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Return-to-office mandates: Top three challenges for employers and employees

Full-time return-to-office (RTO) mandates—most recently from JPMorgan Chase, Amazon and now the U.S. federal government—have made headlines across the country and caused consternation among remote and hybrid employees. Whether one is—or is not—a supporter of remote and hybrid work, the challenges that arise with RTO and with remote/hybrid arrangements are important to consider from both sides—employers and employees.

Baylor University management expert Sara Jansen Perry, Ph.D., who studies employee stress and well-being, including the role of remote/hybrid work and leadership, said working from home has existed in some form for decades, and research suggests it will continue to be an option for many workers and organizations.

"We know many employees value remote work so much as a benefit that they will choose jobs based on whether it is an option," Perry said. "Fortunately, we have seen many benefits of remote work as well, including employee productivity, cost savings, enhanced work-life balance and well-being, to name a few.

"Even if employees return to the office a few days a week, these benefits can still be realized, including longer term organizational benefits in terms of retention and applicant attraction. However, if an organization is set on returning to office full time, there are some challenges they should consider and proactively address."

Perry highlights three key challenges about Return to Office mandates from the perspectives of both employers and employees, applying foundational topics in organizational psychology, among them leadership, trust, culture, performance management and retention:

Return to Office: What are employers' greatest challenges?

Challenge No. 1: Emotional Resistance to the Change and Effects on Culture/Morale. People generally do not like change, especially when they don't feel empowered in making decisions about it. When it feels like a benefit is being taken away—in this case with a Return to Office mandate—the emotional resistance can be even stronger, Perry said.

She said six strategies can help employers best guide and support their employees who are returning to the office:

• Voice and Choice: Give voice and choice wherever possible about how returning to the office will work.
• Transparency: Be transparent throughout about reasoning behind decisions. (Was something wrong with the prior arrangement? What was it? What challenges are the employees possibly facing in prior arrangement that this will fix?)
• Data-driven decision-making: Use data when explaining decisions. "If you don't have good reasons to support a change, including data, reconsider the policy," Perry said.
• Open posture: Remain open to feedback, flexibility and continued improvements.
• Empathy: Consider your employees' perspectives and address emotional responses with empathy and rationality in all communications.
• Communicate trust and empowerment: Show employees you still trust them and empower them—this should happen through leadership words and deeds. "Many employees assume RTO is all about lack of trust and the need by managers to micromanage. You will have to convince your employees otherwise," Perry said.

Challenge No. 2: Risks of Turnover. If morale and culture do suffer, risks of turnover will be high, Perry said, so how do employers manage the turnover challenge, especially with high performers and employees seeking opportunities to advance their careers?

• Fairness vs. flexibility: I-deals—idiosyncratic deals that provide individualized work arrangements—can ensure that top performers will not leave. But perceptions of fairness across various i-deals must be considered as well, in conjunction with mandates from higher leadership about RTO, Perry said.
• Continuous commitment: Employers should consider the job market and other factors that keep employees with their company. "But just because people are 'stuck," leaders shouldn't relax," Perry said. "This is the worst reason people stay and it's better if they don't in that case."
• Emphasize career opportunities: Help employees experience the benefits of RTO early and often, such as promotion, visibility, mentoring and learning.

Challenge No. 3: Finding a New Rhythm Together in the Office. Perry said this challenge also is an opportunity for employers to work together with employees to adopt new, healthier norms in the office than before.

• Capitalize on the benefits: Employers can capitalize on the benefits of returning to the office, including collaboration spaces and times, ensuring productive and meaningful meetings, enabling relationship-building and more, but they also need to watch out for distractions, interruptions, counterproductive patterns and venting/emotional contagion that could come from face-to-face working, Perry said.
• Rethink the office layout: Practically, a Return to Office shift provides employers an opportunity to rethink the office layout—Is it conducive to good work, both independently and collaboratively?
• Brainstorm the good practices learned virtually: What do people perceive helped them be most productive and healthy when working from home? How can you bring that to the office? Keep those practices when employees are back together in the office.

"For example, was the use of break time more productive or fulfilling at home than it is in the office through exercise or accomplishing family tasks?" Perry said. "One of our study participants had lost 40 pounds over a year of working remotely but found those pounds back at the office shortly after an RTO mandate in her company. Leaders can help employees think through ways to use their time and other resources well to ensure they maintain healthy habits and the parts of remote work they found most beneficial."

Return to Office: What are employees' greatest challenges?

Since COVID, organizations and their employees have learned a lot more about best practices for making working from home an effective option for many stakeholders—employers and employees, families and households—and employers have learned how much employees value remote work, Perry said. Return to Office mandates will challenge employees emotionally and practically in the shift from remote to full-time office work.

Challenge No. 1: Emotional Resistance to the Change and Effects on Personal Morale. Perry said it's important for employees to ask themselves why they emotionally are feeling resistant to changing from remote or hybrid work to full-time in the office, which also can impact morale.

"Ask yourself where you stand and why—what are your true underlying interests, needs and desires in this situation?" Perry said. "If employees are feeling resistance, why? What is in your control? What is not? Once past the emotional reaction to any change, people can think more logically and make better decisions. Don't do anything too rash while feeling emotional about this or any other proposed change.

Challenge No. 2: View Practical Changes Required as Opportunities. Perry said employees also can view RTO in a practical sense by considering opportunities to form new healthier routines and habits with a return to the office. These can include the gym/exercise, new clothes, more interaction and relationship-building, mentoring others, among others.

• The commute comeback: Even returning to the commute could be a benefit to some employees, Perry said. "Time to spend commuting can be used well as transition time. People missed it during the early days of COVID," Perry said. "For some employees during the pandemic, it was challenging to turn work off at the end of the day, because no one was going to shut it off for them. The RTO commute might be an opportunity for employees to better transition from work to family time."
• Secondary benefits: Other secondary benefits of returning to the office could be a transportation, office supplies and/or a wardrobe refresh. In fact, over the Christmas holidays, consumers—including employees preparing to return to the office full-time—took advantage of discounts on clothes and shoes to rebuild their wardrobes.

Challenge No. 3: Finding a New Rhythm Together in the Office: Boundaries and Expectations. When millions of employees flipped from the office to remote work in spring 2020, boundaries and expectations were a challenge, and they remain a challenge now as many employees return to the office.

Perry noted these important considerations for employees in their transition to a new office rhythm:

• Off-hours: What are new expectations regarding availability during off-hours? "Be clear with leaders and colleagues and set boundaries where possible," Perry said.
• Break time: What healthy breaks can employees take at the office and/or with others that they couldn't do at home?
• Flexibility: What kind of flexibility remains that employees can use as a resource?
• Focus on the benefits: Capitalize on the benefits of working in the office. "When meeting in person is possible and could be beneficial and more enjoyable, choose to do so instead of resorting to continued videoconferencing," Perry said.
• Recognize downfalls: When those arise, try to minimize their ability to harm. "Avoid or manage certain interpersonal dynamics, refuse unnecessary meetings and protect uninterrupted time to engage in deep work," Perry said.

Despite the challenges, Perry encourages employers and employees to remain adaptable in a world that is constantly changing. While research shows that remote and hybrid work can increase employee productivity, save costs and enhance work-life balance and well-being, Perry said those same benefits can be achieved for employees back in the office full-time and for their organization in retaining and attracting talent.

"Our most important role in that is to respond thoughtfully and rationally to optimize benefits for ourselves and those around us, including our employers," Perry said.