After almost two years of running their businesses remotely, many companies decided to return to the traditional work from the office. However, some employees may find it hard to accept this decision and give up all the perks that remote work offers. As one research shows, 90% of workers state that they’re more productive when working from home, while 39% of employees claim that they’re returning to the office reluctantly, only because their employer demanded this move.
What can be the reason for such a reaction?
Well, simply put, most people don’t like changes.
And, this transfer to the office space is a significant change that needs to be addressed on the spot if you want to keep your team’s performance high and your employees motivated to do their jobs.
So to help your employees go through this transition smoothly, you should be aware of numerous factors that can affect their performance. Here, you’ll find several steps that you can take to make sure your employees adjust swiftly to this new work environment. Besides, you can continue using the software for tracking remote workers to help them manage their time and workload efficiently once they get back to the office.
Focus on Employees Wellbeing
The fact is that frustrated or stressed employees won’t perform well at work, leading to complete disengagement or demotivation. Furthermore, commuting and spending more time in the office may prevent people from dedicating much-needed time to self-care. For these reasons, it’s crucial that you make employees’ well-being, mental and physical, your top priority.
Although talking about potential mental issues may be a slippery slope that leads to rude privacy breaches, you can address them by asking your employees how they feel about specific tasks or how their day is going.
You may think that these trivial questions can’t make a difference, but these can go a long way when it comes to showing empathy and understanding.
If you’re ready to listen carefully and share your stressful experiences with employees, you can encourage them to speak openly about their struggles at work.
Once you find out what triggers employees’ lower productivity or disengagement, you can devise effective wellness programs to tackle specific issues. The first step is to lead by example and stop working after designated work hours. This way, you’ll foster people-first culture, strengthening the connection with your employees.
Give Employees Time to Adjust to Changed Circumstances
When the Covid-19 outbreak forced companies to send their employees to work remotely, people needed some time to adjust to this abrupt change. This means that workers will need some time to get used to working from the office again too.
As we’ve already stated, some employees may have a hard time leaving the coziness of their home offices, giving up flexibility and autonomy the remote work offers. This said, many workers will have to remind themselves how to function in the office. Also bear in mind that the workers hired within the past two years have never worked from your offices.
The easy fix to this issue is to provide a transition period, allowing employees to come to the office occasionally until they start working from the office full time. Use this period to recognize the issues employees are struggling with and make suggested adjustments in your office space.
Make sure to meet their needs regarding equipment or a quiet and distraction-free working environment so that they maintain being as productive as before.
Let Employees Feel at Home
Remote work allows employees to choose where they want to work. Many people have set up home offices or turned their favorite corners into a productive workspace. A large number of remote workers enjoyed working from a favorite coffee shop.
One of the greatest advantages of owning a defined workspace is that people can leave their makeshift offices and return to “real life” in a matter of minutes. Apart from this, research shows that owning a workspace increases productivity by 32%.
So if you want your employees to adjust to the office environment swiftly, let them recreate the atmosphere of their remote workspace to some extent. For example, you can let them keep their plants or favorite photos on their desks, rearranging their computers or parts of furniture to resemble their remote offices. All these changes may help employees feel more at ease in the office environment and more motivated to reach their goals.
Tackle Potential Social Anxiety Issues
One of the major drawbacks of working remotely is a lack of social interaction with colleagues.
This deprivation is a serious issue that can easily lead to depression and isolation that can destroy productivity.
On the other hand, your employees may experience social anxiety issues when they return to the office, being separated from their coworkers for so long. The feeling of stress and awkwardness related to in-person interaction is real, and it shouldn’t be ignored. This is especially true for newly hired employees who have never met their colleagues in real life before.
To tackle the social anxiety issue successfully, try setting up social activities after work hours, or organize team lunch breaks. This way people will have the chance to meet or pick up where they left off. By encouraging employees to socialize, you can boost their productivity and the quality of their performance.
Offer a Level of Flexibility
Flexibility is definitely a benefit that employees returning to offices will miss the most. We can’t emphasize enough how the freedom to choose when and where they want to work can be beneficial for employees’ performance.
If you want to see your employees working from the office again but also want them to be highly productive you can offer them a happy middle. The hybrid work model allows employees to choose when they want to work from offices and when to work remotely. In this way, they can balance out their private lives with work responsibilities taking the best of both worlds.
Also, you can set flexible work hours. Some of your employees can be early birds while others may prefer starting a bit later. By setting a flexible work schedule you’ll enable them to work when they are the most productive and motivated.
Final Words
Returning to offices after a long pause can be a challenging task for so many reasons. Now that you know what factors can affect employees’ productivity during this transition, you can take effective steps to alleviate the entire process.
Focus on their well-being and give them time to adjust to working from the office again. Also, provide the level of flexibility they cherished while working remotely to keep your teams motivated and satisfied.
