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This CEO’s Remote Work Policy Is Only 10 Words. It May Be the Best I’ve Ever Heard

Dan Price’s remote work policy is simple, smart, and emotionally intelligent–and can help you win the war for talent.

BY JUSTIN BARISO, AUTHOR, EQ APPLIED @JUSTINJBARISO

MAR 21, 2022
dan price

Gravity CEO Dan Price with employees in Seattle.. Photo: Matthew Ryan Williams/The New York Times/Redux

As employers and business leaders everywhere grapple with employee preferences on remote work, they might take a page out of Gravity CEO Dan Price’s playbook.  

When Price recently polled employees to find out where they wanted to work, only 7 percent said they prefer to work in the office. Thirty-one percent requested a work/home office hybrid solution. And a whopping 62 percent said they would prefer to work only from home.

So, how would Price come up with a policy that kept the biggest number of employees happy, and keep work moving forward at the same time?

“Do whatever you want,” Price said recently on Twitter. “As a CEO, what do I care?”

Price then summed up his recommended policy in just 10 words:

“If you get your work done, that’s all that matters.”

What Price is suggesting isn’t new. In fact, it’s a welcome trend–one that more and more companies are embracing, and one that’s founded on principles of emotional intelligence.

Let’s break down the brilliant simplicity of this philosophy, and why your company should definitely steal it.

How emotionally intelligent policies help you win the war for talent.

Put simply, emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and manage emotions. It’s become more important than ever for companies to develop emotionally intelligent policies, because employees have more choices than ever.

The companies that will win the war for talent are the ones that create emotional connections with their people, by creating a culture based on flexibility, trust, and accountability.

This is one reason Microsoft revamped its remote work policy to center on a goal of offering employees “as much flexibility as possible to support individual work styles.” Siemens took it a step further by adjusting not only its remote work model, but its entire leadership style, one that the company said would “focus on outcomes rather than time spent at the office.”

Or, as Price put it more simply: “If you get your work done, that’s all that matters.”

Price added in another tweet, “If you feel like you need to do surveillance of your employees, you messed up in the hiring and training process, and that’s on you as a manager. Installing spyware or cameras is a great way to make sure your employees are disengaged and want to quit.”

It’s amazing how many companies are willing to spend on expensive surveillance systems to monitor when employees log in and out of work. If a business is paid for a result, i.e., the end product or service it provides, shouldn’t employees be treated the same? 

After all, if your people do good work, and are able to finish tasks and move projects forward in less time than expected, shouldn’t they be rewarded for that, instead of punished?

With policies like Gravity’s, companies encourage employees to make time count, instead of simply count time.

Of course, as I’ve written previously, companies also need to empower their people–to set them up with all they need to make that time count.

That includes managers, executives, and other team leaders who:

  • Show personal interest in their people
  • Clearly communicate work scope and expectations
  • Establish guidelines regarding expected response times for emails and other electronic communication
  • Provide weekly calls to check in, offer support, and encourage and motivate employees
  • Coach (instead of micromanage)
  • Provide freedom for employees to explore ideas and take smart risks
  • Treat mistakes like learning opportunities, instead of failures
  • Give lots of praise when things are done well
  • Give constructive comments when things aren’t done well (in a way that helps, not harms)

So, if you’re searching for a remote work policy that will empower your employees and help establish an emotional connection with them, remember: 

Give employees what they need to do a job well; then, focus on outcomes, not hours. Because an employee should be rewarded for doing their work well. Not for taking more time to do it.

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