Forcing staff back to work can backfire, but there are techniques

Mandating a return to the office? Say goodbye to 40 per cent of your staff.

I’ve been hearing the same question from business leaders for a few months now: on paper it makes sense to have employees return to the office, so how can we get them to come back?

Notwithstanding the obvious bumps in our road to normality in the form of managing Covid-19 outbreaks and snap lockdowns, it’s easy to understand why management wants staff back at their desks.

While some organisations downsized their office space in the pandemic, many are still paying a premium for underused real estate.

Then there’s the trust dilemma. Some business leaders still don’t believe staff can be productive at home, despite countless studies that suggest the opposite.

Finally, recent landmark cases in work health and safety regarding work from home arrangements have made a return to the office an imperative to reduce risk.

However, organisations that look only at these cost and risk considerations do so at their peril.

THE EMPLOYEE PERSPECTIVE HAS CHANGED:

The problem arises when you consider things from the employee side. The shift to working from home brought with it many benefits for office workers: reduced commutes, greater productivity and better work-life integration, to name a few.

According to research conducted by Gartner, 67 per cent of employees say their expectations for flexible working arrangements have increased significantly since the beginning of the pandemic.

It makes sense that workers aren’t willing to give that up now, particularly when a sluggish vaccine rollout and ongoing lockdowns in our cities suggest the pandemic is far from under control.

Our data shows that employers who force their staff to go back to the on-site environment could lose up to 39 per cent of their workforce.

Forcing employees back to the office prematurely isn’t just a bad idea, it’s a costly one. The impact of snap lockdowns on productivity and engagement should be enough to give us pause. But price and impact of finding, recruiting and training almost half of your workforce makes the case for a considered return to physical workspaces much more compelling.

The message for business leaders and human res­ources departments is simple. We can’t go back. Instead, use this time to redesign the fundamental purpose, form and function of the office to optimise it and offer a different experience to the one employees left. Create an office environment that staff want to come back to, one that is fit for purpose and offers a compelling experience, rather than enforce a return out of convenience for leaders who can’t see the new-found value in granting employees the flexibility they’ve become accustomed to.

STRATEGIES TO ATTRACT EMPLOYEES BACK:

Of course, it’s not always as simple as immediately redesigning how your organisation uses office space. For those looking at a longer-term transition, here are 10 strategies to give the office a purpose and begin attracting your employees back in:

1. Offer new ways for development and learning through in-person skills acquisition, coaching and mentoring. This will be a welcome reprieve from 12 months of e-learning.

2. Use the office for onboarding and orientation to develop critical networks, and foster culture and values immersion.

3. Use the office to engage in purposeful collaboration such as brainstorming, human-centred design workshops and agile sprints and scrums.

4. Encourage high priority and high impact in-person meetings and catch-ups at the office. Discussions regarding performance, career opportunities and changes to an employee’s tasks or reporting lines may be better had face-to-face.

5. Enhance customer and client connection with the help of scheduled in-office client meetings, presentations, product launches and demos.

6. Provide access to on-site services such as personal training, yoga, meditation, and health and beauty services that nurture employees and support their physical and mental wellbeing.

7. Make the office a place of escape from the unhealthy aspects of remote work, with spaces where devices, emails and digital distractions are restricted.

8. Use alternative or green spaces to encourage rejuvenation and creativity. Encourage people to move and make a day of coming to the office by using nearby parks, nature, beaches and attractions.

9. Build innovation hubs, labs and interactive spaces that facilitate innovation through immersive collaboration tools, video walls, augmented reality and virtual reality.

10. Consider promoting (and funding) long lunches and other social connection options that enhance team bonds and provide a respite from the social isolation of remote work.

Organisations that take a future-focused approach this year by prioritising employee expectations and adjusting the office to be an experience destination will come out on top in terms of talent retention and culture.

Strengthening the bonds between employees and managers and enhancing employees’ wellbeing and connection to company culture will result in a higher performing, more engaged workforce.

Aaron McEwan is a vice-president, research and advisory for Gartner’s HR practice in Australia.

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