Return To The Office . . . NOW: Businesses' Next Dumpster Fire

In the wake of a pandemic, virtual work, and geographic flexibility, it seems that businesses' next dumpster fire is likely to be their demands that their employees return to the office full time or possibly face the guillotine; not a new concept, but it is gaining steam.  There is no need for physical office space other than a nice place to meet clients and interview assorted reporters. Still, nonetheless, businesses are increasingly demanding that employees return to the office at once without taking time to think through the realities of today's workplace.  There are three considerations every business should consider before demanding their employees return to the office: what will happen when all the employees come back to the office, talent loss due to geographic confinements, and the costs for the company and employees.  In all fairness, some businesses function better with everyone in a nice office. Still, many professionals simply have no need or desire to gather in a communal space, enduring each other's bodily functions, spontaneous ideas, and the company's cheap toilet paper; thus, they may likely start looking when their employer demands a return to the office.

Let's All Sing Around The Water Cooler

Not so fast; many employees simply want to do their jobs and go home to their families without the extra workplace drama that accompanies sharing a communal space with a few dozen or even several hundred co-workers.  Employers are likely well-armed to rebut the foregoing with citations to performance improvement data points gleaned from some big company's study on the virtual workplace's negative impact on the GDP.  However, how many employees will stand toe-to-toe with an ill-informed executive, ask who paid for the study, and argue how unbiased the study is likely?  Not many employees would likely bother; they can simply endure their present situation until they find another job in a few months or years.  Therefore, when employees are forced to return to the office or face termination, it is likely that morale will take a nosedive, and many employees may choose to start looking, which will likely result in the company losing significant talent to more flexible competitors.

Later

When a company issues an ultimatum, it is most likely that many employees will grin and bear the situation while they look for another position at a company offering virtual options.  It is most likely that more than a few companies in the marketplace started because someone's employee felt slighted or otherwise mistreated and they walked out the door to start a competitor organization that eventually bankrupted their prior employer.  Further, there is great talent in the marketplace. However, that talent may not be within commuting distance from the company's office. That fact may cause the company to insist on returning to the office and losing top talent to competitors.  Managers who wish to have their employees return to the workplace have likely tried multitudes of gimmicks to lure employees back to the office and make it the employees' idea. Still, free lunches, happy hours, and complimentary breakfast most likely just take more time away from an employee's family and complicate their day without adding to the GDP.  Maybe some companies have figured it out by allowing employees to come and go from the office as they please, offering unlimited PTO, and making the office so nice with so much functionality that employees would instead get fully dressed and commute to work instead of walking downstairs in their suit and furry slippers to start work.   For the companies who may have figured it out by offering flexibility and unique office spaces to lure employees back to the office, good for them, but it costs money . . . shareholder's money.

The Balancing Test  

The board of directors in any business issuing a return to the office ultimatum is likely to ask the company's executives to explain how much it costs in terms of hard cash to lure employees back to the office and how much more productivity has been realized once the employees are back in the office.  Such executives had better hope the gamble pays off because, in many cases, they are likely making decisions to buy lunches, state-of-the-art desks, and meditation mats with shareholder's money.  On the other hand, if the board figures out that half their top talent has migrated to other competitors, new competitors are entering the market daily headed by their former SME, or other competitors are taking advantage of geographical flexibility by leveraging a virtual workplace to out-innovate them; the board will likely find some new executives that understand today's workplace and how a motivated workforce of top talent linked together by a company laptop and an internet connection can build a company, unlike any company that existed thirty years ago at a possible fraction of the cost. 

Conclusion

While no one knows the happy medium between being forced to commute to a communal space five days a week versus taking meetings with your favorite coffee mug in furry slippers, it is most likely that the answer will be more apparent in the next eighteen to twenty-four months as the smoke from this dumpster fire continues to clear.  No one knows whether that answer will manifest in the form of great new companies entering the market or the workforce sheepishly reverting to a pre-pandemic mentality by returning to an office so their companies can justify the high-rent office space to the shareholders.  What is known is that there will most likely be some uncertainty going into the next several months and years as the workplace finds equilibrium in a hyper-connected marketplace where forward-thinking businesses can leverage top talent and internet connections to change the world from a thousand home offices.  As earnings reports come in over the next few months and years, the workplace of tomorrow will most likely show in the numbers as the battle between in-person and virtual continues.  For more debate on luring employees back to the office, demanding their return, or leveraging the global marketplace to outperform the competition, visit HB Consulting, LLC to learn more about our services and to book a Free Consultation.

Disclaimer: The information contained hereinabove is offered for educational purposes only as it is general in nature, is a matter of opinion based upon information and belief, not predicated upon any person or organization’s specific facts or circumstances, should not be relied upon, nor should the writing hereinabove be taken by any reader as Legal, Financial, or Tax advice under any circumstance.  

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