Returning to the Office: How to Prepare Your Organization

Although the pandemic subsided some time ago, we have undoubtedly learned to function in a new reality and have started looking to the future. After months of 100% remote work, companies returned to full capacity and are looking for answers to the challenges ahead. One of them is the return to the office. Can we really expect employees to come back to office work anytime soon? And if so, does everything stand a chance of staying “the way it was”?

Many organizations found that the consequences of remote work are not negative at all. Employees doing their jobs from the comfort of home are just as effective, and often highly motivated and satisfied — if only because they do not lose time on a daily commute. Access to modern work tools enables effective communication between team members even when many kilometers separate them. And this is not unique to a state of epidemic emergency. For years, hybrid work was a solution in use, just not on such a large scale. Picture, for example, an employee caring for a child who, with their manager’s approval, worked at least partly remotely.

“Is it time to return to the office?” That question runs through many conversations among leaders and HR teams. It also triggers an avalanche of follow-ups. “If we return to the office, in what form? How do we do it safely? Who should come back? How do we guarantee proper communication? How do we look after the organization’s culture?” Let us try to answer the most important of these.

The end of remote work? Not necessarily

After the early months of the pandemic, many organizations gradually introduced the option of working from the office — some on a rotating system, some only for people in specific roles, and others capped the percentage of employees allowed to work from the office. Employees appreciated that flexibility, and according to CBRE Research, 67% of workers expect the option to combine office work with remote work.

Interestingly, many companies used the pandemic as an opportunity to bet on a hybrid work mode. Why? They saw that a hybrid solution is a chance for measurable savings. Traditional workstations were replaced by so-called hot desks — that is, rotation. Working from the office became necessary only in certain situations, for example when an employee wanted direct contact with their manager. On the other hand, employees rearranged their homes for new needs. During the pandemic, those became full-fledged workplaces, so in many respects returning to the office turned out not to be essential.

Is a return to the office as we knew it even possible? New expectations around remote work

For most companies, a mass return to the office is possible — but in an era of advanced technical devices that streamline remote work, on-site office work can seem like a relic. So it is reasonable to ask how widely hybrid solutions will take hold, given that, as it turned out, they are not much of a challenge for many companies.

A few words on flexibility

The question of whether it is even possible to effectively encourage employees to return to on-site work seems crucial. According to the Cushman & Wakefield report, remote work brought a 10% increase in team productivity (alongside a slight increase in individual productivity). Today, 75% of people consider this format productive. Add to that the reduced need to commute and lower exposure to infection risk, and it is no wonder employees do not want to give up the option.

The end of the epidemic changes little here. For office work, remote work brings additional benefits — for example, from the perspective of an employee raising a child or caring for another close family member. What is more, a mass return to the office could push more than one person to look for a job where the hybrid model is 100% accepted.

The need for a middle-ground model

On the other hand, people working remotely often complain about a lack of in-person contact, a drop in creativity, or a lack of access to certain office tools and equipment (among others, 69% of those surveyed by Kinnarps cite the lack of an ergonomic workspace as one of the bigger challenges of working from home).

A hybrid work model comes to the rescue of both needs, guaranteeing employees a certain kind of flexibility.

This model assumes combining office work and remote work, with the latter not necessarily limited to working from home. CBRE reports that 73% of companies anticipate supporting these flexible forms of work.

There is yet another remote-work model standing in opposition to office work: workation. What does it involve? Remote work can be done not only as a home office, but also during a stay in an attractive tourist destination. After finishing their duties, an employee can feel a taste of a vacation far from the workplace. For many employees, this is one of their top expectations — and employers certainly have to take it into account.

Three days? Once in a while? Whatever suits each person?

To address business needs and employees’ expectations around a flexible work model, companies are developing possible variants of the return to the office (also described with the term reboarding). There are quite a few scenarios. The choice depends largely on how big a share of remote work a given organization can allow — among other things, because of the industry it operates in and the availability of specific work tools.

The most popular hybrid work models

• Full flexibility, where employees use the office whenever they want, because the need for them to do traditional office work practically does not exist.
• The rotational model — part of the team works from the office for a set time, part works from home; then they switch. This solution is fairly common, e.g., in government offices and institutions. A temporary return to the office happens only when the whole team needs to meet. Many employees have a positive attitude toward precisely this option.
• A rigid split — this model can take two forms: a) splitting into teams that work exclusively remotely and teams that work exclusively from the office; b) employees must be present in the office on certain days of the week and may work remotely on the rest. Google, among others, considered such a form. In the first case there is unfortunately a risk that some team members will feel hard done by, prompting them to change jobs.
• A gradual return of the whole team to the office — this model breaks the return into phases. In each phase, a set percentage of all employees can work from the office while the rest work remotely. Pharmaceutical giants such as Bayer and AstraZeneca introduced this. The model mainly suits companies that derive unique benefits from on-site office work and for which, after the pandemic, remote work is for various reasons not viable in the long run.
• Working from the office a set number of days per week, with the employee choosing which days. This is probably the most flexible solution and, in many cases, the most advantageous for the employee. It certainly makes life easier for people sharing a household, who can split duties among themselves without obstacles — childcare, for instance.

Developing the model together

Each of these models poses different challenges for the organization and employees — from the need to monitor how many people are working in the office, to choosing the optimal day to work from headquarters, to having a plan B in case someone falls ill at the office. One thing is certain: they all require self-discipline, cooperation, and responsibility from employees — for both the organization of work and safety. And from the employer’s side — passing on the necessary knowledge and building new habits. At the same time, the prospect of cutting costs directly tied to 100% office work is very tempting for many organizations. The pandemic showed that choosing remote work does not have to mean reduced employee effectiveness.

What should this flexibility look like in practice?

In many organizations, employees themselves provide the answers to how to divide work time (between remote and office work) and whether working set hours is necessary. Companies such as Facebook and VirtusLab asked their employees about the most important areas of the new work model and, on that basis, developed (or are developing) a plan. What is more, some organizations set up dedicated teams that not only respond to employee needs but also calculate business risks and analyze how to meet the spatial requirements imposed by regulations. This seems a very good approach, because employees additionally gain a sense of agency and ownership in their daily office work.

Returning to the office: if we go back, let us go back safely

Regardless of the chosen return model and the pace of rollout, one matter remains unquestionably a priority for everyone: the health and safety of employees. Regulations from Poland’s National Labour Inspectorate (PIP) and Chief Sanitary Inspectorate (GIS), together with government rules, obligate employers to meet requirements for social distancing and to provide hygiene supplies and measures that limit infection risk.

It will be necessary to introduce new internal regulations, rearrange the space, and ensure a good flow of information so that everyone is kept up to date.

This involves both ensuring safety within your own office and arranging the building’s common spaces with that in mind. That is why cooperation with office-building owners will be key here. Some of them, such as Savills, support their tenants by preparing recommendations and guides on returning to on-site work while maintaining all safety standards.

Trust is the best currency — in remote and on-site work alike

It is worth remembering that for employees, not only the work model itself will matter, but also a sense of safety. Companies will have to keep it in mind at every step. According to the MJCC report “The Employer Brand in the Face of the Pandemic,” 84% of employees declared that their employer introduced the right solutions to look after their health and safety.

How organizations behaved at the start of the pandemic clearly translated into greater trust in companies, as shown by the 76% of respondents declaring trust in their own employer and managers’ decisions (according to the 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer). All the more reason for organizations to be careful about how they look after employees’ health and safety during the return to the office. A friendly and safe workplace is an assurance that returning to the office will not stir anxiety among employees — who will reward the employer with an even higher level of trust.

Remote work — putting responsibility in employees’ hands

The matter of trust also plays an enormous role in managing work in the new reality. When combining remote, on-site, and hybrid work, there is no room for excessive control of employees. Managers must find new methods of organizing collaboration — methods based on trust and on decentralization. In short: it is time to share power and responsibility with employees. Are employers ready for that? A lot depends on new standards of communication with employees and on the organization of remote work itself, with the employee’s expectations in mind. On that basis, organizations are introducing new rules governing the matter.

New year — new office

The need to maintain safety standards and the flexibility of the work model will bring changes in how office space is used. When planning the return to the office, it is worth taking this into account and spending time answering the questions of what the office is for and how we can use it effectively under the new conditions. A change in how offices are used is already noticeable.

Work remotely, get to know each other on-site

Companies are increasingly deciding to implement the Activity Based Working model. It divides office space into zones designated for specific types of activity. The “hot desk” option reduces the number of desks while enabling greater use of shared space. The new type of office should include even more creative-work zones, integration zones, and quiet-work zones. The proposed new solutions should be flexible and as easy to reconfigure as possible, so they best serve a blended and changing work mode.

It is worth remembering that returning to the office after a few years of pandemic is a mild shock for employees, because they have grown used to remote work and expect the necessary tools to be in place so they can do their jobs as comfortably as possible. In other words, the arrangement of the space should partly recreate the conditions in which they worked remotely, including access to technical devices.

Communication in a hybrid model

Returning to the office or adopting a hybrid model comes with further communication challenges. Organizations have to develop entirely new standards here. A company cannot function properly without a free flow of information between employees. Communication — always one of the more important factors in a company running smoothly — now has to be even more precise, specific, and transparent. It should account for the needs of remote employees, employees permanently in the office, and, last but not least, those working in a blended model.

Organizations must introduce new meeting standards, new ways of managing distributed teams, and new ways of distributing and circulating information — all so that no one feels excluded and decision-making does not slow down.

The support of new technologies

It is essential to use proven technological solutions that enable all team or company members to take part in meetings remotely, on equal terms (e.g., by introducing the rule that if one person attends a meeting remotely, everyone else joins the same way), to inform people regularly about changes and new procedures, and to build a continuously updated knowledge base.

This approach was close to us even before the pandemic. In the projects we run, a gamified knowledge base uses a microlearning mechanism and various knowledge formats (so-called blended learning). In that form, it becomes an integral part of onboarding and the return-to-office process.

How do you preserve the company’s spirit and grow its culture in a new form?

Employee engagement becomes a challenge

Limited opportunity for face-to-face interaction and shared, in-person participation in company life — all of this negatively affects our ability to build bonds with other employees and with the organization. This is an area that, with long-term changes in how the organization operates, will require special attention. Both leaders and HR teams will have to develop new ways of supporting employee engagement. There will also be a need to translate everyday tasks more clearly into the company’s missions and goals, and to build the team.

In search of spontaneity

Whatever the chosen form of work, it is worth considering shared workshops, team-building, or training on topics related to the current situation (e.g., working in distributed teams, stress management, work-life balance). Shared team games will also come in handy, helping people get to know one another better, integrate, and de-stress. In Gamfi’s solutions supporting the return to the office, we are designing a bot that will automate the process of scheduling spontaneous 1:1 meetings. And spontaneity in interactions is very important!

As Jennifer Magnolfi and Greg Lindsay show in their work Workspaces That Move People, 79% of innovation can be created during chance meetings or conversations in the office.

So it is worth ensuring an appropriate equivalent of this format, to maintain innovation, achieve business goals, and look after employee satisfaction.

Returning to the office? All together now

The coming months will be a time for drawing up work plans for the months, perhaps even years, ahead. It is essential that the planning process involve leaders, operational teams (HR, administration, technical support), and employees. Only by joining forces can you create solutions that benefit everyone.

You do not have to face this challenge alone! At Gamfi, we have solutions that prepare organizations for employees’ return to the office — in all sorts of forms. We help onboard people into on-site work anew, or find their footing in a blended model.