When Should We Go Back?: 4 Ways to Attract Workers to Return To Office
Picture this:?
After years of remote work, your manager said you are all required to return to the office. Many of your colleagues, including you, declined because you all believe it is unnecessary. Since there are technological innovations, you can finish your work tasks at your home.
So your manager implements another strategy: the hybrid model. They told you that you can have the freedom to choose when to go into the office for “collaboration and community.” So you agreed to it. After a lonely time at home, you decide to go back, yet you discover that only a few are in the workplace— your teammates aren't even there. And that can’t sustain collaboration and community.?
In the end, you didn’t attain the goal of the hybrid approach and refused to go back again.
This is the current situation for most businesses that adopt hybrid work. Out of 76% of hybrid companies , 63% confirmed that leaders don’t implement significant changes to make the hybrid model thrive (e.g., redesigning the office, in-office collaboration, tools, etc.).?
Our observation for that — is most employers only focus on how to attract their employees to report to the office. They positioned the office as a place for physical camaraderie but failed to meet this outcome without conflicting with employees’ flexibility and autonomy.?
In the chart of Alexia Cambon — Director and Research at Gartner , she laid down the Vicious Cycle of Return To Office.?
?If you observe the chart, you can see a clash between Push and Pull Strategies.?
As the future of work is flexible, employees prefer to go to the office because they want to (i.e., Pull Strategy). But, because of their acquired freedom, employees can’t meet the same schedule with their teams, leading them to gain nothing aside from commuting. As a result, leaders have no choice but to force them to return by setting requirement days. (i.e., Push Strategy). Employees will refuse. And the cycle will only repeat continuously.?
This complication will lead us to question, “When should Workers Return to the Office?”
We listed things leaders need to consider to attract their employees and make hybrid work a success.?
1. Workers should return when Office can provide Individual Needs that they can’t attain at Home.
Think of things that you can only achieve in the office. Or something that even you can gain at home, workers will think it is beneficial when they perform it in your workplace.
If you’re thinking of ping-pong balls and complimentary coffee, then we’re telling you, it will never be effective. Find more profound than that. Things that are worth their commuting expenses. If you say company culture, then explain it deeper. A typical employee will not understand the culture you want to achieve when you don’t clarify the core values you want to put into action.?
Take it as an example. Tell them that returning to the office is not just a simple collaboration. It is a place where you can learn from your coworkers, improve your communication skills, and create better teamwork.?
When you set these expectations and execute them with proper guidelines, employees won’t hesitate to go back. Because even though it is achievable in remote work, we can’t deny that face-to-face is still the better option for this. Plus, 7 out of 10 workers admit they miss simple office interaction (e.g., in-person meetings, office celebrations, and after-work happy hours).?
But because we believe in the notion of no one size fits all, the best strategy to know individual needs is by asking them. Do they have difficulty setting boundaries at home? Offer them a productive and quiet workspace. Do they feel isolated in their own places? Set dates for fun meetups. Do they need to improve their lifestyle? Give them a company-sponsored gym or yoga membership.
Make your employees feel that they are heard, appreciated, and cared for. You won’t realize it at the start, but it will have a domino effect on your overall company.
2. Workers should return when leaders meet the balance with Pull and Push Strategy.
For us, the best way to attract employees to go back to the office is still through Pull Strategy. However, because it doesn’t work without uniformity, you need to balance it with a little Push Strategy. Instead of just forcing them that they must go on a specific date, encourage them why they need to. Explain it with the bigger picture.?
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Do they really need to go every Friday? If yes, then why? Tell them that its goal is for team meetings, weekly check-ups, assessments, and deep brainstorming.
How about 2-3 days a week? Tell them that the working outputs are more aligned for physical interaction, in-person meetings maximize the team’s creativity and engagement, and your company core values are more attainable in this ideal hybrid setup.
If it is remote-first, set quarterly meetings for the company’s achievement, catch-ups, clear action plans, and fun team building.?
We all know that employees prefer if going back to the office is based on autonomy. However, without clear dates, it will only be difficult to achieve community and collaboration.?
To make hybrid work a success, we need to find a balance between these two.
3. Workers should return when Managers focus on Outcomes than Visibility.?
In implementing hybrid work, proximity bias is one of the fears of managers and employees. It is because there’s a psychology behind that. Proximity bias is a principle where relationships are more likely to develop between persons who are physically closer to one another than between those farther apart.?
In a hybrid setup, managers unconsciously favor those employees that are the same in their vicinity over those who are working remotely.?
According to TechSmith, remote workers have low chances of promotion despite being? 15% more productive than in-office workers. This is an unfair treatment that managers need to avoid.?
If it leaves unchecked, it could lead to a company culture where remote workers will be less valued while in-person employees will be recognized by the assumption that they are more productive than the other.?
Synchronous with the change in the working system, the manager’s role is also modified.?
Now, it is outcomes over visibility. To check if employees are productive in their work tasks, check their results instead of the hours they utilize in the office.?
Also, asynchronous communication should be the default in communication. All updates, essential tasks, changes, and schedules should post through asynchronous platforms (e.g., Gmail, Slack, Microsoft Teams). This ensures that all employees, regardless of location, can contribute and benefit from the brainstorming regardless of location.?
4. Workers should return when Office is open for Change (Internally and Externally)
Lastly, employees will return to the office when they see significant changes in their workplace. It should be in two ways: external and internal.
When we say external, your physical workplace should have a new layout that matches your hybrid work. After Covid, two-thirds of companies experiment with their physical office into more flexible and collaborative. Big companies like Google plan to transform their? 10% workplace into privacy robots and balloon walls. They also consider having team pods where it is in the team’s hands how they can design their in-person meetings (e.g., chair, desk, whiteboard). There are also hybrid pods with large vertical displays alongside circular chairs to collaborate with remote employees.?
On the other hand, internal changes mean the processes and perspectives need to improve to achieve a safe and productive office. Vision what the action plan for transitioning new work model. Is there internal pressure on leadership? Is working in the office effective for your employees? If it is only a hurdle in their daily routine, what changes need to implement?
Take note that the office should be open for change. Even if you strategize it carefully, it is possible that there’s still difficulty at the start. Learn from past mistakes and make it an eye-opener for the continuous improvement of your office.?
Wrap Up:
There’s no perfect formula on how to make hybrid working a success. But when you consider employees' suggestions, conclusions in research, and lessons in past mistakes, you can see patterns on how to improve your office and attract your employees voluntarily.?