Returning to the Office
Imagine this: your employees are sitting at home. They work in the environment of their choice, in the dress of their choice, at the time of their choice. They don’t have the hassle of the commute or the distractions of coworkers, and they have far more control over their working day. Now ask yourself: why would they be excited to give this up?
As a business leader, you’re keen for your people to return to your office to improve communication, culture and structure within your company. However, it’s very likely that your people are resisting your efforts, and it’s not hard to see why.
As a lot companies have found, trying to force staff back to the office often ends in disaster. Many of your best staff leave, and all are disgruntled. As a result, their productivity is much lower, and your culture nosedives. Understanding and addressing the reasons why your people are so reluctant is crucial to making a successful return to the office. You have to attract, not force, your people back to the office.
At Zentura, we’ve helped countless companies design workspaces that attract and inspire their teams to return. In this article, we’ll go through the 5 main reasons your people might be reluctant to return to the office, and how you can resolve them. By the end of this article, you’ll have a much better understanding of how you can increase office attendance at your company.
The Commute
After years of not having to commute every day, the prospect of returning to long and unpleasant commutes every day will be very unpopular for your people. The average London office worker's commute lasts 47 minutes each way. They also spend £3,210 annually on commuting fares.
Before the pandemic, staff accepted this as unavoidable. However, remote working has shown the commute is no longer automatic. Your people have grown to value the extra time and prefer spending that on other activities.
To overcome this resistance, you should look at ways to make the commute less unpleasant. You could do this by allowing more flexibility in their work schedules. For example, you could allow them to start and finish earlier or later – working the same amount of time, but avoiding peak rush hours.
Lack of Flexibility
One of the biggest reasons home working is so popular among staff is the increased autonomy it provides them. They have become accustomed to much more control over their schedules, fitting their work aroudn their other priorities.
The pandemic has shown that productivity doesn’t require a strict 9-to-5 office routine. Many staff now value the freedom to choose how and where they work. As a result, they perceive efforts to return to the office as a curb on their autonomy.
To resolve this barrier, you should look at ways of implementing a hybrid work model with flexible hours. Allowing autonomy is crucial, as this will allow staff to work the way that suits them best, making them more receptive to the idea of returning to the office.
Distracting Co-Workers
87% of workers say they would return to the office to rebuild connections with colleagues. However, too much socialisation can become very distracting. 33% of employees cite chatty colleagues as a deterrent for returning to the office.
Remote working has made many staff prone to distractions, as they are unused to working in a busy environment. Distracting coworkers reduces the productivity of staff, and reduces overall output.
To resolve this, you will need to ensure that your office has distinct environments. These should include collaboration, breakout, and focussed working areas. A designated focussed working space for individual tasks will enable your people to work without distractions when they want. Again, hybrid working could also help by allowing your staff some time at home to focus on individual tasks.
Lack of Social Connection
Over the last few years, there has likely been a lot of churn within your teams. Many of your team will have joined during the period of remote/ hybrid work and have never known anything different. A relatively low percentage of your team will have been together in the office full-time pre-pandemic.
As a result, team connections are much weaker, making office attendance seem less important to staff. It is very easy to overlook the long-term cultural and training benefits that being together in the office provides.
To overcome this issue, look at ways of refurbishing your office to improve social connection among your staff. This could include improving breakout spaces, eating areas, and staff lounges. By encouraging social connection, you will not only help attract staff back to the office but improve culture and communication within your company.
Lack of Purpose in the Office
The biggest reason your staff are so reluctant to return to the office is that they don’t see the point. Many feel that your office doesn’t offer them anything they can’t get at home. As a result, they question the importance of in-office work.
If your office lacks the benefits and resources they can’t get at home, your people won’t want to return to the office. If this is the case, getting them back into the office will not result in any improvements from a company perspective either.
The solution is clear: you have to ensure your office is a hub for activities that can’t be replicated remotely – such as brainstorming, workshops, or access to specialist equipment. It’s also essential to think about your office from a staff experience perspective. Doing so will allow you to create a working environment that can’t be replicated remotely.
Attracting Your Staff Back to The Office
When considering why your people may not want to return to the office, it's important to consider the difference in the way you work. As an executive, much more of your working day is spent communicating and collaborating rather than working on individual tasks. They will also be more focussed on personal preference rather than overall company performance. As a result, your perspective on returning to the office will be different to that of your people.
To overcome the reluctance of your people to return to the office, you need to provide a working model that suits their lives. This means providing more flexibility to make the commute less unpleasant and fits around their lives better. Crucially, you need to provide a workspace experience that is better than what they can get at home. A workspace that suits the way they work both individually and as a team, and helps them, and you, to be more successful.
To take the next step toward getting your people back in the office, get your own 10 Steps to Return to The Office guide. inside, we'll walk you through the process we use to help our clients get their staff back to their office. This will cover everything, from deciding if you should return and why, all the way through the different stages of planning and implementation. Get your RTO guide here.
To learn more about improving your staff’s office attendance, read How to Attract Your People Back to the Office, How to Get Your People Back to The Office Without Harming Talent Attraction & Retention, and How to Create an Office Worth the Commute.
