Our 3 tips to bring your employees back to office

Back to school is always a strategic time for companies. It allows them to start a new collaboration dynamic for the year to come. End of summer holidays, remote and in-office work setting, managers must take advantage of this period of transition to structure their new hybrid way of working and make a success of it.

Making the return to office significant

Although remote working has not been compulsory since February this year, it is definitely part of everyday life in many companies. Now employees have the possibility to come 100% back to their offices. However, is this what everyone wants?

Clearly, feedback varies from one employee to another. The lack of socialisation within teams can lead to a feeling of exclusion or even loss of motivation for some employees. To make them want to come back, partially or gradually, managers must give meaning to the back-to-work period through a new hybrid work environment: Smart Office solutions. This new way of working must not be perceived as a depersonalisation of workplaces or as a simple means of reducing costs. On the contrary, it creates social interaction, facilitates commitment to corporate culture, and optimises collaboration and well-being in offices.

To achieve this, being available and paying attention to internal communication is important, both prior to and during the back-to-work phase. It is also good to consider organising some social moments to empower new synergies. These informal moments will help you give a real boost to the process of returning to office.

Focus on being attentive and developing the skills of your employees

Listening is key to a successful start to the new period. Otherwise, you risk creating indirect resistance to change within your teams. To avoid this, your Smart Office approach must be explained through appropriate communication means, both upwards and downwards. Before stating your back-to-the-office objectives, make sure you get feedback from your employees. A feedback culture shows employees that they are at the centre of your Digital Workplace strategy.

The aim is not to force employees to come back to the office, but rather to create an environment in which it can happen as naturally as possible. It is therefore advisable to accompany your teams’ return to the office with questions such as:

– “What do you need to feel comfortable working in Flex Office?”

– “Are you satisfied with the company’s equipment and solutions?”

– “Do you know how to make the most of them?”

Through these constructive exchanges, a manager will know if their teams need to be upgraded, for example. To help employees get used to Smart Office, managers should regularly assess material needs and each employee’s knowledge of collaborative tools.

Flexibility is the watchword for your return to work

Going back to office should not mean that remote work is completely excluded. By improving the work-life balance, remote work also meant freedom and well-being for many employees. For a positive return to work, a smooth return on site is therefore essential. If some employees initially prefer to keep working from home, allow them to do so. Then agree with them on a transition period and a schedule for their return over several weeks.

Furthermore, to satisfy employees who enjoy remote working, Flex Office must be presented as a solution that combines the best of both worlds. On the one hand, it provides a quiet place to work alone when concentration is required. On the other hand, it promotes the efficiency of collaborative tasks through direct contact and thus encourages team spirit.

This flexibility must go beyond mere words to concrete Smart Office solutions. For example, setting up mobile applications and QR codes can help your employees manage room bookings. Similarly, tools also exist to easily share your work schedule. A manager will then know when their teams are in the office for collaborative work and when they are working from home. By offering your employees Smart Office solutions, coming back to the office will no longer be perceived as a constraint. On the contrary, it will be smooth, pleasant, and not too repetitive.

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