I think the pandemic brought about major shifts in how we manage the balance between life and work. For some of us, we developed all kinds of ways to cope with reduced human interaction. While we lost our routines and common haunts we found gardening, fitness, art though music, painting, pottery and sculpting that now shape our lives and identities. Work has also shifted and the norms of how, where and when we do our work has changed.
Remote Work Home Boom
In August 2023, The Bureau of Labor and Statistics reported that 1 in 5 desk jobs was fully remote. Today, 1/2 of employee would prefer to work from home. Many of these remote job opportunities cater to those with advanced degrees. A U.S. New article posted in January of 2024, reported an increase in about 20% of jobs posted online being fully remote. This is double the number prior to the pandemic. Globally, the numbers show an increase in fully remote jobs for professionals in certain career tracks. While it’s possible the trend will cool - remote and hybrid work as a norm is here to stay.
I can remember way back in 2011 when I started this stint of my professional career. In office culture was the only culture and it served as a sort of second family, social hub and proving ground. There are things I learned by simply observing interactions with those in the work place that I could have never gained by from working from home early in my career. Today, I have enough context of work systems to know what to be curious about. As the saying goes, you don’t know what you don’t know. I think the reality is a lot of early career professionals would benefit from more in office time, or a hybrid work format that makes intentional use of in office time for professional development.
I guess it all depends on the culture you want to create, the types of employees you have and the core business you’re trying to build. Humans are pack animals, we need each other for cues on how to think about what the company is up to, how to handle issues in alignment with policy expectations, and how to move and grow in the company. Remote work provides great space for individuality but not so much for getting good at developing shared understanding on what is expected at the core of the business.
Return to Office
For this reason I can understand why some top bosses want staff back in offices. That said, it will take some work to pull staff away from the effectiveness and flexibility they may be experiencing. It means that bringing some people back to the office will be a lot tougher than sending them home. If your company is going to bring people and teams back into the office consider your why. Leaders, if you don’t tell people why you’re making a major change, why you’re taking them away from their designer poodle, their midday yoga fix, their ability to spend time with an aging parent or young child and still PERFORM at a high level when there has been a 20% increase in remote jobs for highly skilled professional labor - stop, look and listen.
Creating a RTO Plan
Once you’re clear on your why - say it seven times seven ways. Make the office a place people want to return to. Bring them onsite to take a tour of your new and refurbished amenities - create some energy, keep it authentic and keep it rooted in your why. For all my HR peeps, I think this is your work - at the end of the day RTO is work that impacts people in diverse ways. Some of your people will need support adopting this change and shifting their lives around to make it work. Take patience and humanity into every discussion.
I think there’s enough research out there to encourages easing into RTO - think about allowing people to ease into coming into the office. Some people will be delighted to get away from their current work from home routine - let those folks come in fully and let others find their balance a few days a week. Set a timeline for the final date of exploration - and make the change real.
RTO and Small Business Opportunities
If you’re bringing people back - be thoughtful, be deliberate and consider all of the what it takes for humans to make changes. COVID is not gone - families are still growing and aging, and needs are not all the same. Be thoughtful. I’m not a fan of coming back into the office all 5 days - I think some of your staff will feel like that is a complete loss of the lives they were able to explore and created during the pandemic. Don’t forget about that 20% increase in potential other places for some of your staff to work- fully remote. For small companies and start-ups, I think this is your play to acquire talent from all over the country and abroad (don’t violate any employment laws there). Be sure that if you are an early company you consider how you can be focused on ensuring a great culture where humanity and connection are part of your secret sauce. No matter the size of the organization or the RTO policy people need people and that’s not going away.
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