How to get the hybrid work balance right. Hint: Stop giving employees ultimatums

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Leaders globally are struggling to entice their employees to return to the office, with Starbucks’ CEO being the latest to express his frustrations with ongoing remote work. Finding the balance between in-person and remote work has proven challenging even for the biggest companies in the world as Apple, Goldman Sachs, Tesla and others have received significant backlash in response to their Return to Office plans. What are company leaders to do?

The way I see it, company-wide mandated office time will only present challenges for organizations attempting to retain and attract top talent because it attempts to take a one-size-fits-all approach to employee productivity. Over the last two years, many employees have proven they can be productive working from anywhere, and they don’t want to return to the one-sided model that eliminates the flexibility that allows them to be most productive. While some jobs must be done in person, the fact is that many office-based roles can be done just as effectively remotely or hybrid, so it really comes down to where and how a specific employee is most productive.