Over the past year, businesses have gradually brought employees back to their offices. For some, this was full-time, whereas others trickled them in, adding more days per week to ease the shock of going from remote work to in-house so suddenly. As you’d expect, there has been plenty of pushback from those who believe they work better remotely. Still, if you need your team back, you can sweeten the deal by considering these tips.
Give Them A Good Reason
You cannot expect everyone to come back to the office willingly, so you better have a good reason for it, otherwise you risk losing employees and damaging your brand’s profile. The better your reasons, the easier it will be to convince everyone that returning to the office full-time is a good thing. However, you can’t make stuff up. Conducting employee surveys about loneliness, productivity, and collaboration convenience can give you the tools and information you need to put forward a compelling case.
Make It A Conversation
Even with excellent reasons, you can’t demand anything. Sure, you’re the boss, but this is not an autocracy. If you want to foster a positive work environment, you need to make it a conversation. You need to discuss everything with your employees and see what they think about returning to the office. Understanding their concerns and ideas can help you reach a compromise that will endear them to office work again.
Upgrade The Space
Your employees do not want to come back to the drab and depressing space they vacated a few years ago. They want to see that the company profits have been put to good use rather than paying for your sports car. Upgrading the space comes in many forms, such as installing improved wifi or designing areas that promote calmness, especially in high-stress industries. If there were any issues before leaving the office, see if you can implement change in these areas prior to everyone’s return.
Make It Comfortable
Comfort is another key factor, especially when you remember that your team has been as comfortable as they like while working from home. You can browse specialist brands like Apex Furniture to find top-quality options for office furniture and give your employees something to smile about as they spend all day at their desks without experiencing neck, shoulder, and back pain.
Offer Better Benefits
Despite all these improvements, there will always be some employees that are adamant they are not coming back, and can you blame them? These could be tough nuts to crack, but offering better perks than before could be the difference. They will still need considerable convincing, but hopefully, both sides are professional enough to find common ground that will make them feel better about returning to the office.
Welcome Back
It’s almost certain you will experience a degree of resistance when welcoming employees back to the office. If this happens, you need to consider their point of view and demonstrate you are not doing this to rule with an iron fist. These tips can make the transition back to full-time office work more amenable and make your team feel better about returning.
