Workers and employers may be at an impasse. Businesses want people back in the office, citing concerns about productivity, work culture and team bonding (and sometimes commercial real estate leases).
But many workers, having enjoyed working from home and hybrid work arrangements first made necessary by the COVID-19 pandemic, don't want to give up the flexibility such working conditions brought.
It’s leading to divisions and, in many cases, workers quitting, possibly in favor of another position that offers remote work — leaving HR stuck in the middle.
Here’s what the department can do to help both sides connect.
Push managers from falling back on past experience
A lot of pressure for workers to return to the office comes from management, because they want to have the people they’re in charge of in their physical view, one expert said.
“Managers are used to managing people they can see,” said Denise Rousseau, professor of organizational behavior at Carnegie Mellon University. If they can’t see a person — and haven’t adjusted to managing people remotely — they’re going to assume flexible work arrangements don’t work. “They’re anchored in that other experience.”
And it can be hard for someone to pull up anchor, even when presented with studies that show that people are less stressed and more productive when they work from home. Workers know from their lived experience that being able to work partly or full time at home is better for them, but managers are still relying on subjective data to assume otherwise, Rousseau said.
Getting objective data from within the company to show workers are productive in flexible arrangements can help, as can organizations training and developing managers to manage people at a distance, said Rousseau. “That is one the best training opportunities right now.”
Companies may also discover that some workers do want to be in the office so they can feel less isolated. “That’s an issue for the individual worker,” Rousseau said. “What kind of work situation do you want? The issue is you cannot force people back.”
Adding flexibility into RTO
Of course, not all companies are rigid when it comes to RTO. A recent study from Monster found that 75% of employers recognize the importance of flexible work hours and 61% see the value in providing a flexible work option.
Even with RTO, “there can be some flexibility in terms of working hours,” as well as flexibility in where people work, said Vicki Salemi, Monster career expert. Employers can also think about offering flexibility for the summer, like summer Fridays or four-day workweeks.
“The deeper issue underneath it all is retention. Workers don’t want this. They know there are other employers that will offer remote work. Most likely they will leave for companies that have the flexibility they are looking for,” she said.
Another Monster study found that 12% of workers are doing what’s called “coffee badging,” where they come into the office for a few hours in the morning, have a cup of coffee, then leave to work the rest of the day remotely.
Monster found they’re doing so for a variety of reasons: 21% say they do so to balance remote work with in-office presence for career growth; 21% say it’s to express a clear desire to work remotely in a greater capacity; 17% say it’s to enjoy the social atmosphere of co-workers at the office; and 14% say it’s to avoid long commutes to the office by arriving and leaving at less busy times.
Unfortunately, HR professionals often find themselves stuck in the middle of workers who want one thing, and management that wants another.
“It’s important for employees to feel seen and heard, and it’s important for HR to listen to them, and then follow up on those conversations,” Salemi said; in an ideal situation, HR would be able to listen to worker concerns, bring them back to management, and have management address them. HR can “try to reach some sense of compromise, letting employees be seen and heard.”
That may also include setting up a way for individuals to submit information anonymously, she added, which can ease worker concerns of being punished for speaking up about something very important to them.
