The atmosphere is very tense.
The only explanation I have for insisting on RTO so much is that they know it will cause many of us to leave and thus save on severance pay.
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What happen? Isn’t that a good thing?
Their new Chief Diversity Officer didn't even last a year.
Everyone should express their views and ratings on the BluePulse Survey.
They know what the problems are. They will not do anything since it is related to DEI. They want to add more POC by getting others to leave on their own. Heard many VPS who are of color are not happy with the SCOTUS ruling on Affirmative Action. Puts a stop to their plans. Wonder if there are anybody is suing HCSC for their discriminatory practices. Retaliation for anyone who speaks up.
Another factor I don't see mentioned above is how much pressure the City of Chicago exerted on company leadership to RTO. The COC was concerned about the negative economic impact to the city if commuting workers stayed at home, so they threatened to not renew their insurance coverage with HCSC unless we played ball on their RTO desires. And as we all know, whatever Chicago does, the rest of the locations have to do as well because it makes total sense for Chicago to be calling the shots for Marshall TX and Albuquerque NM, right?
The highly talented people are leaving again. Another group just left. Better pay, better work conditions, better management, the list goes on. People are fed up with DEI programs that favor POC. Affirmative action programs are against the law. Performance and merit mean nothing. The 15th floor knows their reign is coming to end. Don’t be surprised if you see COB and CEO move out. I’m sure they will get a nice exit package. You can see the CEO reports are moving to take his job.
All you have to do is come to the office three days a week. Receive a full paycheck. No layoffs during COVID. Now because the 15th floor would like for you to come and do the job that you signed up for 3 days a week, leadership is inconsiderate. Come on, we have members to bill and market opportunities to gain. And for the $500 dollars, opt out. It’s easy’! Let HR know that you would prefer that the money be used for the ladies in gentlemen the work in CAFE 300!
Some of you will not like this but it doesn’t matter. Some areas of the company had waning productivity with too much WFH. If productivity were not an issue they wouldn’t care that some people are in the office three days a week. Before COVID we had to be at our offices. Some departments have depended like they could get away with working almost exclusively from home. Other people did the right thing while others abused the privilege. It is a privilege and not a right. The pandemic is over and we are expected to work a flex schedule now. Like grown-ups and everything. Okay. The company’s name is on my paycheck and if they want me to do my work at the office that’s the rule. If you don’t like it go to a company that values something different.
This puts a lot in perspective. Today’s email - 2023 performance incentive payments - tied to being in the office 3 days a week- showed the 15th floor has no plans to do right by the employees. We are replaceable. Period. The blue pulse employee surveys are a complete farce. And laughable.
More here:
….employees will receive two net payments of $500 each, one on June 23 and a second in December 2023.
Eligibility:
· The June 23 payment will be paid only …
Employees who are in compliance with HCSC policies, including but not limited to the three-day in-office requirement,
A joke!
If you want to know why this is being pushed so hard, follow the money. Our CEO sits on the board of directors for Ventas. What is Ventas? From their website:
"Ventas, an S&P 500 company, operates at the intersection of two powerful and dynamic industries – healthcare and real estate."
One of the nation's largest healthcare insurance providers allowing widespread WFH sends a message that hurts companies like Ventas. This could lead to share prices dropping, and their board of directors (which again, includes HCSC's current CEO) are likely largely compensated with shares. Said CEO also sits on the boards of Halliburton and Prime Therapeutics, just in case you didn't know that. If it ever seems like certain business decisions don't make sense, it's probably a safe bet to assume it they are benefitting another set of pockets that one of our top level executives has their hand in.
It is amazing that Management and HR see RTO as their priority focus instead of the real issues facing the company. It makes employees very disappointed in our leadership.
RTO will become toxic when management lets their favorites WFH 3 days a week.
Frankly they don't care how many go. Everyone is and always has always been replaceable. They have modelled this multiple ways to know how to respond to the losses. And is unclear to me if all cohorts must RTO.
What they do likley care about is helping revitalize the downtowns or the business districts they are in, getting some ROI out of their real estate commitments, and addressing their perception that productivity and collaboration can be improved with some face to face and butts in seat time.
The studies regarding WFH productivity gains vs in in office work show unclear differences. It is debateble what impact that has on WFH. The studies also shows each person and work group has so many personal and small team factors that there is no unviersal answer on which site is best.
And productivity nationally is not improving and it is possible that WFH is a partial factor.
https://fortune.com/2023/05/05/remote-work-productivity-5-straight-quarters-decline-gregory-daco/
Look. I am not defending this decision by HCSC. For me it sucks. I live 30 miles away from my office in Chicago. But I have been here around ten years. So it is better now than when I started but worse than last year. Do I have a "right" to expect a temporary adaptation for Covid to be made permanent? I truly vaccillate on this.
So do I leave knowing that other companies are generally going to a hybrid of Office/WFH? I just dont know yet since WFH is not a Top 4 for me. It comes after the type of work I get, the people I interact with, the compensation I receive, and my free time. I work generally five ten hour days from home. I simply will go back to what I was doing which was 8 in office an 2 on the train. And of.
course the cost of transport for those three days a week is about $36 weekly. That's about $1500 hit annually.
Consider me half in half out.
I wish you all th best outcomes