๐ I worked remotely from Brighton & everyone says how great remote work is - but here's what DOESNT work.Sea breeze. Coffee. Laptop open.
And it got me thinking.
Remote working can be incredible -
For focus, creativity, balance.
But hereโs the thing no one talks about:
Leaders are approving remote working requests haphazardly.
You let one person work from Dubaiโฆ
Another person from Brightonโฆ
And the rest? They donโt know itโs even an option.
So what do they do?
They watch.
They compare.
They stay quiet.
They feel resentful.
This isnโt a debate about whether remote working works.
Itโs a warning about how poor leadership and an absence of formal process makes it inequitable.
When you approve some requests in private DMs and reject others in formal meetings -
Thatโs not flexibility.
Thatโs hierarchy.
And hereโs where gender equity risks creeps in quietly;โณ The person most likely to ask first?Confident, well-networked, often male.
โณ The person most likely to wait and โproveโ themselves?Often female.
โณ The person least likely to be granted flexibility?The one with care responsibilities.
And you didnโt even realise you were doing it.
You're saying "yes" to all remote working requests for 'good culture' -
with no gender equity analysis or formal process in place and it's just inviting performance issues.
Then, guess what happens?
We get calls-
"Tina, how do I end the remote working policy, nobody seems to do any work unless in the office"
Hereโs what I do for my clients instead:โ๏ธ Create a remote and hybrid working policy โ separate from flexible working law, with clear eligibility and limits.
โ๏ธ Run an equity check โ which roles truly allow for this? Whoโs always denied, and why? (we use our bespoke G.E.D (Gender Equity Diagnostic process)).
โ๏ธ Standardise the approval process โ make it structured, transparent, and reviewable - so managers donโt make biased calls on the fly.
Remote working isnโt the problem.Invisible privilege is.
โธป
๐๐ฝ ๐๐ถ, ๐โ๐บ ๐ง๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ, ๐ณ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐.
๐โ๐บ ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ฅ ๐ต๐ผ๐๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐, ๐๐ผ๐ผ.
๐ช๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ถ๐
๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฅ ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฒ๐น๐ฑ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ปโ๐ ๐ธ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ด๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป๐ด.
๐ ๐ ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ฅ-๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฒ๐พ๐๐ถ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ - ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ.
โป๏ธ REPOST to help your network
Test your leadership style โ are you a Labyrinth or a Leader?
https://lnkd.in/eguiG_pUJoin the waitlist for my People Pathway Blueprint, my plug & play tool for managing your staff from entry to exit, without risk or turbulence
https://lnkd.in/dSVjYQT2โถ๏ธ Follow Tina S. Rahman for more HR and leadership mindset posts!
๐ฃ Does your teamโs remote working policy reduce biasโor rely on trust alone?
