Back in the office 5 days a week?

You’ve spent a number of years successfully doing your job remotely or in a hybrid capacity and now, your current company wants you back in the office 5 days a week…what would you do? According to research by Microsoft in 2022, 50% of leaders said their company required or was planning to ask their employees to return to in-person work full-time within 12 months.

In our latest poll, 45% of respondents stated that if asked to return to the office 5 days a week, it would make them assess their career options. The statistics are even higher for London-based workers, with nearly three-quarters (73%) saying they would leave their job if they were no longer able to work from home for some of the week, and only a significant pay rise would change their minds (Bloomberg Intelligence).

33% of the voters said they would ask what’s changed to stop them from working from home, and 13% stated that they would flatly refuse. In our latest HR Insights Survey, only 11% of HR professionals worked from the office full time, with 41% working from the office either one or two days per week. So, with so many professionals having adapted to the hybrid-working model and it working effectively and productively in this way for a few years, do employers have the right to demand a change back to full-time in the office?

A breakdown of trust

For many workers, the biggest positive to come out of the pandemic and hybrid working was seeing the empowerment of trust and confidence between the employer and their workforce. Employees continued to deliver whilst not being present and throughout a range of challenging circumstances, including homeschooling and life in lockdown.

We’re not surprised to hear that so many have said they would assess their career options if told to go back to the office full-time. One reason which has been coming up time and time again is the feeling that there has been a significant breakdown of trust and assurances from those who moved roles from 2020 onwards. They may have taken a position that was further away from home with a longer commute but were recruited on the agreement of hybrid or remote working. 100% office based just will not be attainable.

Why are businesses going back to 5-days a week?

Some of the reasons we’ve heard for the move back to 5 days in an office are:

• Some businesses have physical offices with significant overheads and cannot afford to run them empty,
• Consistency is required across the business,
• Reduction in productivity output and the need for performance management,
• Presenteeism culture where the leadership view is you need to be physically in the office to be working productively,
• Opportunity to right-size the business,
• Decision made by group/out of the country.

Aside from the above, leaders need to be clear on why people should return. Perhaps they want to engage people more fully in person, focus on customers and be able to resolve issues with greater speed or urgency, or they want greater innovation and to think creatively together. They may want people to have stronger relationships, so they feel a greater sense of commitment to the community. All of these are valid reasons for why a company would advocate time together in the workplace and communicating with them is an important part of the process – but does this mean employees have to be in 5 days per week?

Ben Gledhill, Talent Acquisition Director for Manchester Airport Group believes there is a balance to be found: “I think there must be pragmatism on both sides. Organisations need to both understand and stay educated in terms of what talent wants. The pandemic flipped everything on its head and happiness & wellbeing continues to be a key driver. On the flip side, as beneficial as remote working is I still think the best and long-lasting relationships are created in-person. Again, the key is finding a middle ground that works for all parties.”

So, what can be done about it?

If it goes ahead, the business needs to ensure they not only focus on how people will come back—which days, which hours, which teams, and which job titles, but also prepare for a transition period. Employees have become accustomed to working from home. They’ve established new routines for their working day for everything from childcare to exercise and time with friends and family. The need to provide people with time to adjust their schedules, responsibilities outside of work and their mindsets are essential.

Don’t let this be a step backwards

Whilst options for employees in this situation may be limited, there will be a huge knock-on effect from a staff retention perspective for those businesses. This will also significantly impact talent attraction and cause a reduction in the geographical talent pool and area from which they can recruit from. They run the risk of losing existing staff and potential recruits to businesses that offer greater flexibility and trust to their staff. No matter what our thoughts are on the working week, the working world has changed considerably in the past three years. Organisations should continue to learn from this, remain flexible, and have their people at the forefront of their agenda.

Should you wish to discuss our findings in more detail, have been affected by a return to the office, or require support in recruiting into your HR team, please contact Kerry White directly at kwhite@mdhr.co.uk

To ensure you don’t miss any updates from Macmillan Davies and to hear about our latest events click here to sign up to subscribe to our updates.