Yah, that makes sense
According to the fine folks at the Society for Human Resource Management:
“More than 60 percent of executives around the world believe workers who telecommute have a lesser chance of advancing in their career. But one-third of the executives said telecommuters are more productive than workers in traditional office settings.”
I’ve seen it in action and have always gotten the hint that telecommuting is perfectly acceptable, just as long as it’s done before or after business hours. It was never said to me directly, but I do get the impression that having a visible presence scores tremendous brownie points … even if you’re losing commuting time and/or closed-door time that would be better funneled into projects that require creativity and concentration.
At my last job, people blatantly napped at their desks and played Solitaire half the day, and that was perceived along the lines of, “Well, they are here if we need them.” Because you really need THAT bringing down the rest of your good workers’ morale. I personally think that if someone’s sitting around twiddling their thumbs but there’s a huge project coming up, they should be allowed to hang out at home and rest up for the late nights, and conversely, if they need to concentrate and just cannot do so with 40 irrelevant and not-time-sensitive interruptions, they can prioritize better and actually finish the projects they start.
I always suspected what SHRM wrote today, but it’s a good reminder that a day may feel like a waste of scandalous underwear, but in the long run, it’s really not!