Those assumptions are being made because there are several red flags in the post.
“I need them to be in the office to work” suggests this is not their choice, it is the employer’s choice and they have no real option to freely choose, despite being completely able to with their work call app /meeting rooms with cameras and mics etc.
They have an option only if they have a good reason like their having to watch their kids, this also suggests they cannot just freely choose to. They are required to provide a reason beyond basic convenience to work from home.
“They have no complaints” suggests they aren’t being given the option and need to provide a reason or contest an argument with them about WFH being easier on everyone.
The suggestion that “they are paid pretty well” indicates this has some bearing on working from home vs the office, but to me this reads as “this is compensation so we can have them come into the office”.
Whether they are paid well shouldn’t even come into question - can they work from home or not?
Tell them they can work from home full time and come into the office whenever they want. Do they come in or do they stay at home?
Can they not collaborate over slack/teams/chat/video call and post shared docs like we were forced to do during covid time?
If they legitimately cannot, fine - go into the office. But we have to get rid of this paranoia that employees need to be in the office unless there is a very specific in-person absolute requirement to be there.
Collaboration/camaraderie is a known common excuse managers use that often doesn’t make sense.
Those assumptions are being made because there are several red flags in the post.
“I need them to be in the office to work” suggests this is not their choice, it is the employer’s choice and they have no real option to freely choose, despite being completely able to with their work call app /meeting rooms with cameras and mics etc.
They have an option only if they have a good reason like their having to watch their kids, this also suggests they cannot just freely choose to. They are required to provide a reason beyond basic convenience to work from home.
“They have no complaints” suggests they aren’t being given the option and need to provide a reason or contest an argument with them about WFH being easier on everyone.
The suggestion that “they are paid pretty well” indicates this has some bearing on working from home vs the office, but to me this reads as “this is compensation so we can have them come into the office”.
Whether they are paid well shouldn’t even come into question - can they work from home or not?
Tell them they can work from home full time and come into the office whenever they want. Do they come in or do they stay at home?
Can they not collaborate over slack/teams/chat/video call and post shared docs like we were forced to do during covid time?
If they legitimately cannot, fine - go into the office. But we have to get rid of this paranoia that employees need to be in the office unless there is a very specific in-person absolute requirement to be there.
Collaboration/camaraderie is a known common excuse managers use that often doesn’t make sense.