As companies consider bringing their employees back to the office and straying away from remote work, they have many factors to take into consideration. Since a significant number of Americans have worked from home for over two years now, returning to in-person work will undoubtedly present challenges for both employees and employers — which is why companies who are planning to transition back to the office should establish a plan to ensure the transition is seamlessly executed.
In the following episode of our Back to Work podcast series, our host, Joe McIntyre, and Talent Acquisition Community Leader for HR.com, Matt Charney, discuss the questions concerning companies' potential transition back to work and how to cope with this change. They also talk about Matt's perspective on the future work environment that many employees are looking for.
Listen to our Podcast Below:
Do Your Employees Want to Return to Work?
As company leaders weigh the pros and cons of bringing their teams back to the office, they should start by understanding what their employees want. Matt and Joe explore what environment today's workers want to work in. A recent survey from Yoh revealed that 52% of Americans are anxious about returning to in-person work. This heightened anxiety makes sense as so many people have become accustomed to remote work at this point.
Additionally, a recent LinkedIn study uncovered that 60% of workers using their platform are only considering hybrid or fully remote jobs — meaning companies need to think long and hard about whether or not they want to make the in-person transition.
Many employees are still saying that they feel uncomfortable returning to the office because of COVID concerns, but as Matt suggests in the podcast, this may not be the truth. It seems like some individuals want to stay home because they enjoy the improved work-life balance that remote work provides, and they are using COVID as an excuse. This is not to say that some people are not still genuinely worried about catching COVID in the office, but that is not everyone's worry today.
With this being said, employers need to accept that brining their employees back to work will not be an easy feat. It will require a major effort to get everyone on board with the transition if your company chooses to take this challenge on.
How to Make the Transition
So how should this transition be executed? There are certain practices companies should be implementing to combat uneasiness and keep their workforce engaged as they make the transition. In the podcast, they discuss the benefits of a quick return to work rather than a gradual one. Matt also provides his expert opinion about why everyone in an organization should follow the same back to work mandates to avoid confusion in an already stressful time.
One method to help people transition to the office is by emphasizing your company's strong culture. If you have a collaborative culture that people want to be a part of, then your employees will be more inclined to enjoy working face-to-face together. Another way to entice employees to come into the office is by planning a post-work activity to attend or a catered lunch, for example. By giving them something to look forward to at the start of their transition, they will be able to seamlessly reacclimate to their environment.
To close out the podcast, Matt and Joe explore what they think the future of work will look like. The bottom line is that people stay at companies where they are happy with their environment, so organizations need to determine what the best solution is for their companies moving forward and help them adapt to whatever comes next.
