The Great Debate: Return to Office Edition

Remote, hybrid, or fully in-office – that is the question weighing heavily on the minds of leaders across the country. We share 18 thought starters to help find the right answer for your organization.

Author: Stu Nutting

Gee whiz, there’s a whole lot of noise about going back to the office. Posts on this subject matter sure attract a tremendous amount of emotion.

As AnchorPoint is an executive search firm, we have frequent conversations with both business leaders and prospective employees. Regarding return to office policies, many companies are proposing Mondays and Fridays as remote with Tuesday through Thursday in office. It makes sense, I guess. Who doesn’t like to dust off the cobwebs after the weekend in the comfort of their own home? And on Fridays, especially as a Minnesotan, who wouldn’t prefer ending the work week up north while looking over a peaceful lake in the summertime?

Now, before anyone gets too excited about this and wants to weigh in with personal factors, please know that we don’t have a horse in this race. We are merely trying to help you think through what’s best for yourself and your company to be as healthy and successful as possible. It’s going to be different for everyone, and that’s okay.

I know it sounds old school, but I highly recommend making a list of pros and cons to reach a decision. This is the perfect opportunity to break out the old spiral notebook and give it a go.

To help you get started, I wanted to throw out some thought starters as you wrestle with this complicated decision. A few things to ponder:

·       What’s right for the next generation? If you have young people in your lives, what would you wish for them as they begin their careers out in the big old business world?  In the office, fully remote, or some hybrid option in between? And why do you want it that way for them? For example, if your answer is, ‘heck yeah, I want them in the office learning how to build relationships and gaining wisdom from our senior employees,’ then that would require those “senior folks” to be around, I guess.

·       How do your people engage? Are some employees required to be in the building daily? Is it important for those employees to engage with others who aren’t required to be in the building?

·       What does winning look like? Does being remote play a role your employees’ ability to build the quality relationships needed to “win the day” with your team?  What does winning mean to you?

·       What meeting options are most engaging? Are you and your employees able to “be present” and engaged in remote meetings? Are meetings more effective face-to-face or remote in your organization? Do you need to read the room in person or are you just as good in a remote setting?

·       Do you have a meeting structure? Are your meetings structured well enough to make sure the right things are discussed no matter where people are located?  Solid agendas, actionable items, and so on? After all, a meeting without an agenda is just a conversation. You can have those anywhere, anytime.

·       Is your tech up to snuff? Do you have the right technology maturity in your organization’s remote set up? No one wants to find themselves frozen with an awkward face or, worse, not be heard when you should be.

·       Is your workforce productive? Are you or your team as effective as you want to be no matter where you are? How are you measuring that? Are you good with time management no matter the situation you are in?

·       How’s your culture? If you have been remote, has your culture stayed the same, gotten better, or gotten worse? How are you measuring that?

·       How’s your work-life balance? What scenario gives you and your employees the best work/life balance? For instance, is a commute crushing your employees’ souls?  I guess that’s probably a bit dramatic, but you know what I mean. Is office time healthy for you and employees? How so and how do you know?

·       Who is impacted? Does it feel right to have the flexibility for some employees, but not all? Why or why not?

·       What is the best situation for your individual mental wellbeing? This is the one that truly matters.

Like I said above, there’s a list of questions a mile long that employers and employees need to ask themselves. These are just a few ideas to get the juices flowing. And it’s important you do; this subject matter should not be taken lightly. It’s our new reality.

I firmly believe that not deciding and not setting guidelines is a bad move. Do the work, make the decision, and move forward. What’s best for your business today isn’t going to change six months from now.  As for you as an individual, make whatever decision is best for you. If you must change jobs to live the lifestyle you desire and be the best version of yourself, do it.

Employers, whatever decision you make I hope it brings good things to your organization.  Employees, whatever decision you make I hope it brings good things to you and your family.

Either way, set aside the emotion and break out your pro-con spiral notebook. Decisions made on emotion aren’t usually good ones.

Finally, not that you need to factor this into your decision-making process, but here are some recent stats from Buildremote on the Fortune 500 organization’s policies today:

283 (57%) have publicly stated a workplace policy (hybrid, remote, office). Of those,

·       16 are requiring 5 days per week

·       40 do not require any days in the office

·       74 require 3 days per week

·       17 have declared they will not make an official return

·       Others fall into 1 day/quarter, 1 day/week, 2 days/week, 4 days/week, or other

As always, if we can help anyone think through this difficult decision, put us in coach.