I posted a video on LinkedIn last week and it kind of blew up! The video is actually an audio recording of Jp Morgan Chase’s CEO Jamie Dimon sharing some of his feelings about the current state of work and, more specifically, Remote Work!
Check it out:
Is he wrong? Let’s break it down:
- Video meetings vs. in-person – has opened up this behind-the-meeting conversation path – where during the meeting, many people are having conversations with others at the same meeting – not paying attention, making comments, etc., that wouldn’t happen in an in-person meeting. So, he’s not lying.
- Let’s say the meeting is important – being on your laptop and/or phone, isn’t helpful. BUT TIM, WE’RE JUST TAKING NOTES! No, you’re not. You’re multi-tasking, and it can be rude and distractful. If the meeting isn’t valuable, don’t have it! But we’ve made a determination that no meeting is valuable, so I’m going to do what “I” think is valuable at this meeting.
- Work from home Friday. This was what a lot of people on LinkedIn focused on. Work from Home (WFH) is a problem for most people. There is a small percentage of the population that actually works better at home. HR pros and leaders who want to work at home keep telling executives that it’s more productive when the business measures show it’s not for most people, especially younger, inexperienced workers. So, now HR is losing credibility.
- Younger workers are being damaged by this and being left behind. This is 100% accurate and true! We are doing a disservice to the careers and social constructs of younger workers. We are creating a generation of people who believe responding to email is actually working.
- Every area should be trying to be more efficient. Most “leaders” in today’s world don’t think this way. They actually think the opposite. If you had 100 people under you, you don’t want less, you want more! That makes you more important. It’s better to have 100 direct reports than 90. In a world of AI, this mentality is broken.
- You have a choice; you don’t have to work at his company. This is actually brilliant recruiting. Amazon does something similar. They want you to self-select out. We are going to be very successful, but we are going to have expectations. If you don’t like our expectations, please don’t work here!
- We didn’t build a great company by doing the “same semi-diseased shit” as everyone else! That phrase is amazing and accurate. If you’re following the crowd, you’re not going to be successful.
For the most part, people hated this video/audio of Dimon. I get it. It’s abrasive. It sounds like an old guy executive complaining that back in his day…but when you break down each part, he’s not wrong.
HR has a problem on its hands, and for the most part, it is of their creation.
We have to change the narrative very quickly for our executives and our culture. No longer is it about WFH. It’s now about WFWYAMMP (Work from where you are measurably most productive)! HR is going to help you be the most successful professional you can be, by helping you find where you are measurably most productive. Not where you “feel” most productive, but where we actually see the data shows us where you work best!
Remote work itself is not the problem – but the way it is implemented in so many companies is not ‘intentional’ and so will be no where near as effective (but still seems to be holding up quite well) as it could or should be.
Even in these comments it seems that remote work has made people feel isolated or that more junior employees are not able to be mentored as effectively.
One of the biggest questions is why did it need a pandemic for remote work to become more mainstream?
We have technology that can connect us with any colleague, anywhere, with 1-click and be on video with multiple colleagues in any location at any point in time. This, on its own, should be a massive move forward from sitting in a cubicle on your own.
Also, I think many in Dimons’ generation are not considering how much learning and development and ‘socializing’ online many under 35’s (for example) have done, for their entire life.
Should we be forcing this generation to be effective and to travel to a single brick-and-mortar location everyday because the likes of Dimons’ generation do not seem to be able to effectively lead and motivate their remote employees?
My best work is done in the office, where there is collaboration and connecting with the rest of the team. During the pandemic, my team worked hybrid remote, and payroll worked in office every day. I worked in office every day. The energy we generated around our department, when each other departments had very few in person employees was noticed and commented on. We provided the customer service that was expected plus. Now I work totally remote, and wish I had collaborators or at least someone to bounce ideas off.
He’s not wrong. Sure, this is wildly polarizing, but deep down, we all kinda know there’s some truth to it—even if it doesn’t perfectly align with our personal narrative.
Yes, some people may thrive working remotely, and anecdotally, there are definitely folks who are more productive outside the office. But even if that’s true, how are we measuring what’s being lost? Junior employees missing out on mentorship, relationships that could shape careers, those organic “aha” moments that happen when people are just around each other—how do we quantify that?
And let’s be real—there’s a political undertone to all of this too. Some people are digging in their heels based purely on perception, much like… well, the great mask debates of yesteryear.
Just my two cents… which, given the extinction of the penny, is probably more like five cents now.
I was starting to think I was the only HR professional who did not agree that work from home was the best fit for all staff. Thank you for sharing this. It is good to know that I am not alone.