by Rick Hermanns, CEO, HireQuest Inc.
The world of work took a turn to remote during the pandemic, with most people forced to work from home where possible. Research from HireQuest Inc. shows that at least 55% of Americans worked from home in 2020. Since then, many organizations have allowed their teams to continue working remotely. The benefits of remote work from an employee’s perspective include increased productivity, better work/life balance, and the opportunity to hire a more diverse range of employees by making companies more accessible.
However, not all companies agree that remote work and hybrid models are effective. By 2021, 14% of Fortune 500 companies had demanded workers come back to the office (Source: HireQuest Inc.). Amazon recently announced a Return to Office (RTO) mandate, angering 91% of its professional, corporate-level employees. With that in mind, why might some CEOs still consider bringing their teams back to the office premises?
Strengthening Company Culture and Team Cohesion
It turns out, there are many compelling reasons to cut down on remote work. Company culture is a top one. Can you really keep your corporate values strong while only interacting over Zoom/Teams? Many CEOs think not. In-person interactions can create a stronger sense of community and build that company culture, interaction by interaction.
After all, employees aren’t just embodying those values for the duration of a video call. They’re expected to follow them all the time, for the full duration of their office shift. If remote workers switch those values off when they switch their video connection off, it makes it much more challenging to build and maintain an effective company culture.
Some workers state that remote working makes team tasks more difficult. Bringing everyone back to the office could remedy that, ensuring everyone is on hand to handle collaborative efforts. Plus, it can help with team bonding, creating genuine trust and collaboration between colleagues.
Carefully consider how an RTO mandate aligns with your company culture. If flexibility and accessibility are core values, you could inadvertently undermine those by forcing employees to return to fixed office premises. Also, be careful not to discriminate against remote employees. Dell has refused to provide fully remote employees with promotional opportunities after a third of them refused to return to the office (Source: HireQuest Inc.). While they may be within their rights to do this, they could be stopping the company from benefiting from a remote employee’s skill and experience.
Boosting Productivity and Focus
The primary reason for CEOs to bring employees back into the physical fold is productivity concerns. The opinions on how remote work impacts productivity are split, yet CEOs of companies like UPS and Boeing seem convinced that workers will do more in an office environment than in their own homes.
Factors that support this include:
- Fewer distractions due to a structured office environment
- Managers present to address poor performance in real-time
- The “work environment” factor creates a mindset that’s just about work, not home life
Does research back this up? Well, business moguls like Mark Zuckerberg suggests that working remotely increases productivity by raising happiness and morale. Most studies back Zuckerberg up, with businesses and employees reporting increased productivity when engaging in flexible working or hybrid models.
However, a recent collation of research shows that small businesses initially noticed a slight slump in productivity when remote work first became necessary in 2020. CEOs genuinely invested in employee welfare should assess the data of their own workforce rather than generalized studies.
It’s important to remember that the traditional 5-day working week was popularized in the 1920s by manufacturers who wanted consistency and productivity on physical output like cars — without burning their employees out. Working with knowledge bases, technology, data, or even customers doesn’t carry the same requirements.
However, performance is also a critical consideration. If you’ve noticed a dip in productivity since allowing employees to work from home, you have evidence that an RTO mandate could be in the company’s best interest.
Enhancing Collaboration and Innovation
Productivity is nothing without innovation. Remote teams can still collaborate and innovate, but bringing teams back to the office potentially encourages those magical watercooler moments — sparks of genius that fly outside of structured meetings.
Even in meetings, some firms may find that there’s more brainstorming and energy when everyone’s in the same room. Spontaneity is more organic when people aren’t on mute, waiting for their turn to chime in.
CEOs may also consider in-person work essential for effective cross-department synergy. However, this is only the case if you have excellent inter-departmental relationships and communication channels. If your sales and HR teams struggle to share information due to outdated systems and data siloes, bringing them back to the office won’t fix that.
Supporting Mentorship and Talent Development
One aspect of professional life that suffers when workers go remote is career development. Training, upskilling, and personal development are all more challenging without the right support functions in place to fully include remote workers.
For industries that require hands-on learning, it’s even more essential that employees can access in-person education or mentorship opportunities. CEOs who are highly invested in continuous learning for their teams could cite this as a reason to deploy a Return to Office mandate.
Being close to mentors and office educators could naturally increase the effectiveness of those strategies. However, with the right technology in place, e-learning and online mentorship are also effective.
Aligning with Client Expectations and Market Perception
CEOs often believe that in-person teams are more present and committed to company goals — and they think other CEOs feel the same way. With that in mind, some RTOs are simply a way of managing client and market perceptions.
Having a team in the office creates a professional image — but CEOs should remember that image isn’t everything. If the teams are working more effectively remotely, bringing them back to the office for branding and marketing purposes could effectively gouge productivity and, therefore, the bottom line of the organization.
Weighing it Up: Balancing Flexibility with Long-Term Goals
To avoid debacles like the Amazon employee satisfaction slump, take stock of your teams’ attitudes toward remote vs. in-person work. They’ll no doubt tell you if they’d be happy to return to the office and let you know how you can best approach that change. Make sure any transformation takes into account the needs of disabled employees, and be ready to make accommodations for employees who may struggle to adapt.
Consider a phased approach, where you bring some teams back and use their response as a litmus test. If you discover that they adapt and perform well, it could be a sign that your whole workforce is ready to come back to the office. However, don’t assume that simply because major corporations are making that change, that it’s the best thing for you and your teams.
Discover more about creating effective teams, either in the office or remotely, with the talent advisory experts at MRINetwork.