Bringing employees back to the office will require a strategy that makes sense to employees, is appropriately communicated and above all, promotes flexibility. (Credit: Andrey Popov/stock.adobe.com)
As offices begin to reopen, business leaders and HR teams need to evaluate the impact of bringing employees back to the workplace. One lesson of the past year is that the flexibility of remote work has created a happier, more productive workforce. Therefore, coming back to the office is not as simple as hitting "undo" on your current processes. More than a third of the workforce is very likely to quit (despite high satisfaction levels) if forced to come back to the office five days a week.
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That's why Hibob, and many companies like us, has adopted a hybrid work model that allows employees to work from home and the office. Keep flexibility in mind when developing a back-to-the-office strategy that works for your company and allows your employees to continue to perform at their best.
Why offering flexibility is the key to employee happiness
New data from Hibob shows employees are thriving again after the initial shock of being forced out of the office in March 2020. Job satisfaction and productivity are up to pre-pandemic levels, and remote and hybrid work has allowed for a better work-life balance.
When we asked employees about returning to the office full time, only 13% said they prefer going back to the "old way of work." Comparing global workforce surveys conducted in 2020 and 2021, it's clear that employees have adjusted to the changes to their work environment and are now enjoying the benefits of working remotely. Stepping away from the office has allowed people to restructure their working hours to accommodate for life. The benefits of less commute time and more family time, and the ability to live and work anywhere far outweigh the loss of office space. The flexibility of remote work is now something employees feel they need to be more productive.
How to implement a flexible or hybrid work model
Bringing employees back to the office will require a strategy that makes sense to employees, is appropriately communicated and above all, promotes flexibility. If not, HR can have a retention crisis on their hands.
There's no one-size-fits-all solution for determining the right hybrid work model for your company. It's best to survey employees and ask them how they want to work. Start by asking how many days per week they'd like to work out of the office or what type of work they'd prefer to do in the office versus at home. Be exact in your wording, and don't offer anything that you can't deliver on.
In our global survey, 73% of managers said two or three days in the office and the rest working from home would be the preferred hybrid work model. There are many benefits to coming into the office and having a shared space where employees can socialize and work as a team. A hybrid work model that allows for the flexibility and freedom of remote work and the collaborative nature of office work presents employees with the best of both worlds. Employees can divide their time between home-based tasks, which require more focus and independent work, and office-based projects, which require more creativity and input from colleagues.
If necessary, redesign your office space ahead of your reopening to accommodate for the extra emphasis on teamwork. Organize the space so teams can sit together and incorporate meeting and break rooms that facilitate innovation, creativity, and connectivity.
Companies can implement a structured policy, where different teams or departments come into the office on designated days, or an at-will policy, allowing employees to choose which days they want to work from the office.
Whatever back-to-the-office strategy you decide on, be sure it's communicated well and keep checking in with employees and managers. When offices shut down last year, there was an initial sense of uncertainty over how to maintain the pace of business amid everything going on. HR and business leaders rose to the challenge and provided the necessary tools, support, and guidance to help employees adapt. Now that the workforce has found new levels of productivity and balance, companies once again need to think about what their employees need to get the job done.
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