By Amy Jordan

The return-to-office tug-of-war has been dragging on for three years, and, as holiday season approaches, it’s likely to heat up once again. More Australian companies are trying to get their employees back to the office more often. In the financial sector, big employers such as the Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and the National Australia Bank are opting for a structured hybrid.

Company leaders say they want employees back in person to boost collaboration and productivity – but they’re meeting resistance from workers who are reluctant to give up the freedom and flexibility of remote work.

The Finance Sector Union turned to the Fair Work Commission to challenge the Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s directive for employees to be onsite 50% of the time. They argued the Bank breached its obligation to consult with their employees. Other employers have resorted to ultimatums and bribery to boost worker attendance, with Google threatening poor performance reviews and Salesforce offering to match days spent in the office with charitable donations. In companies requiring a five-day-per-week return, most employees simply ignore the mandate (while 40% of managers, in turn, choose to ignore the rule-breakers). 

“The reality is, the pandemic forever changed the way we work,” says Priscilla Koranteng, Indeed’s Chief People Officer. “The most successful organisations today are embracing flexibility, and not just implementing return-to-office policies – but also giving people a place that they want to return to.”

With this in mind, here are four strategies for getting return-to-office buy-in from employees.

1. Embrace hybrid work 

There’s no denying it: hybrid work is emerging as the clear winner for return-to-office policies. According to McKinsey’s State of Organizations 2023 report, 90% of employers in the US have implemented some form of hybrid-work arrangement – and four out of five employees who have engaged in hybrid work in the past two years would like to keep it that way. A 2022 Adaptavist survey Reinventing Work Report showed Australia had the highest percentage of hybrid workers (34%) compared with those in the US, UK and Canada (with an average of 29%).

Going hybrid offers many benefits for companies and their workers, including:

Work wellbeing

Flexibility is a key driver of work wellbeing. Research shows that employees who choose to work from home exhibit a 13% boost in performance, higher job satisfaction and lower attrition, while new mothers who work at home are less likely to experience depression. The 2022 Adaptavist survey listed the top benefits of hybrid work arrangements as better work-life balance, productivity, efficiency and control over where and when they work, with less burnout. 

Productivity

According to US-based WFH research workers say they’re more efficient when working from home, but managers’ concerns about productivity may not be entirely unfounded: Researchers at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research say productivity is about 10% to 20% lower in fully remote working arrangements versus fully in-person ones. However, they found hybrid work makes no difference in productivity – apart from potentially offering a ‘mildly positive impact on performance’. 

Recruiting and hiring

Hybrid work policies are also a competitive recruiting tool. In the new world of work, the balance of power sits with employees seeking hybrid working. Given Australia’s tight employment market and skills shortages, organisations who offer flexible work options, including hybrid working, as part of their employee value proposition (EVP) will more readily attract and retain the best talent. Adopting a hybrid-first approach to work has enabled the company Autodesk to increase the number of job applications by 58%, including an 82% boost in female-identifying candidates and a 45% increase in candidates from underrepresented groups.

As you create or solidify your hybrid work policies, consider what will strike the ideal balance between productivity and work wellbeing while still offering enough flexibility to give you the competitive edge for talent. Though there are many types of models, many companies are moving toward a structured hybrid approach, generally requiring workers to come in two to three days per week between Tuesday and Thursday.

2. Reimagine your workspace

With structured hybrid arrangements, your space may be a virtual ghost town on Mondays and Fridays but experience high traffic on other days. How will you reimagine your office to accommodate new ways of working?

“One of the more important things we discovered during the pandemic is that different people have different needs in order to be the most happy and productive,” says Indeed CEO Chris Hyams in a recent episode of the Indeed podcast: Here to Help. “Some people need quiet time, some people need interactions and some people need a combination of the two.” 

Indeed, which had shifted to fully remote work during the pandemic, began requiring a portion of its workforce to return to the office at least two days per week in the summer of 2023. The new Indeed Tower global co-headquarters in Austin, Texas, is not only a thoughtfully designed space that encourages community and collaboration but also a flexible, hybrid-first work environment that’s versatile and customisable. It offers a ‘coffee-shop’ workplace experience and promotes hybrid collaboration through features such as wireless-first offerings so workers are free to easily move about the office, updated Zoom technology and movable digital whiteboards. In addition, half of the conference rooms feature flexible partitions, allowing the architecture of the office to adapt as usage needs change. 

Yaeji Myung, a workplace innovation manager at Indeed, explains in the episode that what was once considered ‘hardware’ – structures that would take months to renovate – can become ‘software’ that adapts to the fluctuating occupancies of modern offices, like the partitions. “We have the ability to potentially change and bring down those walls, enlarge some conference rooms [or] make them smaller, where we didn’t have that flexibility before,” she says.

3. Double Down on equity, inclusivity and belonging

Though the return-to-office discussion often centres on issues of productivity and work-life balance, these mandates also have an outsized impact on women and historically marginalised groups. For example:

  • Workers with disabilities: Remote-work options open up opportunities to those with accessibility needs that may not be met in a physical office environment.
  • LGBTQ+ workers: In an Indeed survey of LGBTQ+ workers, 76% of those working in a hybrid or remote capacity said they feel safer expressing themselves from home versus working in the office. 

If you’re asking workers in these groups to return to the physical office, are you also providing them with the support they need to succeed, maintain work wellbeing and feel like they belong in your organisation? 

This might mean strengthening or expanding the focus of your DEIB program, upgrading accessibility accommodations in your office, or bolstering Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) or Business Resource Groups (BRGs) that provide employees with opportunities to connect with peers and make their voices heard. Consider enhancing your family-friendly benefits as well, including offering paid parental leave, flexible work hours and resources for working parents, such as services that assist with finding quality backup childcare options. 

To guide your efforts, conduct employee engagement surveys and focus groups with workers from underrepresented communities to see where you can improve equity, inclusivity and belonging and act upon your findings.

4. Cultivate connection

For Hyams, the dialogue around the return to office is a classic case of the manager-worker divide – but not in the way you might think. “Managers want people to go back to work because they think they’ll be more productive, but employees actually want to go back for connection,” he recently shared in Fast Company. 

No one likes commuting to an office only to sit in Zoom meetings all day, so it’s imperative to intentionally create opportunities for employees to forge bonds, network and connect with one another face to face. As part of a structured hybrid approach, try choosing 'anchor days' – usually Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday – to draw employees back into the office at the same time. Use these common touchpoints to plan company-wide meetings, training opportunities and other group activities. Encourage managers to hold their team meetings, one-on-ones and team lunches on these days as well. The opportunity to make meaningful connections will help ensure that employees value their time spent together in person.

At the end of the day, nothing matches the value of human connection. 

“I think that’s what we all realised after being quarantined during the pandemic,” says Myung. “There’s just something about the ability to connect with someone in person that technology hasn’t achieved yet.”