Your RTO Employer Missed It But You Can Fix It

 

Hybrid work is causing problems. Many employers have required workers to return in some way, and workers are not happy about it. Worse, employers know return-to-office (RTO) policies have not brought about desirable results but do not know exactly what to do next. 

So, you are stuck on the front line of a problem you have little control over - again.

There is a way to turn this difficult situation into a positive, however. If you understand certain details of the background of the situation you can use your leadership skills to help meet your team goals and your employer's goals.

First, Understand the Employers' Situation

Employers brought workers back because they wanted at least two known benefits of workplace face-to-face interaction. Simply stated, these are innovation and camaraderie. Unfortunately, they did it wrong. They assumed that just being back would create the environment necessary to meet those goals. Employers are in the unenviable situation of having to force people to maintain a failed approach which makes the work environment even worse, especially for camaraderie.

• Employers are generally not sure how to meet their goals, so are forced to extend the inadequate policies while they figure it out.
• Some, who have not previously checked whether employees are actually coming to the office, are starting routine checks with sanctions for those who refuse to follow the policies.
• Workplace consultants have summarized the inadequacy here as employers not arranging for the correct activities to foster innovation and camaraderie.

Second, Understand the Employee Position

Workers generally like the flexibility afforded by working from home. They feel that they have proven they can be productive working remotely. When they have to go to work, they do not like the commute, and once they get there, they do not see any value to it. Often, "coffee badging" results where the worker comes to work only to be seen and then leaves.

• Resentment builds in the workplace - just the opposite of what employers want

These two situations make your job more difficult, but, understanding them helps you with your intervention to make office time better.

Tactics to Make Office Time Better

"Making office time better" means that you are helping meet your employer's goals while helping workers get more value out of the in-office experience. Here are some ideas to get you started. Your situation may call for something different, but your objectives are the same.

Add activities for the team to build rapport and solve problems.

Bring everyone in at the same time, consistent with their schedule.

• Conduct team-building activities that will build on the current maturity of the team.
• Eat lunch together and talk informally about shared interests.
• Identify team problems and consider solutions.

Create opportunities for innovation.

Set up interactions with unrelated teams or specialists. While this may sound unusual, innovation has been shown to arise from interaction and coordination between disparate individuals or groups. It comes from one group utilizing learning from an unrelated group.

• This is the kind of interaction employers have been hoping would happen under their RTO policies, but the policies do not necessarily facilitate these desired interactions. You, however, can help facilitate these interactions.
• Ask team members what will work for them. They may want to have a session with an expert or meet with another team to create best practices. Suggest that they think about cross functional groups to have face to face conversations with to see how disparate groups solve similar problems or work successfully in the work environment.
• Bring experts in to talk face-to-face with your team. Help make sure there is a low-stress, positive atmosphere where sharing is low-risk. Let the experts talk about how they do things and let your team focus on anything they find useful.
• "Innovation" in this case is high levels of improvement quickly by using new tools, processes or techniques unknown previously.

An Important Next Step for Your Career

Once you understand what leaders are after and what workers are experiencing, you can intervene effectively to increase worker satisfaction and improve their ability to innovate. But don't forget a critical step: Once you do this, communicate to managers and leaders what you have done. If you have achieved positive results, communicate them.

If your organization is stuck in an RTO-resentment ditch as so many are, you will show yourself as the rare type of leader that is part of the solution. This type of opportunity does not come around often, so use these simple steps as inspiration to form your own plan.

Bonus tip: In a larger organization, work with performance improvement specialists or middle managers to determine the best activities for your team, suggested specialists to contact, and to make it easier for you to communicate your efforts in this pain point so that you can get the recognition you deserve.

Don't miss my articles, also on ProjectManagement.com.