

Sir Cary Cooper, a professor of organisational psychology and health at the University of Manchester’s Alliance Manchester Business School, has warned that companies adamant about having workers in the office five days a week risk losing talented workers. This move will also damage the well-being of employees and undermine their financial performance.

“Unfortunately some organisations and companies are thinking of trying to force people back into the work environment five days a week. I think they’re the dinosaurs of our age. The old command and control type management style,” Cooper told the Guardian.

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Notably, Amazon recently announced that it requires its entire staff to fully return to the office from January 2, marking a step back to pre-pandemic times.

“Amazon say they want people back five days a week and a couple of investment banks. But that goes against the evidence,” he said.

Sir Cary Cooper stressed that when a company trusts its employees to deliver and gives them the freedom to work, including flexible working options, they "work better, you’ll retain them, and they will be less likely to have a stress-related illness."

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He stated that this also means driving away the next generation of the workforce. “If you micromanage, you won’t get productivity gains, and you won’t attract the next generation.”

Who isSir Cary Cooper?

Sir Cary Cooper is a known figure in the field of workplace organisation, health and wellbeing. He coined the term presenteeism in the 1980s which describes those staff members who are at work but not performing to their full potential because of health issues.

This comes asthe Labour Party-led government in the United Kingdomgears up to make several changes to workers’ rights legislation. It also plans to make the option of flexible working available to workers from day one on the job.

Some business leaders are not happy with the proposed changes and say they could damage job creation and the economy.

Talking about presenteeism, Cooper said, “Working longer doesn’t lead to productivity, but more ill health.”

He further reiterated the need for flexible working because of the “overwhelming evidence” that it led to higher job satisfaction and better retention of staff.