As companies continue to refine their hybrid work and return-to-office strategies, employers can help by actively involving employees in the decision-making process and listening to top talent, according to a June 11 report from Cisco.
Flexibility remains a priority for prime talent, as well as clear communication about changes and a justified business case for new RTO plans, the report found.
“We have to remember, flexibility doesn’t mean that everyone is working remotely all the time,” said Fran Katsoudas, Cisco’s executive vice president and chief people, policy and purpose officer. “It means that there’s an ability to take into consideration the needs of every individual. And one of the big ah-hah’s from the study is that flexibility makes top performers perform better.”
In a survey of more than 21,500 employers and employees across multiple industries and 21 markets, nearly three-quarters of organizations have RTO mandates. Notably, 73% of respondents reported feeling more productive in the office, with an average self-reported gain of about one full day per week.
At the same time, building trust around RTO seems to be key. In the survey, employers consistently overestimated the positive impact of RTO policies on productivity and well-being, while 77% of employees said they thought strict mandates were driven by a lack of trust. Only 28% of employees said mandates were helpful to their well-being, though 92% said community and collaboration remained key aspects of office culture.
Top talent, in particular, said they expect hybrid opportunities, and 78% said they might leave a company if the work policies weren’t flexible enough. Even so, high performers said they saw advantages to in-office time; eighty-five percent said they believed it helped their career, even if only 34% preferred working from the office. Employers can give workers freedom by creating autonomy and building trust into their RTO policies, Cisco said.
For all employees, clear communication around RTO can help, the report found. Only 36% of employees said their RTO mandates were explained clearly.
“It’s so important for leaders to really lead here and drive the conversation with their team members, asking, how do we work best as a team?” Katsoudas said. “How do we improve our performance? What is working and what’s not? What outcomes are we working toward and how often do we need to be together to reach them? When we have these kinds of discussions, it’s natural to broach the topic of where it makes the most sense to work.”
Many employers dropped remote work and increased RTO efforts recently, but the switch may be affecting recruitment efforts, according to HR Dive’s annual Identity of HR survey. Candidates still want flexible options, but fewer employers offered remote or hybrid work as part of their talent acquisition strategies in 2024, which has reportedly hindered some HR pros’ efforts.
For the most part, RTO rates have stabilized, but flexible work models remain key for scheduling, according to a report by McKinsey & Co. Hybrid options, in particular, allow employers to compete for talent by “aligning working conditions with employee preferences,” McKinsey experts said.
To boost the in-office experience, HR pros can smooth the RTO transition by ensuring adequate workspace and technology, empowering managers to help direct reports, and re-onboarding workers who have been remote for a long time, HR experts told HR Dive.