The Return-to-Office Dilemma

Why do we hate returning to normal so much? It’s not like the office commute is something new—we’ve done it for years, some for over 30. So what’s the big deal?

The big deal is that for several years surveys asked people if they would rather work from home or at the office. Funny thing, people always preferred to make the daily commute. (Did anyone take those surveys seriously?) Now people overwhelmingly want to work remotely creating a conundrum for businesses trying to return to how work has always been—at the office.

Critics suggest that business leaders simply want to return to the good old days of command and control where they can watch people and try to catch them slacking off. While some leaders may be seduced by the impression that they will regain greater control if they’re in the same physical space as their employees, this does not capture the whole picture.

Take Apple. Steve Jobs spent $5 billion building the new Apple Park headquarters, what some label “spaceship headquarters.” The design was intended to facilitate natural and intentional collaboration in the world’s most innovative company. Not surprisingly, CEO Tim Cook wants to get employees back to the “spaceship.” Can you blame him?

In Steve Jobs’ style, Tim Cook appreciates how working in person creates collaboration opportunities that Apple’s iconic FaceTime app can’t even provide. For Cook, bringing employees back to the mother ship is a strategic decision because employees are better innovators when they bump into each other and exchange ideas throughout the day. And that gives Apple a competitive advantage.

On the flip side, AppleTogether, and like-minded zealots, are elevating the pain employees are experiencing over the prospect of returning to work as they advocate staying home. And they have some pretty good arguments supporting their position. After all, they proved they were effective working from home, didn’t they? So why not keep doing it?

Naturally, these employees want to preserve the unique work-life they have come to enjoy the past couple of years while leaders are concerned about what the business as a whole needs to do to continue innovating. The disconnect between leaders and staff is easy to see. At least some employees are missing the big picture, and leaders may have missed opportunities to create that for them. And maybe leaders are missing something more. While they may understand how to create a great customer experience, they may have lost touch with the employee experience.

So what are the Apples of the world supposed to do when employees organize formal protests against returning to work, or simply join the silent resignation movement?

These three actions can help. 1) Educate employees; 2) Listen to them; 3) Jointly implement the change.

1) If we communicate the why—how a change benefits the customer and helps the business succeed—employees will find it a lot easier to jump on board. But if the decision is announced in a vacuum, leaders should expect at least a little resistance from just about everyone, because people naturally have a need to understand changes that affect them.

Leaders should also recognize that teaching employee the broader business helps them understand strategic leadership decisions that affect them. While that may not help much today, starting to do that soon can prevent similar heartburn, later.

2) Listening to employee concerns can go a long way to diffusing dissent. So, hold town hall meetings and ask what employees like about the change. Then ask them what concerns they have about it. When they respond, don’t try to justify or explain; just take note of what they tell you, and ask clarifying questions to help you understand. Ask employees what they would do to accomplish the intent of the change under the current constraints in a way that addresses their concerns. Compile the data from your meetings and pick out the themes that emerge. Make some timely decisions about what you will do and schedule follow-up meetings to inform employees how you plan to address their concerns.

3) Involve employees—particularly those affected—in implementing the change so they can help shape how it affects them and their peers. If we don’t involve employees, they feel like something is being “done to them” and their natural reaction is to resist. Think about it. How do you feel when a situation is out of your control and something you don’t like is being imposed on you? It doesn’t feel good, does it?

A better approach is to enlist employees in co-creating the changes they can now “own.” In this case, leaders could simply make the collaboration and innovation case to employees and offer a variety of possible work options from which employees could choose. Or, even better, leaders could organize problem-solving teams comprised of employees—no managers—to assess the situation and propose solutions to leaders that both meet the business need and addresses employee concerns. Taking co-creation a little further, once a decision is made, put core employees in charge of developing implementation plans to further increase their commitment to the change.

Changes like these don’t need to be as difficult as they sometimes are. Employees everywhere tend to be more willing to sacrifice for the greater good when they understand why a change is being made, feel their concerns are heard and participate in the change process in a meaningful way.

So check yourself to see if you truly do have a good reason for people to work at the office. If you don’t, let go of the past and embrace working remotely. If you do, educate employees about it and make a solid business case to them. Listen to employees’ concerns and let them help you develop a solution that supports the business and your employees. Educating your team, listening to them, and making them partners in creating a path forward will deepen their loyalty and commitment to the business. And both you and your employees may discover that the change is not so big and terrible after all.

Kevin Herring is co-author of Practical Guide for Internal Consultants, and President of Ascent Management Consulting. Kevin can be contacted at kevinh@ascentmgt.com.

Ascent Management Consulting is found at www.ascentmgt.com and specializes in performance turnarounds, leadership coaching, and appraisal-less performance management.