Get Back (to the Office)

Just this week, Starbucks and Target joined the parade of businesses that have made working in the office a requirement for their corporate/administrative workers, according to a variety of news reports. Employers usually promote their RTO (Return to Office) requirements as a way to increase teamwork and productivity.

But according to experts following trends since such work-at home arrangements became commonplace during Covid 19, two separate but parallel trends have emerged over time:

• The gains mentioned in the previous paragraph don’t necessarily take place, and employers’ RTO orders are often based on subjective criteria that can’t be quantified.
• To get the biggest benefit from such mandates, they need to have employee input and flexibility built in.

Addressing the first point is Forbes contributor/Chief Talent Scientist at Manpower Group, Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, who wrote:

“Corporate decisions about where employees work, like so many other decisions pertaining to talent management and culture, are not always based on reason, let alone data and evidence,” wrote “In fact, most of the major motives underpinning organizational mandates to bring back workers to the office full-time are influenced by factors, including politics, culture, subjective opinions and bias, that are not positively linked to employee morale and productivity, or a logical objection to remote or hybrid working.”

As for the second point, a just-updated Founder Reports feature on trends in RTO said, “While companies cite improved productivity, collaboration and easier management as reasons for returning to the office, research on these benefits remains mixed. What’s clear, however, is that employees overwhelmingly prefer remote and hybrid arrangements and experience significantly better work-life balance because of them. Employers allowing flexible roles benefit from lower hiring costs and improved employee retention.”