That’s not stopping prominent CEOs like Tesla Inc.’s Elon Musk from making bold declarations calling for strict returns to the office.
It’s one thing to announce a return-to-office plan that’s less flexible than the bulk of the hybrid approaches many companies are opting for.
But it’s another to pull it off while avoiding significant consequences in a tight labor market — especially if company leadership takes a hard-line approach.
The reason many return-to-work plans aren’t working is the same reason airline staffs have to constantly remind passengers to keep their seatbelts fastened until their landed plane reaches the jetway: They don’t believe in the underlying reasoning.
There are a number of good reasons why passengers should remain in their seats until the plane arrives at the jetway, but many passengers — several of whom will leave the plane and step on a metro or bus where they can walk around freely while those vehicles are moving at a faster speed — just don’t believe there’s much inherent danger taking off a seatbelt on a jet that’s 100 feet short of its gate and no longer near a runway.
Similarly, employees who have spent most of the past two years working remotely don’t believe being in the office is correlated with better performance — especially when many companies posted stellar growth in 2021.
Perhaps Musk and other CEOs who are pressing for full returns understand that and are just trying to attract a certain type of employee while repelling others.
If so, they are likely to succeed when it comes to the latter. We’ve heard no shortage of stories from recruiters and executives who share anecdotes of candidates who left an otherwise fulfilling and well-paying job for a fully remote position.
Additionally, recruiters say many candidates won’t even consider a role unless there’s at least some work-from-home flexibility.
Companies can continue attempting to put the WFH genie back in the bottle, but they are increasingly finding that’s easier said than done.
Given the state of the labor market, it’s also an expensive gamble. Many say the goal of returning to the office is to help maintain a culture and build camaraderie. Those are understandable and noble goals. But the chief ingredient of culture is the people, and if returning to the office jeopardizes some of a company’s top people, is it really worth it?
That’s the million-dollar question, and it’s one many businesses are grappling with as attempted return plans stall.
More than a year ago, we wrote about the disconnect between employers and employees on the return, and it’s clear that gap remains.
Even if they actually like going to the office on occasion, many just don’t believe the return is necessary — especially with rising commuting costs.
They don’t respect the stated reasoning their companies are often providing because it often conflicts with what they’ve seen with their own eyes over the past two years.
At best, they view an insistence to return as a case of out-of-touch executives simply grasping at a bygone era.
At worst, they see it as an astonishing display of a lack of trust, a need for control or a transparent attempt to avoid wasting money on real estate.
It underscores the importance of employers taking an authentic and reasonable approach to the return, both at the outset and in the ongoing implementation.