How Leaders can convince hesitant employees to return to the Office.

Employers are walking a fine line as more people in the U.S. are vaccinated; but they can’t force employees to come back to the office. That’s why workplace trends expert Rick Grimaldi stated in a recent CoreNet Global E-leader magazine, that the best approach is to convince the reluctant workers there are good reasons to return. “We all know the old school command and control style of leadership doesn’t work any longer, and that includes the issue of determining where people work,” says Grimaldi. “Instead of dragging employees back against their will, it’s better to entice them with a collaborative, happy, innovative work environment they can’t resist.” In other words, if employers build the right case for coming back, they can pull the employees back in the direction of the office– no pushing required.

Here are some strategies Grimaldi recommends to incentivize your employees to come back to the office:

Be sure employees understand the “why.” Be very clear about your reasons for bringing people back to the office.

Be honest as a company if you have changed your mind about the workplace environment, and address the change with employees. Some companies are just now seeing the value of having people in the office. Tell employees: “We didn’t realize at first that face-to-face interaction was so pivotal to our success, but this past year has shown us how important that is for team well-being.

Make your workplace a place they want to be. Employees don’t want to work in offices with bad cultures. Companies need to focus instead on building collegiate, close-knit, trusting, inclusive, and uplifting teams that inspire a sense of belonging in people.

Add policies that make sense for today’s workplace. And cut-out those that don’t work any longer. The pandemic changed a lot about the way we do work, and companies found ways to digitally transform overnight, companies shifted to remote work, and flexed to stay afloat. And in some cases, those changes and new habits have made the workday run more smoothly. Figure out which of the new practices that you adopted during the pandemic are worth maintaining and communicate those policies to the employees before they return.

Talk with people one-on-one to understand their hesitancy to come back to the office. A candid discussion with individual employees can help you dig deeper to find out why they may not want to return. Their reasons may not even be what you think they are (i.e. lack of good childcare, elder-care issues). Once you understand their reservation, company leaders and managers may be able to help the employees manage their concerns or solve the problems for them.

Make a case for mentoring opportunities. Remote workers don’t get a lot of face time with leaders who could give them valuable career insights. Further, younger remote workers are less likely to pick up strong communication and professional skills, establish career goals, and build a network that they can rely on for years to come without the proper mentors or sponsors within the company that they can see and connect with on a regular basis.

Play up the return of trust. Just ask your remote workers: it can be very difficult to build trust-based work relationships when people only communicate over Zoom meetings and email. Without daily face-to-face interactions, people never get to know their colleagues and build strong relationships. But spending time with colleagues at work allows for the informal exchanges that help people get to know one another and eventually build trust.

Highlight the power of in-person collaboration. Collaboration is necessary for innovation. But chances are a company’s employees aren’t getting a lot of chances to collaborate remotely. The best brainstorming and innovation happens in person.

Offer more flexibility around when and where people work. And, make workplace safety a top priority. Even though vaccinations have driven down COVID cases nationwide, employees are still concerned about safety at work.

At Corporate Real Estate Advisory Services, we help our clients to prepare strategies to entice their employees to come back to the office, and to help them attract top talent. When companies make their business a place people want to work, they are more likely to maintain the competitive edge that leads to innovation, creativity, and success. Reach out to learn more about how we can assist your company with their return to work strategy at ​corporateREadvisoryservices@gmail.com.