Return to Office: From Treats to Threats
Bosses have tried asking people nicely to work at the office at least part of the time. They’ve offered free food and events. Now, across many industries, more leaders are trying threats. This week, Korn Ferry examines why formerly tolerant bosses have become aggressive with workers who don’t comply return-to-office policies, sometimes even threatening their employment. Plus, how to bounce back from a mistake—big or small—at work.
Return to the Office… or Else
For the most part, companies have relied on carrots to get people back to the office. Leaders used phrases like “would like to see,” while others arranged in-person events.
But the carrots, experts say, are mostly gone. Now, as fall approaches, an increasing number of firms are turning to sticks.
Over the past couple of weeks, firms across industries have lobbed threats at employees who still aren’t adhering to return-to-office policies. One website demanded its employees work two days a week at headquarters—or quit. A retailer’s boss told employees that they wouldn’t have much of a future at the firm if they continued working remotely. And a big tech firm said that if people weren’t at their office desks three days a week they were at risk of getting fired.
She’s Working 9-to-5… and 5-to-9
When the pandemic sent them home, it also sent them out of the workforce, to take care of their young children when daycares were shut down. Now women workers with young children are back—and a new milestone has been set.
According to a new report from the Brookings Institution, the percentage of women with children under age five who are in the workforce hit a new high at 70%. That’s up from 60% during the pandemic, and slightly up from before COVID-19. The only problem: experts say companies aren’t responding to the change.
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7 Steps to Bounce Back from a Work Mistake
Deleting a presentation. Sending a typo-filled email to a client. Signing off on a strategy that failed. Work blunders are outrageously common. According to one 2021 study, employees make, on average, more than 100 mistakes at work per year.
Most errors can’t be absolved with a simple “Oops, my bad,” either. Managed poorly, work errors can erode trust between the mistake-makers and their colleagues, bosses, and customers.
Still, individual mistakes are not career killers. In most cases, there’s a good chance a worker can bounce back, and even strengthen their work ties. Here’s what to do after making a mistake at work.
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Brand Evangelist | Content Strategist | Digital Innovator | Metrics-Driver | Engaging Storyteller | Fiscal Custodian | Marketing Visionary | Communications Expert | 和
1 年Another thought from a terrific response: #trust, not #treats.
Brand Evangelist | Content Strategist | Digital Innovator | Metrics-Driver | Engaging Storyteller | Fiscal Custodian | Marketing Visionary | Communications Expert | 和
1 年On threats to return to the office: “…onboarding new recruits, kicking off a project, and strengthening team cohesion—are more effective when all of the participants are in the same location.” Instead of threats, setting meetings with these kinds of objectives/focal points, are much more inclusive, and an equitable way to encourage more peer-to-peer professional contact. The thing is, innovation happens more optimally, when we are all together, in-person. That doesn’t mean we need to be all together all the time, but it does mean we do need to gather on a regular basis. How a regular basis is defined should be up to each organization and set of teams to self determine.
SVP Global Insights & Analytics at Mastercard
1 年What is fascinating to me about the 'return to office' commentary is the focus around productivity losses and lack of connection. Those of us who have been working in global roles for decades, have in essence been 'remote'. I led people in multiple countries in my last job and had no issues with their productivity or connectivity, nor did they. There is nothing wrong with companies wanting their employees in the office, but saying that the employees are not able to do their jobs remotely falls flat.
Safe Driver, Multi-Unit, Comer, Res Property Manager . Retierd CEO Of Competitive Edge Property Services.CDL Class E&B 754-235-9744
1 年I wouldn't worry about it to much, Every 30,000 year's the poles shift and everybody Gets Washed Away. That's why some Civilizations can't be accounted for. 20,000 thousand lbs Stones don't sink in the ground on there own 6000 ft above sea level. Suggest Learning how to swim.
Electrical Engineer, BSEE, EIT/FE, Living by Ohm's Law.
1 年You are asking the wrong people.