The concept of Return to Office (RTO) has sparked significant debate and discord in the corporate world. While many companies strive to bring employees back to the office, the execution often falls short, resulting in dissatisfaction and inefficiency. To delve deeper into the reasons behind these failures, I had a conversation with Micah Remley, CEO of Robin Powered, a workplace management platform that helps around 2,000 companies implement hybrid work and flexible workplace strategies globally.
The Disconnect: Management vs. Employees
One of the primary reasons for RTO failures, according to Remley, is the fundamental disconnect between management and employees. Management often views returning to the office as a means to boost company performance and foster collaboration. However, employees, having experienced the efficiency of remote work, struggle to see the necessity of commuting back to an office environment that often mirrors their home setup.
This disconnect is exacerbated by the lack of clear communication and intentionality. “Employees don’t understand why they’re being called back to the office,” Remley notes. The common rationale that the office environment promotes better collaboration and productivity falls apart when the reality involves employees sitting in cubicles, similar to their home offices, with minimal face-to-face interaction.
The Cubicle Conundrum
Interestingly, cubicle sales have surged as companies attempt to recreate the quiet, private spaces of home offices within the workplace. However, this trend highlights a critical misalignment. The very essence of an office environment should be to facilitate interactions and collaborations that are challenging to achieve remotely. By making offices resemble home offices, companies strip away the unique benefits that an office setting should offer.
The data supports this misalignment. A recent report by the Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes (SWAA) found that employees gain only about 80 minutes of additional face-to-face time per week when working from the office, which hardly justifies commuting time and effort. Thus, the expected collaborative advantage of being in the office is often not realized.
The Importance of Intentionality
Remley emphasizes that successful RTO strategies hinge on intentionality. This involves understanding and planning for the specific reasons employees should be in the office. Microsoft’s research on “moments that matter” identifies critical activities, such as the initiation of new projects or team-building exercises, that benefit significantly from in-person collaboration.
However, the challenge lies in predicting these moments. Research from Northwestern Kellogg School shows that 90% of workplace interactions happen at desks through spontaneous, everyday conversations. For these interactions to be fruitful, employees need to be in close proximity to their colleagues, a condition rarely met in current office setups where people are often dispersed.
The Failure of One-Size-Fits-All Approaches
Many companies falter by implementing rigid, top-down mandates, such as requiring employees to be in the office a set number of days per week without clear reasoning. This approach breeds resentment and fails to achieve the intended productivity boost. On the other hand, leaving the decision entirely to individual teams can result in inconsistency and a lack of coordinated effort.
Remley advocates for a balanced approach: creating a structured framework that outlines the company’s cultural and productivity goals while allowing teams the flexibility to adapt within this framework. This strategy ensures that employees understand the purpose behind the RTO policies and feel invested in their success.
Measuring Success: The Workplace Collaboration Score
To navigate the complexities of RTO, companies must measure the effectiveness of their policies. Surprisingly, most organizations lack proper metrics for evaluating the success of their RTO initiatives. Remley introduces the concept of a workplace collaboration score, which assesses three key components of in-person collaboration:
- Occupancy: Tracking how occupied the office is and ensuring it aligns with collaboration goals.
- Ad hoc Collaboration: Measuring the frequency and quality of spontaneous desk-side interactions.
- Planned Collaboration: Evaluating the effectiveness of scheduled meetings and ensuring they foster the desired level of interaction.
For instance, Remley shares a revealing statistic from Robin’s data: 54% of meetings in conference rooms involve only one person on a video call. This indicates a significant misalignment, as these solitary meetings do not leverage the collaborative potential of the office.
Learning from Successful Companies
Companies that excel in their RTO strategies share common practices. They prioritize co-locating teams and ensuring they are in the office on the same days, fostering an environment conducive to collaboration. Additionally, they are intentional about where employees sit, promoting proximity to high performers to boost overall productivity.
These companies also empower employees by providing data and research to guide their decisions on when and how to come into the office. This approach not only enhances buy-in but also ensures that office time is spent effectively, fostering meaningful interactions and collaboration.
Conclusion: Crafting Intentional RTO Strategies
The path to successful RTO lies in intentionality, clear communication, and a balanced approach that combines structured frameworks with team-level flexibility – that’s what I advise my clients who ask me for how to optimize their flexible work plans. By understanding the unique benefits of in-person collaboration and designing office environments to enhance these interactions, companies can bridge the gap between management’s expectations and employees’ needs. As Micah Remley insightfully points out, the key is not just to bring employees back to the office but to create a purposeful, engaging, and productive workplace that justifies the return.
About the Author
Dr. Gleb Tsipursky was named “Office Whisperer” by The New York Times for helping leaders overcome frustrations with hybrid work and Generative AI. He serves as the CEO of the future-of-work consultancy Disaster Avoidance Experts. Dr. Gleb wrote seven best-selling books, and his two most recent ones are Returning to the Office and Leading Hybrid and Remote Teams and ChatGPT for Leaders and Content Creators: Unlocking the Potential of Generative AI. His cutting-edge thought leadership was featured in over 650 articles in prominent venues such as Harvard Business Review, Fortune, and Fast Company. His expertise comes from over 20 years of consulting for Fortune 500 companies from Aflac to Xerox and over 15 years in academia as a behavioral scientist at UNC-Chapel Hill and Ohio State. A proud Ukrainian American, Dr. Gleb lives in Columbus, Ohio.
