The Citigroup CEO Made a Statement on the Future of Work — Here’s What You Need to Know
Zoom-free Fridays, apprenticeships, hybrid work, and more
The post-pandemic #futureofwork is fast approaching.
While COVID-19 is far from being eradicated, the signs of a return to normal are starting to appear. More and more people are being vaccinated, the CDC is re-assessing social distancing guidelines, and the mental health impacts of the pandemic (especially for Gen Z) are starting to get the attention they deserve.
CEOs of companies around the world will be expected, in the next weeks and months, to share their thoughts on post-pandemic work procedures. How will workers return safely? Who (if anyone) will continue to work from home? What will the average day look like?
While business leaders have spent the last few years sharing thoughts on the future of work — you can find an excellent summary from the World Economic Forum here and a fascinating article on how Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg plans to leverage virtual and augmented reality here — the details of post-pandemic work-life have been mostly speculation.
However, this week the CEO of Citigroup, Jane Fraser, spoke up. And when the CEO of a company that employs more than 200,000 people speaks up, it’s worth paying attention to.
In her Latest Update on the Future of Work at Citi, Fraser speaks directly to the struggles of her employees and lays out a high-level framework for moving forward. While there’s clearly more work to be done before Citi’s thousands of employees get back to work, there are some insights here worth exploring.
Insight #1: Zoom Fatigue
After listening to colleagues around the world, it became apparent we need to combat the “Zoom fatigue” that many of us feel . . .
It turns out the work-from-home experiment has some drawbacks.
The global workforce has now spent a full year working online. All day, every day. For some people, it’s become normal to spend eight, ten, or even twelve hours a day on video calls. And the cracks are starting to show.
“Zoom fatigue,” it turns out, is real.
If you worked from home before the pandemic, you might have seen the early signs of Zoom fatigue. You might have known this was coming. But for others (including business leaders) who spent their time in-person, the sudden shift to 100% remote work has brought the topic front-and-center.
The scientific community has begun to embrace “Zoom fatigue” too. A February 2021 issue of Technology, Mind and Behavior published the first peer-reviewed analysis of “Zoom fatigue” in Nonverbal overload: A theoretical argument for the causes of Zoom fatigue. In it, Jeremy Bailenson, Professor of Communications at Stanford, lays out four reasons why video conferencing is such a drain.
In summary:
- Video calls require more eye contact than in-person communication. This is exhausting.
- Video calls show you what you look like when talking, which leads to heavy doses of self-reflection. This is exhausting.
- Video calls require you to stay glued in place; no moving around or walking. This is exhausting.
- Video calls require more effort to convey natural, non-verbal communication. This is exhausting.
Fraser, in her statement, directly addresses the impacts of “Zoom fatigue.” In fact, she goes further by implementing Zoom-Free Fridays — a company-wide policy for avoiding video calls on Friday if at all possible. Fraser also reinforces the need for maintaining standard work hours and taking vacation days.
As companies like Citi grapple with a return to work and consider increasing the ratio of remote work, issues like “Zoom fatigue” are sure to factor into their long-term decision-making.
Insight #2: Advantages to Being Physically Together
While the pandemic has shown us how versatile our colleagues can be, for many of our roles, we strongly believe there are several material advantages to being physically together . . .
There seems to be a clear and compelling argument for in-person work solidifying in the minds of many business leaders.
In the run-up to the COVID-19 lockdown — back when work-from-home was embraced by some companies, but far from a necessity — there was a lot of discussion around this issue. (Small business owner, Gene Marks, provides a nice round-up of this discussion in his Guardian article from June 2020).
Could technology fully replace the in-person work experience? Would large companies adopt a fully remote workforce? What aspects of human work, if any, would be missed?
The answer, at least according to Fraser, is simple. A lot would be missed by a fully-remote workforce. In her statement, Fraser admits that “people have benefitted from aspects of working remotely.” But this comes after she’s laid out the case for in-person work.
Fraser calls out four material advantages to being together physically:
- Belonging
- Collaboration
- Apprenticeship and Learning
- Competitiveness and Performance
Specifically, she’s focused on the collaboration and creativity gains from in-person officing — popping into the office of a colleague, brainstorming new ideas. But she also lays out some strong tentpoles. Specifically, Fraser calls banking an “apprenticeship business,” and cites the need for “impromptu conversation” and “coaching” in order to facilitate learning.
It’s clear there’s much more to come in this arena. But the early signs show in-person benefits are still highly valued. At least by Citi.
Insight #3: Hybrid, Residential and Remote
[W]e will have three new models of working once it becomes safe for us to be together again: Hybrid, Resident and Remote.
The options are few. The decisions are hard.
As companies plan their post-COVID return to work, they have to answer three simple questions. Do they want employees to stay 100% remote? Have a flexible work arrangement? Or return to in-person work?
It’s likely this decision will be discussed for months to come — with arguments levied on both sides. Harvard Business Review, for example, published a recent article where the author recommended that CEOs “avoid being influenced by high-profile companies (like Google, Twitter, Facebook, Adobe, and Oracle) that quickly announced plans to permanently embrace remote work.” The article suggests a more measured approach based on the company’s cultural dynamics and industry.
So, in short. It depends.
Fraser seems to be taking a similar approach with Citi when she says, “One size does not fit all.” In response to the need for adaptability, Fraser says the company will designate the majority of roles as Hybrid. Here, that means working three days a week in the office and two at home. Where necessary, the remaining employees will be designated as full-time office (Residential) and full-time remote (Remote).
A Personal Note: I’m a huge fan of hybrid work. Prior to the pandemic, I enjoyed a hybrid-like role at my current employer. I had a designated office space, but also had the flexibility to work-from-home when needed. I made the remote work decision based on the needs of my role, what was going on that week, and the expectations of my manager/team.
For me, hybrid work was the ideal dynamic. I was able to take advantage of the work-from-home benefits when it made sense (like those days where I had back-to-back calls or needed to catch up on deliverables) and then venture to the office when there was an important meeting or networking opportunity.
Citi’s shift to a Hybrid-default policy seems like (from the outside) a step forward. A look at Glassdoor reviews about Citi’s Remote Work policy shows a good deal of variability from manager-to-manager, so having a standard policy is likely to help a lot of employees know where they stand.
Still, a Hybrid role requires a strong degree of trust between the employee, the manager, and the company. While many managers have worked through the trust cycle this past year, it remains to be seen what that will look like for a company as large as Citi moving forward.
Fraser closes the statement by acknowledging there are still questions to be answered, and that the Executive Management Team is currently reviewing job functions. They have the high-level approach and now the details will have to be worked out.
In other words. Stay tuned.
What Young Professionals Should Do Next
Whether you work for the Citi’s of the world, or a local business, the decisions around the #futureofwork are going to impact you. Leaders are in the process of reviewing their next steps, and the precedent they lay out today will shape companies (and remote work) for years to come.
But that doesn’t mean young professionals should stay in the background. There are key steps you can take today.
- Prioritize your mental health needs. If, like Citi, your company offers something like Zoom-Free Fridays, take advantage. You need to step away from video calls and fight burnout. And if you need help, please ask for it.
- Look for opportunities to share your voice. Many companies are sending out surveys to their employees, gathering data on remote work preferences. You have a chance to speak up, have your voice heard, and shape the future of your company. Do so.
- Pay attention to how business leaders are talking about these issues. What concerns do they express? How are they thinking about the future of work? Are they prioritizing the needs of their workforce? This can tell you a lot about the quality of the leadership and the culture of a company.
- Lastly, be patient. We’re living through an unprecedented event and companies are having to make critical decisions in a compressed window. They’re doing their best. Everyone is. And recognizing the challenges of changing company culture and the way we do work is a good first step.
What do you think the future of work will look like post-pandemic? Add your own thoughts in the comments below. And join the Young Corporate page where we’re talking about career success, corporate citizenship, and more.
