Businesses Taking Steps to Smooth Transition Back to Physical Workspaces
As the pandemic wanes and most people are comfortably venturing out in public again, businesses are increasingly calling for employees to return to the office. While essential workers and those who solely relied on in-person interactions commuted to their jobs throughout the pandemic, many knowledge-based positions, particularly in the tech sector, shifted to strictly virtual work.
Despite some initial hiccups, white collar employees and managers quickly adjusted to the “new normal,” adapting and even thriving over time. Virtual meetings via Zoom or Teams, often featuring cameo appearances by house pets and small children, became a routine part of the workday as homes began to double as workplaces.
Working from home has been a mixed bag for many, however–while some employees struggled with social isolation and the loss of a healthy work-life balance, others relished the chance to leave the commute behind, as well as the feelings of autonomy and flexibility that came with working from home.
Closing the office doors brought significant cost savings to both employers and employees, but at the same time the freedom to work remotely and the realization that one’s physical location no longer mattered led many employees to seek better opportunities elsewhere, leading to the onset of the “Great Resignation.”
With the majority of Americans now vaccinated and infections on the decline, workplaces are now encouraging their employees to shift from virtual to in-person work, and in some cases demanding it. A recently leaked memo from Elon Musk demanded that Tesla employees go into the office for a minimum of 40 hours per week and that “If you don’t show up, we will assume you have resigned.”
While Musk is using the stick approach, the majority of organizations are using the more appealing carrot approach to bring employees back into the physical workplace safely, productively, and willingly.
One common tactic being used by many companies is the creation of a hybrid workplace, in which employees come in several days a week while working from home the rest of the week.
David Salters and Taylor Fox of Warren Averett agree that the creation of a hybrid workplace is a valuable tool for businesses, not only to keep employees on staff, but also as a recruiting tool. With the cost of living and the price of gas continuing to rise, they noted that flexible work, in itself, is a form of wages when taking into account the cost of fuel, cleaners, childcare, and so on.
“Companies who plan to offer it are absolutely using it as a recruiting tool against companies that are not,” Salters said.
Big corporations all over the world, including Siemens, Apple, and many others, are embracing this approach. Advantages include decreased cost for office space, increased collaboration between team members, and the ability to expand hiring scope by attracting quality professionals.
Small businesses are also making use of the leverage provided by offering flexible scheduling options. A local example can be found with technical services firm Cintel, located at 4100 Market St., Suite 115 in Redstone Gateway. According to Cintel president Will Irby, some team members choose to work on site on a daily basis, with others going into work three days a week and working remotely the other two. Some remain fully remote, only going in occasionally.
“Success with this approach centers on our customers and their specific requirements. We know that in the current labor market, flexibility is critical to stay competitive, so that is what we have focused on at Cintel – being as flexible as possible, but also being fully transparent in that not every position can be remote. I think it’s important to be upfront about position requirements with employees and candidates,” Irby explained.
Cintel also focuses on fostering morale-boosting activities for its team members as a way of restoring a sense of community. Irby cited a successful “Cintel Gives Serving Saturday” event that supported a local charity, as well as other successful morale and networking events. “We believe connected teams deliver the most value and to that end we will always prioritize our teams being connected, both personally and professionally,” Irby stated.
Although he recognizes the necessity of scheduling flexibility, Irby places high value in the physical work environment: “Being present is critical for creativity, spontaneous meetings, conversations, and opportunities that arise from physically being around teammates, coworkers, and customers. To an extent, this can be overcome with networking and active connection through technology, but we have seen that when our teams are physically together, they are more active, creative, and happy – so we work hard to create opportunities for this to happen.”
“I don’t think we will really understand the impact these changes have had for many years, but the one thing that is certain is that companies must work hard to figure out how to meet the needs of their current employees and how to attract new employees. Continual internal evaluation and response to the labor market is critical going forward,” Irby explained.
It’s also important for organizations to let employees know why they’re being called back to the office, highlighting the positive benefits of doing so for both them and the company. There will be some hesitant employees, and it’s important to give them a voice as well. Whether it’s a group discussion, a private chat with a manager, or a meeting with HR and leadership, these employees need to feel heard and understood. Not doing so can foster resentment and may lead to multiple resignations.
At the same time, supporters of the return-to-work plan need to be able to express their views–in the best case scenario, they will be able to offer resistant employees support and encouragement to return.
Businesses can also reduce resistance to return to the office by providing assistance in areas such as transportation costs, child care, and scheduling flexibility. Another big incentive: food.
Emily, a young engineer who relocated across the country for work just prior to the shutdown, provided some input regarding her resistance to returning.
“I struggle to motivate myself to go back to the office since I’d need to pack a lunch in the morning before going. It’s tough when I have meetings starting at 8AM daily that would be virtual anyway,” she said.
Her suggestion: “Give us food. That’ll get me back in. I’ll totally come in if they have snacks at the office on a regular basis as well.”
“Engineers are food motivated. Like dogs,” Emily added.
In March of this year, Mazda Toyota Manufacturing took concrete steps to provide child care assistance for its employees when it formed a partnership with TOOTRiS, an on-demand child care platform. TOOTRiS provides access to hundreds of licensed childcare options near employees’ homes or workplace. The platform also enables parents to find temporary care and drop-ins, as well as services accommodating non-traditional work schedules.
“We understand the struggles our working parents have finding affordable and quality Child Care. We want to help relieve that burden so our valuable team members know their children are well cared for,” Mark Brazeal, Vice President of Administration at MTM said in a statement. “The partnership with TOOTRiS helps us accomplish that goal and aligns with our commitment to diversity and inclusion in the workforce while creating career opportunities at our world class automotive manufacturing facility.”
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!