Euroviews. Employers, make your employees an office they can’t refuse

As more and more firms enact strict Return-to-Office mandates, the ultimate costs of these new policies are coming to light. Forcing employees back to the office is, in most companies, creating an exodus of talent.

Employees are standing their ground: dating app Grindr saw nearly half of its workforce quit after the company mandated that all workers return to the office twice a week. 

Employers are staying firm: Amazon’s leadership recently hinted that workers who don’t agree with its new RTO policy will soon have to leave the firm.

It’s reasonable why employers would want employees to return to the office on at least some days of the week. Offices, at their best, promote collaboration and communication, as seen with the Allen Curve. 

But it’s just as understandable why many employees would not want to return to in-person work. Offices, at their worst, disrupt focus and make it harder to get things done.

The solution isn’t more RTO mandates. What employers need instead is to strike a deal: to make the employees an office they can’t refuse.

A broad study from Leesman found that the average home supports the average worker better than many offices can. 

Employees need quiet, privacy, and focus to be able to do their jobs well — and most offices still lack these considerations.

That needs to change. The employers that are going to win in the new age of hybrid work — and attract and retain the best talent — are the ones who make the office a worthwhile experience for their employees. 

And that means making working at the office more like — and even better than — working from home.

Here are three ways we’ve achieved that at our company. By implementing these three steps, we’ve seen our offices fuller now than they were before the