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Key Takeaways Mandated returns to office are meeting stout resistance from workers who have adapted to the benefits of working from home.
Heavy-handed return-to-office policies can undermine trust, erode autonomy and damage morale and engagement.
Leaders should focus on enhancing the office experience to attract employees, fostering a collaborative and valuable in-person work environment.
Across the country, employers and employees are engaged in a tug-of-war over return-to-office mandates. Companies’ tolerance for the pandemic-era days of working from home has waned, with businesses from the New York Times to Microsoft calling for in-office attendance the majority of the week.
The problem? Workers are resisting. According to the Wall Street Journal, RTO mandates have had little effect on actual attendance, with many simply opting out. “There’s a lot more pressing things for companies to be worrying about right now,” Beth Steinberg, a tech-industry human-resources executive, told the paper.
Here’s the thing: Employers should care if their employees want to be in the office. Moreover, if getting them to do it is harder than dragging a stubborn mule up a hill, then maybe the problem isn’t the workers. Going to work in an office shouldn’t feel like a punishment; at its best, it should feel like a community. The real question leaders should be asking isn’t how to enforce attendance, but why people would want to show up in the first place.
Why mandates fail
On the surface, an RTO mandate looks easy enough: Tell employees they need to come back, and they will. The reality is not so simple. Many no longer want a starring role in what’s known as “productivity theater,” in which the appearance of putting in effort is prized more than actual accomplishments.
RTO detractors are also quick to point to data that shows the benefits of working from home — one study found that 61% of employees report having higher levels of productivity at home, to say nothing of the time gained from commuting, avoiding office chit chat and purportedly improved work-life balance.
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