With the COVID-19 pandemic officially ending in May, many organizations are now rethinking their remote policies and looking to bring employees back to the office more frequently, and on a consistent schedule. However, many employees still value the remote work flexibility and are pushing back against these mandates. As such, employers need to consider the pros and cons and potential consequences of return-to-work mandates.

What’s Trending

While some organizations are beginning to bring back employees five days per week, we are seeing many organizations continue to offer a hybrid work (two to three days per week in the office) schedule to most employees. In some organizations, the choice is left up to the employee as to which days they are coming into the office. In others, it is left up to the supervisor or department head. Organizations are getting creative with reasoning and incentive to get employees to want to come into the office, including collaborative team meetings, team building activities, free lunches, and happy hours.

What’s Right For Our Organization?

To determine what is best for your organization, you should consider a few different factors including your workplace culture, the tenure/level of experience of your team, and employee satisfaction/engagement.

Workplace cultures vary greatly. Think about what your workplace culture was like before the pandemic, and/or what you want your workplace culture to look like moving forward. For some organizations, teams are extremely collaborative and may benefit from having frequent face-to-face interaction. This may be a case to encourage and support in-office schedules. On the other hand, if your team is made up of very independent employees working on individual tasks and projects, a hybrid or remote option might make more sense.

Another thing to consider is the type of employees you have on your teams. Tenured employees may be more productive in a remote environment as their roles and routines are more established. They may not need the frequent mentoring and collaboration that a newer employee may need as they continue to learn their role and the organization. Additionally, managers should make they consider the preferences and learning styles of their team. If an organization is not requiring specific onsite presence, but an employee wants and needs that support, they may look elsewhere if they are not getting it with their current employer.

Finally, in today’s job market, it’s also important to consider employee satisfaction and engagement. Gallup recently released a survey stating that only 12 percent of employees want to work in an office full time. If organizations are not offering flexibility with their in-office requirements, employees may begin to look at other roles where they will have this flexibility.

Remember, remote work policies are not a ‘one size fits all’ approach. There are many individual factors that should be considered before updating or implementing these policies. Our team is ready to work with you to discuss all of these factors, and more, in order to help you provide extra support for your clients facing these new policy decisions.

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