#RTO - Return to What?

I am frustrated.

For the past several weeks, I have been reading articles and commentaries and watching new stories about #returntooffice.? The perspectives are polarizing and don’t address the issue no one is discussing.?

What exactly are we returning to?

Why are we even calling this return to the office? Haven't we already recognized that the workplace of the past is outdated? Long before the pandemic, organizations were looking at strategies to repurpose the traditional office and adopt technology to reduce the reliance on the office as the primary location for work.? These efforts were why organizations and employees could adapt quickly and effectively after the lockdown.

As I follow the conversation about the return to the office, it seems we have collective amnesia about the work happening over the past decade. And, once again, we are pitting employees against leaders. We see executives demanding that employees return to the office. Is it because they believe they will be more productive at work? Not likely. In reality, there are two main reasons. First, they have huge real estate investments that need to be justified.

Second, unlike employees who have mastered collaborative technologies, executives get frustrated when they cannot quickly access people or the information they need. Plus, leaders are shocked that employees don't want to spend money commuting and lose the time that could be used for work or personal endeavors. I guess they weren't paying attention five years ago when employees were expressing this same frustration - long before the pandemic was a twinkle in any executive’s eye.

I am amazed when I hear leaders express surprise that employees are stating what they want and need when organizations spent the last two years asking them what they wanted! In the same breath that we speak about overwork and burnout, we hear employees being referred to as “entitled” because they are being transparent, expressing their frustrations about returning to the office of the past.?

I have been running a fully-virtual business for nearly two decades, and for the better part of that time, I have worked with clients to reduce their dependence on the traditional office. We’ve seen companies transition their space to include innovative concepts like huddle zones and other more modern workplace designs that enable collaboration. Companies have also embraced technologies that allow employees to work anywhere. There is no question that corporate America has known, for a long time, that the traditional office was facing retirement.? But, suddenly, these are post-pandemic challenges. There is nothing new here. The only difference is that the last two and a half years have proved what everyone was afraid to acknowledge: we did not need an office to be productive and profitable. Nor did we need employees to sit at their desks until their bosses left for the day.

There have been many test drives for this moment in time. Companies have invested billions of dollars into creating business continuity plans. Over the last decade or more, mother nature has required businesses to develop long-term strategies for a shift away from the office. Unfortunately, weeks after natural disasters, they simply went right back to the old way of doing things rather than employing strategies to free themselves from the traditional office.?

So, let’s have a real conversation that focuses on how to mitigate the big problems organizations are facing, such as ways to recoup investments in real estate, minimizing the levels of burnout, and bridging the gap between executive comfort level and employee preferences.

There are lots of empty spaces costing organizations way too much money. How about creating more functional and multi-purpose spaces? Let’s see some of the biggest companies in the world use their spaces for community centers or as hubs for small businesses. Let’s see them think outside of and extend their walls to benefit the communities they work in and serve. CEOs need to ask different questions of their facilities teams - otherwise, they will simply solve for what they know.

Overwork and burnout are not just challenges for the masses. We are on the brink of seeing the executives' fallout. We must protect boundaries, honor time off, and promote flexibility in how, when, and where work gets done. Our people and organizations will pay a heavy price if we don't.

Now is the time to shift the discussion and stop assigning blame. We have a real opportunity to change how we look at the workplace and imagine a new reality that matches the needs of our current and future workforces.?

Who’s ready to look past the current constructs, pose new questions, and truly optimize their human capital?