The evidence in support of working from home is stronger than ever, but getting employers to agree isn’t easy. Here are are some of the top concerns managers have, and why many are still not letting their employees work from home.

“If I let you work from home, I’ll have to let everyone.”

Although managers would like to believe they do things fairly across the board, they don’t. Nor should they. Employees don’t get the same pay, they don’t all get the same raises, and there is no company-wide promotion of employees.

Ideally, employees get what they deserve, whether it be paychecks, raises, or the freedom to work from home. That means if over time you’ve proven to be a capable employee, they would give you more freedom. Especially if you show evidence that working from home will benefit the company’s bottom line.

Managers who are in tune to the different levels of staff performance know who is capable of working from home, and those who need constant supervision. Despite this, requests to work from home are overwhelmingly answered with a “No”. The excuses they give to deny remote work are so commonplace, we can almost anticipate them.

“It’s easier to collaborate when we’re all together.”

From Yahoo! to Aetna, industry giants like these have made headlines by lassoing their home based workers back into the office, in the name of improving employee collaboration and creativity.

The fact is, collaborating is just easier for managers when everyone is in one place. As far back as the 1960s it was noted that collaboration is more about how management operates, than staff proximity or the tools used for collaboration.

Frequent meetings are viewed by many managers as effective ways to get everyone on the same page. In actuality, constant meetings are nightmares for most employees, as very little collaboration occurs in these meetings.

According to a study by Wrike Management, “more than a quarter of employees attend six or more meetings a week. However, only 46% say they leave a meeting with a clear understanding of what to do next.” Instead, Wrike writes, such meetings become platforms for the loudest employees to push their own ideas, leaving everyone else unheard.

“It’s easier to communicate when everyone’s at the office.”

It’s certainly easier to strike up a conversation when someone sits at a desk next to you. And, “chance encounters” at a water cooler encourage chit chat, too. But how productive is this chatting? Much in-office communication is more small talk and interruption than useful communication.

As for managers who claim to have an open door policy, how often is that used to spur spontaneous, valuable communication with their staff?

According to an HBR.org, article, What Great Managers Do To Engage Employees, “mere transactions between managers and employees are not enough to maximize engagement. Employees value communication from their manager not just about their roles and responsibilities but also about what happens in their lives outside of work. The Gallup study reveals that employees who feel as though their manager is invested in them as people are more likely to be engaged.”

Improved quality of interactions between managers and employees can happen whether an employee is working onsite or is working from home. Successful communication is more about how well people communicate with each other, rather than where they are while they’re communicating. “Furthermore, telecommuting permits greater forethought in other types of communications, which may prevent conflicts so typical in many workplaces.” (Myths & Facts About Remote Employees, TeleworkRecruiting.com)

“Working from home is against company policy.”

Policies become policies because someone made them into policies. Unlike the 10 Commandments, policies are not graven in stone. In fact, a company that can’t be flexible enough to modify a policy based on current or changing situations is in for trouble.

Many managers are highly resistant to change, which is why they rely on policy. They use policies as crutches to avoid new ways of thinking and resist change, even if for the better. Change Management, as this is referred to, is difficult and deeply embedded in far too many organizations. And yet, for any business to move forward, change has to happen when it is time. Never has this been more evident than during the coronavirus pandemic.

Any time management do not periodically reevaluate their policies it’s difficult to progress, as employees or a company. Any empirical data supporting the benefits of working from home fall on deaf ears because they will keep going back to, “It’s not our policy.” Only when a situation threatens the department or organization does management become willing to reevaluate policies. Even then, it is usually one clause at a time.

“Remote work puts our data at risk.”

It’s true that employee error or negligence accounts for almost 70% of the causes of security breaches. Data breaches happen all too often. Yet, a review of these breaches reveal that none of them—certainly not the most damaging ones—directly resulted from someone working from home.

It’s not remote work per se that creates security risks; it’s a lack of necessary safeguards—all which a company can provide to a remote employee. “If a company provides the same protection to teleworkers as they do onsite workers then there is no reason to assume that teleworking will create data security risks,” reads one article on employer reasons for denying remote work.

Security breaches can happen from any location, and that’s because security is not a location issue as much as it is a people issue. A bad (or careless) employee will do bad things regardless of where they work. Likewise, a good employee—and home based employees tend to be better employees—will be good whether onsite or at home.

“There’s too many distractions at home for you to get work done.”

Many managers are concerned that working from home will be too distracting for remote employees to accomplish anything. The distractions at home will impede on their productivity and therefore affect the organization’s bottom line.

It’s true that working from home might mean being interrupted by the occasional deliveryman or pile of laundry. Yet, study after study has shown that working from home increases employee productivity. In fact, “escaping the distractions in the office can help employees become more efficient,” says Jabra.com in an article on remote work and productivity.

In-office distractions, which are not only more frequent, are the biggest cause of reduced productivity. Why? Because even a 15-second distraction (such as a colleague pausing at your desk to see if you’re going to lunch) can take an employee up to twenty minutes or more to refocus on their task. Studies have also shown that increased distractions, especially unnecessary distractions like coworker chit-chat, increase work errors, and give the interrupted worker “an experience of workload increase”, even though no real change occurred.

A final word

Any time you request something out of the norm for your company, such as working from home, timing is everything. There are better times than others to stage your request.

Good time:

After you’ve accomplished something outstanding

After you’ve done something valuable for the team

When you’ve reached a new level of communication with your manager

When a situation demands it, such as a pandemic

Bad time:

When your boss is waiting to hear about a promotion

When your department has suffered a setback

When conflict is happening on your team

Your turn: What employer concerns have you heard in the past when wanting to work from home?

Let’s talk more about it. Join me on Facebook or LinkedIn.

[Article updated from 2019]