4 Considerations to Get Staff to Return to the Office
The last couple of years have seen a paradigm shift in most workplaces. As a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, most employees had to work remotely. Fortunately, the restrictions caused by COVID-19 have been gradually easing.
Now, employees are slowly coming back to the office. But, just how easy is it for your employees to transition from remote working to be in the office? More importantly, what can employers do to ensure a smooth transition? Read on to learn how to smoothly get your employees back to the office.
How easy is the transition from remote to office working?
Some employers and top managers do not see a problem with the transition from working from home to moving back to the office. However, if you look at it from the employee’s point of view, you’ll realize why you need a transition plan. Essentially, your staff has been working from the comfort of their homes for a while now.
Working from home presents a new experience, and it will take time before the staff can get used to working from the office. There’s no definitive timeline or guideline on how long it will take. Since every workplace is unique, it may take your staff anywhere from a few days to weeks or even months.
What can employers do to ensure a smooth transition?
Admittedly, employers have a key role to play in creating a conducive work environment. Here are a few practical tips on what you can do.
1. Get feedback from your staff
As an employer, you may feel the entire burden of creating a smooth transition falls on you. However, it is important to remember you are dealing with the lives of other people. Taking some time to engage with your employees will make the transition process easier.
Basically, you want to ask your staff what works best for them and how you can improve the working space to match the experience they had. Take up these ideas and work on implementing them. For example, most people got used to dressing down. You can, for example, come up with a more lenient and accommodating dress code.
2. Consider changing the working hours
One of the most significant changes when working remotely is the freedom of working hours. Some employees got used to working at different hours of the day. Now that the staff is transitioning back to the office, perhaps you should reconsider changing when the staff can work.
Since most economies operate throughout the day and night, implementing better working hours could also open up new opportunities for your services and products. In addition, changing the working hours could positively affect productivity. Since everyone works when they are most productive, you may experience increased output.
3. Rearrange the working environment
Traditionally, offices were built without significant consideration for the staff. However, since your employees have gotten used to working in a conducive environment, getting back to the generic office setting may increase the transition period.
You can get ideas from your staff on what they would like to see in the new workspace environment. Some of the options to consider include a practical and functional break room with some nice amenities.
4. Give your staff ample time to adjust
As mentioned above, there’s no one definite time limit that your employees need to officially get back to the comfort of the office. This applies to both general workplaces and individual employees. Employers and managers should be understanding and let employees take their time and transition at their speeds.
Ultimately, it is important to recognize that getting back to the office comes with its own set of challenges. Taking time to understand what your employees need and what you can do to help will go a long way in creating a smooth transition. These steps will help you get the best from your employees and a creative work environment.
Improving the office experience is one way to help workers be comfortable in the office. Those considering changing to become freelancers would be well served by understanding their current situation better with total compensation reports. They might be surprised to learn that if they go off on their own, they will be giving up a lot of money in benefits they’ll need to provide themselves.
