🧐 Salesforce employees on RTO: "show me the data"

Good Morning,

Did Santa not bring you the chair you wanted? Check out our updated guide to the best home office chairs.

Marc Benioff, Salesforce co-founder and CEO, recently sent a company-wide Slack message that questioned whether their remote policy hurts productivity among new hires.

Besides the fact that his "much lower productivity" claim wasn't substantiated, it sounds like our dear friend Mr. Benioff may not be familiar with the studies (ex. from Stanford and Texas A&M) that show remote work boosts productivity when put in place, time and time again.

Reassuringly, a friend at Salesforce told me many employee responses to the CEO's message said things like "show me the data," and "define productivity."

Hearing that makes me hopeful Salesforce won't revoke their remote and hybrid privileges.

One interesting point: Benioff stated to the media that he was upset this Slack message was immediately leaked, and then said "I wonder how do we reinforce that Trust is our highest company value?"

Well, trust is the #1 prerequisite to a successful remote work policy.

If I were leading Salesforce, I'd lead with trust that your remote workers are at least as productive as they'd be in an office, and instead focus on the myriad other reasons that the company's stock price is down.

Befitting of the holiday season, here's a feel-good read about how remote work helps dads do more at home. Care.com put together a study that found, unsurprisingly, remote work enables men to help more with general household duties and spend more time with their children.

Catch you in 2023!

Cheers,
Grant