FundSvcs Community

Our leader of donor services is considering moving to a city 1.5 hours away from our HQ and we anticipate leadership having an issue with them not being onsite. In my view, with some minor adjustments to their tasks, there should be no reason they couldn't lead the team remotely. No physical documentation would leave the premise and they have expressed the ability to travel into the office occasionally. I searched through the resource libraries and older threads thinking there might have been discussion around who is required to be onsite during COVID restriction times, but couldn't find anything other than the Best Practice in Remote Work & Management from October 2020.

Can others weigh in on if you have policies for who in advancement services is required to work onsite at your organizations or anything similar that addresses this issue?

Thank you!

Thank you John, appreciate your input!

Erin,

I completely agree with John about assessing the culture of your organization and with working with HR; and if needed work with upper management to demonstrate when and where remote work in similar positions has been successful. Two years ago I started the exact process and while it took time to work through, for the past year my team members and I have been able to work remotely one day a week. Sure, that's not the same as your situation, however we started with a nearly absolute no, so for us it's a significant step in the right direction. My point is, ask for what you want but be flexible.

Good luck!

p.s. I'm  writing this while working remotely today!

Thank you Michael! We are an organization of over 950 total, with a split of around 40% in person and 60% remote, so approaching HR and working within the context of how we have functioned holistically with a remote work option gives me a lot of hope. I'm glad it worked out for you and your team as well!

My organization has been really proactive about making org-wide decisions about remote and hybrid work guidelines. Decisions about who can work remotely are based on the role (not the incumbent). Managers can require more days in office than the role allows if there is a need for more in-person time, or if there is a concern about the work the person is doing. I think that over the long-term, organizations that have clear policies are going to be better off in hiring and will keep their employees happier. If approvals are based on the individual rather than the role and there's no stated policy reason for why, it's bound to build resentment.