Julie McMurtry joins a zoom call with co-workers from her home in Arlington, Virginia, on May 25, 2023. The pandemic forced Americans to work from home. And now, more than three years on, employers are struggling to bring them back to the office.
- As companies continue to grapple with return-to-office mandates, and with some receiving vigorous backlash from employees, experts say the only sustainable solution is hybrid.
- Google joined the group of companies recently tightening in-office rules on workers, by including badge tracking and noted attendance in performance reviews.
- "A return to the office is a loss for many people," said leadership and communication expert Deborah Grayson Riegel.
As companies continue to grapple with return-to-office mandates and with some receiving vigorous backlash from employees, experts say the only sustainable solution is hybrid.
Google joined the flock of companies recently tightening in-office rules on workers, by including badge tracking and noted attendance in performance reviews. Other companies like Amazon, Disney and Starbucks have also enacted strict RTO mandates. Last month, Elon Musk called remote work "morally wrong" in an interview with CNBC's David Faber, requiring corporate Tesla workers to return fully in person.
While companies are fleshing out work future work arrangements, they need to acknowledge that what happened three years ago was traumatic to workers, and that how they communicate RTO plans is going to impact people deeply, says Deborah Grayson Riegel, a leadership and communication expert who has taught at Wharton and Columbia Business School.
"From a psychological or a behavioral economic perspective, our fear of losses is much greater than our interest in gains in the workplace," Riegel said. "A return to the office is a loss for many people."
While human resources professionals and executives craft RTO plans specific to their workforce, experts say companies need to think about the best long-term solution, and the pendulum will likely land in the middle, with hybrid flexibility as the most common work structure.
Flexibility is the best option for the future of work
While each company is different, and there's no one-size-fits-all solution for how to approach RTO, companies need to give workers flexibility and options for how they work best, said Milena Berry, co-founder and chief executive officer of PowerToFly, a diversity recruitment and retention platform.
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Workers are interested in different types of work throughout the course of their lives, Berry said, and companies shouldn't give blanket rules for everyone.
"If I think about my kids, when they get out of college, they're going to want to work in person for a few years, while honing professional experience and getting societal exposure and interaction," Berry said. "But later, in different stages of life, you might want more time with your kids, and as your kids get bigger, you might want time away from your kids, so it's just so different for everyone."
The only option to mitigate discrepancies and avoid losing workers, she said, is to give them the option for how they work best, given the constraints of their specific role within the company.
"The truth is that companies who offer workers flexibility aren't going away," Berry said. "I think that's why it's important to just listen to what your workers want and offer flexibility to keep the quality talent."
RTO mandates need good communication plans
From free lunch to career advancement, companies are using incentives to bring workers into the office. However, if employees feel like they're losing something by returning in person, they're less interested in these types of perks.
Rather than trying all the tricks in the book, Riegel said companies should start with an empathetic communication plan for their RTO strategies.
"Demonstrate that you understand their concerns and that you are putting some things in place that will mitigate distress," Riegel said. "Keep the lines of communication open, give people opportunities to advocate for themselves, and give them what they need and more of what they fear they're going to lose."
Workers that prefer a remote environment fear losing autonomy, work-life balance, and freedom and privilege to do their work on their own schedule, Riegel said, so companies can use empathy to show they recognize these fears.
More importantly, hybrid flexibility will work long-term if workers are given choices. This means a choice between how often they go into the office, or if they're required to return in person three days a week, they could be given the choice about which days they'll come in person.
If workers feel emphasized with and feel like they're given a choice, Riegel said, RTO plans will bode well for most companies.
While all plans can be strategized and implemented, Riegel said companies should be cautious and ready to adapt because, "what happened to us three years ago was something we never could have anticipated, so expect the unexpected and be prepared to flex again."
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