Let’s find those reasons that also align with individual goals, as well, when it comes to RTO mandates.
Here’s our shortlist:
- People want to go to the office to meet with people they like. Microsoft data shows that 85% of global employees come back to the office for the promise of socializing. Now, there might be an issue with this. When you tell your employees that the unique value proposition of the office is other people, but go into the office and no one is there, you’re setting them up for disappointment. So, you need to find fixes for this. One example would be using an app that allows people to see who’s in the office, like the Tidaro desk booking app does.
- New employees’ integration. Bonds are stronger when people meet face-to-face. It would be advisable for onboardings to happen in the office, with the other team members present.
- Projects brainstorming. When people come together in the same room, form brainstorming or planning, people might feel more connected, more attached to the common goal.
- Catching up on some projects and goals. When important deadlines are being set up, and you need to align the team with regard to what’s been done, and what needs to be done, a face-to-face meeting would be useful. Virtual communication can have its glitches, that face-to-face meetings can solve for.
- Team bonding activities. As data shows, the sense of belonging is diminishing when a lot of time is spent doing remote work. From time to time, some office time can be used to take the pulse of the team, to do some activities together.
- Celebrations. Why not celebrate the end of a project, or a milestone? Make people feel as if they are part of something bigger, not just a tiny piece in a bigger puzzle. Canva, for example, is encouraging everyone to return to the office 1-2 times per season. These gatherings foster collaboration and celebrate milestones. I have another example for you: while there’s no expectation to come to an office regularly, Dropbox Studios offer dedicated spaces for occasional in-person collaboration and events. Dropboxers are not supposed to perform individual work in the Studios.
- Learning and development activities. Data shows if people can’t learn and grow, they’ll leave. Also, Microsoft research suggests that the younger generations are also more likely to say that they’d stay at their current company longer if the company gave them the flexibility to pursue side projects or businesses for more income. And yes, learning can happen online, but when you meet for specific activities with a mentor or the team, this would better foster learning.
- Breaking the routine. Coming to the office, employees don’t want to do the same tasks and in the same way as they do at the home office. A change in work routine may be what attracts them to the office. If you’re planning to have those virtual meetings, forget about it, because they won’t see the value of being in the office.
- Ensure proper spaces in the office that can foster engagement. If you have an open space, it is proven that people don’t engage much. We’ve seen it before: total silence, and people talking on Slack…A study showed that the volume of face-to-face interaction in an open space office decreases by approx. 70%, with an associated increase in electronic interaction. In short, rather than seeing face-to-face collaboration, open architecture appeared to trigger a natural human response to socially withdraw from officemates and interact instead over email and messaging. So, you could design an office with smaller spaces where a few people could meet and talk.
To sum it up, whether it’s a hybrid model or requiring employees to come in five days a week, employers need to show the value of asking workers to commute into the office again if workers have been successfully working from home for two years.